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Suez Crisis 1 Suez Crisis Suez Crisis The Tripartite Aggression The Sinai War Part of the Cold War and the ArabIsraeli conflict Damaged Egyptian equipment Date 29 October 7 November 1956 (Sinai under Israeli occupation until March 1957) Location Gaza Strip and Egypt (Sinai and Suez Canal zone) Result Egyptian and Soviet political victory Coalition military victory with subsequent forced Anglo-French withdrawal Israeli occupation of Sinai (until March 1957) United Nations cease-fire UNEF deployment in Sinai [] Straits of Tiran re-opened to Israeli shipping Resignation of Anthony Eden as British Prime Minister End of Britain's role as a Superpower [1][2][3] Guy Mollet's position as French Prime Minister heavily damaged and a major factor in his resignation five months after Eden's Belligerents Israel  United Kingdom France Egypt Palestinian fedayeen Commanders and leaders

Suez Crisis

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Page 1: Suez Crisis

Suez Crisis 1

Suez Crisis

Suez CrisisThe Tripartite Aggression

The Sinai WarPart of the Cold War and the Arab–Israeli conflict

Damaged Egyptian equipment

Date 29 October – 7 November 1956(Sinai under Israeli occupation until March 1957)

Location Gaza Strip and Egypt (Sinai and Suez Canal zone)

Result •• Egyptian and Soviet political victory•• Coalition military victory with subsequent forced Anglo-French withdrawal•• Israeli occupation of Sinai (until March 1957)•• United Nations cease-fire• UNEF deployment in Sinai[]

• Straits of Tiran re-opened to Israeli shipping• Resignation of Anthony Eden as British Prime Minister• End of Britain's role as a Superpower[1][2][3]

• Guy Mollet's position as French Prime Minister heavily damaged and a major factor in his resignation five monthsafter Eden's

Belligerents

• Israel•  United Kingdom• France

• Egypt•• Palestinian fedayeen

Commanders and leaders

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• Moshe Dayan• Ariel Sharon• Rafael Eitan• Haim Bar-Lev• Avraham Yoffe• Israel Tal• Mordechai Gur• Avraham Adan• Anthony Eden• Charles Keightley• Hugh Stockwell• Manley Power• Pierre Barjot• Andre Beaufre• Jacques Massu

• Abdel Hakim Amer• Saadedden Mutawally• Sami Yassa• Jaafar al-Abd• Salahedin Moguy• Raouf Mahfouz Zaki

Strength

• 175,000• 45,000• 34,000

300,000[4]

Casualties and losses

Israel:• 231 killed[5]

•• 899 wounded• 4 captured[]

United Kingdom:•• 16 killed•• 96 woundedFrance:•• 10 killed•• 33 wounded

• 1,650[6][7]-3,000 killed[8]

• 1,000 civilians killed[6]

•• 4,900 wounded• 5,000[9]-30,000+ captured[10]

The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War, or Second Arab-Israeli War[11][12]

(Arabic: العدوان الثالثي / أزمة السويس Azmat al-Suways / al-ʻUdwān al-Thulāthī , "Suez Crisis"/ "the TripartiteAggression"; French: Crise du canal de Suez; Hebrew: מבצע קדש Mivtza' Kadesh "Operation Kadesh," or מלחמתMilẖemet Sinai, "Sinai War"), was a diplomatic and military confrontation in late 1956 between Egypt on one סיניside, and Britain, France and Israel on the other, with the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nationsplaying major roles in forcing Britain, France and Israel to withdraw.[13]

The attack followed the President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser's decision of 26 July 1956 to nationalize the SuezCanal, after the withdrawal of an offer by Britain and the United States to fund the building of the Aswan Dam,which was in response to Egypt's new ties with the Soviet Union and recognizing the People's Republic of Chinaduring the height of tensions between China and Taiwan.[14] The aims of the attack were primarily to regain Westerncontrol of the canal and to remove Nasser from power,[citation needed] and the crisis highlighted the danger that Arabnationalism posed to Western access to Middle East oil.[15]

Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel, and thenbegan to bomb Cairo. Despite the denials of the Israeli, British, and French governments, allegations began toemerge that the invasion of Egypt had been planned beforehand by the three powers.[16] Anglo-French forceswithdrew before the end of the year, but Israeli forces remained until March 1957, prolonging the crisis. In April, thecanal was fully reopened to shipping, but other repercussions followed.The three allies, especially Israel, were mainly successful in attaining their immediate military objectives, but pressure from the United States and the USSR at the United Nations and elsewhere forced them to withdraw. As a

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result of the outside pressure Britain and France failed in their political and strategic aims of controlling the canaland removing Nasser from power. Israel fulfilled some of its objectives, such as attaining freedom of navigationthrough the Straits of Tiran. As a result of the conflict, the UNEF would police the Egyptian–Israeli border toprevent both sides from recommencing hostilities.

Background

The location of the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Indian Oceanvia the Red Sea.

The Suez Canal was opened in 1869,after ten years of work financed by theFrench and Egyptian governments.[17]

The canal was operated by theUniversal Company of the SuezMaritime Canal, an Egyptian-charteredcompany; the area surrounding thecanal remained sovereign Egyptianterritory and the only land-bridgebetween Africa and Asia.

The canal instantly becamestrategically important; it provided theshortest ocean link between theMediterranean and the Indian Ocean.The canal eased commerce for tradingnations and particularly helpedEuropean colonial powers to gain andgovern their colonies.

In 1875, as a result of debt andfinancial crisis, the Egyptian ruler wasforced to sell his shares in the canaloperating company to the British government of Benjamin Disraeli. They were willing buyers and obtained a 44%share in the canal's operations for less than £4 million; this maintained the majority shareholdings of the mostlyFrench private investors. With the 1882 invasion and occupation of Egypt, the United Kingdom took de facto controlof the country as well as the canal proper, and its finances and operations. The 1888 Convention of Constantinopledeclared the canal a neutral zone under British protection.[] In ratifying it, the Ottoman Empire agreed to permitinternational shipping to pass freely through the canal, in time of war and peace.[18] The Convention came into forcein 1904, the same year as the Entente cordiale, between Britain and France.

Despite this convention, the strategic importance of the Suez Canal and its control were proven during theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–1905, after Japan and Britain entered into a separate bilateral agreement. Followingthe Japanese surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet based at Port Arthur the Russians sent reinforcements fromtheir fleet in the Baltic Sea. The British denied the Russian fleet use of the canal and forced it to steam around theentire continent of Africa, giving the Japanese forces time to solidify their position in the Far East.The importance of the canal as a strategic intersection was again apparent during the First World War, when Britain and France closed the canal to non-Allied shipping. The attempt by German-Ottoman forces to storm the Canal in February 1915 led the British to commit 100,000 troops to the defense of Egypt for the rest of the First World War.[19] The canal continued to be strategically important after the Second World War as a conduit for the shipment of oil.[20] Petroleum business historian Daniel Yergin wrote of the period: "In 1948, the canal abruptly lost its traditional rationale.... [British] control over the canal could no longer be preserved on grounds that it was critical to

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the defence either of India or of an empire that was being liquidated. And yet, at exactly the same moment, the canalwas gaining a new role – as the highway not of empire, but of oil.... By 1955, petroleum accounted for half of thecanal's traffic, and, in turn, two thirds of Europe's oil passed through it.[21]

At the time, Western Europe imported two million barrels (bbls) per day from the Middle East, 1,200,000 by tankerthrough the Canal, and another 800,000 via pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, where tankersreceived it. The US imported another 300,000 bbls. daily from the Middle East.[22] Though pipelines linked the oilfields of Iraq and the Persian Gulf states to the Mediterranean, these routes were prone to suffer from instability,which led British leaders to prefer to use the sea route through the Suez Canal.[20] As it was, the rise of super-tankersfor shipping Middle East oil to Europe, which were too big to use the Suez Canal meant that British policy-makersgreatly overestimated the importance of the canal.[20] By 2000, only 8% of the imported oil in Britain arrived via theSuez canal with the rest coming via the Cape route.[20]

In August 1956 the Royal Institute of International Affairs published a report titled "Britain and the Suez Canal"revealing government perception of the Suez area. It reiterates several times the strategic necessity of the Suez Canalto the United Kingdom, including the need to meet military obligations under the Manila Pact in the Far East and theBaghdad Pact in Iraq, Iran, or Pakistan. The report also points out how the canal was used in past wars and could beused in future wars to transport troops from the Dominions of Australia and New Zealand in the event of war inEurope. The report also cites the amount of material and oil which passes through the canal to the United Kingdom,and the economic consequences of the canal being put out of commission, concluding:

The possibility of the Canal being closed to troopships makes the question of the control and regime of theCanal as important to Britain today as it ever was.[23]

Events leading to the Suez Crisis

Post-war yearsIn the aftermath of the Second World War, Britain was reassessing its role in the region in light of the severeeconomic constraints and its colonial history. The economic potential of the Middle East, with its vast oil reserves, aswell as the Suez Canal's geo-strategic importance against the background of the Cold War, prompted Britain toconsolidate and strengthen its position there. The kingdoms of Egypt and Iraq were seen as vital to maintainingstrong British influence in the region.Britain's military strength was spread throughout the region, including the vast military complex at Suez with agarrison of some 80,000, making it one of the largest military installations in the world. The Suez base wasconsidered an important part of Britain's strategic position in the Middle East; however, increasingly it became asource of growing tension in Anglo-Egyptian relations.[24] Egypt's post-war domestic politics were experiencing aradical change, prompted in no small part by economic instability, inflation, and unemployment. Unrest began tomanifest itself in the growth of radical political groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and anincreasingly hostile attitude towards Britain and her presence in the country. Added to this anti-British fervour wasthe role Britain had played in the creation of Israel.[24] As a result, the actions of the Egyptian government began tomirror those of its populace and an anti-British policy began to permeate Egypt's relations with Britain.In October 1951, the Egyptian government unilaterally abrogated the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, the terms ofwhich granted Britain a lease on the Suez base for 20 more years.[25] Britain refused to withdraw from Suez, relyingupon its treaty rights, as well as the sheer presence of the Suez garrison. The price of such a course of action was asteady escalation in increasingly violent hostility towards Britain and British troops in Egypt, which the Egyptianauthorities did little to curb.On 25 January 1952, British attempts to disarm a troublesome auxiliary police force barracks in Ismailia resulted in the deaths of 41 Egyptians.[26] This in turn led to anti-Western riots in Cairo resulting in heavy damage to property and the deaths of several foreigners, including 11 British citizens.[26] This proved to be a catalyst for the removal of

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the Egyptian monarchy. On 23 July 1952 a military coup by the 'Free Officers Movement'—led by MuhammadNeguib and future Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser—overthrew King Farouk and established an Egyptianrepublic.Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, cargo shipments to and from Israel had been subject to Egyptianauthorization, search and seizure while attempting to pass through the Suez Canal.[27] On 1 September 1951, theUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 95 called upon Egypt: "... to terminate the restrictions on the passage ofinternational commercial ships and goods through the Suez Canal, wherever bound, and to cease all interference withsuch shipping." This interference and confiscation, contrary to the laws of the canal (Article 1 of the 1888 SuezCanal Convention), increased following the coup.[citation needed].

Post-revolution periodBritain's desire to mend Anglo-Egyptian relations in the wake of the coup saw her strive for rapprochementthroughout 1953 and 1954. Part of this process was the agreement, in 1953, to terminate British rule in Sudan by1956 in return for Cairo's abandoning of its claim to suzerainty over the Nile Valley region. In October 1954, Britainand Egypt concluded an agreement on the phased evacuation of British troops from the Suez base, the terms ofwhich agreed to withdrawal of all troops within 20 months, maintenance of the base to be continued, and for Britainto hold the right to return for seven years.[28] The Suez Canal Company was not due to revert to the Egyptiangovernment until 16 November 1968 under the terms of the treaty.[29]

In the 1950s the Middle East was dominated by four different but overlapping struggles, each distinct from the other,but linked in various ways. The first was the geopolitical struggle for influence between the United States and theSoviet Union known as the Cold War. The second was the struggle between various Arab nationalists against the tworemaining imperial powers, Britain and France. The third was the Arab-Israeli dispute, and the fourth was thestruggle between different Arab states for the leadership of the Arab world,[30] known as the Arab Cold War.In regard to the latter, particularly venomous was the feud between Nasser and the Prime Minister of Iraq, Nuriel-Said, for Arab leadership, with the Cairo-based Voice of the Arabs radio station regularly calling for theoverthrow of the government in Baghdad.[30] The most important factors that drove Egyptian foreign policy in thisperiod was on the one hand, a determination to see the entire Middle East as Egypt's rightful sphere of influence, andon the other, a tendency on the part of Nasser to fortify his pan-Arabist and nationalist credibility by seeking tooppose any and all Western security initiatives in the Near East.[30]

Despite the establishment of such an agreement with the British, Nasser's position remained tenuous. The loss ofEgypt's claim to Sudan, coupled with the continued presence of Britain at Suez for a further two years, led todomestic unrest including an assassination attempt against him in October 1954. The tenuous nature of Nasser's rulecaused him to believe that neither his regime, nor Egypt's independence would be safe until Egypt had establisheditself as head of the Arab world.[31] This would manifest itself in the challenging of British Middle Eastern intereststhroughout 1955.In late 1954, Nasser began a policy of sponsoring raids into Israel by the fedayeen, triggering a series of Israelireprisal operations.[32] The raids were targeted as much at Iraq politically as against Israel militarily.[32] It wasNasser's intention to win himself the laurels of the foremost anti-Zionist state as a way of establishing his leadershipover the Arab world.[32] Before 1954, the principal target of Nasser's speeches had been Britain. Only after theAnglo-Egyptian agreement on evacuating the Canal Zone did Israel emerged as one of Nasser's main enemies.[33]

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US and Soviet diplomacy

At the same time, the United States was attempting to woo Nasser into an alliance.[34] The central problem forAmerican policy in the Middle East was that this region was perceived as strategically important due to its oil, butthe United States, weighed down by defense commitments in Europe and the Far East, lacked sufficient troops toresist a Soviet invasion of the Middle East.[35] In 1952, General Omar Bradley of Joint Chiefs of Staff declared at aplanning session about what to do in the event of a Soviet invasion of the Near East: "Where will the staff comefrom? It will take a lot of stuff to do a job there".[35]

As a consequence, American diplomats favored the creation of a NATO-type organization in the Near East toprovide the necessary military power to deter the Soviets from invading the region.[35] The Eisenhoweradministration, even more than the Truman administration saw the Near East as a huge gap into which Sovietinfluence could be projected, and accordingly required an American-supported security system.[36] An Americandiplomat later recalled:

It's hard to put ourselves back in this period. There was really a definite fear of hostilities, of an active Russianoccupation of the Middle East physically, and you practically hear the Russian boots clumping down over thehot desert sands.[37]

The projected Middle East Defense Organization (MEDO) was to be centered around Egypt.[37] A National SecurityCouncil directive of March 1953 called Egypt the "key" to the Near East and advised that Washington "...shoulddevelop Egypt as a point of strength".[36]

A major dilemma for American policy was that the two strongest powers in the Near East, Britain and France, werealso the nations whose influence many local nationalists most resented.[35] From 1953 onwards, Americandiplomacy had attempted unsuccessfully to persuade the powers involved in the Near East, both local and imperial,to set aside their differences and unite against the Soviet Union.[38] The Americans took the view that, just as fear ofthe Soviet Union had helped to end the historic Franco-German enmity, so too could anti-Communism end the morerecent Arab-Israeli dispute. It was a source of constant puzzlement to American officials in the 1950s that the Arabstates and the Israelis had seemed to have more interest in fighting each other rather that uniting against the SovietUnion. After his visit to the Middle East in May 1953 to drum up support for MEDO, the Secretary of State, JohnFoster Dulles found much to his astonishment that the Arab states were "more fearful of Zionism than of theCommunists".[39]

The policy of the United States was colored by considerable uncertainty as to whom to befriend in the Near East.American policy was torn between a desire to maintain good relations with NATO allies such as Britain and Francewho were also major colonial powers, and a desire to align Third World nationalists with the Free World camp.[40]

Though it would be entirely false to describe the coup which deposed King Farouk in July 1952 as a CentralIntelligence Agency (CIA) coup, Nasser and his Society of Free Officers were nonetheless in close contact with CIAoperatives led by Miles Copeland beforehand (Nasser maintained links with any and all potential allies from theEgyptian Communist Party on the left to the Muslim Brotherhood on the right).[41]

Nasser's friendship with certain CIA officers in Cairo led Washington to vastly overestimate its influence inEgypt.[42] That Nasser was close to CIA officers led the Americans for a time to view Nasser as a CIA "asset".[43] Inturn, the British who were aware of Nasser's CIA ties deeply resented this relationship, which they viewed as anAmerican attempt to push them out of Egypt.[43] The principal reason for Nasser's courting of the CIA before theJuly Revolution of 1952 was his hope that the Americans would act as a restraining influence on the British shouldWhitehall decide on intervention to put an end to the revolution (until Egypt renounced it in 1951, the 1936Anglo-Egyptian treaty allowed Britain the right of intervention against all foreign and domestic threats).[44] In turn,many American officials, such as Ambassador Jefferson Caffery, saw the continued British military presence inEgypt as anachronistic, and viewed the Revolutionary Command Council (as Nasser called his government after thecoup) in a highly favorable light.[45]

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Caffery was consistently very positive about Nasser in his reports to Washington right up until his departure fromCairo in 1955. The regime of King Farouk was viewed in Washington as weak, corrupt, unstable, and anti-American,so Free Officers' July coup was welcomed by the United States.[46] As it was, Nasser's contacts with the CIA werenot necessary to prevent British intervention against the July coup as Anglo-Egyptian relations had deteriorated sobadly in 1951–52 that the British viewed any Egyptian government not headed by King Farouk as a hugeimprovement.[47]

In May 1953, during a meeting with the American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, who asked Egypt to join ananti-Soviet alliance, Nasser responded by saying that the Soviet Union has

never occupied our territory..but the British have been here for seventy years. How can I go to my people andtell them I am disregarding a killer with a pistol sixty miles from me at the Suez Canal to worry aboutsomebody who is holding a knife a thousand miles away?[34]

Dulles informed Nasser of his belief that the Soviet Union was seeking world conquest, that the principal danger tothe Near East came from the Kremlin, and urged Nasser to set aside his differences with Britain to focus oncountering the Soviet Union.[34] In this spirit, Dulles suggested that the Nasser negotiate a deal that would see Egyptassume sovereignty over the Canal Zone base, but then allow the British to have "technical control" in the same waythat Ford auto company provided parts and training to its Egyptian dealers.[34]

Nasser did not share Dulles's fear of the Soviet Union taking over the Middle East, and insisted quite vehementlythat he wanted to see the total end of all British influence not only in Egypt, but all the Middle East.[34] The CIAoffered Nasser a $3 million bribe if he would joined the proposed Middle East Defence Organization; Nasser tookthe money, but then refused to join.[48] At most, Nasser made it clear to the Americans that he wanted anEgyptian-dominated Arab League to be the principal defense organization in the Near East, which might beinformally associated with the United States, and most of all, he wanted the United States to supply arms on agenerous scale to Egypt.[49] Nasser refused to promise that any U.S. arms he might buy would not be used againstIsrael, and rejected out of hand the American demand for Military Advisory Group to be sent to Egypt as part of theprice of arms sales.[50]

After he returned to Washington, Dulles advised Eisenhower that the Arab states believed "the United States willback the new state of Israel in aggressive expansion. Our basic political problem...is to improve the Moslem states'attitudes towards Western democracies because our prestige in that area had been in constant decline ever since thewar".[39] The immediate consequence was a new policy of "even-handedness" where the United States very publiclysided with the Arab states in several disputes with Israel in 1953–54.[51] Moreover, Dulles did not share anysentimental regard for the Anglo-American "special relationship", which led the Americans to lean towards theEgyptian side in the Anglo-Egyptian disputes.[52] During the extremely difficult negotiations over the Britishevacuation of the Suez Canal base in 1954–55, the Americans generally supported Egypt, though at the same timetrying hard to limit the extent of the damage that this might cause to Anglo-American relations.[53]

While the Americans were attempting to erect an alliance in the form of the still-born Middle East DefenceOrganization to keep the Soviet Union out of the Near East, the Soviet Union under the new leadership of NikitaKhrushchev was making a major effort to win influence in the so-called "third world".[54] As part of the diplomaticoffensive, Khrushchev had abandoned Moscow's traditional line of treating all non-communists as enemies andadopted a new tactic of befriending so-called "non-aligned" nations, which often were led by leaders who werenon-Communists, but in varying ways and degrees were hostile towards the West.[54] Khrushchev had realized thatby treating non-communists as being the same thing as being anti-communist, Moscow had needlessly alienatedmany potential friends over the years in the third world.[54] Under the banner of anti-imperialism, Khrushchev madeit clear that the Soviet Union would provide arms to any left-wing government in the third world as a way ofundercutting Western influence.[55]

The Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai who met Nasser at the 1955 Bandung Summit and was impressed by him, recommended that Khrushchev treat Nasser as a potential ally.[54] Zhou described Nasser to Khrushchev as a young

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nationalist, who though no Communist, could if used correctly do much damage to Western interests in the MiddleEast. Marshal Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, who also come to know Nasser at Bandung told Khrushchev in a 1955meeting that "Nasser was a young man without much political experience, but if we give him the benefit of thedoubt, we might be able to exert a beneficial influence on him, both for the sake of the Communist movement,and...the Egyptian people".[54] Traditionally, most of the equipment in the Egyptian military had come from Britain,but Nasser's desire to break British influence in Egypt meant that he was desperate to find a new source of weaponsto replace Britain.[56] Nasser had first broached the subject of buying weapons from the Soviet Union in 1954.[57]

