The 1956 Suez War

Britain & France Challenge Gamal Abdel Nasser

The nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 came as a huge shock for the British and French, who had come to look on the canal as almost their own private concern. Now in the twilight of its days as an empire, Britain was especially indignant at the loss of control of the waterway, which was a major route for oil supplies from the Arab Gulf and still considered an imperial lifeline.

The French too were annoyed at the Egyptians over the loss of the canal that they had built and managed. To add to this, they were smarting over Egypt's involvement in financing an independence movement in France's colony of Algeria. The bottom line was that neither power trusted Gamal Abdel Nasser, and believed (quite wrongly as it turned out) that the Egyptians would be incapable of running the canal. Joining forces against Nasser, they immediately laid plans to retake it by force and bring down his regime. Thus was planted the seed of the 1956 Suez War.

October 29, 1956

The ruse they dreamed up involved giving themselves a supposedly clear-cut justification to invade Egypt. In what was to prove to be a political debacle, the two countries secretly asked Israel to invade Egypt. The Israelis were only too happy to oblige and, on October 29, 1956, they marched their army into Sinai, the biginning of the 1956 Suez War. The British and French governments then deviously issued an ultimatum calling on both Egypt and Israel to withdraw their troops from the immediate vicinity of the canal.

Since only Egyptian troops were actually in the exclusion zone at the time, the British and French had given themselves a reason to attack Nasser's forces under the guise of protecting the canal. Wasting no time, they landed a force of paratroopers who seized control of the waterway. During the course of the operation, Egypt's airforce was destroyed while still on the ground. Meanwhile, the Israelis had successfully advanced through Sinai and taken control of the entire peninsula.

Condemnations by the United Nations

From a military point of view, the operation was a success. However, politically it was a disaster that backfired in a most spectacular fashion. That two Western powers might invade a country in such an underhanded way caused widespread outrage and was condemned outright by the United Nations.

The British and French might possibly have weathered the storm of international criticism had it not been for the fact that the United States was also dumbstruck by the recklessness of its supposed allies, who had acted without consultation. Accordingly, it joined in the chorus of U.N. disapproval.

The ill thought-out fiasco ended in utter humiliation for the British and French. Isolated and without the backing of the United States, there was little alternative but to back down. Yet there was one winner of the 1956 Suez War - President Nasser. His standing rocketed to almost mythical proportions amongst the Arabs.

Early in 1957, Britain and France evacuated Egypt, and ships that had been scuttled by the Egyptians to block the canal were cleared by the U.N. The Egyptians continued a ban against Israeli ships using the waterway, but let them use the Gulf of Aqaba as a route south into the Red Sea. For the next ten years, the U.N. policed the uneasy borders between the two countries. In the meantime Nasser turned his attention to his pan-Arab dreams.