Suez Crisis Summary

A summary of the 1956 Suez Crisis

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  • Created by: B_R_D
  • Created on: 14-03-14 16:14
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  • 1956 Suez Crisis
    • Anthony Eden
      • Should have been a great diplomat; thrice foreign secretary in previous political posts. Suez was simply a mistake.
    • Britain, after Egypt sought closer links with the Soviet Union, withdrew funding for the Aswan Dam
      • 1956: Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyptian president, in response, decided to nationalise the Suez canal, placing it directly in Egyptian ownership.
        • Eden met with the French and Israeli prime ministers in extreme secrecy to agree on an invasion strategy.
          • It was planned that the Israeli forces would invade Egypt from the Eastern border. Anglo-French forces offered an ultimatum to the apparently fighting sides, then invaded themselves, preceded by heavy air-strikes.
            • A number of people and organisations criticised the attack. Dwight D. Eisenhower was enraged; saying to Eden, 'I can only presume you've gone mad'
              • The UN forced Britain, Israel and France to withdraw.
              • Militarily the operation was almost a great success. Diplomatically it was a disaster that nobody could have expected of Eden.
                • Amid criticism and ailing health Eden, in 1957, resigns.
                  • Anthony Eden
                    • Should have been a great diplomat; thrice foreign secretary in previous political posts. Suez was simply a mistake.
                • The Crisis is often seen as one of the earliest examples of Britain's decline in world influence.

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