Nasser exploits the superpower rivalry

Instead of siding with either super-power, Nasser took the role of the spoiler and tried to play off the super-powers inorder to have them compete with each other in attempts to buy his friendship.[58] Nasser's first choice for buyingweapons was the United States, but his frequent anti-Israeli speeches and his sponsorship for the fedayeen who weremaking raids into Israel had made it difficult for the Eisenhower administration to get the approval of Congress tosell weapons to Egypt. American public opinion was deeply hostile towards selling arms to Egypt that might be usedagainst Israel, and moreover Eisenhower feared starting a Middle Eastern arms race.[50] Eisenhower very muchvalued the Tripartite Declaration as a way of keeping peace in the Near East. In 1950, in order to limit the extent thatthe Arabs and the Israelis could engage in an arms race, the three nations which dominated the arms trade in thenon-Communist world, namely the United States, the United Kingdom and France had signed the TripartiteDeclaration, where they had committed themselves to limiting how many arms they could sell in the Near East, andalso to ensuring that any arms sales to one side was matched by arms sales of equal quantity and quality to theother.[59] Eisenhower viewed the Tripartite Declaration, which sharply restricted how many arms Egypt could buy inthe West, as one of the key elements in keeping the peace between Israel and the Arabs, and believed that settling offan arms race would inevitably lead to a new war.Nasser had let it be known in 1954–55 that he was considering buying weapons from the Soviet Union as a way ofpressuring the Americans into selling him arms he desired.[54] Nasser's hope was that faced with the prospect ofEgypt buying Soviet weapons, and thus coming under Soviet influence the Eisenhower administration would beforced to sell Egypt the weapons he wanted.[54] Khrushchev who very much wanted to win the Soviet Unioninfluence in the Middle East, was more than ready to arm Egypt if the Americans proved unwilling.[54] During secrettalks with the Soviets in 1955, Nasser's demands for weapons were more than amply satisfied as the Soviet Unionhad not signed the Tripartite Declaration.[60] The news in September 1955 of the Egyptian purchase of a hugequantity of Soviet arms via Czechoslovakia was greeted with shock and rage in the West, where this was seen asmajor increase in Soviet influence in the Near East.[61] In Britain, the increase of Soviet influence in the Near Eastwas seen as an ominous development that threatened to put an end to British influence in the oil-rich region.[62]

In the same report of May 1953 to Eisenhower calling for "even-handedness", Dulles stated that the Egyptians werenot interested in joining the proposed MEDO; that the Arabs were more interested in their disputes with the British,the French, the Israelis and each other than in standing against the Soviets; and that the "Northern Tier" states ofTurkey, Iran and Pakistan were more useful as allies at present than Egypt.[36] Accordingly, the best Americanpolicy towards Egypt was to work towards Arab-Israeli peace and the settlement of the Anglo-Egyptian dispute overthe British Suez Canal base as the best way of securing Egypt's ultimate adhesion to an American sponsored alliancecentered around the "Northern Tier" states.[63]

The "Northern Tier" alliance was achieved in early 1955 with the creation of the Baghdad Pact comprising Pakistan,Iran, Turkey, Iraq and the United Kingdom.[64] The presence of the last two states was due to the British desire tocontinue to maintain influence in the Middle East, and Nuri Said's wish to associate his country with the West as thebest way of counter-balancing the increasing aggressive Egyptian claims to regional predominance.[64] Theconclusion of the Baghdad Pact occurred almost simultaneously with a dramatic Israeli raid on the Gaza Strip on 28February 1955 in retaliation for fedayeen raids into Israel, during which the Israeli Unit 101 commanded by ArielSharon gave the Egyptian Army a bloody nose.[64]

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The close occurrence of the two events was mistakenly interpreted by Nasser as part of coordinated Western effort topush him into joining the Baghdad Pact.[65] The signing of the Baghdad Pact and the Gaza raid marked the beginningof the end of Nasser's once good relations with the Americans.[65] In particular, Nasser saw Iraq's participation in theBaghdad Pact as a Western attempt to promote his archenemy Nuri al-Said as an alternative leader of the Arabworld.[66]

Britain's close relationship with the two Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan were of particular concern toNasser. In particular, Iraq's increasingly amicable relations with Britain were a threat to Nasser's desire to see Egyptas head of the Arab world. The creation of the Baghdad Pact in 1955 seemed to confirm Nasser's fears that Britainwas attempting to draw the Eastern Arab World into a bloc centred upon Iraq, and sympathetic to Britain.[67]

Nasser's response was a series of challenges to British influence in the region that would culminate in the SuezCrisis.

The Franco-Israeli alliance emerges

Starting in 1949 owing to shared nuclear research, France and Israel started to move towards an alliance.[68]

Following the outbreak of the Algerian War in late 1954, France began to ship more and more arms to Israel.[69] InNovember 1954, Shimon Peres visited Paris, where he was received by the French Defense Minister Marie-PierreKœnig, who told him that France would sell Israel any weapons it wanted to buy.[70] By early 1955, France wasshipping large amounts of weapons to Israel.[70] In April 1956, following another visit to Paris by Peres, Franceagreed to totally disregard the Tripartite Declaration, and supply even more weapons to Israel.[71] During the samevisit, Peres informed the French that Israel had decided upon war with Egypt in 1956.[72] Peres claimed that Nasserwas a genocidal manic intent upon not only destroying Israel, but also exterminating its people, and as such, Israelwanted a war before Egypt received even more Soviet weapons, and there was still a possibility of victory for theJewish state.[72] Peres asked for the French, who had emerged as Israel's closest ally by this point, to give Israel allthey help they could give in the coming war.

The Travels of Mr. Anderson

In January 1956 in an effort to end the incipient arms race in the Middle East set off by the Soviet Union sellingEgypt arms on a scale unlimited by the Tripartite Declaration and with France doing likewise with Israel, which hesaw as opening the Near East to Soviet influence, Eisenhower launched a major effort to make peace between Egyptand Israel. Eisenhower sent out his close friend Robert B. Anderson to serve as a secret envoy who would end theArab-Israeli dispute once and for all.[73] During his meetings with Nasser, Anderson offered bountiful quantities ofAmerican aid in exchange for a peace treaty with Israel, only to see his offer rejected as unacceptable to Egypt.[74]

Anderson was no more successful in his talks with the Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion.[75]

A second round of secret diplomacy by Anderson in February 1956 was equally fruitless.[76] Nasser sometimessuggested during his talks with Anderson that he was interested in peace with Israel if only the Americans wouldsupply him with unlimited quantities of military and economic aid and ensure that Israel accepted the return of thePalestinians displaced in 1948–49. It is not clear if Nasser was sincerely interested in peace, or just merely sayingwhat the Americans wanted to hear in the hope of obtaining American funding for the Aswan high dam andAmerican weapons. The truth will likely never be known as Nasser was an intensely secretive man, who managed tohide his true opinions on most issues from both contemporaries and historians.[77] However, the British historian P.J.Vatikitos noted that Nasser's determination to promote Egypt as the world's foremost anti-Zionist state as a way ofreinforcing his claim to Arab leadership did not bode well for the prospects of peace.[78]

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Frustration of British aimsThroughout 1955 and 1956 Nasser pursued a number of policies that would frustrate British aims throughout theMiddle East, and result in increasing hostility between Britain and Egypt. Nasser saw Iraq's inclusion in the BaghdadPact as indicating that the United States and Britain had sided with his much hated archenemy Nuri as-Said's effortsto be the leader of the Arab world, and much of the motivation for Nasser's turn to an active anti-Western policystarting in 1955 was due to his displeasure with the Baghdad Pact.[79] For Nasser, attendance at such events as theBandung conference in April 1955 served as the both the means of striking a posture as a global leader, and ofplaying hard to get in his talks with the Americans, especially his demand that the United States sell him vastquantities of arms.[80]

Nasser "... played on the widespread suspicion that any Western defence pact was merely veiled colonialism and thatArab disunity and weakness—especially in the struggle with Israel—was a consequence of British machinations."[67]

He also began to align Egypt with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia—whose rulers were hereditary enemies of theHashemites—in an effort to frustrate British efforts to draw Syria, Jordan and Lebanon into the orbit of the BaghdadPact. Nasser struck a further blow against Britain by negotiating an arms deal with communist Czechoslovakia inSeptember 1955[81] thereby ending Egypt's reliance on Western arms. Later, other members of the Warsaw Pact alsosold arms to Egypt and Syria. In practice, all sales from the Eastern Bloc were authorised by the Soviet Union, as anattempt to increase Soviet influence over the Middle East. This caused tensions in the United States because WarsawPact nations now had a strong presence in the region.Nasser frustrated British attempts to draw Jordan into the pact by sponsoring demonstrations in Amman, leadingKing Hussein to dismiss the British commander of the Arab Legion, Sir John Bagot Glubb (known to the Arabs asGlubb Pasha) in March 1956 and throwing Britain's Middle Eastern security policy into chaos.[82] After one round ofbloody rioting in December 1955 and another in March 1956 against Jordan joining the Baghdad Pact, bothinstigated by Cairo-based Voice of the Arabs radio station, Hussein believed his throne was in danger.[83] In private,Hussein assured the British that he was still committed to continuing the traditional Hashemite alliance with Britain,and that his sacking of Glubb Pasha and all the other British officers in the Arab Legion were just gestures toappease the rioters. Eden was especially upset at the sacking of the Glubb Pasha, and as one British politicianrecalled:

For Eden...this was the last straw...This reverse, he insisted was Nasser's doing...Nasser was our Enemy No. 1in the Middle East and he would not rest until he destroyed all our friends and eliminated the last vestiges ofour influence...Nasser must therefore be...destroyed.[84]

After the sacking of Glubb Pasha, which he saw as a grievous blow to British influence, Eden become consumedwith an obsessional hatred for Nasser, and from March 1956 onwards, was in private committed to the overthrow ofNasser.[85] The American historian Donald Neff wrote that Eden's often hysterical and overwrought views towardsNasser almost certainly reflected the influence of the amphetamines to which Eden had become addicted tofollowing a botched operation in 1953 together with the related effects of sustained sleep deprivation (Eden slept onaverage about 5 hours/per night in early 1956).[86]

Increasingly Nasser came to be viewed in British circles – and in particular by Prime Minister Anthony Eden – as adictator, akin to Benito Mussolini. Ironically, in the build up to the crisis, it was the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskelland the left-leaning tabloid newspaper The Mirror that first made the comparison between Nasser and Mussolini.Anglo-Egyptian relations would continue on their downward spiral.Over the same period, the French Premier Guy Mollet, was facing an increasingly serious rebellion in Algeria, wherethe FLN rebels were being supported by Egypt, and he also came to perceive Nasser as a major threat.[87] During avisit to London in March 1956, Mollet told Eden that his country was faced with an Islamic threat to the very soul ofFrance supported by the Soviet Union.[87] Mollet stated that: "All this is in the works of Nasser, just as Hitler's policywas written down in Mein Kampf. Nasser has the ambition to recreate the conquests of Islam. But his presentposition is largely due to the policy of the West in building up and flattering him".[87]

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In a May 1956 gathering of French veterans, Louis Mangin spoke in place of the unavailable Minister of Defenceand gave a violently anti-Nasser speech, which compared the Egyptian leader to Hitler. He accused Nasser ofplotting to rule the entire Middle East and of seeking to annex Algeria, whose "people live in community withFrance".[88] Mangin urged France to stand up to Nasser, and being a strong friend of Israel, urged an alliance withthat nation against Egypt.[89]

Nationalisation of the Suez Canal and the road to crisis

Nasser announces the nationalization of the canal (UniversalNewsreel, 30 July 1956).

Britain was eager to tame Nasser and looked towardsthe United States for support. However, PresidentEisenhower strongly opposed British-French militaryaction.[90] America's closest Arab ally, Saudi Arabia,was just as fundamentally opposed to theHashemite-dominated Baghdad Pact as Egypt, and theU.S. was keen to increase its own influence in theregion.[91] The failure of the Baghdad Pact aided such agoal by reducing Britain's dominance over the region."Great Britain would have preferred to overthrowNasser; America, however uncomfortable with the'Czech arms deal', thought it wiser to propitiatehim."[92]

The events that brought the crisis to a head occurred inthe spring and summer of 1956. On 16 May, Nasser officially recognised the People's Republic of China, a movethat angered the U.S. and its secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, a keen sponsor of Taiwan.[82] This move, coupledwith the impression that the project was beyond Egypt's economic capabilities, caused Eisenhower to withdraw allAmerican financial aid for the Aswan Dam project on 19 July.[82]

The Eisenhower administration took the view that if Nasser were able to secure Soviet economic support for the highdam, that would be beyond the capacity of the Soviet Union to support, and in turn would strain Soviet-Egyptianrelations.[93] Eisenhower wrote in March 1956 that "If Egypt finds herself thus isolated from the rest of the Arabworld, and with no ally in sight except Soviet Russia, she would very quickly get sick of the prospect and would joinus in the search for a just and decent peace in the region".[93] Dulles told his brother, CIA director Allen Dulles "Ifthey [the Soviets] do make this offer we can make a lot of use of it in propaganda within the satellite bloc. You don'tget bread because you are being squeezed to build a dam".[93]

Finally, the Eisenhower administration had become very annoyed at Nasser's efforts to play the United States offagainst the Soviet Union, and decided to call Nasser's bluff by refusing to finance the Aswan high dam with theintention of teaching Nasser a lesson. As early as September 1955, when Nasser announced the purchase of theSoviet military equipment via Czechoslovakia, Dulles had written that competing for Nasser's favour was probablygoing to be "an expensive process", one that Dulles wanted to avoid as much as possible.[94]

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Nationalisation

Port Said, at the entrance to the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean.

Nasser's response was the nationalization of the SuezCanal. On 26 July, in a speech in Alexandria, Nassergave a riposte to Dulles. During his speech hedeliberately pronounced the name of Ferdinand deLesseps, the builder of the canal, a code-word forEgyptian forces to seize control of the canal andimplement its nationalization.[95] He announced thatthe Nationalization Law had been published, that allassets of the Suez Canal Company had been frozen, andthat stockholders would be paid the price of their sharesaccording to the day's closing price on the Paris StockExchange.[96] That same day, Egypt closed the canal toIsraeli shipping.[] Egypt also closed the Straits of Tiranto Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba, incontravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888. Many argued that this was also a violation of the 1949Armistice Agreements.[97][]

The nationalisation surprised Britain and its Commonwealth. There had been no discussion of the canal at theCommonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference in London in late June and early July.[]:7–8 Egypt's action, however,threatened British economic and military interests in the region. Prime Minister Anthony Eden was under immensedomestic pressure from Conservative MPs who drew direct comparisons between the events of 1956 and those of theMunich Agreement in 1938. Since the US government did not support the British protests, the British governmentdecided in favour of military intervention against Egypt to avoid the complete collapse of British prestige in theregion.[98]

Eden was hosting a dinner for King Feisal II of Iraq and his Prime Minister, Nuri es-Said, when he learned the Canalhad been nationalised. They both unequivocally advised Eden to "hit Nasser hard, hit him soon, and hit him byyourself" – a stance shared by the vast majority of the British people in subsequent weeks. "There is a lot of humbugabout Suez," Guy Millard, Eden's private secretary, later recorded. "People forget that the policy at the time wasextremely popular." Opposition leader Hugh Gaitskell was also at the dinner. He immediately agreed that militaryaction might be inevitable, but warned Eden would have to keep the Americans closely informed.[99] After a sessionof the House of Commons expressed anger against the Egyptian action on 27 July, Eden justifiably believed thatParliament would support him; Gaitskell spoke for his party when he called the nationalisation a "high-handed andtotally unjustifiable step".[]:8–9

Gaitskell's support became more cautious. On 2 August he said of Nasser's behavior, "It is all very familiar. It isexactly the same that we encountered from Mussolini and Hitler in those years before the war". He cautioned Eden,however, that "[w]e must not, therefore, allow ourselves to get into a position where we might be denounced in theSecurity Council as aggressors, or where the majority of the Assembly was against us". He had earlier warned Edenthat Labour might not support Britain acting alone against Egypt.[]:8–9 In two letters to Eden sent on 3 and 10 August1956 Gaitskell condemned Nasser, but again warned that he would not support any action that violated the UnitedNations charter.[100] In his letter of 10 August, Gaitskell wrote:

Lest there should be any doubt in your mind about my personal attitude, let me say that I could not regard an armed attack on Egypt by ourselves and the French as justified by anything which Nasser has done so far or as consistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Nor, in my opinion, would such an attack be justified in order to impose a system of international control over the Canal-desirable though this is. If, of course, the whole matter were to be taken to the United Nations and if Egypt were to be condemned by them as aggressors, then, of course, the position would be different. And if further action which amounted to obvious

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aggression by Egypt were taken by Nasser, then again it would be different. So far what Nasser has doneamounts to a threat, a grave threat to us and to others, which certainly cannot be ignored; but it is only a threat,not in my opinion justifying retaliation by war.[101]

24 Labour PMs issued a statement on 8 August stating that forcing Nasser to denationalise the canal against Egypt'swishes would violate the UN charter. Other opposition politicians were less conditional in their support. FormerLabour Foreign Minister Herbert Morrison hinted that he would support unilateral action by the government.[]:9–10

Jo Grimond, who became Liberal Party leader that November, thought if Nasser went unchallenged the wholeMiddle East would go his way.[98]

The French Premier Guy Mollet was outraged by Nasser's move, and was utterly determined that Nasser would notbe allowed to get away with it.[102] French public opinion was very supportive of Mollet, and besides for theCommunists, all of the criticism of his government came from the right, who very publicly doubted that a socialistlike Mollet had the guts to go to war with Nasser.[102] During an interview with Henry Luce, Mollet held up a copyof Nasser's book The Philosophy of the Revolution and said: "This is Nasser's Mein Kampf. If we're too stupid not toread it, understand it and draw the obvious conclusions, then so much the worse for us".[103]

1956 newsreels about Western reactions to the nationalization

On 29 July 1956, the French Cabinet had decided uponmilitary action against Egypt in alliance with Israel,and Admiral Nomy of the French Naval General Staffwas sent to Britain to inform the leaders of that countryof what France had decided to, and to invite them tojoin if they were interested.[103] At the same time,Mollet was very much offended by what he consideredto be the lackadaisical attitude of the Eisenhoweradministration to the nationalization of the Suez CanalCompany.[104] This was especially the case becauseearlier in 1956 the Soviet Foreign Minister VyacheslavMolotov had offered the French a deal in exchange forwhich Moscow ended its support of the FLN inAlgeria, Paris would pull out of NATO and becameneutral in the Cold War.[104]

Given the way that the Algeria (which was considered to be integral part of France) had become engulfed in a spiralof increasing savage violence that French leaders longed to put an end to, the Mollet cabinet had been tempted byMolotov's offer, but in the end, Mollet who was a firm Atlanticist had chosen to remain faithful towards NATO.[104]

In Mollet's view, his fidelity to NATO had earned him the right to expect firm American support against Egypt, andwhen that support was not forthcoming, he became even more determined that if the Americans were not willing todo anything about Nasser, then France would.[104]

Direct military intervention, however, ran the risk of angering Washington and damaging Anglo-Arab relations. As aresult, the British government concluded a secret military pact with France and Israel that was aimed at regainingcontrol over the Suez Canal.

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Anglo-Franco-American diplomacyOn 1 August 1956, a tripartite meeting was opened at 10 Downing Street between British Foreign Secretary SelwynLloyd, U.S. Ambassador Robert D. Murphy and French Foreign Affairs Minister Christian Pineau.[105]

An alliance was soon formed between Eden and Guy Mollet, French Prime Minister, with headquarters based inLondon. General Hugh Stockwell and Admiral Barjot were appointed as Chief of Staff. Britain sought co-operationwith the United States throughout 1956 to deal with what it maintained was a threat of an Israeli attack againstEgypt, but to little effect. Between July and October 1956, unsuccessful initiatives encouraged by the United Stateswere made to reduce the tension that would ultimately lead to war. International conferences were organised tosecure agreement on Suez Canal operations but all were ultimately fruitless.

Franco-Israeli planning for warIn July 1956, the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Moshe Dayan informed the Prime Minister David Ben Gurion thatIsrael should attack Egypt at the first chance, but Ben Gurion stated he preferred to attack Egypt with the aid ofFrance.[106] On 7 August 1956 the French Defense Minister Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury asked Peres if Israel wouldattack Egypt together with France, to which he received a positive reply.[107] On 1 September 1956 the Frenchgovernment formally asked that France and Israel begin joint planning for a war against Egypt.[108] By 6 September1956, General Meir Amit, the chief of operations at the Israeli general staff was meeting with Admiral Pierre Barjotto discuss joint Franco-Israeli operations.[108] On 25 September 1956 Peres reported to Ben Gurion that Francewanted Israel as an ally against Egypt, and that the only problem was Britain, which was opposed to Israel takingaction against Nasser.[109] In late September 1956, the French Premier Guy Mollet had embarked upon a dual policyof attacking Egypt with Britain, and if the British backed out (as Mollet believed that they might), with Israel.[110]

On 30 September 1956 secret Franco-Israeli talks on planning a war started in Paris, which were based on theassumption that Britain would not be involved.[111] The French very much wanted to use airfields in Cyprus to bombEgypt, but being not certain about Britain's attitude, wanted to use Israeli airfields if the ones in Cyprus were notfree.[112] Only on 5 October 1956 during a visit by General Maurice Challe to Britain where he met with Eden, werethe British informed of the secret Franco-Israeli alliance.[113]

Commonwealth reactionAmong the "White Dominions" of the British Commonwealth, Canada had few ties with the Suez Canal and twicehad refused British requests for peacetime military aid in the Middle East. It had little reaction to the seizure beforemilitary action. By 1956 Asia was much more important than Suez to Australia and New Zealand; the following yeartwo experts would write that it "is not vital to the Australian economy". The memory, however, of the two nationsfighting in two world wars to protect a canal which many still called their "lifeline" to Britain or "jugular vein",contributed to Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies and Sidney Holland of New Zealand's support for Britainin the early weeks after the seizure. On 7 August Holland hinted to his parliament that New Zealand might sendtroops to assist Britain, and received support from the opposition; on 13 August Menzies, who had traveled toLondon from the United States after hearing of the nationalisation and became an informal member of the BritishCabinet discussing the issue, spoke on the BBC in support of the Eden government's position on the canal. He calledthe dispute over the canal "a crisis more grave than any since the Second World War ended".[]:13–16,56–58,84 An elderstatesman of the Commonwealth who felt that Nasser's actions threatened trading nations like Australia, he arguedpublicly that Western powers had built the canal but that Egypt was now seeking to exclude them from a role in itsownership or management.[114][115] South Africa's Johannes Strijdom stated "it is best to keep our heads out of thebeehive". His government saw Nasser as an enemy but would benefit economically and geopolitically from a closedcanal, and politically from not opposing a nation's right to govern its internal affairs.[]:16–18

The "non-white Dominions" saw Egypt's seizing of the canal as an admirable act of anti-imperialism, and Nasser's Arab nationalism as similar to Asian nationalism. Jawaharlal Nehru of India was with Nasser when he learned of the

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Anglo-American withdrawal of aid for the Aswan Dam. As India was a user of the canal, however, he remainedpublicly neutral other than warning that any use of force, or threats, could be "disastrous". Suez was also veryimportant to Ceylon's economy, and it was renegotiating defense treaties with Britain, so its government was not asvocal in supporting Egypt as it would have been otherwise. Pakistan was also cautious about supporting Egypt giventheir rivalry as leading Islamic nations, but its government did state that Nasser had the right to nationalise.[]:18–24,79

The London Conference and the Menzies Committee

Australian Prime Minister RobertMenzies led an international

committee in negotiations withNasser in September 1956, which

sought to achieve internationalmanagement of the Canal. The

mission was a failure.

