Ian Chandler
Was the Suez Crisis a devastating debacle for Britain?
The Suez Crisis arose in a period of tension as an ‘Iron Curtain’, as Churchill described it, had descended across Europe causing the Cold War. The British Empire was beginning to crumble under American pressure and relations between the three ‘Powers’ had collapsed with only Britain and the US holding any weight. The Suez Crisis was viewed as a very delicate situation which could spark a third World War.
The Suez Canal was a vital link which ensured a quicker, more economic route for trade between Britain and her colonies in the middle-east, southern Asia and India. The most important good brought through the canal was oil although it was later found to be just as profitable to take it around the Cape of Good Hope. However, by 1956 Anglo-Eqyptian relations had deterriorated, partly caused by the withdrawal of British and USA finance for the Aswan Dam. Colonel Nasser, self-styled leader of Eqypt and likened at the time by Eden and some of his Cabinet colleagues to ‘a modern day Hitler’, reacted by nationalising the Canal. The British were shocked, feeling that the great Empire was being threatened and that to lose this vital link would be disastrous for the Empire. A plan was hatched for Israel to attack Egypt so that Britain and France could intervene claiming ‘Police Action’. The Soviet Union and US saw through the scheme as a desperate attempt for Britain and France to cling onto their empires. Yet, despite the invasion’s failure, some of Britain’s intentions were achieved; for example, from 1957 onwards the canal remained open under UN rule for all trade. This meant Britain had successfully defended her trade link. However, the Crisis was a huge embarrassment for Britain, undermining her status as a world power, reducing her influence in the Middle East and maybe speeding up de-colonisation.
