Download The Suez Conflict of 1956

The Suez Conflict of 1956
Suez Conflict of 1956 Time Line and Map
Time Line
Date
Event
Jun. 13
Britain gives up Suez Canal.
Ends 72 years of British
occupation.
Jun. 26
President Nasser announces
plan to nationalise Suez Canal.
Aug. 1-2
Britain, France and US hold
talks on escalating Suez crisis.
Britain mobilises armed forces.
Aug. 21
Egypt says it will negotiate on Suez
ownership if Britain pulls out of the
Middle East.
Aug. 23
USSR announces it will send troops if
Egypt is attacked.
Aug. 26
General Nasser agrees to five nation
conference on Suez Canal.
Sep. 5
Israel condemns Egypt over Suez crisis.
Sep. 9
Conference talks collapse when General
Nasser refuses to allow international
control of the Suez Canal.
Time Line Continued
Date
Event
Date
Event
Sep. 12
US, Britain, and France announce their intention
to impose a Canal Users Association on
management of the canal
Nov. 29
Tripartite Invasion is officially ended under pressure
from UN.
Sep. 14
Egypt now in full control of the Suez Canal.
Dec. 20
Israel refuses to return Gaza to Egypt.
Sep. 15
Soviet ship-pilots arrive to help Egypt run the
canal.
Dec. 24
British and French troops depart Egypt.
Dec. 27
5,580 Egyptian POWs exchanged for four Israelis.
Oct. 1
A 15 nation Suez Canal Users Association is
officially formed.
Dec. 28
Operation to clear sunken ship in Suez Canal starts.
Oct. 7
Israeli foreign minister Golda Meir says the UN
failure to resolve the Suez Crisis means they must
take military action.
Jan. 15
British and French banks in Egypt are nationalised.
Oct. 13
Anglo-French proposal for the control of the Suez
Canal is vetoed by the USSR during UN session.
Mar. 7
UN takes over administration of Gaza Strip.
Oct. 29
Israel invades Sinai Peninsula.
Mar. 15
General Nasser bars Israeli shipping from Suez
Canal.
Oct. 30
Britain and France veto USSR demand for IsraelEgypt cease-fire.
Apr. 19
First British ship pays Egyptian toll for use of the
Suez Canal.
Nov. 2
Nov. 5
UN Assembly finally approves a cease-fire plan
for Suez.
British and French forces involved in airborne
invasion of Egypt.
Nov. 7
UN Assembly votes 65 to 1 that invading powers
should quit Egyptian territory.
Nov. 25
Egypt begins to expel British, French, and Zionist
residents.
Arab/Palestinian Points of Contention
● "Egypt refused any cargo that was bound for Israel to pass through the
Suez Canal or the Straigts of Tiran" (Fraser 65)
● Soviets supplied the Arabs with arms through Czechsolvokia starting in
November 1955
○ Automatic Light Weapons
○ 100 Self-Propelled Guns/Altillery
○ 20 Armoured Personnel Carriers
○ 300 Tanks
○ 200 MiG-15s Fighter Jets
○ 50 Ilyushin-28 Bombers
● The Egyption leader wanted to improve the living of his people
○ Construction of a dam near Aswan on the Nile
○ To regulate water flow to improve irrigation and cheap hydroelectric
energy
○ Lying to the world bank so the Egyptioin would recieve a loan to help
pay for the construction of the dam
Arab/Palestinian Points of Contention Continued...
● On July 26 the Egyptian leader announced that the Suez Canal was to be
nationalized
○ The Suez was runned by a Paris-based Corp on a lease due in 1968
○ The Suez is one of Egypts most important assets
● Fincancing the Aswan Dam
○ Since the Global Bank would not finance, the U.S. and the Soviets both
lent money to the construction of the Aswan High Dam
○ U.S. and the U.K. Pledged $54 million and $14 million
○ June 1956, the Soviets offered Nasser $1,120,000,000 at 2% interest
for the construction of the dam
Israeli Points of Contention
● Israel was looking for a way out of its domestic and
international crisis following the 1948 War.
● In response to the Suez blockade, Israeli defense chiefs
started planning for possibly attacking the main fort
dominating the straits.
● The Israelis were becoming increasingly worried about the
powerful weaponry the Arabs were receiving from
Czechoslovakia as well as the superiority that Nasser was
getting recently
● They saw him as a direct threat to their country.