Almost immediately after the nationalisation, Eisenhower suggested to Eden aconference of maritime nations that used the canal. The British preferred to invitethe most important countries, but the Americans believed that inviting as manyas possible amid maximum publicity would affect world opinion. Invitationswent to the eight surviving signatories of the Constantinople Convention and the16 other largest users of the canal: Australia, Ceylon, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia,France, West Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, theNetherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Soviet Union, Spain,Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. All exceptEgypt—which sent an observer, and used India and the Soviet Union to representits interests—and Greece accepted the invitation, and the 22 nations'representatives met in London from 16 to 23 August.[][][]:81–89

15 of the nations supported the American-British-French position of internationaloperation of the canal; Pakistan chose its western allies over its sympathy forEgypt's anti-western position despite resulting great domestic controversy.Ceylon, Indonesia, and the Soviet Union supported India's competingproposal—which Nasser had preapproved—of international supervision only.India criticized Egypt's seizure of the canal, but insisted that its ownership andoperation now not change. The majority of 18 chose five nations to negotiate with Nasser in Cairo led by Menzies,while their proposal for international operation of the canal would go to the Security Council.[]:81–89[114][]

Menzies' 7 September official communique to Nasser presented a case for compensation for the Suez CanalCompany and the "establishment of principles" for the future use of the Canal that would ensure that it would"continue to be an international waterway operated free of politics or national discrimination, and with financialstructure so secure and an international confidence so high that an expanding and improving future for the Canalcould be guaranteed" and called for a Convention to recognise Egyptian sovereignty of the Canal, but for theestablishment of an international body to run the canal. Nasser saw such measures as a "derogation from Egyptiansovereignty" and rejected Menzies' proposals.[114] Menzies hinted to Nasser that Britain and France might use forceto resolve the crisis, but United States President Eisenhower openly opposed the use of force and Menzies left Egyptwithout success.[115]

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Protocol of SèvresThree months after Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal company, a secret meeting took place at Sèvres, outsideParis. Britain and France enlisted Israeli support for an alliance against Egypt. The parties agreed that Israel wouldinvade the Sinai. Britain and France would then intervene, purportedly to separate the warring Israeli and Egyptianforces, instructing both to withdraw to a distance of 16 kilometres from either side of the canal.[116]

The British and French would then argue that Egypt's control of such an important route was too tenuous, and that itneeded be placed under Anglo-French management. David Ben-Gurion did not trust the British in view of theirtreaty with Jordan and he was not initially in favour of the plan, since it would make Israel alone look like theaggressor; however he soon agreed to it since such a good opportunity to strike back at Egypt might never againpresent itself.[116]

Motivation of the involved states

Newsreels about disturbances in North Africa andEgypt leading up to the Suez Crisis

The interests of the parties were various. Britain was anxious lest itlose efficient access to the remains of its empire. Both the French andthe British felt that Nasser should be removed from power. The French"held the Egyptian president responsible for assisting the anticolonialrebellion in Algeria."[117]

France was nervous about the growing influence that Nasser exerted onits North African colonies and protectorates. Both Britain and Francewere eager that the canal should remain open as an important conduitof oil. Israel wanted to reopen the Straits of Tiran leading to the Gulf ofAqaba to Israeli shipping, and saw the opportunity to strengthen itssouthern border and to weaken what it saw as a dangerous and hostilestate. This was particularly felt in the form of attacks injuring approximately 1,300 civilians emanating from theEgyptian-held Gaza Strip.[118]

The Israelis were also deeply troubled by Egypt’s procurement of large amounts of Soviet weaponry that included530 armored vehicles, of which 230 were tanks; 500 guns; 150 MiG 15 jet fighters; 50 Iluyshin-28 bombers;submarines and other naval craft. The influx of this advanced weaponry altered an already shaky balance ofpower.[119] Additionally, Israel believed Egypt had formed a secret alliance with Jordan and Syria.[120]

Instead of the 18-nation proposal, the United States proposed an association of canal users that would set rules for itsoperation. 14 of the other nations agreed, not including Pakistan. Britain, in particular, believed that violation of theassociation rules would result in military force, but after Eden made a speech in parliament on 12 September statingthis the United States stated "we do not intend to shoot our way through" the canal.[]:89–92 Washington disagreedwith Paris and London on whether to use force to resolve the crisis. The United States worked hard throughdiplomatic channels to resolve the crisis without resorting to conflict. "The British and French reluctantly agreed topursue the diplomatic avenue but viewed it as merely an attempt to buy time, during which they continued theirmilitary preparations."[121] The British, Washington's closest ally, ignored Eisenhower's pointed warning that theAmerican people would not accept a military solution.[122]

Prior to its military operation London deliberately neglected to consult the Americans, trusting instead that Nasser'sengagement with communist states would persuade the Americans to accept British and French actions if they werepresented as a fait accompli. This proved to be a critical miscalculation. The American Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) was taking high-altitude photos of the allied activities, and more details came from human sources in London,Paris and Tel Aviv. CIA chief Allen Dulles said that "intelligence was well alerted as to what Israel and then Britainand France were likely to do ... In fact, United States intelligence had kept the government informed".[123]

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Forces

Britain

Universal Newsreel from 6 August about the departure of British andFrench ships for Egypt.

British troops were well-trained, experienced, and hadgood morale, but suffered from the economic andtechnological limitations imposed by post-warausterity.[124] The 16th Independent Parachute BrigadeGroup, which was intended to be the main British strikeforce against Egypt, was heavily involved in theCyprus Emergency, which led to a neglect of paratrooptraining in favour of counter-insurgency operations.[124]

The Royal Navy could project formidable powerthrough the guns of its warships and aircraft flownfrom its carriers, but a shortage of landing craft provedto be a serious weakness.[125]

It had just undergone a major and innovative carriermodernization program. The Royal Air Force (RAF)had just introduced two long-range bombers, the Vickers Valiant and the English Electric Canberra, but owing totheir recent entry into service the RAF had not yet established proper bombing techniques for these aircraft.[125]

Despite this, General Sir Charles Keightley, the commander of the invasion force, believed that air power alone wassufficient to defeat Egypt.[125] By contrast, Keightley's deputy General Hugh Stockwell believed that methodical andsystematic armored operations centered around the Centurion battle tank would be the key to victory.[126]

FranceFrench troops were experienced and well-trained but suffered from cutbacks imposed by post-war politics ofeconomic austerity.[127] In 1956, the French military was heavily involved in the Algerian war, which madeoperations against Egypt a major distraction.[127] French paratroopers of the elite Regiment de ParachutistesColoniaux (RPC) were extremely experienced, battle-hardened, and very tough soldiers, who had greatlydistinguished themselves in the fighting in Indochina and in Algeria.[127] The men of the RPC followed a "shootfirst, ask questions later" policy towards civilians, first adopted in Vietnam, which was to lead to the killing of anumber of Egyptian civilians.[127] The rest of the French troops were described by the American military historianDerek Varble as "...competent, but not outstanding".[127]

The main French (and Israeli) battle tank, the AMX-13, was designed for mobile, outflanking operations, which ledto a tank that was lightly armoured but very fast.[127] General André Beaufre, who served as Stockwell's subordinatefavored a swift campaign of movement in which the main objective was to encircle the enemy.[127] Throughout theoperation, Beaufre proved himself be more aggressive than his British counterparts, always urging that some boldstep be taken at once.[127] The French Navy had a powerful carrier force which was excellent for projecting powerinland, but, like its British counterpart, suffered from a lack of landing craft.[127]

IsraelAmerican military historian Derek Varble called the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) the "best" military force in the Middle East while at the same time suffering from "deficiencies" such as "immature doctrine, faulty logistics, and technical inadequacies".[128] The IDF's Chief of Staff, Major General Moshe Dayan, encouraged aggression, initiative, and ingenuity amongst the Israeli officer corps while ignoring logistics and armoured operations.[128]

Dayan, a firm infantry man, preferred that arm of the service at the expense of armour, which Dayan saw as clumsy,

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pricey, and suffering from frequent breakdowns.[128]

At the same time, the IDF had a rather disorganized logistics arm, which was put under severe strain when the IDFinvaded the Sinai.[128] Most of the IDF weapons in 1956 came from France.[128] The main IDF tank was theAMX-13 and the main aircraft were the Dassault Mystère IVA and the Ouragan.[129] Superior pilot training was togive the Israeli Air Force an unbeatable edge over their Egyptian opponents.[128] The Israeli Navy consisted of twodestroyers, seven frigates, eight minesweepers, several landing craft, and fourteen torpedo boats.

EgyptIn the Egyptian military, politics rather than military competence was the main criterion for promotion.[130] TheEgyptian commander, Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer, was a purely political appointee who owed his position tohis close friendship with Nasser. A heavy drinker, he would prove himself grossly incompetent as a general duringthe Crisis.[130] In 1956, the Egyptian military was well equipped with weapons from the Soviet Union such as T-34and JS-3 tanks, MiG-15 fighters, Ilyushin Il-28 bombers, SU-100 self-propelled guns and assault rifles.[130]

Rigid lines between officers and men in the Egyptian Army led to a mutual "mistrust and contempt" between officersand the men who served under them.[131] Egyptian troops were excellent in defensive operations, but had littlecapacity for offensive operations, owing to the lack of "rapport and effective small-unit leadership".[131]

PlanningIn July 1956, Eden ordered his Chiefs of Staff to begin planning for an invasion of Egypt.[132] Eden’s plan called forthe Cyprus-based 16th Independent Parachute Brigade Group to seize the Canal Zone.[133] The Prime Minister’s planwas rejected by the Chiefs of Staff who argued that the neglect of parachute training in the 16th IndependentParachute Brigade rendered his plan for an airborne assault unsuitable.[132] Instead, the Chiefs of Staff suggested thesea-power based Contingency Plan, which called for the Royal Marines to take Port Said, which would then be usedas a base for three British divisions to overrun the Canal Zone.[132]

In early August, the Contingency Plan was modified by including a strategic bombing campaign that was intended todestroy Egypt’s economy, and thereby hopefully bring about Nasser’s overthrow.[132] In addition, a role wasallocated to the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade, which would lead the assault on Port Said in conjunction withthe Royal Marine landing.[134] The commanders of the Task Force led by General Stockwell rejected theContingency Plan, which Stockwell argued failed to destroy the Egyptian military.[134]

Operation MusketeerStockwell offered up Operation Musketeer, which was to begin with a two-day air campaign that would see theBritish gain air superiority.[134] In place of Port Said, Musketeer called for the capture of Alexandria.[134] Once thatcity had been taken in assault from the sea, British armoured divisions would engage in a decisive battle ofannihilation somewhere south of Alexandria and north of Cairo.[134]

Musketeer would require thousands of troops, and which led the British to seek out France as an ally.[134] To destroythe 300,000-strong Egyptian Army in his planned battle of annihilation, Stockwell estimated that he needed 80,000troops, while at most the British Army could spare was 50,000 troops; the French could supply the necessary 30,000troops to make up the shortfall.[134]

On 11 August 1956 General Keightley was appointed commander of Musketeer with the French Admiral Barjot asDeputy-Commander.[134] The appointment of Stockwell as the Task Force commander charged with leading theassault on Egypt caused considerable disappointment with the other officers of the Task Force.[135] One Frenchofficer recalled that Stockwell was

Extremely excitable, gesticulating, keeping no part of him still, his hands, his feet, and even his head and shoulders perpetually on the go, he starts off by sweeping objects off the table with a swish of his swagger

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cane or in his room by using it to make golf-strokes with the flower vases and ash-trays. Those are the goodmoments. You will see him pass in an instant from the most cheerfully expressed optimism to a dejection thatamounts to nervous depression. He is a cyclothymic. By turns courteous and brutal, refined and coarse,headstrong in some circumstances, hesitant and indecisive in others, he disconcerts by his unpredictableresponses and the contradictions of which he is made up. One only of his qualities remains constant: hiscourage under fire.[135]

By contrast, the majority of the officers of the Task Force, both French and British admired Beaufre as an elegant yettough general with a sharp analytical mind who always kept his cool.[135] Most of the officers of the Anglo-FrenchTask Force expressed regret that it was Beaufre who was Stockwell’s deputy rather the other way around.[135] Amajor problem both politically and militarily with the planning for Musketeer was the one week interval betweensending troops to the eastern Mediterranean and the beginning of the invasion.[136] Additionally, the coming ofwinter weather to the Mediterranean in late November would render the invasion impossible, which thus meant theinvasion had to begin before then.[136] An additional problem was Eden, who constantly inferenced with theplanning and was so obsessed with secrecy that he refused to tell Keightley what his political objectives were inattacking Egypt, namely was he interested in retaking the Suez canal or toppling Nasser, or both.[137] Eden's refusalto explain to Keightley just what exactly he was hoping to accomplish by attacking Egypt exasperated Keightley tono end, and greatly complicated the planning process.[137]

In late August 1956, the French Admiral Pierre Barjot suggested that Port Said once again be made the main target,which lessened the number of troops needed and thus reduced the interval between sending forces to the easternMediterranean and the invasion.[138] Beaufre was strongly opposed to the change, warning that Barjot’s modificationof merely capturing the Canal Zone made for an ambiguous goal, and that the lack of a clear goal wasdangerous.[138]

In early September, Keightley embraced Barjot’s idea of seizing Port Said, and presented Operation Revise.[138]

Revise called for the following:• Phase I: Anglo-French air forces to gain air supremacy over Egypt’s skies.[138]

• Phase II: Anglo-French air forces were to launch a 10-day “aero-psychological” campaign that would destroy theEgyptian economy.[138]

• Phase III: Air- and sea-borne landings to capture the Canal Zone.[138]

Operation ReviseOn 8 September 1956 Revise was approved by the British and French cabinets.[138] Both Stockwell and Beaufrewere opposed to Revise as an open-ended plan with no clear goal beyond seizing the Canal zone, but was embracedby Eden and Mollet as offering greater political flexibility and the prospect of lesser Egyptian civilian casualties.[138]

At the same time, Israel had been working on Operation Kadesh for the invasion of the Sinai.[133] Dayan’s plan putan emphasis on air power combined with mobile battles of encirclement.[133] Kadesh called for the Israeli air force towin air superiority, which was to be followed up with “one continuous battle” in the Sinai.[133] Israeli forces would ina series of swift operations encircle and then take the main Egyptian strongpoints in the Sinai.[133]

Reflecting this emphasis on encirclement was the “outside-in” approach of Kadesh, which called for Israeliparatroopers to seize distant points first, with those closer to Israel to be seized later.[133] Thus, the 202nd ParatroopBrigade commanded by Colonel Ariel Sharon was to land in the far-western part of the Sinai to take the Mitla Pass,and thereby cut off the Egyptian forces in the eastern Sinai from their supply lines.[133]

In October 1956, Eden, after two months of pressure, finally and reluctantly agreed to French requests to include Israel in Operation Revise.[133] The British alliances with the Hashemite kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq had made the British very reluctant to fight alongside Israel, lest the ensuing backlash in the Arab world threaten London's friends in Baghdad and Amman.[133] The coming of winter weather in November meant that Eden needed a pretext to begin Revise as soon as possible, which meant that Israel had to be included.[133] This was especially the case as many

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Conservative back-benchers had expected Eden to launch operations against Egypt in the summer, and weredisappointed when Eden had instead chosen talks. By the fall of 1956, many Tory back-benchers were starting togrow restive about the government's seeming inability to start military action, and if Eden continued to put offmilitary action for the winter of 1956–57, it is possible that his government might not had survived.[133] Under theProtocol of Sèvres, the following was agreed to:•• 29 October: Israel to invade the Sinai.•• 30 October: Anglo-French ultimatum to demand both sides withdraw from the Canal Zone.•• 31 October: Britain and France begin Revise.On 28 October, Operation Tarnegol was effected, during which an Israeli Gloster Meteor NF.13 intercepted anddestroyed an Egyptian Ilyushin Il-14 carrying high-ranking members of the Egyptian General Staff en route fromSyria to Egypt. The Ilyushin was believed to be carrying Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer and the EgyptianGeneral Staff; however this was not the case.

Invasion

Anglo-French para drops on the Suez Canal and Israeli conquest of Sinai.

Operation Kadesh: The Israelioperation in the Sinai Peninsula

Operation Kadesh received its name fromancient Kadesh, located in the northern Sinaiand mentioned several times in the HebrewPentateuch. Israeli military planning for thisoperation in the Sinai hinged on four mainmilitary objectives; Sharm el-Sheikh, Arish,Abu Uwayulah, and the Gaza Strip. TheEgyptian blockade of the Tiran Straits wasbased at Sharm el-Sheikh and, by capturingthe town, Israel would have access to the RedSea for the first time since 1953, whichwould allow it to restore the trade benefits ofsecure passage to the Indian Ocean.

The Gaza Strip was chosen as anothermilitary objective because Israel wished toremove the training grounds for Fedayeengroups, and because Israel recognised thatEgypt could use the territory as a stagingground for attacks against the advancingIsraeli troops. Israel advocated rapidadvances, for which a potential Egyptianflanking attack would present even more of arisk. Arish and Abu Uwayulah were important hubs for soldiers, equipment, and centres of command and control ofthe Egyptian Army in the Sinai.[139]

Capturing them would deal a deathblow to the Egyptian's strategic operation in the entire Peninsula. The capture of these four objectives were hoped to be the means by which the entire Egyptian Army would rout and fall back into Egypt proper, which British and French forces would then be able to push up against an Israeli advance, and crush in a decisive encounter. On 24 October, Dayan ordered a partial mobilization.[139] When this led to a state of confusion,

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Dayan ordered full mobilization, and chose to take the risk that he might alert the Egyptians.[139] As part of an effortto maintain surprise, Dayan ordered Israeli troops that were to go to the Sinai to be ostentatiously concentrated nearthe border with Jordan first, which was intended to fool the Egyptians into thinking that it was Jordan that the mainIsraeli blow was to fall on.[139]

The conflict began on 29 October 1956.[140] At about 3: 00 pm, Israeli Air Force Mustangs launched a series ofattacks on Egyptian positions all over the Sinai.[139] Because Israeli intelligence expected Jordan to enter the war onEgypt's side,[141] Israeli soldiers were stationed along the Israeli-Jordanian frontier. The Israel Border Policemilitarized the Israel-Jordan border, including the Green Line with the West Bank, during the first few hours of thewar. Israeli-Arab villages along the Jordanian border were placed under curfew, and orders were given to shootcurfew violators. This resulted in the killings of 48 civilians in the Arab village of Kafr Qasim in an event known asthe Kafr Qasim massacre. The border policemen involved in the killings were later tried and imprisoned, with anIsraeli court finding that the order to shoot civilians was "blatantly illegal". This event had major effects on Israelilaw relating to the ethics in war and more subtle effects on the legal status of Arab citizens of Israel, who at the timewere regarded as a fifth column.

Early actions in Southern Sinai

Israeli paratrooper near the Mitla Pass

The Israeli Chief of Staff, Major General Moshe Dayan, first plannedto take the vital Mitla Pass. Dayan planned for the Battalion 890 of theParatroop Brigade, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel RafaelEitan, a veteran of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and future head of theIDF, to drop at Parker's Memorial, near one of the defiles of the pass,Jebel Heitan.[142] The rest of the brigade, under the command ofColonel Ariel Sharon would then advance to meet with the battalion,and consolidate their holdings.[142]

On 29 October, Operation Kadesh – the invasion of the Sinai, beganwhen an Israeli paratrooper battalion was air-dropped into the SinaiPeninsula, east of the Suez Canal near the Mitla Pass. In conjunctionwith the para drop, four Israeli P-51 Mustangs using their wings andpropellers, cut all overhead telephone lines in the Sinai, severelydisrupting Egyptian command and control.[143][144] Due to anavigation error, the Israeli DC-3 transports landed Eitan's 400 paratroopers three miles away from Parker'sMemorial, their intended target.[145] Eitan marched his men towards Jebel Heitan, where they dug in while receivingsupplies of weapons dropped by French aircraft.[145]

At the same time, Colonel Sharon's 202nd Paratroop Brigade raced out towards the Mitla Pass.[145] A major problemfor Sharon was vehicle break-down.[145] Dayan’s efforts to maintain strategic surprise bore fruit when the Egyptiancommander Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer at first treated the reports of an Israeli inclusion into the Sinai as alarge raid instead of an invasion, and as such Amer did not order a general alert.[139] By the time that Amer realizedhis mistake, the Israelis had made significant advances into the Sinai.[139]

Early actions along the Gulf of Aqaba, and the central front

As the paratroopers were being dropped into the Sinai, the Israeli 9th Infantry Brigade captured Ras an-Naqb, animportant staging ground for that brigade's later attack against Sharm el-Sheikh.[145] Instead of attacking the town bya frontal attack, they enveloped the town in a night attack, and negotiated their way through some of the naturalchokepoints into the rear of the town, surprising the Egyptians before they could ready themselves to defend.[145]

The Egyptians surrendered, with no Israeli casualties sustained.

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The 4th Infantry Brigade, under the command of Colonel Josef Harpaz, captured al-Qusaymah, which would be usedas a jumping off point for the assault against Abu Uwayulah.[145] Colonel Harpaz out-flanked al-Qusaymah with twopincers from the south-east and north-east in a night attack.[146] In a short battle lasting from 3:00 am to sunrise, theIDF stormed al-Qusaymah.[146]

Battle of Jebel Heitan, Paratroop Brigade under attack

Israeli paratroopers dig in near the Parker Memorial.

