Arab-Israeli Conflict - 1956 Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also
known as the Suez War or 1956 War (and more rarely as the Suez-Sinai
war, 1956 Arab-Israeli War, Suez Campaign, Kadesh Operation, Operation
Musketeer, or Tripartite aggression) was a war fought on Egyptian
territory in 1956. The conflict pitted Egypt against an alliance between
France, the United Kingdom and Israel. The alliance between the two
European nations and Israel was largely one of convenience; the European
nations had economic and trading interests in the Suez Canal, while
Israel wanted to open the canal for Israeli shipping. When the USSR
threatened to intervene on behalf of Egypt, the United States feared a
larger war, and forced the British and French to withdraw. The Crisis
resulted in the resignation of the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden,
and marked the completion of the shift in the global balance of power
from European powers to the US and the Soviet Union.
Background
The Suez Canal was opened in 1869, having been financed by France and
the Egyptian government. Later, the Egyptian government's share was
bought by the British. The canal was of strategic importance, being the
link between Britain and its Empire of India, and the area as a whole
was strategic to North Africa and the Middle East.
The importance of the Canal was clear during both World Wars. During the
first, it was closed to non-Allied shipping by the British and French.
During the Second World War, it was tenaciously defended during the
North African Campaign.
Daniel Yergin, a historian of the oil industry, has written:
[I]n 1948, the canal abruptly lost its traditional rationale. For in
that year India became independent, and control over the canal could no
longer be preserved on grounds that it was critical to the defense
either of India or of an empire that was being liquidated. And yet, at
exactly the same moment, the canal was gaining a new role -- as the
highway not of empire, but of oil. The Suez Canal was the way most of
the swelling volumes of Persian Gulf oil got to Europe, cutting the
11,000-mile journey around the Cape of Good Hope to Southampton down to
6,500 miles. By 1955, petroleum accounted for two-thirds of all the
canal's traffic, and in turn two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through
it. Flanked to the north by Tapline and the Iraq Petroleum Company
pipelines, the canal was the critical link in the postwar structure of
the international oil industry.1
British troops were withdrawn from Palestine in 1947 and the state of
Israel was formally established in 1948, shortly followed by the 1948
Arab-Israeli War, which established Israel's independence. See history
of Israel, history of Egypt.
In 1952, officers in the Egyptian army overthrew the monarchy under King
Farouk, who had previously employed a British puppet government.
Abandoning policies which were co-operative with European powers, the
new government asserted an independent and Arab nationalist identity.
This led to conflict with Israel and the European powers over the Suez
Canal.
Throughout 1956, tensions increased between Israel and Egypt, with
Egyptian fedayeen launching frequent incursions into Israeli territory
and Israel launching retaliatory raids into Egyptian territory. On July
26, 1956, Egypt, under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser
announced the nationalization of the canal, a vital trade route to the
east, in which British banks and business held a 44% stake. This was
done in order to raise revenue for the construction of the Aswan High
Dam on the Nile River. Previously, the United States and Britain had
agreed to help pay for this project, but cancelled their support after
Egypt had bought tanks from communist Czechoslovakia, then under the
control of the Soviet Union, and extended diplomatic recognition to
Communist China. The better relationship with the Chinese was the result
of the Bandung Conference in 1955, where Nasser had asked the Chinese to
use their influence on the Soviets to supply Egypt with the necessary
arms. The British Prime Minister of the time, Sir Anthony Eden, tried to
persuade the British public of the need for war and so, perhaps in an
attempt to recall World War II-era patriotism, he compared Nasser's
nationalisation of the Suez Canal with the nationalism of Benito
Mussolini and Adolf Hitler twenty years earlier. However, it is
interesting to note that the very first comparisons between 1930s
dictators and Nasser during the crisis was made by the opposition Labour
leader, Hugh Gaitskell and the left-leaning tabloid newspaper, the Daily
Mirror. Eden had been a staunch opponent of Neville Chamberlain's policy
of appeasement and he claimed that a display of force was needed to
prevent Nasser becoming another expansionist military threat.
In the months that followed Egypt's nationalisation of the canal, a
secret meeting between Israel, France and Britain took place at Sèvres,
outside Paris. Details only emerged years later, as records of the
meeting were suppressed and destroyed. All parties agreed that Israel
should invade and that Britain and France would subsequently intervene,
instruct the Israeli and Egyptian armies to withdraw their forces to a
distance of ten miles from either side of the canal, and then place an
Anglo-French intervention force in the Canal Zone around Port Said. It
was to be called "Operation Musketeer".
