/View.info/ On October 31, 1956, operation “Musketeer” began – British and French troops attacked Egypt. The still young and fragile Israel, the Suez Canal and Arab nationalism were all involved. They did not take into account only one “little thing” – the only then superpowers on the planet.
The Suez Canal, built in the 19th century, connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It dramatically shortened the sea route from Europe to Asia, eliminating the need for ships to circumnavigate the African continent. This shortening of the route meant great logistical savings – time and money. Therefore, whoever controls the channel can exert political pressure on other participants in world trade and make serious money.
During the World Wars era, Egypt, through whose territory the canal passes, was a British colony, while the structure itself was under Anglo-French control. It is true that in 1936 Cairo achieved independence for itself, but British troops were still stationed on its territory.
The treaty, signed in 1936, allowed Britain to have full control of the Canal Zone for at least another 20 years. The Egyptian government constantly tried to reduce this period retroactively, but the British, naturally, did not show much understanding in this matter.
At the same time, the topic of gaining sovereignty over the canal was very hot and stirring in Egyptian society. In 1951, amid mass demonstrations, the Egyptians finally terminated the treaty unilaterally.
True, British troops still remained in the Canal Zone. But the British, as if with a wave of the hand, lost electricity, cable communications and water supply. Gone are the Egyptian workers serving the interests of the British Army.
But instead of them, armed Arabs of unknown affiliation appeared and began to shoot at the British from an ambush, blow up infrastructure and generally try to cause damage in all possible / available ways.
The British responded by shooting at anyone they found suspicious. Reinforcements, including paratroopers and tanks, were sent to the canal zone. By January 1952, full-fledged battles with machine gun fire and tank gun fire were already taking place in the canal area.
However, Arab nationalists responded with pogroms of everything British in Cairo. After which London finally found a way to put serious pressure on the royal government, which restored electricity and contained guerrilla attacks.
But in response, the angry street received only a revolution – in July 1952, the royal power was swept away and Egypt received a new leader – Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser. The guerilla campaign continued and by 1954 the British finally ended – they began to withdraw their troops, which ended in the summer of 1956.
Almost immediately, Nasser announced the nationalization of the canal, although the concession for it did not officially expire until 1968.
A blow under the hood
The British and French, who owned a large share of the Suez Canal, began to think deeply. The 1950s were strikingly different from the 1930s – torn apart by World War II, the once great European empires were falling apart at the seams. There were no longer forces for military pressure on the natives. But after failing to go it alone, the British could bet on someone else. And there was a good option here.
This is what the very young Israel turned out to be. The Jewish state defeated the Arabs in the war of the 1940s, but in the 1950s the same Egypt bought the most advanced military equipment from the USSR in huge quantities. It was difficult for the Jewish state to handle this alone. But if the help of two powerful forces is enlisted…
Having got the canal at its disposal, Egypt was ready to let anyone through it – after all, the money could not be earned on its own. But there was one exception – Israeli ships and vessels. Thus, Israel, France and Great Britain had reasons to start a war against Egypt – who to regain control of the Suez Canal, who – to wrest a piece of territory from their dangerous neighbor.
Israel attacked Egypt on October 29th, beginning to successfully capture the Sinai Peninsula, and was joined by Anglo-French forces on the 31st, heading for the Suez Canal. The main strike force of their naval group was the aircraft carriers – seven of them were gathered in one place. The rest are escort ships, including one World War II battleship. Landing ships also played an important role. In total, the invasion fleet consisted of more than 130 ships and vessels.
The Egyptians immediately blockaded the canal, sunk dozens of auxiliary ships there, and assembled troops to defend it. This did not save them – on November 5, the British and French carried out air landings in Port Said, at the entrance to the Suez Canal, taking control of key objects – for example, the airport.
The next day there was a landing from the sea. Urban battles followed – the Egyptians fought desperately, but the enemy moved deeper and deeper into the country. It seems that the support of naval artillery, aviation and the superiority of Anglo-French troops will do the job.
But the next day they were very surprised.
The forester who kicked everyone out
The whole plan was an initiative of England and France. Preserving control of the Suez Canal was assumed to be too important and the operation would be met with understanding by all the Allies.
But it wasn’t like that. Eisenhower was furious that no one even bothered to inform him. And he was ready to play against France and England.
Whether the canal was in the hands of London, Paris or Cairo was of little concern to him – he believed that the tools of the United Nations would be sufficient to make the canal work properly. He insisted that the Egyptians allow all ships, including Israeli ones, to pass. Egypt, which had just lost the Sinai Peninsula to IDF attacks and almost lost the Suez Canal, now did not object.
Khrushchev was also beside himself. He played his trump cards by threatening England and France with nuclear war.
Paris and London, and even more so the Israeli side, could not withstand such unexpected pressure from two sides at the same time. Peacekeepers were soon brought into the Canal Zone and the British and French troops had to leave. Threats of sanctions forced Israel to leave the occupied Sinai Peninsula as well.
This crisis has made it very clear that when the superpowers agree that someone on the planet is behaving improperly, the problem is resolved extremely quickly. Regional players can offer little resistance. But when there are disagreements (or the superpowers don’t care), wars go on for years, maybe even decades. The most striking examples of this are Vietnam and Afghanistan.
In 1991, our country suffered its biggest collapse and ceased to be a superpower. There is only one such power left in the world – the USA. And if someone’s activity was fundamentally unacceptable for Washington, then for such an actor everything ended extremely sadly – everyone remembers the unenviable fate of, for example, the Serbs.
But today something has cracked in this world order. Regional powers are no longer ready to stand still at the hegemon’s first shout. Today’s battles are also about the ability to solve problems without regard to the opinion of the States – and in such a world the situation that played out in October 1956 would have ended very differently.
Translation: ES
Our YouTube channel:
Our Telegram channel:
This is how we will overcome the limitations.
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages.
#USA #USSR #England #France #Israel #Suez #Canal