The portion of the Paratroopers under Sharon'scommand continued to advance to meet with the 1stBrigade. En route, Sharon assaulted Themed in a dawnattack, and was able to storm the town with his armorthrough the Themed Gap.[147] Sharon routed theSudanese police company, and captured thesettlement.[147] On his way to the Nakla, Sharon's mencame under attack from Egyptian MIG-15s.[147] On the30th, Sharon linked up with Eytan near Nakla.[147]

Dayan had no more plans for further advances beyondthe passes, but Sharon decided to attack the Egyptianpositions at Jebel Heitan.[147] Sharon sent his lightlyarmed paratroopers against dug-in Egyptians supportedby aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery.[147] Sharon's actions were in response to reports of the arrival of the 1st and2nd Brigades of the 4th Egyptian Armored Division in the area, which Sharon believed would annihilate his forces ifhe did not seize the high ground.[147] Sharon sent two infantry companies, a mortar battery and some AMX-13 tanksunder the command of Mordechai Gur into the Heitan Defile on the afternoon of 31 October 1956.[147]

The Egyptian forces occupied strong defensive positions and brought down heavy anti-tank, mortar and machine gunfire on the IDF force.[148] Gur's men were forced to retreat into the "Saucer", where they were surrounded and cameunder heavy fire.[148] Hearing of this, Sharon sent in another task force while Gur's men used the cover of night toscale the walls of the Heitan Defile.[148] During the ensuing action, the Egyptians were defeated and forced to retreat.A total of 260 Egyptian and 38 Israeli soldiers were killed during the battle.[148]

Although the battle was an Israeli victory, the casualties sustained would surround Sharon with controversy.[149] Inparticular, Sharon was criticized for ordering the attack on Jebel Heitan without authorization, and not realizing thatwith the Israeli Air Force controlling the skies, his men were in not such danger from the Egyptian tanks as hebelieved.[149] Dayan himself maintained that Sharon was correct to order the attack without orders, and that underthe circumstances, Sharon made the right decision; instead he criticized Sharon for his tactics of attacking theEgyptians head-on, which Dayan claimed led to unnecessary casualties.[149] Most of the deaths sustained by theIsraelis in the entire operation were sustained at Jebel Heitan.

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Air operations, first phase

Universal Newsreel from 1 November about the attack on Egypt

From the outset, the Israeli Air Force flew paratroopdrops, supply flights and medevac sorties. Israel's newFrench-made Dassault Mystere IV jet fighters providedair cover for the transport aircraft. In the initial phase ofthe conflict, the Egyptian Air Force flew attackmissions against advancing Israeli ground forces. TheEgyptian tactic was to use their new Soviet-madeMiG-15 jets as fighter escorts, while their olderBritish-made De Havilland Vampire and GlosterMeteor jets conducted strikes against Israeli troops andvehicles.[150]

In air combat, Israeli aircraft shot down between sevenand nine Egyptian jets[150] with the loss of oneplane,[151] but Egyptian strikes against the ground forces continued through to 1 November.[152] With the attack bythe British and French air forces and navies, President Nasser ordered his pilots to disengage and fly their planes tobases in Southern Egypt. The Israeli Air Force was then free to strike Egyptian ground forces at will, as Israeli forcesadvanced into the Western Sinai.

On 3 November, four Israeli warplanes attacked a British warship, the Black Swan class sloop HMS Crane as it waspatrolling the approaches to the Gulf of Aqaba. According to the IDF, Crane had been identified as an Egyptianwarship, and the Israeli General Staff authorized the attack. Three rockets penetrated the ship's hull and causedsignificant internal damage, including severed power mains and a ruptured oil tank. The ship also sustained someexternal damage from shrapnel and cannon fire, and three crewmen were wounded. Crane shot down one Israeliplane and damaged another during the engagement.[153][154][155]

Naval operations

The Ibrahim el Awal after its capture by theIsraeli Navy.

On 30 October, the Egyptian Navy dispatched the Ibrahim el Awal, anex-British Hunt class destroyer, to Haifa with the aim of shelling thatcity’s coastal oil installations. On 31 October the Ibrahim el Awalreached Haifa and began bombarding the city with its four 102mm(4-inch) guns. The French destroyer Kersaint, which was guardingHaifa port as part of Operation Musketeer, returned fire but failed toscore any hits. The Ibrahim el Awal disengaged and turned northwest.Israeli destroyers INS Eilat and INS Yaffo then gave chase and caughtup with the Egyptian warship. The Israeli destroyers, together with twoIsraeli Air Force Dassault Ouragans, succeeded in damaging thedestroyer's turbo generator, rudder and antiaircraft guns. Left withoutpower and unable to steer, the Ibrahim el Awal surrendered to theIsraeli destroyers. The Egyptian destroyer was subsequentlyincorporated into the Israeli Navy and renamed INS Haifa(K-38).[150][156][157]

On the night of 31 October in the northern Red Sea, the British lightcruiser HMS Newfoundland challenged and engaged the Egyptianfrigate Domiat, reducing it to a burning hulk in a brief gun battle. TheEgyptian warship was then sunk by escorting destroyer HMS Diana, with 69 surviving Egyptian sailors rescued.[158]

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The Hedgehog-Abu Uwayulah operations

The village of Abu Uwayulah in the central Sinai served as the road centre for the entire Sinai, and thus was a keyIsraeli target.[148] To the east of Abu Uwayulah were several ridges that formed a natural defensive zone known tothe Israelis as the "Hedgehog".[148] Holding the "Hedgehog" were 3,000 Egyptians of the 17th and 18th battalions ofthe 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Colonel Sami Yassa.[148] Yassa's men held a series of well-fortifiedtrenches.[148] The "Hedgehog" could only be assaulted from the east flank of Umm Qataf ridge and the west flank ofRuafa ridge.[148]

On 30 October, a probing attack by Israeli armour under Major Izhak Ben-Ari turned into an assault on the UmmQataf ridge that ended in failure.[159] During the fighting at Umm Qataf, Colonel Yassa was badly wounded andreplaced by Colonel Saadedden Mutawally.[160] To the south, another unit of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigadediscovered the al-Dayyiqa gap in the Jebel Halal ridge of the "Hedgehog".[159] The Israeli forces stormed and tookthe al-Dayyiqa gap.[159] Colonel Mutawally failed to appreciate the extent of the danger to his forces posed by theIDF breakthrough at al-Dayyiqa.[159]

Led by Colonel Avraham Adan, an IDF force entered the al-Dayyiqa and at dawn on 31 October attacked AbuUwayulah.[161] After an hour's fighting, Abu Uwayulah fell to the IDF.[162] At the same time, another IDF battalionattacked the Ruafa ridge.[162]

Concurrently, another attack was launched on the eastern edge of the "Hedgehog" by the IDF 10th Infantry Brigade(composed mostly of reservists) that ended in failure.[163] By noon, the Israeli Air Force had carried out a series ofpunishing airstrikes on the Egyptian positions, sometimes accidentally hitting IDF ground forces.[163] Such was thetendency of the IAF to stage "friendly fire" incidents the IAF was arguably as much as danger to the Israeli troops asto the enemy.[163]

After taking Abu Uwayulah, Adan committed all of his forces against the Ruafa ridge of the "Hedgehog".[164] Adanbegan a three-pronged attack with one armored force striking northeastern edge of Ruafa, a mixed infantry/armoredforce attacking the north edge and a feint attack from a neighbouring knoll.[164] During the evening attack on 31October, a chaotic battle raged on Ruafa ridge with much hand-to-hand fighting.[165] Though every IDF tankinvolved was destroyed, after a night's fighting, Ruafa had fallen to the IDF.[166] Another IDF assault that night, thistime by the 10th Infantry Brigade on Umm Qataf was less successful with much of the attacking force getting lost inthe darkness, resulting in a series of confused attacks that ended in failure.[166] Dayan, who had grown impatientwith the failure to storm the "Hedgehog", sacked the 10th Brigade's commander Colonel Shmuel Golinda andreplaced him with Colonel Israel Tal.[166]

On the morning of 1 November, Israeli and French aircraft launched frequent napalm attacks on the Egyptian troopsat Umm Qataf.[166] Joined by the 37th Armored Brigade, the 10th Brigade again assaulted Umm Qataf, and wasagain defeated.[166] However, the ferocity of the IDF assault combined with rapidly dwindling stocks of water andammunition caused Colonel Mutawally to order a general retreat from the "Hedgehog" on the evening of 1November.[166]

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The Gaza Strip operations

US newsreel on the Sinai and Gaza invasions

The city of Rafah was strategically important to Israel because controlof that city would sever the Gaza Strip from the Sinai and provide away to the main centres of the northern Sinai, al-Arish andal-Qantarah.[167] Holding the forts outside of Rafah were a mixture ofEgyptian and Palestinian forces in the 5th Infantry Brigadecommanded by Brigadier General Jaafar al-Abd.[167] In Rafah itself the87th Palestinian Infantry Brigade was stationed.[167] Assigned tocapture Rafah were 1st Infantry Brigade led by Colonel BenjaminGivli and 27th Armored Brigade commanded by Colonel HaimBar-Lev of the IDF.[167] To the south of Rafah were a series ofmine-filled sand dunes and to the north were a series of fortifiedhills.[167]

Dayan ordered the IDF forces to seize Crossroads 12 in the central Rafah area, and to focus on breaking throughrather than reducing every Egyptian strongpoint.[167] The IDF assault began with Israeli sappers and engineersclearing a path at night through the minefields that surrounded Rafah.[167] French warships led by the cruiserGeorges Leygues provided fire support, through Dayan had a low opinion of the French gunnery, complaining thatthe French only struck the Egyptian reserves.[168]

Using the two paths cleared through the southern minefields, IDF tanks entered the Rafah salient.[168] UnderEgyptian artillery fire, the IDF force raced ahead and took Crossroads 12 with the loss of 2 killed and 22wounded.[168] In the north, the Israeli troops fought a confused series of night actions, but were successful instorming Hills 25, 25A, 27 and 29 with the loss of six killed.[168] In the morning of 1 November, Israeli AMX-13sencircled and took Hills 34 and 36.[169] At that point, General al-Abd ordered his forces to abandon their postsoutside of Rafah and retreat into the city.[170]

With Rafah more or less cut off and Israeli forces controlling the northern and eastern roads leading into the city,Dayan ordered the AMX-13s of the 27th Armored Brigade to strike west and take al-Arish.[170] By this point, Nasserhad ordered his forces to fall back towards the Suez Canal, so at first the Bar-Lev and his men met little resistance asthey advanced across the northern Sinai.[170] Hearing of the order to withdraw, General al-Abd and his men leftRafah on the morning of 1 November through a gap in the Israeli lines, and headed back towards the CanalZone.[170] Three hours later, the Israelis took Rafah.[170] It was reported that after taking Rafah, Israeli troops killed111 people, including 103 refugees, in Rafah's Palestinian refugee camp.[171][172] Not until the Jeradi Pass in thenorthern Sinai did the IDF run into serious opposition.[170] A series of hooking attacks that out-flanked the Egyptianpositions combined with airstrikes led to an Egyptian defeat at the Jeradi Pass.[170] On 2 November, Bar-Lev's forcestook al-Arish.[173]

Meanwhile, the IDF attacked the Egyptian defenses outside of Gaza City late on 1 November.[173] After breakingthrough the Egyptian lines, the Israeli tanks headed into Gaza City.[173] Joined by infantry, the armor attacked theal-Muntar fortress outside of Gaza City, killing or capturing 3,500 Egyptian National Guard troops.[173] By noon of 2November, there was no more Egyptian opposition in the Gaza City area.[173] On 3 November, the IDF attackedEgyptian and Palestinian forces at Khan Yunis.[173] After a fierce battle, the Israeli 37th Armored Brigade's Shermantanks broke through the heavily fortified lines outside of Khan Yunis held by the 86th Palestinian Brigade.[174]

After some street-fighting with Egyptian soldiers and Palestinian fedayeen, Khan Yunis fell to the Israelis.[174] There are claims that after taking Khan Yunis, the IDF committed a massacre. Israel maintained that the Palestinians were killed in street-fighting, while the Palestinians claimed that Israeli troops started executing unarmed Palestinians after the fall of Khan Yunis.[175] The claims of a massacre were reported to the UN General Assembly on 15 December 1956 by the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, Henry Labouisse, who reported from "trustworthy sources" that 275 people were killed in the massacre of which 140 were refugees and 135 local

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residents.[176][]

In both Gaza City and Khan Yunis, street-fighting led to the deaths of "dozens, perhaps hundreds, ofnon-combatants".[177] During the Gaza Strip fighting, anarchy reigned in the streets, and the warehouses belongingto the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) were sacked by Palestinian mobs, leading to ahumanitarian crisis as many people in the Gaza were left without food and medicine.[177] This was compounded by awidespread view in Israel that the responsibility for the care of the Palestinian refugees rested with the UNRWA, notIsrael, which led the Israelis to be slow with providing aid.[178] By noon of 3 November, the Israelis had control ofalmost the entire Gaza Strip save for a few isolated strongpoints, which were soon attacked and taken.[174] The UNestimated that in total 447 to 550 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli troops during the first weeks of Israelioccupation of the strip.[179]

The Sharm el-Sheikh operations

By 3 November, with the IDF having successfully taken the Gaza Strip, Arish, the Hedgehog, and Mitla Pass, Sharmel-Sheikh was the last Israeli objective.[174] The main difficulty faced by Colonel Abraham Yoffe's 9th InfantryBrigade was logistical.[174] There were no good roads linking Ras an-Naqb to Sharm el-Sheikh.[174] After taking theborder town of Ras an-Naqb on 30 October, Daylan ordered Yoffe to wait until air superiority was ensured.[180]

To outflank Sharm el-Sheikh, Dayan ordered paratroopers to take the town of Tor in the western Sinai.[180] TheEgyptian forces at Sharm el-Sheikh had the advantage of holding one of the most strongly fortified positions in theentire Sinai, but had been subjected to heavy Israeli air attacks from the beginning of the war.[180] Yoffe set out forSharm el-Sheikh on 2 November, and his major obstacles were the terrain and vehicle break-down.[180] Israeli Navyships provided support to the 9th Division during its advance.[181]

After numerous skirmishes on the outskirts of Sharm el-Sheikh, Yoffe ordered an attack on the port around midnighton 4 November.[182] After four hours of heavy fighting, Yoffe ordered his men to retreat.[182] On the morning of 5November, Israeli forces launched a massive artillery barrage and napalm strikes against Egyptian forces defendingSharm el-Sheikh.[182] At 9:30 am on 5 November, the Egyptian commander, Colonel Raouf Mahfouz Zaki,surrendered Sharm el-Sheikh.[182]

Anglo-French task force

A battle-damaged de Havilland Sea Venom on HMS Eagle.

To support the invasion, large air forces had beendeployed to Cyprus and Malta by Britain and Franceand many aircraft carriers were deployed. The twoairbases on Cyprus were so congested that a third fieldwhich was in dubious condition had to be brought intouse for French aircraft. Even RAF Luqa on Malta wasextremely crowded with RAF Bomber Commandaircraft.

The British deployed the aircraft carriers HMS Eagle,Albion and Bulwark and France had the battleship JeanBart and aircraft carriers Arromanches and La Fayetteon station. In addition, HMS Ocean and Theseus actedas jumping-off points for Britain's helicopter-borneassault (the world's first).

Revise: Phases I and II

In the morning of 30 October Britain and France sent ultimatums to Egypt and Israel. They initiated Operation Musketeer on 31 October, with a bombing campaign.[183] Nasser responded by sinking all 40 ships present in the

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canal closing it to all shipping – shipping would not move again until early 1957. Despite the risk of an invasion inthe Canal Zone, Field Marshal Abdel Hakim Amer ordered Egyptian troops in the Sinai to stay put, as Amerconfidently assured Nasser that the Egyptians could defeat the Israelis in the Sinai and then defeat the Anglo-Frenchforces once they came ashore in the Canal Zone.[184]

Amer also advised Nasser to send more troops into the Sinai to inflict his promised defeat on Israel, even though therisk of their being cut off if the Canal Zone were seized by Anglo-French forces was enormous.[184] Not until late on31 October, did Nasser disregard Amer's rosy assessment and ordered his forces to disengage in the Sinai and toretreat back to the Canal Zone to face the expected Anglo-French invasion.[184] Eden and Mollet ordered Phase I ofOperation Revise to begin 13 hours after the Anglo-French ultimatum.[185]

British bombers based in Cyprus and Malta took off to Cairo with the aim of destroying Cairo airport, only to bepersonally ordered back by Eden when he learned that American civilians were being evacuated at Cairo airport.[185]

Fearful of the backlash that might result if American civilians were killed in a British bombing attack, Eden sent theValiant bombers back to Malta while the Canberra’s were ordered to hit Almaza airbase outside of Cairo.[185] Britishnight bombing proved ineffective.[185]

Starting on the morning of 1 November, carrier-based de Havilland Sea Venoms, Chance-Vought Corsairs andHawker Sea Hawks began a series of daytime strikes on Egypt.[185] By the night of 1 November the Egyptian AirForce had lost 200 planes.[185] With the destruction of Egypt's air force, Keightley ordered the beginning of RevisePhase II.[186] As part of Revise Phase II, a wide-ranging interdiction campaign began.[187] On 3 November F4U-7Corsairs from the 14.F and 15.F Aéronavale taking off from the French carriers Arromanches and La Fayette,attacked the aerodrome at Cairo.The very aggressive French General Beaufre suggested at once that Anglo-French forces seize the Canal Zone withairborne landings instead of waiting the planned ten days for Revise II to be worked through, and that the risk ofsending in paratroopers without the prospect of sea-borne landings for several days be taken.[188] By 3 November,Beaufre finally convinced Keightley and Stockwell of the merits of his approach, and gained the approval forOperation Telescope as Beaufre had code-named the airborne assault on the Canal Zone.[189]

On 2 November 1956 the First Sea Lord Admiral Mountbatten sent a letter to Eden telling him to stop the invasionbefore troops landed in the Canal Zone as the operation had already proved to be too costly politically.[190] The nextday, Mountbatten made a desperate phone call to Eden asking for permission to stop the invasion before it began,only to be refused.[191] Mountbatten's views led to clash of personalities with the Chief of the Imperial General Staff,General Gerald Templer who supported the invasion.[192] In response to Mountbatten's call to cancel the invasion,Templer penned a memo, which read:

"Some people in England today say that what we're done in the Middle East will have terrible effects inthe future...The reality is that we have checked a drift. With a bit of luck we're not only stopped a bigwar in the Middle East, but we're halted the march of Russia through the Middle East and on to theAfrican continent".[193]

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Telescope Modified: the Paratroops land

Smoke rises from oil tanks beside the Suez Canal hit during theinitial Anglo-French assault on Port Said, 5 November 1956.

On late 5 November, an advance element of the 3rdBattalion of the British Parachute Regiment dropped onEl Gamil Airfield, a narrow strip of land, led byBrigadier M.A.H. Butler.[194] The "Red Devils" couldnot return Egyptian fire while landing, but once theparatroopers landed, they used their Sten guns,three-inch mortars and anti-tank weapons with greateffect.[195] Having taken the airfield with a dozencasualties, the remainder of the battalion flew in byhelicopter. The Battalion then secured the area aroundthe airfield.[195]

During the ensuing street fighting, the Egyptian forcesengaged in methodical tactics, fighting on the defensewhile inflicting maximum casualties and retreating onlywhen overwhelming force was brought to bear.[195] In particular, the SU100s proved to be a formidable weapon inurban combat.[195] The British forces moved up towards Port Said with air support before digging in at 13:00 to holduntil the beach assault.[196] With close support from carrier-based Wyverns, the British paratroopers took Port Said'ssewage works and the cemetery while becoming engaged in a pitched battle for the Coast Guard barracks.[196]

At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Chateau-Jobert landed with a force of the 2e RPC at Raswa.[196] Raswaimposed the problem of a small drop zone surrounded by water, but General Jacques Massu of the 10th ParachuteDivision assured Beaufre that this was not an insolvable problem for his men.[189] 500 heavily armed paratroopers ofthe French 2nd Colonial Parachute Regiment (2ème RPC), hastily redeployed from combat in Algeria, jumped overthe al-Raswa bridges from Nord Noratlas 2501 transports of the Escadrille de Transport (ET) 1/61 and ET 3/61,together with some combat engineers of the Guards Independent Parachute Company.[197]

Despite the loss of two soldiers, the western bridge was swiftly secured by the paras, and F4U Corsairs of theAéronavale 14.F and 15.F flew a series of close-air-support missions, destroying several SU-100 tank destroyers.F-84Fs also hit two large oil storage tanks in Port Said, which went up in flames and covered most of the city in athick cloud of smoke for the next several days. Egyptian resistance varied, with some positions fighting back untildestroyed, while others were abandoned with little resistance. The French paratroopers stormed and took Port Said'swaterworks that morning, an important objective to control in a city in the desert.[196] Chateau-Jobert followed upthis success by beginning an attack on Port Fuad.[198] Derek Varble, the American military historian, later wrote "Airsupport and fierce French assaults transformed the fighting at Port Fuad into a rout".[198] During the fighting in theCanal Zone, the French paratroopers often practiced their "no-prisoners'" code and executed Egyptian POWs.[199]

The Egyptian commander at Port Said, General Salahedin Moguy then proposed a truce.[198] His offer was taken up,and in the ensuring meeting with General Butler, Chateau-Jobert and General Massu, was offered the terms ofsurrendering the city and marching his men to the Gamil airfield to taken off to POW camps in Cyprus.[200] Moguyhad no interest in surrendering and only made the truce offer to buy time for his men to dig in;[200] when fightingbegan again vans with loudspeakers traveled through the city encouraging resistance against the invaders, byannouncing that London and Paris had been bombed by the Russians and that World War III had started. As theparatroopers alone were not enough,[]:173 Beaufre and British Admiral Manley Laurence Power urged that thesea-borne landings be accelerated and that Allied forces land the very next day.[200]

Stockwell and Knightley, who wished to stick with the original plan, opposed this.[201] Stockwell was always in favour of rigidly following already agreed to plans, and was most reluctant to see any changes, whereas Beaufre was all for changing plans to match with changed circumstances.[202] The differences between Stockwell and Beaufre

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were summarized by the American historian Derek Varble as: "Stockwell favored existing plans; their methodicalconstruction and underlying staff work reduced risks. Beaufre, by contrast an opportunist, saw plans merely a meansto an end, without much inherent value. For him, altered circumstances or assumptions provided adequatejustification to jettison part or all of the original plan".[202]

The Royal Marines come ashore at Port Said

At first light on 6 November, commandos of No. 42 and 40 Commando Royal Marines stormed the beaches, usinglanding craft of World War II vintage (Landing Craft Assault and Landing Vehicle Tracked).[203] The battle groupstanding offshore opened fire, giving covering fire for the landings and causing considerable damage to the Egyptianbatteries and gun emplacements. The town of Port Said sustained great damage and was seen to be alight.[203]

The men of 42 Commando as much as possible chose to by-pass Egyptian positions and focused on trying to breakthrough inland.[203] The Royal Marines of 40 Commando had the advantage of being supported by Centurion tanksas they landed on Sierra Red beach.[204] Upon entering downtown Port Said, the Marines became engaged in fierceurban combat as the Egyptians used the Casino Palace Hotel and other strongpoints as fortresses.[204]

Nasser proclaimed the Suez War to be a "people's war".[205] As such, Egyptian troops were ordered to don civilianclothes while guns were freely handed out to Egyptian civilians.[206] From Nasser's point of view, a "people's war"presented the British and French with an insolvable dilemma.[207] If the Allies reacted aggressively to the "people'swar", then that would result in the deaths of innocent civilians and thus bring world sympathy to his cause whileweakening morale on the home front in Britain and France.[207] If the Allies reacted cautiously to the "people's war",than that would result in Allied forces becoming bogged down by sniper attacks, who had the advantage of attacking"...with near impunity by hiding among crowds of apparent non-combatants".[207]

These tactics worked especially well against the British.[207] British leaders, especially Eden and the First Sea LordAdmiral Sir Louis Mountbatten were afraid of being labelled "murderers and baby killers", and sincerely attemptedto limit Egyptian civilian deaths.[207] Eden frequently interfered with Revise Phrase I and II bombing, striking offvarious targets that he felt were likely to cause excessive civilian deaths, and restricted the gun sizes that could beused at the Port Said landings, again to minimize civilian deaths.[208]

The American historian Derek Varble has commented that the paradox between Eden's concern for Egyptiancivilians and the object of Revise Phase II bombing, which was intended to terrorize the Egyptian people, was neverresolved.[209] Despite Eden's best efforts, British bombing still killed hundreds of Egyptian civilians during ReviseII, though these deaths were due more to imprecise aiming rather than a deliberate policy of "area bombing" such asthat employed against Germany in World War II.[210] At Port Said, the heavy fighting in the streets and the resultingfires destroyed much of the city, killing thousands of civilians[211]Wikipedia:VerifiabilityIn the afternoon, 522 additional French paratroopers of the 1er REP (Régiment Étranger Parachutiste, 1st ForeignParachute Regiment) were dropped near Port Fouad. These were also constantly supported by the Corsairs of theFrench Aéronavale, which flew very intensive operations: for example, although the French carrier La Fayettedeveloped catapult problems, no less than 40 combat sorties were completed. The French were aided by AMX-13light tanks.[212] While clearing Port Fuad, the Ier Regiment Etranger Parachutiste killed 100 Egyptians withoutlosing a man in return.[212] In total, 10 French soldiers were killed and 30 injured during the landing and thesubsequent battles.