Invasion
On October 29, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula and
made rapid progress towards the Canal Zone. As per the agreement,
Britain and France offered to reoccupy the area and separate the warring
armies. Nasser (whose nationalisation of the company had been greeted
with joy by the Egyptian public) refused the offer, which gave the
European powers a pretext for a joint invasion to regain control of the
canal and topple the Nasser regime. To support the invasion, large air
forces had been deployed to Cyprus and Malta by the UK and France and
many aircraft carriers were deployed. The two regularly available
airfields on Cyprus were so congested that a third field which was in
dubious condition had to be brought into use for French aircraft. Even
RAF Luqa on Malta was extremely crowded with RAF Bomber Command
aircraft. The UK deployed the aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, Albion and
Bulwark and France had FS Arromanches and Lafayette on station. In
addition, HM ships Ocean and Theseus acted as jumping off points for the
world's first helicopter-borne assault. The United Kingdom and France
began to bomb Egypt on October 31 to force the reopening of the canal
with Operation Musketeer. Nasser responded by sinking all 40 ships then
present in the canal, closing it to further shipping until early 1957.
On late 5 November the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment dropped
at El Gamil Airfield, clearing the area and establishing a secure base
for incoming support aircraft and reinforcements. At first light on the
6 November Commandos of Nos 42 and 40 Commando Royal Marines stormed the
beaches, using landing craft of WW2 vintage. Salvos from the battlegroup
standing offshore opened fire, giving good covering fire for the
landings and causing considerable damage to the Egyptian batteries and
gun emplacements. The town of Port Said sustained great damage and was
seen to be alight.
Meeting stiff resistance, No. 45 Commando assaulted by helicopter and
upon landing, moved inland. Several helicopters were hit from shore
batteries and casualties were sustained. Friendly fire from British
carrier borne aircraft caused heavy casualties to 45 Commando and HQ.
Street fighting and house clearing was the order of the day. Again,
stiff opposition came from well entrenched sniper positions which caused
a number of casualties.
Cease fire and withdrawal
The operation to take the canal was highly successful from a military
point of view, but a political disaster due to external forces. Along
with Suez, the United States was also dealing with the near-simultaneous
Hungary crisis, and faced the public relations embarrassment (especially
in the eyes of the Third World) of criticizing the USSR's military
intervention there while not also criticizing its two principal European
allies' actions. Perhaps more significantly, the US also feared a wider
war after the USSR threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side and
launch attacks by "all types of modern weapons of destruction" on London
and Paris.
Thus, the Eisenhower administration forced a cease-fire on Britain and
France, which it had previously told the Allies it would not do. Part of
the pressure that the United States used against Britain was financial,
as Eisenhower threatened to sell the United States reserves of the
British pound and thereby precipitate a collapse of the British
currency.
The British government and the pound thus both came under pressure. Eden
was forced to resign, and the invading forces withdrew in March 1957.
Before the withdrawal, Lester Pearson, Canada's acting cabinet minister
for external affairs, had gone to the United Nations and suggested
creating a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Suez to "keep
the borders at peace while a political settlement is being worked out."
The United Nations eagerly accepted this suggestion, and the force was
sent, greatly improving conditions in the area. Lester Pearson was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his efforts. The United
Nations Peacekeeping Force was Pearson's creation and he is considered
the father of the modern concept "peacekeeping".
Aftermath
Eden's resignation marked, at least until the Falklands War, the end of
the last attempt Britain would ever make to establish, as Scott Lucas
writes, "that Britain did not require Washington's endorsement to defend
her interests". However, Nigel Ashton argues "that British strategy in
the region changed very little in the wake of Suez. Macmillan was every
bit as determined as Eden had been to stop Nasser" although he was more
willing to enlist American support in the future for that end. In a way,
it also marked the symbolic end of the British Empire, though it had in
reality been in decline for decades, even before World War II. The
crisis also marked the transfer of power to the new superpowers, the
United States and the Soviet Union.
The incident demonstrated the weakness of the NATO alliance regarding
prior consultation with allies before a use of force and NATO's lack of
planning and cooperation outside the European theatre. From the point of
view of General de Gaulle, the Suez events demonstrated that in case of
actual need, France should not have to rely on allies, especially the
United States, which may pursue different objectives.
The crisis also greatly improved Nasser's standing in the Arab world and
helped to promote pan-Arabism. It also hastened the process of
decolonization as the remaining colonies of both Britain and France
became independent over the next several years. In reaction to the war,
the Egyptian government expelled almost 25,000 Egyptian Jews and
confiscated their property, and sent approximately 1,000 more Jews to
prisons and detention camps.
After Suez, Aden and Iraq became the main bases for the British in the
region.
The British government failed to award military medals to its soldiers
until many years later.
By early 1957 all Israeli troops had withdrawn from Sinai.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Crisis
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