Israeli Points of Contention Continued...
● Israel realized they could no longer depend on America for
weaponry after Eisenhower became president.
● The French and British shared the same view towards
Nasser and didn't want him to be affiliated with the Suez
Canal.
● The Israelis, French, and British realized they had the same
interests, so they formed a secret alliance to regain control
of the Suez Canal.
Key Players
● Britain: Prime Minister Anthoney Eden
○ Developed the same view on France that Nasser had, when Nasser announced
his intention to nationalize the Suez Canal, majority of which was owned by
Britian. Eden feared that Nasser intended to form an Arab Alliance that would cut
off oil supplies to Europe.
● France: Prime Minister Guy Mollet
○ January 1956: Guy Mollet was elected prime minister in France and promised to
bring peace to Algeria (French colony).
○ Viewed Nasser as being the direct support to Algerian nationlists fighting for
independence from France.
● Isreal: Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion
○ Led the country through the 1956 Sinai Campaign in which Israeli forces
temporarily secured the Sinai peninsula. Saw Nassser as a direct threat to Israel.
● Eygpt: Gamal Abdel Nasser
○ Maintained that Israeli action was the primary reason for Eygpt turning to the
Soviets bloc in search of arms.
● October 1956: Mollet, Eden and Israeli Ben-Gurion met at Sevres near Paris and
concluded a secret agreement that Israel should attack Egypt; providing a pretext for
an Anglo-French invasion of Suez.
Key Battles
● Operation Kadesh: 29 of October an Israeli paratroop drop
on Mitla Pass in the Sinai Peninsula was initiated. This
resulted in the killings of 48 Arab civilians, and the event
became known as the Kafr Qasim Massacre. These
drops led to Israeli domination of the Sinai and triggered
Anglo-French ultimatums which were rejected.
● Battle of Jebel Heitan: October 31, in the Heitan Defile. The
Egyptians were defeated. A total of 260 Egyptians and 38
Israeli soldiers were killed during the battle. The Israeli
losses led to the criticism of Ariel Sharon for ordering the
attack.
● Gaza Strip Operations: In early November, Israeli forces
moved to occupy the area surrounding Rafah. By November
3, Israel had control over most of the Gaza Strip.
● Sharm el-Sheikh Operations: 5 November, British and
french paratoop drop at Port Said. After an Israeli barrage
and napalm strikes, Egypt surrendered.
Outcomes of the
Suez Canal
Crisis of 1956
- The rest of the world shunned
Britain and France for their actions
in the crisis, and soon the UN salvage
team moved in to clear the canal.
Britain and France backed down, and
control of the canal was given back to
Egypt in March 1957.
- The colonial tradition of Britain
and France began to crumble after the
Suez Crisis. The feeling of defeat by
a former colony eventually led to the
two nations giving up their African
colonial empires. The long era of
colonization was finally coming to a
close.
- The conflicts between Israel and
Egypt, however, were just beginning.
Hostilities again flared on June 5,
1967, during the Six-Day War. Then in
1973 with The Yom Kippur War, between
Israel, Egypt, and other Arab nations
began on October 16, ironically on Yom
Kippur... thus the name.
- The Egyptian government was allowed to maintain control
of the canal as long as they permitted all vessels of all nations
free passage through it.
Sources and Credits
● Boddy-Evans, Alister . "Timeline: Suez Crisis." About.com African History .
2012. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://africanhistory.about.
com/library/timelines/bl-Timeline-SuezCrisis.htm>.
● Fraser, T.G.. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Third Edition. New York, NY:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
● Milner, Laurie. "The Suez Crisis ." BBC History. BBC, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 2
Mar. 2012. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/suez_01.shtml.
● Reynolds, Paul. "Suez: End of Empire ." BBC News . BBC, 24 July 2006.
Web. 2 Mar. 2012. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5199392.stm.
● "The Suez Crisis." Bodleian Library University of Oxford. 14 Apr. 2009.
Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://www.bodley.ox.ac.
uk/dept/scwmss/projects/suez/suez.html>.
● "The Suez War of 1956." Jewish Virtual Library. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. http:
//www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Suez_War.html.
CREDITS: Rachael Evans, Duncan Tuomi, Abby Bravo, Elizabeth AllanCole, Jonathon Lee, Michael Lu, Martha Brown