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A British link up between the 3rd Battalion, The ParachuteRegiment, and the Commandos at the Coast Guard barracks in Port

Said. The paratroopers have with them a captured SU-100 tankdestroyer, and the Commandos a Buffalo amphibious assault vehicle.

British commandos of No. 45 Commando assaulted byhelicopter, meeting stiff resistance, with shore batteriesstriking several helicopters, while friendly fire fromBritish carrier-borne aircraft caused casualties to 45Commando and HQ.[213] The helicopter borne assaultof 45 Commando was the first time helicopters wereused by UK Forces to lift men directly into a combatzone.[214] Lieutenant Colonel N.H. Tailyour, who wasleading 45 Commando was landed by mistake in astadium still under Egyptian control resulting in a veryhasty retreat.[215] Street fighting and house clearing,with strong opposition from well-entrenched Egyptiansniper positions, caused further casualties.[216]

Especially fierce fighting took place at the Port Said'sCustoms House and Navy House.[215] The Egyptians destroyed Port Said's Inner Harbour, which forced the Britishto improvise and use the Fishing Harbour to land their forces.[217] The 2nd Bn of the Parachute Regiment landed byship in the harbour. Centurion tanks of the British 6th Royal Tank Regiment were landed and by 12:00 they hadreached the French paratroopers.[217] While the British were landing at Port Said, the men of the 2 RPC at Raswafought off Egyptian counter-attacks featuring SU100 self-propelled guns.[218]

After establishing themselves in a position in downtown Port Said, 42 Commando headed down the ShariMuhammad Ali, the main north-south road to link up with the French forces at the Raswa bridge and the Inner Basinlock.[218] While doing so, the Marines also took Port Said's gasworks.[219] Meanwhile, 40 Commando supported bythe Royal Tank Regiment remained engaged in clearing the downtown of Egyptian snipers.[219] Colonel Tailyourarranged for more reinforcements to be brought in via helicopter.[219]

Hearing rumours that Moguy wished to surrender, both Stockwell and Beaufre left their command ship HMS Tynefor Port Said.[212] Upon landing, they learned the rumours were not true.[212] Instead of returning to the Tyne, bothStockwell and Beaufre spent the day in Port Said, and were thus cut off from the news.[212] Only late in the day didBeaufre and Stockwell learn of the acceptance of the United Nations ceasefire.[212] Rather than focusing on breakingout to take al-Qantarah, the Royal Marines became bogged down in clearing every building in Port Said ofsnipers.[212] The Centurions of the Royal Tank Regiment supported by the paratroopers of 2 RPC began a slowadvance down to al-Qantarah on the night of 6 November.[220]

Egyptian sniper attacks and the need to clear every building led the 3 Para to be slowed in their attempts to link upwith the Royal Marines.[221] When Stockwell learned of the ceasefire to come into effect in five hours’ time at 9: 00pm, he ordered Colonel Gibbon and his Centurions to race down and take al-Qantarah with all speed in order toimprove the Allied bargaining position.[222] What followed was a confused series of melee actions down the road toal-Qantarah that ended with the British forces at al-Cap, a small village four miles north of al-Qantarah at 2:00 am,when the ceasefire came into effect.[223]

CasualtiesBritish casualties stood at 16 dead and 96 wounded,[] while French casualties were 10 dead and 33 wounded. TheIsraeli losses were 231 dead[5] and 899 wounded. The number of Egyptians killed was "never reliablyestablished".[224] Egyptian casualties to the Israeli invasion were estimated at 1,000–3,000 dead and 4,000 wounded,while losses to the Anglo-French operation were estimated at 650 dead and 900 wounded.[8][225] 1,000 Egyptiancivilians are estimated to have died.[226]

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End of hostilities

Newsreel from 12 November 1956 about the endof the invasion

Anti-war protests in Britain

Protests against the war occurred in Britain after the invasion began.On the popular television talk show Free Speech, an especially bitterdebate took place on 31 October with the leftist historian A. J. P.Taylor and the Labour journalist and future party leader Michael Footcalling their colleague on Free Speech, the Conservative M.P. RobertBoothby, a “criminal” for supporting the war.[227] One television criticspoke of Free Speech during the war that “the team seemed to not onlyon the verge of, but actually losing their tempers...Boothby boomed,Foot fumed and Taylor trephined, with apparent real malice…”.[228]

The angry, passionate, much-watched debates about the Suez war on Free Speech mirrored the divided publicresponse to the war.[228] Eden's major mistake had been not to strike in July 1956 when there was widespread angerat Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company, as by the fall of 1956 public anger had subsided, with manypeople in Britain having come to accept the fait accompli, and saw no reason for war.[229] This was especially thecase as Eden's claims that the Egyptians would hopelessly mismanage the Canal had proven groundless, and that bySeptember 1956 it was clear that the change of management had not affected shipping.[230] Even more importantly,Eden's obsession with secrecy and his desire to keep the preparations for war as secret as possible meant that theEden government did nothing in the months running up to the attack to explain to the British people why it was feltthat war was necessary.[231] Many of the reservists who were called up for their National Service in the summer andfall of 1956 recalled feeling bewildered and confused as the Eden government started preparing to attack Egyptwhile at the same time Eden insisted in public that he wanted a peaceful resolution of the dispute, and was opposedto attacking Egypt.[232] The British author David Pryce-Jones recalled that as a young officer, that after theultimatum was submitted to Egypt he had to explain to his troops why war with Egypt was necessary withoutbelieving a word that he was saying.[233]

Gaitskell was much offended that Eden had kept him in the dark about the planning for action against Egypt, and feltpersonally insulted that Eden had just assumed that he would support the war without consulting him first.[234][235]

On 31 October he cited in Parliament the fact that, despite Eden's claim that the British government had consultedclosely with the commonwealth, no other member nation did; in the Security Council, not even Australia hadsupported the British action. He called the invasion[]:208–209

an act of disastrous folly whose tragic consequences we shall regret for years. Yes, all of us will regret it,because it will have done irreparable harm to the prestige and reputation of our country ... we shall feel boundby every constitutional means at our disposal to oppose it[]:208–209

The stormy and violent debates in the House of Commons on 1 November 1956 almost degenerated into fist-fightsafter several Labour M.P.s compared Eden to Hitler.[236] The British historian A. N. Wilson wrote that "The lettersto The Times caught the mood of the country , with great majority opposing military intervention...".[237] Thejournalist Malcolm Muggeridge and actor Robert Speaight wrote in a public letter that

The bitter division in public opinion provoked by the British intervention in the Middle East has already had one disastrous consequence. It has deflected popular attention from the far more important struggle in Hungary. A week ago the feelings of the British people were fused in a single flame of admiration for the courage and apparent success of the Hungarian revolt. Now, that success seems threatened by Russian treachery and brute force, and Hungary has appealed to the West...It is the first, and perhaps will prove the only opportunity to reverse the calamitous decisions of Yalta...The Prime Minister has told us that 50 million

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tons of British shipping are at stake in his dispute with President Nasser. What is at stake in Central Europe arerather more than 50 million souls. It may be objected that it is not so easy to help the Hungarians; to thisexcuse they are entitled to reply that it was not so easy to help themselves.[238]

Lady Violet Bonham Carter, an influential Liberal Party member, wrote in a letter to the Times thatI am one of the millions who watching the martyrdom of Hungary and listening yesterday to the transmissionof her agonizing appeals of help (immediately followed by our "successful bombings" of Egyptian "targets")who have felt a humiliation, shame and anger which are beyond expression...We cannot order Soviet Russia toobey the edict of the United Nations which we ourselves have defied, nor to withdraw her tanks and guns fromHungary while we are bombing and invading Egypt. Today we are standing in the dock with Russia...Never inmy lifetime has our name stood so low in the eyes of the world. Never have we stood so ingloriouslyalone.[239]

According to public opinion polls at the time, 37% of the British people supported the war while 44% wereopposed.[][240] The Observer newspaper in a leader (editorial) attacked the Eden government for its "folly andcrookedness" in attacking Egypt while the Manchester Guardian urged its readers to write letters of protest to theirMPs.[241] The Economist spoke of the "strange union of cynicism and hysteria" in the government and The Spectatorstated that Eden would soon have to face "a terrible indictment".[241] The majority of letters written to M.Ps fromtheir constituents were against the Suez attack.[242] Significantly, many of the letters come from voters whoidentified as Conservatives.[243] The historian Keith Feiling wrote "the harm done seems to me terrifying: for mypart I have resigned from the party while the present leader is there".[244] The law professor and future Conservativecabinet minister Norman St. John-Stevas wrote at the time:

I had wanted to stand for the party at the next election, but I cannot bring myself to vote for the party at themoment, let alone stand for it. I am thinking of joining the Labour Party and am having lunch with FrankPakenham next week.[244]

The historian Hugh Trevor-Roper expressed regret that no senior minister resigned and hoped "some kind of nationalTory party can be saved from the wreck".[244] A master at Eton College in a letter to his M.P. declared:

I write to you to express my complete abhorrence of the policy which the government is pursuing...I havevoted Conservative in the last three elections, but I am quite sure my next vote will be for a Labourcandidate"[244]

The extent of Conservative dissent should not be overstated. The majority of Conservative constituency associationspassed resolutions of support to "Sir Anthony".[244]

The Labour Party and the Trade Union Congress organized nation-wide anti-war protests, starting on 1 Novemberunder the slogan “Law, not war!”[] On 4 November, at an anti-war rally in Trafalgar Square attended by 30,000people (making it easily the biggest rally in London since 1945), the Labour M.P. Aneurin Bevan accused thegovernment of “a policy of bankruptcy and despair”.[] Bevan stated at the Trafalgar rally:

We are stronger than Egypt but there are other countries stronger than us. Are we prepared to accept for ourselves the logic we are applying to Egypt? If nations more powerful than ourselves accept the absence of principle, the anarchistic attitude of Eden and launch bombs on London, what answer have we got, what complaint have we got? If we are going to appeal to force, if force is to be the arbiter to which we appeal, it would at least make common sense to try to make sure beforehand that we have got it, even if you accept that abysmal logic, that decadent point of view. We are in fact in the position today of having appealed to force in the case of a small nation, where if it is appealed to against us it will result in the destruction of Great Britain, not only as a nation, but as an island containing living men and women. Therefore I say to Anthony, I say to the British government, there is no count at all upon which they can be defended. They have besmirched the name of Britain. They have made us ashamed of the things of which formerly we

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were proud. They have offended against every principle of decency and there is only way in which they caneven begin to restore their tarnished reputation and that is to get out! Get out! Get out![]

Inspired by Bevan’s speech, the crowd at Trafalgar Square then marched on 10 Downing Street chanting “Eden MustGo!”, and attempted to storm the Prime Minister’s residence.[245] The ensuring clashes between the police and thedemonstrators which were captured by television cameras had a huge demoralizing effect on the Eden cabinet,[246]

which was meeting there.[245] The British historian Anthony Adamthwaite wrote in 1988 that American financialpressure was the key factor that forced Eden to accept a ceasefire, but the public protests, declining poll numbers andsigns that many Conservative voters were deserting the government were important secondary factors.[240]

Support for EdenSome modern historians contend, however, that the majority of public opinion at the time was on Eden's side.[247]

Gilbert Murray was among Oxford scholars who signed a statement supporting Eden; such an act by the famousadvocate of internationalism amazed both sides. He explained that, if not stopped, he believed Nasserism wouldbecome a Soviet-led worldwide anti-western movement.[]:202–203 The British historian Barry Turner wrote that

The public reaction to press comment highlighted the divisions within the country. But there was no doubt thatEden still commanded strong support from a sizable minority, maybe even a majority, of voters who thoughtthat it was about time that the upset Arabs should be taught a lesson. The Observer and Guardian lost readers;so too did the News Chronicle, a liberal newspaper that was soon to fold as a result of falling circulation.[241]

A.N. Wilson wrote thatThe bulk of the press, the Labour Party and that equally influential left-learning party, the London dinnerparty, were all against Suez together with the rent-a-mob of poets, dons, clergy and ankle-socked femalegraduates who deplored British action, they did not necessarily constitute the majority of unexpressed publicopinion[239]

The economist Roy Harrod wrote at the time that the "more level-headed British, whom I believe to be in themajority through not the most vocal" were supporting the "notable act of courage and statesmanship" of thegovernment.[248] Eden himself claimed that his mail went from eight to one against the military action immediatelyafter its start, to four to one in support on the day before the ceasefire.[]:202

International reaction

Eisenhower press conference about the crisis, 9 August

The operation, aimed at taking control of the SuezCanal, Gaza, and parts of Sinai, was highly successfulfor the invaders from a military point of view, but wasa disaster from a political point of view, resulting ininternational criticism and diplomatic pressure. Alongwith the Suez crisis, the United States was also dealingwith the near-simultaneous Hungarian revolution. VicePresident Richard Nixon later explained: "We couldn'ton one hand, complain about the Soviets intervening inHungary and, on the other hand, approve of the Britishand the French picking that particular time to interveneagainst Nasser".[] Beyond that, it was Eisenhower'sbelief that if the United States were seen to acquiesce inthe attack on Egypt, that the resulting backlash in theArab world might win the Arabs over to the Soviet Union.[249]

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Despite having no commercial or military interest in the area, many countries were concerned with the growing riftbetween Western allied nations. The Swedish ambassador to the Court of St. James, Gunnar Hägglöf wrote in a letterto the anti-war Conservative M.P. Edward Boyle:

I don't think there is any part of the world where the sympathies for England are greater than in Scandinavia.But Scandinavian opinion has never been more shocked by a British government's action—not even by theBritish-German Naval Agreement of 1935—than by the Suez intervention.[244]

The attack on Egypt greatly offended many in the Islamic world. In Pakistan, 300,000 people showed up in a rally inLahore to show solidarity with Egypt while in Karachi a mob chanting anti-British slogans burned down the BritishHigh Commission.[250] In Syria, the military government blew up the Kirkuk–Baniyas pipeline that allowed Iraqi oilto reach tankers in the Mediterranean to punish Iraq for supporting the invasion, and to cut Britain off from one of itsmain routes for taking delivery of Iraqi oil.[251] King Saud of Saudi Arabia imposed a total oil embargo on Britainand France.[252]

When Israel refused to withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and Sharm el-Sheikh, Eisenhower declared, "Wemust not allow Europe to go flat on its back for the want of oil." He sought UN-backed efforts to impose economicsanctions on Israel until it fully withdrew from Egyptian territory. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson andminority leader William Knowland objected to American pressure on Israel. Johnson told the Secretary of State JohnFoster Dulles that he wanted him to oppose "with all its skill" any attempt to apply sanctions on Israel.[] Dullesrebuffed Johnson's request, and informed Eisenhower of the objections made by the Senate. Eisenhower was"insistent on applying economic sanctions" to the extent of cutting off private American assistance to Israel whichwas estimated to be over $100 million a year. Ultimately, the Democratic Party-controlled Senate would notcooperate with Eisenhower's position on Israel. Eisenhower finally told Congress he would take the issue to theAmerican people, saying, "America has either one voice or none, and that voice is the voice of the President –whether everybody agrees with him or not."[] The President spoke to the nation by radio and television where heoutlined Israel's refusal to withdraw, explaining his belief that the UN had "no choice but to exert pressure uponIsrael."[]

On 30 October, the Security Council held a meeting, at the request of the United States, when it submitted a draftresolution calling upon Israel immediately to withdraw its armed forces behind the established armistice lines. It wasnot adopted because of British and French vetoes. A similar draft resolution sponsored by the Soviet Union was alsorejected.[253] On 31 October, also as planned, France and the UK launched an air attack against targets in Egypt,which was followed shortly by a landing of their troops at the northern end of the Canal Zone. Later that day,considering the grave situation created by the actions against Egypt, and with lack of unanimity among thepermanent members preventing it from exercising its primary responsibility to maintain international peace andsecurity, the Security Council passed Resolution 119; it decided to call an emergency special session of the GeneralAssembly for the first time, as provided in the 1950 "Uniting for Peace" resolution, in order to make appropriaterecommendations to end the fighting.[253]

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Universal Newsreel from 4 December about Dag Hammarskjöld'smeeting with Nasser.

The emergency special session was convened 1November; the same day Nasser requested diplomaticassistance from the U.S., without requesting the samefrom the Soviet Union; he was at first skeptical of theefficacy of US diplomatic efforts at the UN, but latergave full credit to Eisenhower's role in stopping thewar.[]

In the early hours of 2 November, the GeneralAssembly adopted the United States' proposal forResolution 997 (ES-I); the vote was 64 in favor and 5opposed (Australia, New Zealand, Britain, France, andIsrael) with 6 abstentions.[254] It called for animmediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forcesbehind the armistice lines, an arms embargo, and thereopening of the Suez Canal, which was now blocked. The Secretary-General was requested to observe and reportpromptly on compliance to both the Security Council and General Assembly, for further action as deemedappropriate in accordance with the U N Charter.[253][255] Over the next several days, the emergency special sessionconsequently adopted a series of enabling resolutions, which established the first United Nations Emergency Force(UNEF), on 7 November by Resolution 1001.[256] This proposal of the emergency force and the resulting cease-firewas made possible primarily through the efforts of, Lester B. Pearson, the Secretary of External Affairs of Canada,and Dag Hammarskjöld, the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The role of Nehru, both as Indian Primeminister and a leader of the Non Aligned Movement was significant; the Indian historian Inder Malhotra wrote that"Now Nehru — who had tried to be even-handed between the two sides — denounced Eden and co-sponsors of theaggression vigorously. He had a powerful, if relatively silent, ally in the US president Dwight Eisenhower who wentto the extent of using America’s clout in the IMF to make Eden and Mollet behave".[257]

The Indian historian Inder Malhotra wrote about Nehru's role that: "So the Suez War ended in Britain’s humiliation.Eden lost his job. Nehru achieved his objective of protecting Egypt’s sovereignty and Nasser’s honour".[257] Britainand France agreed to withdraw from Egypt within a week; Israel did not. A rare example of support for theAnglo-French actions against Egypt came from West Germany; though the Cabinet was divided, the ChancellorKonrad Adenauer was furious with the United States for its "chumminess with the Russians" as Adenauer called theU.S. refusal to intervene in Hungary, and the traditionally Francophile Adenauer drew closer to Paris as a result.[258]

Adenauer refused to cancel a planned visit to Paris on 5–6 November 1956 and his summit with Mollet was clearlymeant to be seen as a gesture of moral support.[258]

On 7 November, David Ben-Gurion addressed the Knesset and declared a great victory, saying that the 1949 armistice agreement with Egypt was dead and buried, and that the armistice lines were no longer valid and could not be restored. Under no circumstances would Israel agree to the stationing of UN forces on its territory or in any area it occupied.[259][260] He also made an oblique reference to his intention to annex the Sinai Peninsula.[259] Isaac Alteras writes that Ben-Gurion 'was carried away by the resounding victory against Egypt' and while 'a statesman well known for his sober realism, [he] took flight in dreams of grandeur.' The speech marked the beginning of a four-month-long diplomatic struggle, culminating in withdrawal from all territory, under conditions far less palatable than those envisioned in the speech, but with conditions for sea access to Eilat and a UNEF presence on Egyptian soil.[259] The speech immediately drew increased international pressure on Israel to withdraw.[260] That day in New York, the emergency session passed Resolution 1002, again calling for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops to behind the armistice lines, and for the immediate withdrawal of British and French troops from Egyptian territory.[253] After a long Israeli cabinet meeting late on 8 November, Ben-Gurion informed Eisenhower that Israel declared its willingness to accept withdrawal of Israeli forces from Sinai, 'when satisfactory arrangements are made

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with the international force that is about to enter the canal zone.'[259]

Soviet threats

Although the Soviet Union's position in the crisis was as helpless as was the United States' regarding Hungary'suprising, Premier Nikolai Bulganin threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side, and to launch rocket attacks onBritain, France and Israel.[259][] Bulganin accused Ben-Gurion of supporting European colonialism, and Mollet ofhypocrisy for leading a socialist government while pursuing a right-wing foreign policy. He did however concede inhis letter to Eden that Britain had legitimate interests in Egypt.The Soviet threat to send troops to Egypt to fight the Allies led Eisenhower to fear that this might be the beginningof World War III.[261] One of Eisenhower's aides Emmet Hughes recalled that the reaction at the White House to theBulganin letters was "sombre" as there was fear that this was the beginning to the countdown to World War III, awar that if it occurred would kill hundreds of millions of people.[262] In private, Eisenhower told Under Secretary ofState Herbert Hoover, Jr. of his fears that:

