In a Nutshell
What began as a feud over control of the Suez Canal led to a military debacle that Britain hoped to brush under the carpet...
SUEZ CRISIS
What was the Suez Crisis?
With relations between the West and East on a knife’s edge during the Cold War, Britain and France secretly colluded with Israel to stage a military attack on the Suez Canal in Egypt. The aim of this ‘Tripartite Aggression’ was to bring the strategic waterway under their control.
SCREW UP AT SUEZ The Suez Canal, an artery of global trade, was closed between October 1956 and March 1957
Why was the Suez Canal so important?
The canal had been created in the 1860s by the French and Egyptian governments. By slicing through the slim stretch of land connecting Africa to Asia, the Red Sea and Mediterranean were joined, beckoning a new era of international trade and travel.