Katana VentraIP

Suez Crisis

The Suez Crisis[a] or the Second Arab–Israeli War,[8][9][10] also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression[b] in the Arab world[11] and as the Sinai War[c] in Israel,[d] was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so with the primary objective of re-opening the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba as the recent tightening of the eight-year-long Egyptian blockade further prevented Israeli passage.[12] After issuing a joint ultimatum for a ceasefire, the United Kingdom and France joined the Israelis on 5 November, seeking to depose Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and regain control of the Suez Canal, which Nasser had earlier nationalised by transferring administrative control from the foreign-owned Suez Canal Company to Egypt's new government-owned Suez Canal Authority.[e] Shortly after the invasion began, the three countries came under heavy political pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as from the United Nations, eventually prompting their withdrawal from Egypt. Israel's four-month-long occupation of the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula enabled it to attain freedom of navigation through the Straits of Tiran, but the Suez Canal itself was closed from October 1956 to March 1957.[14][15] The Suez Crisis led to international humiliation for the British and the French in the wake of the Cold War, which established the Americans and the Soviets as the world's superpowers. It also strengthened Nasser's standing.[16][17][18]

Not to be confused with the 2021 Suez Canal obstruction.

Before they were defeated, Egyptian troops had blocked all ship traffic by sinking 40 ships in the Suez Canal. It later became clear that Israel, the United Kingdom, and France had conspired to invade Egypt. Though the three allies had attained a number of their military objectives, the Suez Canal itself was useless. American president Dwight D. Eisenhower had issued a strong warning to the British if they were to invade Egypt; he threatened serious damage to the British financial system by selling the American government's bonds of pound sterling. Historians have concluded that the Suez Crisis "signified the end of Great Britain's role as one of the world's major powers" vis-à-vis the United States and the Soviet Union.[19][20][21][22]


As a result of the conflict, the United Nations established the United Nations Emergency Force to police and patrol the Egypt–Israel border, while British prime minister Anthony Eden resigned from his position. For his diplomatic efforts in resolving the conflict through United Nations initiatives, Canadian external affairs minister Lester B. Pearson received a Nobel Peace Prize. Analysts have argued that the Suez Crisis may have emboldened the Soviet Union, prompting the Soviet invasion of Hungary.[23][24]

the , the geopolitical battle for influence between the United States and the Soviet Union;

Cold War

the , the race between different Arab states for the leadership of the Arab world;[36]

Arab Cold War

the anti-colonial struggle of against the two remaining imperial powers, Britain and France, in particular the Algerian War;[37]

Arab nationalists

and the , the political and military conflict between the Arab countries and Israel.

Arab–Israeli conflict

Egyptian policies in 1956

Nasser and Jordan

Nasser frustrated British attempts to draw Jordan into the pact by sponsoring demonstrations in Amman, leading King Hussein of Jordan in the Arabization of the Jordanian Army command to dismiss the British commander of the Arab Legion, John Bagot Glubb (known to the Arabs as Glubb Pasha) in March 1956.[89] After one round of bloody rioting in December 1955 and another in March 1956 against Jordan joining the Baghdad Pact, both instigated by Cairo-based Voice of the Arabs radio station, Hussein believed his throne was in danger.[90]

Nasser and Britain

British Prime Minister Anthony Eden was especially upset at the sacking of Glubb Pasha, and as one British politician recalled:

Closure of the Suez Canal (1967–1975)

Protocol of Sèvres

Operation Tarnegol

1956 war hall

Egyptian National Military Museum

1956 riots in Iraq

General

essay in Azure magazine.

Israel's Second War of Independence

by Arthur L. Herman

A Man, A Plan and A Canal

Sinai Campaign 1956

Canada and the Suez Crisis

July 2006, , Suez 50 years on

BBC

International Socialism 112 (2006)

Suez and the high tide of Arab nationalism

(French)

Detailed report on the Suez campaign by Ground Forces Chief of Staff General Beaufre, French Defense Ministry archive

Bodleian Library Suez Crisis Fiftieth anniversary exhibition

at Britains-smallwars.com – accounts by British servicemen who were present

Suez index

(French translation)

26 July speech by Gamal Abdel Nasser

(Original text in Arabic)

Speech by Gamal Abdel Nasser

The short film is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.

The Middle East (1963)

Media links