The Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 - A short summary

Abdel Naseer 

The Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 was one of the worst chapters in British history. The crisis resulted in the beginning of the end of British colonialism in Arab states, the start of the decline of British hegemony in world affairs and the first step of American involvement in the Middle East. However, Gamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt, rose to prominence as the great leader of the Arab states. Although the Suez Crisis had the potential to stir a world war, the United States wisely intervened by putting pressure on the British. After the crisis of 1956, the United States, under the Eisenhower Doctrine, substantially funded Muslim states to contain communism in the Middle East. What is Suez Canal? What are the results of the Suez Canal crisis? What actually caused the Suez Canal crisis? What were the effects and implications of the Suez crisis of 1956? and what is the Ever Given issue? Let's find out

What is Suez Canal?

Suez canal 

The 193km-long Suez Canal, which runs through Egypt, connecting Red sea and Mediterranean sea and the East and the West. The canal was built by french architect Ferdinand de Lesseps and it was opened for public in 1869. More interestingly, the Suez Canal was jointly run by British and French authorities. When it comes to relevance, the Suez Canal plays a crucial role in the movement of goods between Europe and Asia, particularly the export of Middle Eastern oil to Europe. The Suez Canal is a major lifeline for global sea trade, alongside the Strait of Hormuz, the Malacca Strait and the Panama canal. Around two-thirds of oil of the Middle East is transported to Europe through the Suez Canal. It is the location of the canal that makes it an important regional hub for transportation of oil and other goods between three continents. In addition, the Suez Canal forms approximately 12% of global trade, and around one million barrels of oil and approximately 8% liquidized natural gas pass through the canal which also generates a major bulk of revenue of Egyptian economy.

If the Suez canal is closed or blocked for any reason, an alternative route to the Suez canal will go round Africa, around Cape of Good Hopeon the southern tip of Africa, which takes two weeks longer.

An alternative route to Suez canal

What is Suez Canal crisis?

Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president, requested financial assistance from the United States and Great Britain for the construction of the Aswan Dam on the Nile River, according to information from Google, YouTube, and literature. When the US and the UK declined to help build the dam, Nasser decided to nationalize the Suez Canal, thinking that the toll collected on the ships passing through the canal invested in the construction of the Dam. Gamal Abdel Nasser also wanted to free his nation from a colonial rule by European nations. For this purpose, the Egyptian military, under the "Anglo-Egyptian Treaty 1936, had already ordered the British to leave the canal zone.

When Abdel Naseer nationalized Suez canal in July 1956

As a result, in July 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal. The move infuriated the British in particular and the Europeans in general. In order to retake the Suez Canal, the British, with the support of France, secretly joined forces with Israel. According to the plans, Israel conducted its first assault on October 29, 1956. Israel invaded the Sinai on October 29 and marched to the Suez Canal. Moreover, the European countries gave Egypt deadlines after deadlines and launched airstrikes against it.

Since around three months, the issue involving four countries had been getting worse every day. The U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower finally intervened to resolve the canal dispute and to avert a military confrontation. At first, the colluding powers did not move away from their position.

In order to disengage the combatants, the U.S. took a step further and imposed sanctions on London, knocked on the door of the UN and obtained UN ceasefire resolution. In addition, the U.S. managed to organize United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF).

Moreover, the U.S. president Eisenhower pressurized the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to forbid providing any financial help to Britain. Resultantly, this caused a severe economic crisis in the United Kingdom, and the value of the pound kept falling on the global market.

At this point, the Soviet Union also intervened and threatened to enter the conflict by retaliating against London and Paris with weapons of mass destruction.

British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, on the other hand, once said that “the Egyptian had his thumb on our windpipe.” Additionally, Nasser was greatly intimidated to be used force against him to recover the control of the canal.

Anthony Eden was brought to his knees by the worsening economic conditions, devaluation of pound and domestic and international pressure. Besides, neither the US nor Russia wanted to upset Abdel Naseer. They rather wished to have stability in the region for the peaceful transportation of oil. Anthony Eden was left with no option but to agree for a UN Ceasefire. Further, under the UN resolution 1001, the United Nations sent an emergency force in November 1956 to Egypt to put an end to the conflict.

Later, with the support of the United States and the UN, Nasser took control of the Suez canal. For approximately five months, the canal was closed to commercial traffic while clearing work was being done. In the end, Nasser emerged victorious, and the British, French and Israeli faced ignominious defeat and withdrew their troops immediately. 

Effects of the Suez Canal Crisis:

The 1956 Suez Canal incident had left both immediate and long-term effects on western politics towards the Middle East. The aftermath of the crisis had a significant impact on global geoeconomic politics.

The Suez Canal Crisis seriously damaged the reputation of the British and French in Arab countries.

The European fort of coloniszation in Africa and Asia began to crumble after the defeat of Britain and France. Nasser, the Egyptian president, emerged as a brave and unwavering figure in the Arab world. He valiantly resisted European powers and survived a tripartite attack by three formidable nations—Britain, France, and Israel.

The balance of power in the Arab states was significantly affected by the Suez Crisis.

The United States' involvement in the Middle East began after the Suez Crisis in 1956. In addition, to counter communism in the Arab states, the United States introduced the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1956. In compliance with the doctrine, the United States provided significant economic and military assistance to Pakistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Libya.

The Eisenhower Doctrine laid the foundation for American military action against Lebanon in 1958. Besides, the Eisenhower Doctrine prepared the ground for U.S. military presence in Lebanon in 1958.

What is the Ever Given stuck issue?

A huge container ship, the Ever Given, operated by Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine- got stuck in the Suez canal blocking the traffic from both sides of the canal.

The Ever Given got stuck in Suez Canal

On March 23, 2021, the Ever Given, 400m-long with weight of 200000 tonnes having the maximum capacity of 20000 cntainers was heading north towards Mediterranean Sea. The Ever Given slowly got stuck in the mud and sand at southern end of the Suez Canal in Great Bitter Lake. The Ever Given remained stuck for six days bringing world's busiest and shortest routes to a halt.

Many reasons were being told such as a gust of wind that was recorded at 40 knots, technical fallout and human error.

To refloat the stranded ship, a fleet of 14 tugboats were brought that pushed and pulled the ship at high tide to dislodge it. Other dredging equipment also worked for many days to free the ship.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) sought compensation form the Ever Given's Japanese owner Shoei Kisen as it caused huge damage to canal banks, Egyptian economy and the loss to shipping industry.

In this regard, a deal was finalized between the owner of the ship and the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) but term were not disclosed. It was, however, said that Egypt demanded $550m.

The world's busiest and fastest ship canal, the Suez Canal, which was once the symbol of pride and prestige of European imperialism, slipped out of the British hands. The crisis that had remained a major sour of contention between British and Egypt finally reached its logical conclusion. Though, the crisis had long term impacts not only on Israel-Egypt relations but also policies of Russia and America towards the middle east, it settled down the dust of tension in the region for the time being.

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