Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis of 1956 began when Britain, France, and Israel attacked Egypt after President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company. The military operation succeeded on the battlefield but collapsed under American, Soviet, and United Nations pressure. It is widely seen as the moment Britain and France were forced to accept that they were no longer independent great powers able to act against the wishes of Washington. The summary's phrase about "US forces" is misleading: the United States did not use force, but applied decisive diplomatic and financial pressure.
The canal, opened in 1869, was a vital shortcut between Europe and Asia, and oil shipments from the Gulf passed through it in growing volume. It was run by the Suez Canal Company, whose largest shareholder was the British government, and British troops had long been stationed in the canal zone. After Egypt's 1952 revolution, Nasser pressed for their removal, and an agreement in 1954 set the withdrawal of British forces by mid-1956. Tensions rose when the United States and Britain withdrew an offer to fund the Aswan High Dam, after Egypt recognized Communist China and bought arms from the Soviet bloc via Czechoslovakia. In July 1956, Nasser announced the nationalization of the canal company, saying its revenues would help pay for the dam.
Britain and France saw this as a threat to their interests and prestige. France was also angry at Egyptian support for rebels in Algeria, while Israel was concerned about fedayeen raids and Egypt's blockade of the Straits of Tiran. The three governments met secretly near Paris, at Sèvres, in October. Their plan was for Israel to invade the Sinai, after which Britain and France would call for both sides to withdraw and then intervene to "protect" the canal. Israel attacked at the end of October, and Anglo-French bombing and then landings around Port Said followed in early November. Egypt blocked the canal by sinking ships.
The reaction was swift. President Eisenhower, preoccupied with an election and with the simultaneous Soviet crackdown in Hungary, opposed the attack and refused to support the pound, which was under heavy pressure. The Soviet Union threatened to intervene, though how seriously is debated. Britain agreed to a ceasefire within days, and a UN emergency force, an early example of modern peacekeeping, was deployed. British and French troops left by December, and Israel withdrew from Sinai in the following months.
The consequences were far-reaching. British prime minister Anthony Eden resigned in January 1957, citing ill health. Nasser emerged as a hero of Arab nationalism despite his military defeat. The crisis hastened decolonization, strengthened the Cold War superpowers' dominance over world affairs, and left lasting distrust over secret diplomacy in the region.