IRL 17, March 31, 2010

URL; http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/causes_suez-crisis-1956.htm

This is an outline of the Suez Canal War of 1956, which we have discussed in class. This page comes from a British site for history learning, and describes how the Suez Canal War ended the political career of Sir Anthony Eden (the British Prime Minister at the time) but advanced Gamal Abdel Nasser's reputation in the Arab world. It states here that the war began in 1956 when Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, that is, took control of it and its profits and prevented Britain from benefitting. Britain had ruled Egypt for all of the 20th century and their presence in Egypt was not welcomed by many Egyptians, and Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal was one of the acts which drove the British out of Egypt, which many Egyptians wanted. After the British (and the French, who had joint control over the Canal) agreed to a ceasefire in the war and left the canal under Egyptian control, Nasser's reputation improved even more, while the British and the French, and by default, Eden were seen as international bullies. In order to further better the Egyptian economy, Nasser wanted to build what would become the Aswan High Dam, and wishing to regain some control in the region, both Britain and the United States agreed to support the project financially. The significance of this outline to what we have studied in class is that both support the idea that the Suez Canal War made relations between Britain and Egypt worse, portrayed Nasser as a hero in the Arab world for standing up to the British and the French (who they saw as oppressors), and made the British and the French appear to be international bullies. The main limitation with this source is that it does not specifically state how this incident ended Anthony Eden's political career, although it is stated in the first part of the reading that it did, and that information would be useful, since it effectively describes how Nasser's reputation improved due to the war.