The Soviet Union might be ready for to undertake any wild adventure. They are as scared and furious as Hitlerwas in his last days. There's nothing more dangerous than a dictatorship in that frame of mind.[261]

If the Soviet Union did go to war with NATO allies Britain and France, then the United States would be unable toremain neutral, because the United States' obligations under NATO would come into effect, requiring them to go towar with the Soviet Union in defense of Britain and France. Likewise, if the Soviet Union attacked Israel, thoughthere was no formal American commitment to defend Israel, the Eisenhower administration would come underheavy domestic pressure to intervene. From Eisenhower's viewpoint, it was better to end the war against Egypt ratherrun the risk of this escalating into the Third World War, in case Khrushchev was serious about going to war indefense of Egypt as he insisted in public that he was. Eisenhower's reaction to these threats from the Soviet Unionwas: "If those fellows start something, we may have to hit 'em – and, if necessary, with everything in thebucket."[263] Eisenhower immediately ordered the U-2s into action over Syria and Israel to search for any Soviet airforces on Syrian bases, so the British and French could destroy them. He told Hoover and CIA director Allan Dulles,"If the Soviets attack the French and British directly, we would be in a war and we would be justified in takingmilitary action even if Congress were not in session."[264] (The Americans excluded Israel from the guaranteeagainst Soviet attack, however, alarming the Israeli government.[259])Khrushchev often claimed to possess a vast arsenal of nuclear-tipped ICBMs, and while disclaiming any intention ofstarting a war, maintained that he would be more than happy to turn a conventional war into a nuclear one if war didcome.[265] The U-2 spy flights, which were intended to discover if the Soviet Union really did have the nucleararsenal that it claimed to have, only started in July 1956, and it was not until February 1959 that it firmly establishedthat Khrushchev had vastly exaggerated his nuclear strength.[266] In fact, the supposedly huge Soviet arsenal ofICBMs, with which Khrushchev would wipe out the cities of Britain, France, Israel, and if necessary the UnitedStates consisted only of four Semyorka missiles stationed at a swamp south of Archangel.[267] From the viewpoint ofEisenhower, in 1956 he had no way of knowing for certain whether Khrushchev's nuclear braggadocio was for realor not. Earlier in 1956, Dulles had warned Eisenhower that Khrushchev was "the most dangerous person to lead theSoviet Union since the October Revolution" as Khrushchev was "not a coldly calculating person, but rather one whoreacted emotionally. He was obviously intoxicated much of the time and could be expected to commit irrationalacts."[268] Khrushchev later admitted in his memoirs that he was not seriously "thinking of going to war" inNovember 1956 as he claimed at the time as he lacked the necessary ICBMs to make good his threats, but that "theSoviet Union's latest threats of war had been correct and necessary".[269]

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Financial pressureThe United States also put financial pressure on the UK to end the invasion. Because the Bank of England had lost$45 million between 30 October and 2 November, and the UK's oil supply had been damaged by the closing of theSuez Canal, the British sought immediate assistance from the IMF, but it was denied by the United States.Eisenhower in fact ordered his Secretary of the Treasury, George M. Humphrey, to prepare to sell part of the USGovernment's Sterling Bond holdings. The US Government held these bonds in part to aid post war Britain'seconomy (during the Cold War), and as partial payment of Britain's enormous World War II debt to the USGovernment, American corporations, and individuals. It was also part of the overall effort of Marshall Plan aid, inthe rebuilding of the Western European economies. The UK government considered invading Kuwait and Qatar if oilsanctions were put in place by the US.[270]

Britain's then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Harold Macmillan, advised his Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, that theUnited States was fully prepared to carry out this threat. He also warned his Prime Minister that Britain's foreignexchange reserves simply could not sustain the devaluation of the pound that would come after the United States'actions; and that within weeks of such a move, the country would be unable to import the food and energy suppliesneeded to sustain the population on the islands. However, there were suspicions in the Cabinet that Macmillan haddeliberately overstated the financial situation in order to force Eden out. What Treasury officials had told Macmillanwas far less serious than the version he told to the Cabinet.[271]

In concert with U.S. actions Saudi Arabia started an oil embargo against Britain and France. The U.S. refused to fillthe gap until Britain and France agreed to a rapid withdrawal. The other NATO members refused to sell oil theyreceived from Arab nations to Britain or France.[272]

Cease fire

Israelis protesting against the UN order to evacuate Gaza and Sinai,14 February 1957

The British government faced political and economicpressure. Sir Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minister,announced a cease fire on 6 November, warning neitherFrance nor Israel beforehand. Troops were still in PortSaid and on operational manoeuvres when the ordercame from London. Port Said had been overrun and themilitary assessment was that the Suez Canal could havebeen completely taken within 24 hours.[273]

Eisenhower initially agreed to meet with Eden andMollet to resolve their differences, but then cancelledthe proposed meeting after Secretary of State Dullesadvised him it risked inflaming the Middle Easternsituation further.[274]

Eisenhower was not in favour of an immediatewithdrawal of British, French and Israeli troops until the US ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge,Jr. pushed for it. Eden's predecessor Sir Winston Churchill commented on 22 November, "I cannot understand whyour troops were halted. To go so far and not go on was madness."[275] Churchill further added that while he mightnot have dared to begin the military operation, nevertheless once having ordered it he would certainly not have daredto stop it before it had achieved its objective. Without further guarantee, the Anglo-French Task Force had to finishwithdrawing by 22 December 1956, to be replaced by Danish and Colombian units of the UNEF.[276]

The Israelis refused to host any UN force on Israeli controlled territory and left the Sinai in March 1957. Before the withdrawal the Israeli forces systematically destroyed infrastructure in Sinai peninsula, such as roads, railroads and telephone lines, and all houses in the villages of Abu Ageila and El Quseima.[] Before the railway was destroyed,

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Israel Railways took captured Egyptian National Railways equipment including six locomotives[277] and a 30-tonbreakdown crane.[278]

The UNEF was formed by forces from countries that were not part of the major alliances (NATO and the WarsawPact – though Canadian troops participated in later years, since Canada had spearheaded the idea of a neutral force).By 24 April 1957 the canal was fully reopened to shipping.[][]

Aftermath

1957 newsreels about the aftermath of the crisis.

Egyptian sovereignty and ownership of the Canal hadbeen confirmed by the United States and the UnitedNations. In retirement Eden maintained that themilitary response to the crisis had prevented a muchlarger war in the Middle East. Israel had been expectingan Egyptian invasion in either March or April 1957, aswell as a Soviet invasion of Syria.[279] The crisis alsoarguably hastened the process of decolonization, asmany of the remaining colonies of both Britain andFrance gained independence over the next severalyears. Some argued that the imposed ending to theCrisis led to over-hasty decolonisation in Africa,resulting in civil wars and military dictatorships.[280]

The fight over the canal also laid the groundwork for the Six Day War in 1967 due to the lack of a peace settlementfollowing the 1956 war.[281] The failure of the Anglo-French mission was also seen as a failure for the United States,since the western alliance had been weakened and the military response had ultimately achieved nothing. TheSoviets got away with their violent suppression of the rebellion in Hungary, and were able to pose at the UnitedNations as a defender of small powers against imperialism.[282]

As a direct result of the Crisis and in order to prevent further Soviet expansion in the region, Eisenhower askedCongress on 5 January 1957 for authorization to use military force if requested by any Middle Eastern nation tocheck aggression and, second, to set aside $200 million to help Middle Eastern countries that desired aid from theUnited States. Congress granted both requests and this policy became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.[281]

The Soviet Union made major gains with regards to influence in the Middle East.[283] The American historian JohnLewis Gaddis wrote about the aftermath of the crisis:

When the British-French-Israeli invasion forced them to choose, Eisenhower and Dulles came down, withinstant decisiveness, on the side of the Egyptians. They preferred alignment with Arab nationalism, even if itmeant alienating pro-Israeli constituencies on the eve of a presidential election in the United States, even if itmeant throwing the NATO alliance into its most divisive crisis yet, even if it meant risking whatever was leftof the Anglo-American 'special relationship', even if it meant voting with the Soviet Union in the UnitedNations Security Council at a time when the Russians, themselves, were invading Hungary and crushing—farmore brutally than anything that happened in Egypt—a rebellion against their own authority there. The factthat the Eisenhower administration itself applied crushing economic pressure to the British and French todisengage from Suez, and that it subsequently forced an Israeli pull-back from the Sinai as well—all of this,one might thought, would won the United States the lasting gratitude of Nasser, the Egyptians and the Arabworld. Instead, the Americans lost influence in the Middle East as a result of Suez, while the Russians gainedit.[283]

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Statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps (a Frenchmanwho built the Suez Canal) was removed

following the nationalisation of the Suez Canal in1956.

Nikita Khrushchev's much publicized threat expressed through letterswritten by Nikolai Bulganin to begin rocket attacks on 5 November onBritain, France and Israel if they did not withdraw from Egypt waswidely believed at the time to have forced a ceasefire.[283]

Accordingly, the prestige of the Soviet Union, which was seeminglyprepared to launch a nuclear attack on Britain, France and Israel for thesake of Egypt soared to new heights all over Egypt, the Arab world andthe Third World in general.[283] Though Nasser in private admitted thatit was American economic pressure that had saved him, nonetheless itwas Khrushchev, not Eisenhower, whom Nasser publicly thanked asEgypt's savior and special friend.[283] Khrushchev was later to boast inhis memoirs:

Our use of international influence to halt England, France andIsrael's aggression against Egypt in 1956 was a historic turningpoint ... Previously they had apparently thought that we werebluffing, when we openly said that the Soviet Union possessedpowerful rockets. But then they saw that we really had rockets.And this had its effect.[283]

Khrushchev took the view that the Suez crisis had been a great triumphfor Soviet nuclear brinksmanship, arguing in both public and privatethat his threat to use nuclear weapons was what had saved Egypt.[284]

Khrushchev claimed in his memoirs:

The governments of England and France knew perfectly well that Eisenhower's speech condemning theiraggression was just a gesture for the sake of public appearances. But when we delivered our own sternwarning to the three aggressors, they knew we weren't playing games with public opinion. They took usseriously.[284]

The great conclusion that Khrushchev drew from the Suez crisis, which he saw as his own personal triumph was thatthe use of nuclear blackmail was a very effective tool for achieving Soviet foreign policy goals.[285] Thus began along period of crises starting with the Berlin crisis of 1958 and culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962,where Khrushchev threatened to start World War III if he did not get his way.[286] Equally important in explainingthe Soviet diplomatic triumph in the Near East was Nasser's reaction to the Eisenhower Doctrine. Nasser neverwanted Egypt to be aligned with one superpower, and instead preferred a situation where he was the object of rivalAmerican and Soviet efforts to buy his friendship.[54]

After Suez, American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles perceived that there was a power vacuum in the MiddleEast, and thought the United States should fill it.[287] Dulles's policies, which were to ultimately lead to theproclamation of the Eisenhower Doctrine were based on the assumption that Nasser and other Arab leaders sharedthe American fear of the Soviet Union.[287] This was not in fact the case, and Nasser hated Israel far more thanwhatever reservations he might have about the Soviet Union, and in any case preferred a situation where bothsuper-powers were competing for his favour instead of him becoming aligned with one superpower.[288]

The Eisenhower Doctrine was regarded by Nasser as a heavy-handed American attempt to dominate the Middle East(a region that Nasser believed he ought to dominate), and led him to swinging behind the Soviet Union as the bestcounter-weight.[289] It was only with the quiet abandonment of the Eisenhower Doctrine in a National SecurityCouncil review in mid-1958 that Nasser started pulling away from the Soviet Union to resume his favored role as thespoiler who tried to play both superpowers against each other.[289]

The American historian Arthur L. Herman wrote about the aftermath of Suez in 2006:

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Suez destroyed the United Nations as well. By handing it over to Dag Hammarskjöld and his feckless ilk,Eisenhower turned the organization from the stout voice of international law and order into at best ameaningless charade; at worst, a Machiavellian cesspool. Instead of teaching Nasser and his fellow dictatorsthat breaking international law does not pay, Suez taught them that every transgression will be forgotten andforgiven, especially if oil is at stake.As for Nasser, Israel moved to the top of his agenda. Attacking the Jewish state became the recognized path toleadership of the Arab world, from Nasser to Saddam Hussein to Iran's Ahmadinejad—with the U.N. andworld opinion standing idly by. Nasser also poured money and arms into Arafat's Palestinian LiberationOrganization, making it the world's first state-sponsored terrorist group. And again, the world did nothing.This, in the end, was the most egregious result of Suez. Hammarskjöld had ushered in a new era ofinternational gangsterism, even as the U.N. became an essentially anti-Western body. Its lowest point cameless than two decades later, in 1975, when it passed a resolution denouncing Zionism as racism and atriumphant Yasser Arafat addressed the General Assembly with a pistol strapped to his hip.Suez destroyed the moral authority of the so-called world community. Fifty years later, we are all still living inthe rubble.[290]

Military thoughtThe great military lesson that was reinforced by the Suez War was the extent that the desert favored highly fluid,mobile operations and the power of aerial interdiction.[224] French aircraft destroyed Egyptian forces threateningparatroopers at Raswa and Israeli air power saved the IDF several days’ worth of time.[224] To operate in the opendesert without air supremacy proved to be suicidal for the Egyptian forces in the Sinai.[224] The Royal Marinehelicopter assault at Port Said "showed promise as a technique for transporting troops into small landing zones".[224]

Strategic bombing proved ineffective.[291]

Revise Phase II failed to achieve its aim of breaking Egyptian morale while at the same time, those civilian deathsthat did occur helped to turn world opinion against the invasion and especially hurt support for the war inBritain.[291] Egyptian urban warfare tactics at Port Said proved to be effective at slowing down the Alliedadvance.[291] Finally, the war showed the importance of diplomacy.[291] Anglo-French operations against Egyptwere militarily successful, but proved to be counterproductive as opinion in both in the home front in Britain andFrance and the world abroad, especially in the United States, was against the operation.[291]

EuropeIn West Germany, the Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was shocked by the Soviet threat of nuclear strikes againstBritain and France, and even more by the apparent quiescent American response to the Soviet threat of nuclearannihilation against two of NATO's key members.[258] The Bulganin letters showcased Europe's utter dependenceupon the United States for its security against Soviet nuclear threats while at the same time seeming to show that theAmerican nuclear umbrella was not as reliable as billed.[258] As a result, the French became even more determined toacquire their own atomic force rather than rely upon the American nuclear umbrella while both the French and theGermans became more interested in the idea of an European "Third Force" in the Cold War.[292] This helped to leadto the formation of the European Economic Community in 1957, which was intended to be the foundation stone ofthe European "Third Force".[293]

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Egypt

Jewish exodusfrom Arab countries

1947–1972

Main articlesJewish exodus 1947–1972

1948 Arab–Israeli WarOperation Magic Carpet

(Yemen)Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

Operation YakhinExpulsion of Egyptian Jews

Immigrant camps  · MaabarotResolution 194

BackgroundNazi and the Arab worldFarhud  · Tripoli (1945)

Cairo (1945)  · Aliyah Bet

Key incidentsAleppo (Syria) · Aden (Yemen)

Oujda and Jerada (Morocco)Tripoli (Libya)

Cairo (Egypt)  · Baghdad (Iraq)Suez Crisis · Algerian War

Six Day War

ArbitrationWOJAC · JIMENAThe David Project

ResettlementAliyah  · Law of Return

Development townsNorth African Jewry in France

Related topicsJewish history · Jewish diaspora

History under Muslim ruleMizrahi Jews · Sephardi Jews

Arab Jews

In October 1956, when the Suez Crisis erupted, Nasser brought in a set of sweeping regulations abolishing civil liberties and allowing the state to stage mass arrests without charge and strip away Egyptian citizenship from any group it desired; these measures were mostly directed against the Jews of Egypt.[294] As part of its new policy, 1,000 Jews were arrested and 500 Jewish businesses were seized by the government.[295] A statement branding the Jews as "Zionists and enemies of the state" was read out in the mosques of Cairo and Alexandria. Jewish bank accounts were confiscated and many Jews lost their jobs.[296] Lawyers, engineers, doctors and teachers were not allowed to work in their professions.[296] Thousands of Jews were ordered to leave the country.[296] They were allowed to take only one

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suitcase and a small sum of cash, and forced to sign declarations “donating“ their property to the Egyptiangovernment.[297]

Some 25,000 Jews, almost half of the Jewish community left, mainly for Israel, Europe, the United States and SouthAmerica, after being forced to sign declarations that they were leaving voluntarily and agreed with the confiscationof their assets. Similar measures were enacted against British and French nationals in retaliation for the invasion. By1957 the Jewish population of Egypt had fallen to 15,000.[297]

The British historian D. R. Thorpe wrote that the imposed ending to the Crisis gave Nasser "...an inflated view of hisown power".[] In his mind, he had defeated the combined forces of the United Kingdom, France and Israel, whereasin fact the military operation had been "defeated" by pressure from the United States.[][298] Despite the Egyptiandefeat, Nasser emerged as an enhanced hero in the Arab world.[298] The American historian Derek Varblecommented "Although Egyptian forces fought with mediocre skill during the conflict, many Arabs saw Nasser as theconqueror of European colonialism and Zionism, simply because Britain, France and Israel left the Sinai and thenorthern Canal Zone".[298] The Greek-American historian P. J. Vatikiotis wrote that Nasser in his speeches both in1956 and after provided for "superficial explanations of Egypt's military collapse in Sinai, based on someextraordinary strategy..." and that "Simplistic children's tales about the Egyptian air force's prowess in 1956 werelinked in the myth of orderly withdrawal from Sinai. All this was necessary to construct yet another myth, that ofPort Said. Inflating and magnifying odd and sporadic resistance into a Stalingrad-like tenacious defense, Port Saidbecame the spirit of Egyptian independence and dignity...".[299] During the Nasser era, the fighting at Port Saidbecome a huge symbol of the victory that Egypt was said to have won, which in turn was linked to as part and parcelof a wider anti-colonial struggle throughout the entire world.[300] Thorpe wrote about Nasser's post Suez hubris that"The Six Day War against Israel in 1967 was when reality kicked in – a war that would never have taken place if theSuez crisis had had a different resolution".[] Summarizing the arguments of the Egyptian writer Tawfiq al-Hakimabout the links between the 1956 and 1967 wars Vatikiotis wrote that:""Were bluffing and histrionics in the nature ofNasser?" It was bluffing that led to the crushing of Egypt in 1967, because of the mass self-deception exercised byleaders and followers alike ever since the non-existent "Stalingrad which was Port Said" in 1956.""[301]

BritainThe political and psychological impact of the crisis's denouement had a fundamental impact on British politics.Anthony Eden was accused of misleading parliament and resigned from office on 9 January 1957. Eden had barelybeen prime minister for two years by the time of his resignation, and his unsuccessful handling of the Suez Crisiseclipsed the successes he had achieved in various government and opposition roles over the previous 30 years.[302]

Eden's successor, Harold Macmillan, greatly accelerated decolonisation and sought to recapture the benevolence ofthe United States.[303] He enjoyed a close friendship with Eisenhower from their first meeting at a highly successfulconference in Bermuda in March 1957. Benefiting from his personal popularity and a good economy, Macmillan'sgovernment increased its Parliamentary majority in the 1959 general election. The Suez crisis, though a blow toBritish power in the Near East did not mark its end. Britain intervened successfully in Jordan to put down riots thatthreatened the rule of King Hussein in 1958 and in 1961 deployed troops to Kuwait to successfully deter an Iraqiinvasion; the latter deployment had a response to the threats of the Iraqi dictator General Abd al-Karim Qasim thathe would invade and annex Kuwait.[304] However, at the same time, though British influence continued in theMiddle East, Suez was a blow to British prestige in the Near East that Britain never recovered from.[305]

Increasingly, British foreign policy thinking turned away from acting as a great imperial power. During the 1960s there was much speculation that Prime Minister Harold Wilson's continual refusals to send any British troops to Vietnam, even as a token force, despite President Lyndon B. Johnson's persistent requests, was partially due to the Americans failing to support Britain during the Suez Crisis. Edward Heath was dismayed by the US opposition to Britain during the Suez Crisis; as Prime Minister in October 1973 he refused the US permission to use any of the UK's air bases to resupply during the Yom Kippur War,[306] or to allow the Americans to gather intelligence from

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British bases in Cyprus.[307]

Despite the lack of US co-operation, and although British domestic politics suffered, the British relationship with theUnited States did not suffer lasting consequences from the crisis. "The Anglo-American 'special relationship' wasrevitalised immediately after the Suez Crisis."[308] "The two governments ... engaged in almost ritualisticreassurances that their 'special relationship' would be restored quickly."[309] Eisenhower himself later stated privatelythat he regretted his opposition to the combined British, French and Israeli response to the Crisis.[310]

FranceFranco-American ties never recovered from the Suez crisis.[311] There were various reasons for this. "Prior to theSuez Crisis, there had already been strains in the Franco-American relationship triggered by what Paris consideredU.S. betrayal of the French war effort in Indochina at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.[311] The incident demonstrated theweakness of the NATO alliance in its lack of planning and co-operation beyond the European stage. Mollet believedEden should have delayed calling the Cabinet together until 7 November, taking the whole Canal in the meantime,and then veto with the French any UN resolution on sanctions. From the point of view of General de Gaulle, theSuez events demonstrated to France that it could not rely on its allies; the British had initiated a ceasefire in the midstof the battle without consulting the French, while the Americans had opposed Paris politically. The damage to theties between Paris and Washington D.C. "culminated in President de Gaulle's 1966 decision to withdraw from themilitary integration of NATO."[312]

According to the protocol of Sèvres agreements, France secretly transmitted parts of its own atomic technology toIsrael, including a detonator.[313]

Israel

An Israeli soldier stands next to an Egyptian gun that had blocked theTiran Straits.

Israel emerged victorious from the war. Its forcesexecuted a military campaign that leading militarytheorist B.H. Liddell Hart termed “brilliant.”[314] TheIsrael Defense Forces gained confidence from thecampaign. The war proved that Israel was capable ofexecuting large scale military maneuvers in addition tosmall night-time raids and counter insurgencyoperations. David Ben-Gurion, reading on 16November that 90,000 British and French troops hadbeen involved in the Suez affair, wrote in his diary, 'Ifthey had only appointed a commander of ours over thisforce, Nasser would have been destroyed in twodays.'[315]

The war also had tangible benefits for Israel. TheStraits of Tiran, closed by Egypt since 1951 wasre-opened. Israeli shipping could henceforth move freely through the Straits of Tiran to and from Africa and Asia.The Israelis also secured the presence of U.N. Peacekeepers in Sinai. Operation Kadesh bought Israel an eleven-yearlull on its southern border with Egypt.[316]

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Israeli Chief of Staff, Moshe Dayan (at left)speaking at Sharm el Sheikh. To his right is

Avraham Yoffe, commander of the 9th Brigadewhose forces captured the strategic position.

