The Suez Crisis of 1956

In July 1956, after Britain and the United States withdrew offers to fund the Aswan High Dam, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal Company, planning to use its revenue for the dam. Britain and France, the company's main owners, saw the canal as vital and Nasser as a threat; France also resented his support for Algerian rebels. In secret talks at Sèvres, Britain, France and Israel agreed a plan: Israel would invade Sinai, and Britain and France would intervene as 'peacekeepers' to seize the canal.

Israel attacked on 29 October, and Anglo-French forces landed at Port Said in early November. The operation was a military success but a political disaster. The United States, furious at not being consulted, refused to support the pound during a run on sterling, the Soviet Union issued threats, and the UN demanded withdrawal. Britain and France agreed a ceasefire on 6 November. Suez showed that the old European powers could no longer act alone, and it accelerated their retreat from empire.