suez cris 1956

• egypt and the rise of nasser

  • egyptians felt bitter about losing the war against Israel in 1949
• suez canal


  • built by the british and french in 1860's
  • it was a vital link for the british which depended on oil supplies from the persian gulf
  • Egyptians saw this as British imperialism and felt they could only truly be independent once the british had left
• nasser and the revolution

  • a group of young officers secretly planned to overthrow the government and they build up support from the army
  • in july 1952 they struck and took over key government buildings and announced the success over the radio.
  • the most powerful member of the new government was nasser
  • in 1954 Nasser became president and he persuaded the british to withdraw their troops from the suez canal zone.
  • the british wanted arab support against the USSR and wanted an alliance with egypt as it was the most developed arab nation
• israeli attack on gaza

  • February 1955
  • Nasser wanted Egypt to be neutral and was not willing to join an anti-soviet alliance which worried the west.
  • Israeli's wanted to hit back at Egypt for encouraging Palestinians raids into Israel and wanted to teach Nasser a lesson
  • israeli troops attacked and destroyed the egyptian army headquarters in Gaza and killed 35 soldiers
  • Nasser knew this would be humiliating so he began to arm his forces but he needed weapons
  • he secured soviet arms through the czech arms deal in 1955
• aswan dam


  • Britain and USA thought they still could control Nasser as he depended on them for money to build the Aswan high Dam. This was a project on the River Nile which could create hydroelectric power and allow agricultural land to be irrigated .
  • However Nasser showed he did not want to be pushed around
  • In 1956 he recognised Communist China which western countries did not agree on.
  • In July 1956 , Britain and USA decided to cancel their loans to Egypt for the building of the Dam which they hoped would make Nasser more cooperative
• nationalisation of the suez canal

  • 26th July 1956 he announced the Suez canal was 'our canal'
  • he decided egypt would nationalise the suez canal and they would run it themselves. They would use the profits to build the Aswan Dam
  • He said Britain and France could 'choke on their rage'
  • this thrilled the arab world
  • Britain and France were furious and they withdrew their pilots which guided ships through the canal
  • French held a secret meeting with the Israelis to plot Nasser's downfall
• israelis become involved 


  • on 24th October The british and french foreign ministers secretly met the Israeli prime minister
  • Ben-Gurion wished to end the border raids from Gaza and force Egypt to recognise the state of israel and also wanted to break the egyptian blockade of the Tiran states which prevented israeli ships from reaching the port of Eilat. He was also worried about the increasing military strength.
• israelis get involved (2)

  • It was decided that Israel would attack and Britain and France would intervene. they would call on the combatants to withdraw from the canal area.
  • Israel would agree while Egypt would refuse and then Britain and France would then have the pretext they wanted to occupy the canal zone and then Nasser would fall from power
• fighting over the suez

  • on 29th October 1956, Israeli forces invaded Egypt. they advanced across the Sinai towards the suez canal.
  • the next day, the governments of Britain and France ordered Egypt and Israel to ceasefire and withdraw ten miles from the canal. The Egyptians refused.
  • on 31st October, British and French planes bombed Egyptian airfields and destroyed most of Egypt's air force.
• fighting over suez (2)

  • on 5th November, British and French troops landed at port Said and advanced along the canal. Egypt responded by sinking ships which had been filled with concrete in order to obstruct the British and France from advancing along the canal
• fighting over suez (3)

  • Arab states halted oil supplies to the West and USA condemned the action. The US government was furious that Britain and France had used force and they wanted to prevent USSR influence. The USA threatened to cut of aid to Britain, which would ruin the economy, and to withhold oil supplies.
  • USSR went further and threatened to use force
  • On November 6th, the UN declared a ceasefire and later ordered the British and French to withdraw. An UN emergency force was sent to the canal to supervise the ceasefire.
• winners and losers - nasser

  • Nasser became the hero of the Arab world as he stood up to Britain and france who had dominated the middle East for so long
  • he gained complete control of the suez and a large quantity of British military stores.
  • with US aid the canal was cleared and reopened in april 1957
  • Although Egypt lost territory when the Israelis captured Sinai, they were persuaded by the US to withdraw in early 1957.
• winners and losers - israelis

  • the israelis made gains
  • the speed of their victory in Gaza and Sinai showed that the IDF was the strongest force
  • when they withdrew from Sinai, UN troops moved in to guard the border between Israel and Egypt.
  • UN forces were sent to Gaza to prevent more raids and to sharm-el-sheikh to guard the passage of israeli shipping through straits of Tiranm
• winners and losers- britain and france

  • they had underestimated the Egyptians
  • they had failed to regain control over the Suez canal and failed to overthrow Nasser
  • the period of domination was ending
  • Israel now looked like an outpost of western imperialism.
  • the arabs seeked more soviet aid and began to supply weapons.
  • Nasser wanted Egypt to be neutral