Israel escaped the political humiliation that befell Britain and Francefollowing their swift, forced withdrawal. In addition, its stubbornrefusal to withdraw without guarantees ended all Western efforts,mainly American and British ones, to impose a political settlement inthe Middle East without taking Israel's security needs intoconsideration.[317]

In October 1965 Eisenhower told Jewish fundraiser and Republicanparty supporter Max M. Fisher that he greatly regretted forcing Israelto withdraw from the Sinai peninsula; Vice-President Nixon recalledthat Eisenhower expressed the same view to him on severaloccasions.[317]

Other parties

Lester B. Pearson, who would later become the Prime Minister ofCanada, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his efforts increating a mandate for a United Nations Peacekeeping Force, and he isconsidered the father of the modern concept of peacekeeping. The SuezCrisis contributed to the adoption of a new national flag of Canada in1965, without references to that country's past as a colony of France and Britain. The Egyptian government hadobjected to Canadian peacekeeping troops on the grounds that their flag at that time included a British ensign. AsPrime Minister, Pearson would advocate the simple Maple Leaf that was eventually adopted.

After Suez, Cyprus, Aden and Iraq became the main bases for the British in the region while the French concentratedtheir forces at Bizerte and Beirut. UNEF was placed in the Sinai (on Egyptian territory only) with the expresspurpose of maintaining the cease-fire. While effective in preventing the small-scale warfare that prevailed before1956 and after 1967, budgetary cutbacks and changing needs had seen the force shrink to 3,378 by 1967.The Soviet Union, after long peering through the keyhole of a closed door on what it considered a Western sphere ofinfluence, now found itself invited over the threshold as a friend of the Arabs. Shortly after it reopened, the canalwas traversed by the first Soviet warships since World War I. The Soviets' burgeoning influence in the Middle East,although it was not to last, included acquiring Mediterranean bases, introducing multipurpose projects, supportingthe budding Palestinian liberation movement and penetrating the Arab countries.[318]

Notes[3] History's worst decisions and the people who made them, pp. 167–172[4] Casualties in Arab–Israeli Wars (http:/ / www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/ jsource/ History/ casualties. html), Jewish Virtual Library[5] Israeli Casualties in Battle (http:/ / www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/ jsource/ History/ casualty_table. html), Jewish Virtual Library[6][6] Varble, Derek The Suez Crisis 1956, Osprey: London 2003, p. 90[7] http:/ / www. onwar. com/ aced/ nation/ ink/ israel/ fsinai1956. htm[8] Schiff, A History of the Israeli Army, 1870–1974, p. 70, Straight Arrow Books (1974)[9] http:/ / books. google. com. eg/ books?hl=ar& id=SaFtAAAAMAAJ& q=5000#search_anchor[11] The Suez Crisis is also known as the Suez War or 1956 War, commonly known in the Arab world as the Tripartite aggression; other

names include the Sinai war, Suez–Sinai war, 1956 Arab–Israeli War, the Second Arab–Israeli War, Suez Campaign, Sinai Campaign,Kadesh Operation, and Operation Musketeer

[13] Roger Owen "Suez Crisis" The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World, Second edition. Joel Krieger, ed. Oxford University PressInc. 2001.

[14] "Suez crisis" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics. Ed. Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan. Oxford University Press, 2003.[15][15] .[16] How Britain France and Israel Got Together (http:/ / www. time. com/ time/ magazine/ article/ 0,9171,824571,00. html), Time, 12 November

1956. "Within 24 hours after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain, and France joined in an ultimatum to Egypt and Israel—and then began to bomb

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Cairo. Israel's Foreign Ministry talked of "the unexpected intervention of Britain and France." Britain's Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloydprotested: "There was no prior agreement between us." Despite their words, there was plenty of evidence to show that the two attacks wereplanned in collusion ("orchestration" was the French word for it). In this conspiracy, France was the instigator, Britain a belated partner, andIsrael the willing trigger."

[17] Turner, Barry. Suez 1956: The First Oil War. pp. 21–4.[18] Howard M. Sachar. A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time. Published by Alfred A. Knopf (New York). 1976. ISBN

0-394-28564-5.[19][19] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 11.[20][20] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 12.[21][21] Yergin, p. 480[22] STATE OF BUSINESS: Middle-East Echoes (http:/ / www. time. com/ time/ magazine/ article/ 0,9171,824597,00. html), Time, 12

November 1956[23][23] Donald Watt, "Britain and the Suez Canal", Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1956, p. 8.[24][24] Darwin, p. 207. "Nothing could have been better calculated to lash popular Muslim feeling to new fury... and to redouble Egyptian hostility

to Britain on whose 'betrayal' of the Palestine Arabs the catastrophe could easily be blamed."[25][25] Butler, p. 111[26][26] Darwin, p. 208[28][28] Butler, p. 112[30] Vakikiotis, P. J. Nasser and His Generation, pp. 230–232.[31] See: Michael N. Barnett, Confronting the Costs of War: Military Power, State, and Society in Egypt and Israel (Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press, 1992), 82–83.[32] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his Generation, pp. 252–253.[33] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his Generation, pp. 250–253.[34][34] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 168.[35][35] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 167.[36] Sayed-Ahmed, Muhammad Add al-Wahab "Relations between Egypt and the United States of American in the 1950s", pp. 89–99 from

Contemporary Egypt: through Egyptian eyes edited by Charles Tripp, Routledge: London, 1993, p. 90.[37] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy towards Egypt 1955–1981 p. 11.[38] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 167–168.[39] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 43.[40] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, Simon & Schuster: New York, 1981, pp. 18–19 & 195.[41] Vakikiotis, P. J. Nasser and His Generation, pp. 41–42.[42] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy Towards Egypt, 1955–1981, State University of New York: Albany, 1985, p. 11.[43] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 177.[44] Thornhill, Michael "Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader", pp. 892–921 from English Historical Review, Volume

CXIV, Issue # 483, September 2004, pp. 893–894.[45] Thornhill, Michael "Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader", pp. 892–921 from English Historical Review, Volume

CXIV, Issue # 483, September 2004, p. 900.[46] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy towards Egypt, p. 11.[47][47] Thornhill, Michael "Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader", p. 899.[48][48] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 169.[49] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy towards Egypt, p. 24.[50] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy towards Egypt, pp. 16–17 & 18–22[51] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 43–44.[52] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 44–45.[53] Thornhill, Michael "Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader", pp. 906–907.[54][54] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 171.[55] Love, Kenneth Suez, McGraw-Hill: New York, 1969, pp. 306–307.[56] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 170–171.[57][57] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 170.[58] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 170–172.[59] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 73.[60] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 93–94.[61] Goldman, Marshal Soviet Foreign Aid, New York: Fredrich Prager, 1968, p. 60.[62] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 450.[63] Sayed-Ahmed, Muhammad Add al-Wahab "Relations between Egypt and the United States of American in the 1950s", pp. 89–99 from

Contemporary Egypt: through Egyptian eyes edited by Charles Tripp, Routledge: London, 1993, p. 91.[64] Burns, William Economic Aid and American Policy, p. 24.

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[65] Sayed-Ahmed, Muhammad Add al-Wahab "Relations between Egypt and the United States of American in the 1950s", pp. 89–99 fromContemporary Egypt: through Egyptian eyes edited by Charles Tripp, Routledge: London, 1993, pp. 91–92.

[66] Sayed-Ahmed, Muhammad Add al-Wahab "Relations between Egypt and the United States of American in the 1950s", pp. 89–99 fromContemporary Egypt: through Egyptian eyes edited by Charles Tripp, Routledge: London, 1993, p. 92.

[67][67] Darwin, p. 210[68] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 160.[69] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 160–161.[70] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 162–163.[71] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 234–236.[72] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 235.[73] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 130–131.[74] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 135–136.[75] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 136.[76] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 168–169.[77] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his generation, pp. 306–307.[78] Vatikitos, P.J. Nasser and his Generation, p. 252.[79] Burns, William Economic aid and American Policy towards Egypt, pp. 24–25 & 26–27.[80] Burns, William Economic aid and American Policy towards Egypt, pp. 27–28.[81][81] Darwin, p. 211[82][82] Kissinger, p. 529[83] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 178–179.[84] Mason, Edward & Asher, Robert The World Bank Since Bretton Woods, Washington: Brookings Institute, 1973, p. 638[85] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 180.[86] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 182–183.[87] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, p. 115.[88] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, pp. 116–117.[89] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, p. 117.[90] Isaac Alteras, Eisenhower and Israel: U.S.-Israeli relations, 1953–1960 (1993) ch 7–8[91] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 168–169.[92][92] Kissinger, p. 528[93][93] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 172.[94] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 171–172.[95][95] Kissinger, p. 530[96] BBC On This Day, 1956: Egypt seizes Suez Canal (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ onthisday/ hi/ dates/ stories/ july/ 26/ newsid_2701000/

2701603. stm)[97] Howard M. Sachar. A History of Israel from the Rise of Zionism to Our Time Published by Alfred A. Knopf (New York). 1976. p. 455.

ISBN 0-394-28564-5.[98] What we failed to learn from Suez (http:/ / www. telegraph. co. uk/ culture/ 3656288/ What-we-failed-to-learn-from-Suez. html). Telegraph

(1 November 2006). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[99] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 181.[100] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, pp. 231–232.[101] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 232.[102] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, p. 144.[103] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, p. 145.[104] Kyle, Keith Suez, London: I.B Tauris , 2011, p. 156.[105] Le Canal de Suez et la nationalisation par le Colonel Nasser, Les Actualité Française – AF, 08.01.1956 (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/

contenu_video. php?id_notice=AFE85006880& random=3614851046)[106] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez', p. 295.[107] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 295–296[108] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 309.[109] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 310.[110] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 321–322.[111] Neff, Donald Warriors, pp. 323–324.[112] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 324.[113] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 335–336.[114] R. G. Menzies; Speech is of Time; Cassell; London; 1958[115][115] Brian Carroll; From Barton to Fraser; Cassell Australia; 1978[116] The Protocol of Sevres 1956 Anatomy of a War Plot (http:/ / users. ox. ac. uk/ ~ssfc0005/ The Protocol of Sevres 1956 Anatomy of a War

Plot. html). Users.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.

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[117][117] .[118] Chaim Herzog and Shlomo Gazit, The Arab-Israeli wars: war and peace in the Middle East from the 1948 War of Independence to the

present (3rd ed. 2008) pp. 113–17[119] Zeev Schiff, A History of the Israeli Army, pp. 65–66, Simon and Schuster (1974)[120] Soviets Threaten Israel, Ben-Gurion Responds (http:/ / www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/ jsource/ History/ bulganin. html).

Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[121][121] .[124][124] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 15.[125][125] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 16.[126] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 16–17.[127][127] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 17.[128][128] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 18.[129] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 18–19.[130][130] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 19.[131][131] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 20.[132][132] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 21.[133][133] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 26.[134][134] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 22.[135] Kyle, Keith Suez Britain’s End of Empire, London: I.B Tauris 2011, p. 176.[136][136] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 24.[137] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 201.[138][138] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 25.[139][139] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 28.[140][140] .[141] Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 289[142] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 28–29.[143][143] Herzog (1982) p. 118[144] Norton, Bill (2004) – Air War on the Edge – A History of the Israeli Air Force and its Aircraft since 1947[145][145] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 29.[146][146] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 31.[147][147] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 32.[148][148] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 33.[149] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 32–33.[150][150] Herzog, The Arab-Israeli Wars, p. 138 Random House, (1982)[151] Nordeen, Lon Fighters Over Israel London 1991, p. 198[152] Bishop, Chris ed. The Aerospace Encyclopedia of Air Warfare Volume Two: 1945 to the present Aerospace Publishing London 1997, pp.

148–153 ISBN 1-874023-88-3[153] Midshipman RJH Griffiths, HMS Newfoundland: The Night we sank the Domiat[154] House of Commons Debates 19 December 1956 vol 562 c180W (http:/ / hansard. millbanksystems. com/ written_answers/ 1956/ dec/ 19/

hms-crane-aircraft-attack). Hansard.millbanksystems.com (19 December 1956). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[155] Carter, Geoffrey – Crises do Happen: The Royal Navy and Operation Musketeer, Suez, 1956[156] http:/ / www. zahal. org/ groups/ capture-ibrahim-el-awal[157][157] Max Wurmbrand, The Valiant of Israel, p. 80, Massada Press Ltd (1967)[158] Pimlott – editor British Military Operations, 1945–1984 London Guild Publishing 1984 p. 78[159][159] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 35.[160] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 32–35.[161] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 35–36.[162][162] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 36.[163][163] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 37.[164][164] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 38.[165] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 38–39.[166][166] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 39.[167][167] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 40.[168][168] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 41.[169] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 41–43.[170][170] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 43.[171] Special Report of the Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (http:/ / unispal. un.

org/ UNISPAL. NSF/ 0/ 6558F61D3DB6BD4505256593006B06BE), Covering the period 1 November 1956 to mid-December 1956, NewYork, 1957

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[172] Rafah (http:/ / cosmos. ucc. ie/ cs1064/ jabowen/ IPSC/ php/ place. php?plid=210), Palestine: Information with Provenance (PIWPdatabase)

[173][173] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 45.[174][174] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 46.[175] Joe Sacco produces comics from the hot zones (http:/ / articles. latimes. com/ 2010/ feb/ 04/ entertainment/ la-et-joe-sacco4-2010feb04).

New York Times.[176] UNRWA Report to the UN General Assembly November 1 – December 14, 1956 (http:/ / domino. un. org/ unispal. nsf/ 0/

6558f61d3db6bd4505256593006b06be?OpenDocument)[177][177] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 86.[178] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 86–87.[179] Morris, Benny (1993) Israel's Border Wars, 1949 – 1956. Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War.

Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-827850-0. p. 408. "On 3 November, the day Khan Yunis was conquered, IDF troops shot dead hundredsof Palestinian refugees and local inhabitants in the town. One U.N. report speaks of “some 135 local residents” and “140 refugees” killed asIDF troops moved through the town and its refugee camp “searching for people in possession of arms.” In Rafah, which fell to the IDF on 1–2November, Israeli troops killed between forty-eight and one hundred refugees and several local residents, and wounded another sixty-oneduring a massive screening operation on 12 November, in which they sought to identify former Egyptian and Palestinian soldiers andFedayeen hiding among the local population. . . . Another sixty-six Palestinians, probably Fedayeen, were executed in a number of otherincidents during screening operations in the Gaza Strip between 2 and 20 November. . . . The United Nations estimated that, all told, Israelitroops killed between 447 and 550 Arab civilians in the first three weeks of the occupation of the Strip."

[180][180] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 48.[182][182] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 49.[183][183] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 50.[184][184] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 51.[185][185] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 53.[186][186] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 54.[187] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 54–55.[188] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 50–52.[189][189] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 52.[190] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 399.[191] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 400.[192] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 pages 457–458.[193] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 458.[194][194] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 56.[195][195] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 59.[196][196] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 60.[197] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 60–61.[198][198] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 61.[199][199] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 55.[200][200] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 62.[201] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 62–63.[202][202] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 63.[203][203] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 65.[204][204] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 66.[205][205] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 87.[206] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 87–88.[207][207] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 88.[208][208] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 88[209][209] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 89.[210] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 89–90.[211][211] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 90.[212][212] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 77.[213] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 66–68.[214][214] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 67.[215][215] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 69.[216] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 66–70.[217] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 70–71.[218][218] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 71.[219][219] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 72.[220][220] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 78.

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[221] Varble, Derek (2003) pp. 78–79.[222][222] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 79.[223][223] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 80.[224][224] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 91.[225] Donald Neff, Warriors at Suez. Amana Books, Vermont. 1988. ISBN 0-915597-58-6. p. 414. Quotes UN report: "thousands of wounded

and dead bodies all over Sanai (sic)". Neff estimates 4,000 Egyptians wounded and 6,000 captured or missing in Sinai and a further 900wounded by the Anglo-French.

[226][226] Varble, 1956, 2003, p. 90[227] Cole, Robert A.J.P. Taylor the Traitor Within the Gates, London: Macmillan 1993, p. 149.[228] Cole, Robert A.J.P. Taylor the traitor Within the Gates, London: Macmillan 1993, p. 149[229] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, pp. 230 & 254–255.[230] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 254.[231] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 210.[232] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, pp. 206–210.[233] Pryce-Jones, David The Closed Circle: An Interpretation of the Arabs, Chicago: Ivan Dee, 2002, p. 4.[234] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 388.[235] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, pp. 230–231.[236] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, pp. 388–389.[237] Wilson, A.N. Our Times, Hutchinson: London 2008, p. 65.[238] Wilson, A.N. Our Times, Hutchinson: London 2008, pp. 65–66.[239] Wilson, A.N. Our Times, Hutchinson: London 2008, p. 66.[240] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 463.[241] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton 2006, p. 354.[242] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 pages 455–456.[243] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 pages 456–457.[244] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 456.[245] Kyle, Keith Suez Britain’s End of Empire, London: I.B Tauris 2011, p. 441.[246] Kyle, Keith Suez Britain’s End of Empire, London: I.B Tauris 2011, pp. 441–442.[247] Drama sparks Suez Crisis memories – Norfolk life – Eastern Daily Press (http:/ / www. edp24. co. uk/ norfolk-life/

drama_sparks_suez_crisis_memories_1_949446). Edp24.co.uk. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[248] Wilson, A.N. Our Times, Hutchinson: London 2008, pp. 66–67.[249] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 391.[250] Pike, Francis Empires at War, London: I. B. Tauris 2009, p. 303.[251] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 328.[252] Lacey, Robert The Kingdom, New York: Avon 1981, p. 315.[253] Establishment of [[United Nations Emergency Force|UNEF (http:/ / www. un. org/ en/ peacekeeping/ missions/ past/ unef1backgr2. html)],

Background] at UN.org[254] John Allphin Moore and Jerry Pubantz, Encyclopedia of the United Nations (2008) 2:399[255] Hendershot, Robert; Family Spats: Perception, Illusion, and Sentimentality in the Anglo-American Special Relationship[256] UNGA Emergency Special Sessions (http:/ / www. un. org/ ga/ sessions/ emergency. shtml). Un.org. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[257] ‘Nothing common and there is no wealth’ (http:/ / www. indianexpress. com/ news/ nothing-common-and-there-is-no-wealth/ 587133/ 0).

Indianexpress.com (5 March 2010). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[258] Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: An European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 43, Issue # 2, April

2008, p. 273.[259] Eisenhower and Israel: U.S.-Israeli Relations, 1953–1960, Isaac Alteras, University Press of Florida, 1993, ISBN 0-8130-1205-8, p. 246

(http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=ydRHCPWngioC& pg=PA246& dq=& ei=5TIBSaGOBI6UMajtqKcL& client=). Books.google.com.Retrieved on 8 September 2011.

[260] A Restless Mind: Essays in Honor of Amos Perlmutter, Amos Perlmutter, Benjamin Frankel, Routledge, 1996, ISBN 0-7146-4607-5,Michael Brecher Essay, pp. 104–117 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=qkK_j0qz9EgC& pg=PA105& dq=&ei=lWUBScSXIpOOM6yEuZAL& client=). Books.google.com. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.

[261] Neff, Donald Warriors at Suez, p. 403.[262] Turner, Barry Suez 1956, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2006, p. 368.[263] Suez Crisis (http:/ / www. globalsecurity. org/ military/ ops/ suez. htm). Globalsecurity.org (26 July 1956). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[264] Kyle, Keith Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East, p. 458[265] Gaddis, John Lewis We Now Know 1998, pp. 237–240.[266] Gaddis, John Lewis We Now Know, 1998, pp. 245–246.[267] Gaddis, John Lewis We Now Know 1998, p. 240.[268] Gaddis, John Lewis We Now Know, 1998, pp. 239–240.[269] Gaddis, John Lewis We Now Know, 1998, p. 239.

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[270] Williams, Charles Harold Macmillan (2009) pp. 259–261[271] Kyle, Keith Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East, p. 464[272][272] Kennett Love, Suez: The Twice-Fought War, New York: McGraw Hill, 1969, p. 651[273] The Suez Crisis of 1956 (http:/ / www. historylearningsite. co. uk/ suez_crisis_1956. htm). Historylearningsite.co.uk (30 March 2007).

Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[274] The effect of Prime Minister Anthony Eden's illness on his decision-making during the Suez crisis (http:/ / qjmed. oxfordjournals. org/

content/ 98/ 6/ 387. full). Qjmed.oxfordjournals.org (6 May 2005). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[275] Alteras, Issac Eisenhower and Israel: U.S.-Israeli relations, 1953–1960 p. 243[276] Service Cinématographique des Armées SCA reportage de Paul Corcuff, 22 December 1956 (http:/ / www. ecpad. fr/ ecpa/ PagesDyn/

result. asp?reportageid=1012) French Ministry of Defense archives ECPAD MO56141AR14[279] Kyle, Keith Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East, p. 493[280] Middle East | Suez: The 'betrayal' of Eden (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ world/ middle_east/ 6085264. stm). BBC News (30 October

2006). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[281] Suez Canal Crisis (http:/ / novaonline. nvcc. edu/ eli/ evans/ his135/ Events/ Suez56. htm). Novaonline.nvcc.edu. Retrieved on 8 September

2011.[282] Delauche, Frederic Illustrated History of Europe: A Unique Guide to Europe's Common Heritage (1992) p. 357[283][283] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 173.[284][284] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 236.[285] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 236–237.[286] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 236–239.[287] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 173–174.[288][288] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) p. 174.[289] Gaddis, John Lewis (1998) pp. 174–175.[291][291] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 92.[292] Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: An European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 43, Issue # 2, April

2008, pp. 273–274.[293] Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: An European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 43, Issue # 2, April

2008, p. 274.[294] Laskier, Michael "Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956–70" pp. 573–619 from Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 31, Issue # 3,

July 1995, p. 579.[295] Laskier, Michael "Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956–70" pp. 573–619 from Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 31, Issue # 3,

July 1995, pp. 579–580.[296] Laskier, Michael "Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956–70" pp. 573–619 from Middle Eastern Studies, Volume 31, Issue # 3,

July 1995, p. 581.[297] Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries (http:/ / www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/ jsource/ History/ jewref. html). Jewishvirtuallibrary.org.

Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[298][298] Varble, Derek (2003) p. 84.[299] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his Generation, p. 275.[300] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his generation, p. 277.[301] Vatikiotis, P.J. Nasser and his generation, p. 321.[302] WWII Behind Closed Doors: Stalin, the Nazis and the West . Biographies . Anthony Eden (http:/ / www. pbs. org/ behindcloseddoors/

biographies/ eden. html). PBS. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[304] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 449.[305] Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3, Summer 1988 page 449.[306] US-UK Special Relationship 06 | Intelligence Analysis and Reporting (http:/ / spyinggame. wordpress. com/ 2011/ 07/ 30/

us-uk-special-relationship-06/ ). Spyinggame.wordpress.com (30 July 2011). Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[308][308] .[309][309] .[311][311] .[312][312] .[313] Affaire de Suez, Le Pacte Secret (http:/ / www. france5. fr/ programmes/ articles/ histoire/ 734-affaire-de-suez-le-pacte-secret. php), Peter

Hercombe et Arnaud Hamelin, France 5/Sunset Presse/Transparence, 2006[314][314] Herzog, (1982) p. 141[315] Keith Kyle reviews ‘Divided we stand’ by W. Scott Lucas and ‘Blind Loyalty’ by W.J. Hudson· LRB 25 February 1993 (http:/ / www. lrb.

co. uk/ v15/ n04/ keith-kyle/ lacking-in-style). Lrb.co.uk. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.[316][316] Herzog, p. 141[317] Eisenhower and Israel: US-Israel relations 1953–1960 (http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=ydRHCPWngioC&

printsec=frontcover#v=onepage& q& f=false). Isaac Alteras. Limited preview at Google Books.

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[318] MILITARIA • Toon onderwerp – Suez Crisis: Operation Musketeer (http:/ / militaria. forum-xl. com/ viewtopic. php?f=53& t=599).Militaria.forum-xl.com. Retrieved on 8 September 2011.

References• Adamthwaite, Anthony "Suez Revisited" pages 449–464 from International Affairs, Volume 64, Issue # 3,

Summer 1988.• Arnstein, Walter L. (2001). Britain Yesterday and Today: 1830 to the Present. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

ISBN 978-0-618-00104-0.• Alteras, Isaac. Eisenhower and Israel: U.S.-Israeli relations, 1953–1960 (University Press of Florida, 1993)• Barnett, Michael N. (1992). Confronting the Costs of War: Military Power, State, and Society in Egypt and Israel.

Princeton, NJ.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-07883-0.• Beaufre, André (1969). The Suez Expedition 1956. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-571-08979-8. (translated from

French by Richard Barry)• Bregman, Ahron (2002). Israel's Wars: A History Since 1947. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-28716-2.• Bromberger, Merry and Serge Secrets of Suez Sidgwick & Jackson London 1957 (translated from French Les

Secrets de l'Expedition d'Egypte by James Cameron)• Burns, William J. (1985). Economic Aid and American Policy toward Egypt, 1955–1981. Albany: State

University of New York Press. ISBN 0873958683.• Butler, L. J. (2002). Britain and Empire: Adjusting to a Post-Imperial World. London: I.B. Tauris.

ISBN 1-86064-449-X.• Childers, Erskine B. (1962). The Road To Suez. MacGibbon & Kee. ASIN  B000H47WG4 (http:/ / www.

amazon. com/ dp/ B000H47WG4).• Darwin, John (1988). Britain and Decolonisation: The Retreat From Empire in the Post Cold War World.

Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-29258-8.• Dietl, Ralph "Suez 1956: An European Intervention?" pp. 259–273 from Journal of Contemporary History,

Volume 43, Issue # 2, April 2008.• Gaddis, John Lewis (1997, 1998). We Know Now: Rethinking Cold War History. Oxford: Oxford University

Press. ISBN 978-0-19-878071-7.• Hendershot, Robert M. (2008). Family Spats: Perception, Illusion, and Sentimentality in the Anglo-American

Special Relationship. VDM Verlag. ISBN 978-3-639-09016-1.• Heikal, Mohamed (1986). Cutting The Lion’s Tail : Suez Through Egyptian eyes. London: Deutsch.

ISBN 0-233-97967-0.• Herzog, Chaim (1982). The Arab-Israeli Wars : War and Peace in the Middle East. New York: Random House.

ISBN 0-394-50379-1.• Hyam, Ronald (2006). Britain's Declining Empire: The Road to Decolonisation 1918–1969. Cambridge

University Press. ISBN 0-521-68555-9.• James, Robert Rhodes (1986). Anthony Eden: A Biography. McGraw Hill Book Company Inc. ASIN 

B0040YOVBQ (http:/ / www. amazon. com/ dp/ B0040YOVBQ).• Kissinger, Henry (1994). Diplomacy. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-51099-1.• Kyle, Keith (2003). Suez: Britain's End of Empire in the Middle East. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-811-8.• Kunz, Diane B. (1991). The Economic Diplomacy of the Suez Crisis (http:/ / books. google. com/

books?id=8lG54d7vzKkC). U. of North Carolina Press.• Laskier, Michael "Egyptian Jewry under the Nasser Regime, 1956–70" pp. 573–619 from Middle Eastern

Studies, Volume 31, Issue # 3, July 1995.• Leuliette, Pierre (1964). St. Michael and the Dragon: Memoirs of a Paratrooper. Houghton Mifflin.• Love, Kenneth (1969). Suez The Twice Fought War. McGraw-Hill.

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• Lucas, Scott, ed. (1996). Britain And Suez : The Lion’s Last Roar. Manchester: Manchester University Press.ISBN 0-7190-4579-7.

• Marshall, S.L.A (1958). Sinai Victory : Command Decisions In History’s Shortest War, Israel’s Hundred-HourConquest of Egypt East of Suez, Autumn, 1956. New York: Battery Press. ISBN 0-89839-085-0.

• Neff, Donald (1981). Warriors at Suez : Eisenhower takes America into the Middle-East. New York: Simon andSchuster. ISBN 0-671-41010-5.

• Painter, David S. (2012). "Oil and the American Century" (http:/ / jah. oxfordjournals. org/ content/ 99/ 1/ 24. full.pdf). The Journal of American History 99 (1): 24–39. doi: 10.1093/jahist/jas073 (http:/ / dx. doi. org/ 10. 1093/jahist/ jas073).

• Reynolds, David (1991/2000). Brittania Overruled: British Policy and World Power in the Twentieth Century.Longman. ISBN 0-582-38249-1.

• Risse-Kappen, Thomas (1997) [1995]. Cooperation among Democracies: The European Influence on U.S.Foreign Policy (2nd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-01711-2.

• Sayed-Ahmed, Muhammad Add al-Wahab "Relations between Egypt and the United States of America in the1950s", pp. 89–99 from Contemporary Egypt: Through Egyptian eyes: Essays in honour of Professor P.J.Vatikiotis edited by Charles Tripp, Routledge: London, 1993, ISBN 0415061032.

• Sharon, Ariel (1989). Warrior : The Autobiography Of Ariel Sharon. New York: Simon and Schuster.ISBN 0-671-60555-0.

• Tal, David, ed. (2001). The 1956 War. London: Frank Cass Publishers. ISBN 0-7146-4394-7.• Thornhill, Michael "Britain, the United States and the Rise of an Egyptian Leader", pp. 892–921 from English

Historical Review, Volume CXIV, Issue # 483, September 2004.• Turner, Barry (2006). Suez 1956 The World's First War for Oil. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

ISBN 0340837683.• Varble, Derek (2003). The Suez Crisis 1956. London: Osprey. ISBN 1841764183.• Vatikiotis, Panayiotis (1978). Nasser and His Generation. London: Croom Helm. ISBN 0-85664-433-1.• Verbeek, Bertjan (2003). Decision-Making in Great Britain During the Suez Crisis. Small Groups and a

Persistent Leader. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-3253-5.• Wilson, Andrew (2008). Our Times The age of Elizabeth II. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0091796717.• Yergin, Daniel (1991). The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York City: Simon & Schuster.

ISBN 0-671-50248-4.. Chapter 24 is devoted entirely to the Suez Crisis.

External links• Israel's Second War of Independence (http:/ / www. azure. org. il/ magazine/ magazine. asp?id=355), essay in

Azure magazine.• A Man, A Plan and A Canal (http:/ / www. weeklystandard. com/ Content/ Public/ Articles/ 000/ 000/ 012/

484pbqjx. asp?page=2) by Arthur L. Herman• Sinai Campaign 1956 (http:/ / www. jafi. org. il/ education/ 100/ maps/ sinai. html)• Canada and the Suez Crisis (http:/ / www. suezcrisis. ca/ )• July 2006, BBC, Suez 50 years on (http:/ / news. bbc. co. uk/ 1/ hi/ world/ middle_east/ 5199392. stm)• Suez and the high tide of Arab nationalism (http:/ / www. isj. org. uk/ index. php4?id=249& issue=112)

International Socialism 112 (2006)• Detailed report on the Suez campaign by Ground Forces Chief of Staff General Beaufre, French Defense Ministry

archive (http:/ / www. servicehistorique. sga. defense. gouv. fr/ 04histoire/ dossierdushd/ suez/ suezcarr2. htm)(French)

• Bodleian Library Suez Crisis Fiftieth anniversary exhibition (http:/ / www. bodley. ox. ac. uk/ dept/ scwmss/projects/ suez/ suez. html)

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• Suez index (http:/ / www. britains-smallwars. com/ suez/ suez-index. html) at Britains-smallwars.com – accountsby British servicemen that were present

• 26 July speech by Gamal Abdel Nasser (http:/ / www. cvce. eu/ obj/speech_by_gamal_abdel_nasser_26_july_1956-en-d0ecf835-9f40-4c43-a2ed-94c186061d2a. html) (Frenchtranslation)

• Speech by Gamal Abdel Nasser (http:/ / nasser. bibalex. org/ Speeches/ browser. aspx?SID=495) (Original text inArabic)

• The short film The Middle East (1963) (http:/ / www. archive. org/ details/ gov. archives. arc. 653946) is availablefor free download at the Internet Archive [more]

Media links• Newsreel film , British Prime Minister's broadcast (http:/ / www. britishpathe. com/ record. php?id=61875) at

Britishpathe.comThe following links are not functioning as of 6 December 2009. They are retained here for reference.

• "The Suez canal and the nationalization by Colonel Nasser" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video.php?id_notice=AFE85006880& random=3614851046) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 1August 1956 Fr.(views of Nasser EG, Pineau FR, Lloyd UK, Murphy US, Downing street, comment on international tension)

• "The new pilots engaged for the Suez canal" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video.php?id_notice=AFE85006971& random=6950306567) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 3October 1956 French(views of Port Said, the canal and Ferdinand de Lesseps' statue few weeks before the Suez Crisis, incl. asignificant comment on Nasser)

• "French paratroopers in Cyprus" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video. php?id_notice=CAF96065803&random=4978278098) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 6 November 1956 French(details on the French-British settings and material, views of Amiral Barjot, General Keightley, camp and scenesin Cyprus)

• "Dropping over Port Said" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video. php?id_notice=CAF96065804&random=879001678) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 6 November 1956 French(views of British paratroopers dropping over Port Said, comment on respective mission for the French and Britishduring Operation Amilcar)

• "Suez: French-British landing in Port Fouad & Port Said" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video.php?id_notice=CAF89022891& random=7036585892) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 9November 1956 mute(views of French-British in Cyprus, landing in Port Fouad, landing Port Said, Gal Massu, Gal Bauffre, convoy)

• "The French in Port Said" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video. php?id_notice=I00015973&random=5080040484) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 9 November 1956 mute(views of prisoners and captured material, Gal Massu, para commandos, Egyptian cops surrender, Gal Beauffre,landing craft on the canal)

• "Dropping of Anglo-French over the canal zone (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video.php?id_notice=AFE85007049& random=9555771826)" French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 14November 1956 French(views of 2 Nordatlas, paratroopers, dropping of para and material circa Port Said, comment on no bombing tosecure the population)

• "Canal obstructed by sunken ships" (http:/ / mp4. ina. fr/ ogp/ contenu_video. php?id_notice=AFE85007052&random=4486718388) French news from the National Audiovisual Institute, 14 November 1956 French(views of troops in Port Said, Ferdinand de Lesseps' statue, comment on the 21 ships sunken by the "dictator")

Page 54: Suez Crisis

Article Sources and Contributors 54

Article Sources and ContributorsSuez Crisis  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=553546876  Contributors: -sche, 1exec1, 5 albert square, A user, A.S. Brown, ACfan, AHMartin, Adam7z, AdamRetchless,Addd wiki, Adityan, Ag sailor, Agamemnus, Ahoerstemeier, Ahpook, Airborne84, Ajnem, Ajpappal, Akhil 0950, Al tally, Alansohn, AlexiusHoratius, Aloha, Alphachimp, Am86, Amakuru,Amatulic, Amikake3, Amoruso, Andres, AndresHerutJaim, Andycjp, Angus Lepper, Anonyguru, Antandrus, Anticommunist48, Aranel, Ardfern, ArielGold, Aryeztur, Asa Zernik, Ashashyou,Ashley Pomeroy, Ask123, Auntof6, AustralianRupert, Austriacus, Axeman89, Ayecee, Azavgz, B-Machine, BL, BRUTE, Badlandz, Bakh Kamoor, Bardwell, Barticus88, Baseballbaker23,Batamtig, Bawolff, Bazj, Bekuletz, Bellerophon5685, Belligero, Belvedere1234, Benito, Beru7, Binksternet, Blacksand, BlaiseFEgan, Blueandgreen24, Bobblewik, Bobo192, Boldymumbles,Bonadea, Bourquie, Bpg1968, Braaropolis, Breconborn, Brian.Burnell, Brianm358, Britannicus, Bromley86, BrownHairedGirl, Brozozo, Byelf2007, Calltech, Caltas, Calvados, Can't sleep,clown will eat me, CanadianCaesar, Cancun771, Canderson7, Capt Jim, Carl Logan, Carnifexleo, Carwil, CasualObserver'48, CdnStar, CharlotteWebb, Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry,ChildersFamily, Chipmunkdavis, Chris the speller, ChrisGualtieri, ChrisO, Chrisdoyleorwell, Chuunen Baka, Cjjm, Clarityfiend, Cliftonian, Closedmouth, Colin marks, CommonsDelinker,Commuood, Comrade-HW, ConCompS, Conversion script, CrazyChemGuy, Crowish, Curps, CuthbertClifford, Cyde, DBaba, DJ Clayworth, DJ Sturm, DMorpheus, DabMachine, Dabomb87,Dachshund, DagosNavy, Dan100, DanKeshet, Dangit99, Daniel5127, Danimoth, DannyCyclone, Danrules2, Darkjudah, Darry2385, Dash, Dave8904, Davecrosby uk, David Newton,David.Monniaux, De Administrando Imperio, DePiep, DeadEyeArrow, Decora, Deiz, Deltabeignet, Demetrius Phalereus of Wikipedius, DemonicInfluence, Deus257, Diannaa, Dimadick,Discospinster, Dixy flyer, Dlv999, Dmr2, Dmyersturnbull, DocWatson42, Doctor Boogaloo, Dogtag, Dominican, Dominios, Doom777, Download, DragonflySixtyseven, Dragonsscout,Dreadstar, Drmies, Duncharris, Duran, Dyersgoodness, Dysmorodrepanis, Dysprosia, E0steven, EZ1234, Edilgaal, Edivorce, Edward, Egospoon, Egyptjosh, Ehudzel, Ejasz, EkoGraf, El C,ElPax, ElUmmah, Eleland, Eliyak, Eliz81, Elmondo21st, Endos, Enric Naval, Enrico Poli, Enviroboy, Enzo Aquarius, Epbr123, Eran, Erikhansson1, Erunestian, Eshay, Everyking, Ewawer,Factomancer, Fastboy, Fatla00, FayssalF, Fellwalker57, Ffaker, Firedragon2133, FitzColinGerald, Foofbun, Formulax, Franamax, Francheska, Friday, Frosted14, Fshafique, FunkMonk,Fuzheado, Gabbe, GabrielF, Gafarelmuzaffar, Gaius Cornelius, Gary King, Gatoclass, Gbinal, Geoff.powers, Ggbroad, Gilliam, Giraffedata, Global studies is cool, Goldblooded, Gowood08,GraemeLeggett, Graft, Graham87, GrahamHardy, GreekParadise, Green Giant, Gregbard, Greyshark09, Grim23, Ground Zero, Groundsquirrel13, Grover cleveland, Grstain, Grunners, Gurch,Guy Peters, HJ32, Hadal, Haim Am, HantersSpade, Harley peters, Haydar Haydar, Helldjinn, Hemi 426 yay, Herostratus, Hetar, HeteroZellous, HexaChord, Hibernian, Historian932, HistoryToday Magazine, Hmains, Hmbr, Huckamike, Hughstew, Humus sapiens, Husond, Hux, I m dude2002, IAC-62, ISasha, IZAK, Ian Pitchford, Icseaturtles, Idamlaj, Ihacklozer, Ike524, Ingolfson,InverseHypercube, Ipc-james, Ireadandcheck, Iridescent, Ixfd64, J Di, JFPerry, JFreeman, JRawle, Jackyd101, Jacob Snyder, Jacob1207, Jaro7788, Jarvoll, Jauhienij, Jayjg, Jeronimo, Jerseymilk,Jewbacca, Jggrady, Jheald, Jim Fitzgerald, Jiujitsuguy, Jmackaerospace, Jni, JoJan, JoSePh, John, John K, John Z, John of Reading, Johnbibby, JohnnyRum1420, Jonleigh18, Joriki, JoseonEmpire, Joseph Solis in Australia, Josh3580, Joshdboz, JoshuaZ, Joyous!, Jpeob, Jpod2, Jriley555, Jsnx, Julianp, Junglecat, Jusdafax, KJS77, KKramer, Kablammo, Kahastok, Karl Dickman,Kathovo, KazakhPol, Kberendt2, Kbrooks, Keallu, Kedlav, Kendrick7, Kentholke, Kerpail, KiKiIsFiFi, Kirill Lokshin, Klaus Vomhof, Klaxon, Klemen Kocjancic, Koavf, Kralizec!, Kritikos99,Ksenon, Kusunose, LOTRrules, Lacrimosus, Lapsed Pacifist, Laurinavicius, Leandrod, Levanrami, LibLord, Liftarn, Lightmouse, Ligulem, LilHelpa, LinDrug, Liquidmetalrob, Lockesdonkey,Lord Cornwallis, LordAmeth, Loren.wilton, LudicrousTripe, Luke Barrie, Luwilt, M-le-mot-dit, M.nelson, MBK004, MER-C, MFlet1, Macronyx, Madehub, Madshaolin, Magnus.de,Mahmudmasri, Mais oui!, Malick78, Maproom, Marbehtorah-marbehchaim, Marcd30319, MarcoAurelio, MarcusBritish, Marek69, Mareklug, Mark K. 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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Tanks Destroyed Sinai.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tanks_Destroyed_Sinai.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: United States Army Heritage andEducation CenterFile:Flag of Israel.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Israel.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: “The Provisional Council of State Proclamation of theFlag of the State of Israel” of 25 Tishrei 5709 (28 October 1948) provides the official specification for the design of the Israeli flag. The color of the Magen David and the stripes of the Israeli flagis not precisely specified by the above legislation. The color depicted in the current version of the image is typical of flags used in Israel today, although individual flags can and do vary. The flaglegislation officially specifies dimensions of 220 cm × 160 cm. However, the sizes of actual flags vary (although the aspect ratio is usually retained).File:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Anomie, GoodOlfactory, MifterFile:Flag of France.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_France.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AnomieFile:Flag of Egypt 1952.svg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Egypt_1952.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: F l a n k e rFile:Canal de Suez.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Canal_de_Suez.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5  Contributors: User:YolanCFile:1956-07-30 Suez Canal Seized.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-07-30_Suez_Canal_Seized.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Universal StudiosFile:Suez Canal, Port Said - ISS 2.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Suez_Canal,_Port_Said_-_ISS_2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: unnamed NASAastronautFile:Suez nationalization.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Suez_nationalization.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: National ArchivesFile:Portrait Menzies 1941.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Portrait_Menzies_1941.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Wikistar2File:Suez Crisis.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Suez_Crisis.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: National ArchivesFile:1956-08-06 Suez Crisis.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-08-06_Suez_Crisis.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UniversalFile:1956 Suez war - conquest of Sinai.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956_Suez_war_-_conquest_of_Sinai.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Ain92,Francis Schonken, JMCC1, Lipothymia, Mmccalpin, NeverDoING, QWerk, Snek01, Talmoryair, Thuresson, TimeshifterFile:Tzniha-mitle.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tzniha-mitle.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Uri DanFile:Israeli troops in sinai war.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Israeli_troops_in_sinai_war.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Claritas, Daniel Baránek,Matanya, NatanFlayer, Neukoln, NeverDoING, Nudve, Orlovic, Stout256, YehudaTelAviv64, Шуфель, 1 ,דוד שי anonymous editsFile:1956-11-01 War in Egypt.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-11-01_War_in_Egypt.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UniversalFile:Ibrahim al-Awwal1956.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ibrahim_al-Awwal1956.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Uploader: User Golf BravoFile:Egypt-Israel Disturbances.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Egypt-Israel_Disturbances.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: National ArchivesFile:Suez Sea Venom.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Suez_Sea_Venom.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Royal Navy official photographer

Page 55: Suez Crisis

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 55

File:Port Said from air.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Port_Said_from_air.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Fleet Air Arm official photographerFile:British tanks in Port Said.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:British_tanks_in_Port_Said.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Avocato, Catsmeat, Cobatfor,Docu, Fæ, High Contrast, NeverDoINGFile:1956-11-12 Near East Crisis.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-11-12_Near_East_Crisis.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UniversalFile:1956-08-09 Press Parley.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-08-09_Press_Parley.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UniversalFile:1956-04-12 Full Scale War Looms.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1956-04-12_Full_Scale_War_Looms.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: UniversalNewsreelsFile:1957-02-14 Tel Aviv Israel.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:1957-02-14_Tel_Aviv_Israel.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Universal NewsreelsFile:Suez Crisis aftermath.ogv  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Suez_Crisis_aftermath.ogv  License: Public Domain  Contributors: National ArchivesFile:Statue of de Lesseps.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Statue_of_de_Lesseps.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Avocato, JMCC1Image:Yemenites go to Aden.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Yemenites_go_to_Aden.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Kluger ZoltanFile:Tiran Guns IMG 0937.JPG  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tiran_Guns_IMG_0937.JPG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: deror_aviFile:Dayan 9th Brigade 1956.jpg  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dayan_9th_Brigade_1956.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Original uploader was GolfBravo at he.wikipedia

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