The Suez Crisis

    The Suez Crisis took place on July 26, 1956. It was when Nasser, the leader of Egypt, nationalised the Suez Canal. During a speech in Alexandria he announced that the Nationalisation law had been published. This law stated that all share-holders of the canal would be paid based on its current worth and that all assets of the canal would be frozen.

   The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt. It connects the Mediterranean Sea and The Red Sea. The only problem was that the canal was owned by French and British companies. So when France and Britain heard of the news, they quickly launched a military operation to secure the canal. Paratroops (parachute troops) landed to to take control of the canal. Britain and France made a secret agreement with Israel. The agreement was that a portion of the Israeli army would invade Egypt to divert it's attention from the French and British troops that were securing and repossessing the canal.

    At first, the British and French governments turned to the US for military assistance, but the US politely refused stating that they did not want to get involved. President Eisenhower was strongly opposed to any of the military action against Egypt that France and Britain were involved in.




















    In my opinion, what the Egyptian government did was not justified in any way. They had no right to nationalise a canal that was not theirs in the first place, especially without the consent of the owners. This was  a situation that could definitely have been avoided. Some sort of compromise or deal could have been offered other than simply taking it.