It is widely believed that following the end of the Second World War, there were only two global superpowers: the United States and the Soviet Union. This is not true. There was a third superpower, wounded by the Second World War, but still maintaining a global imperial presence through world-wide colonies and military bases. This was the British Empire.
By 1956, although the Empire had lost the Indian subcontinent, most of Africa was still imperial pink, while British possessions still existed across the globe from the Caribbean to Malaya. However, nationalist movements were flourishing across the Empire, encouraged by both the Soviets and the United States. There was a real sense of despair for the Empire, yet most powerful figures within Britain could not accept that it was fading.
Crucially at the time, British politics was in a state of uncertainty. Winston Churchill, the great war hero of the Second World War, had resigned as Prime Minister in 1955. He was succeeded by the last of the Tory old guard, Anthony Eden, who refused to acknowledge that the world had changed forever. He refused to accept that Britain was declining, and was prepared to gamble for the fate of the empire. All he needed was an opportunity.
Enter Gamal Abdel Nasser. Nasser was a colonel in the Egyptian Army, who was involved in the military takeover of Egypt following the exile of King Farouk in 1952. Nasser was an ambitious hardline nationalist, and his first target was the Suez Canal. British imperial dominance since its occupation in the 1880s was a source of resentment amongst nationalist Egyptians, and the continued imperial presence in the canal was a thorn in Nasser’s side.
While Nasser cemented control of Egypt, the world paid little notice at first. The Cold War was escalating, while the French were being driven out of Indo-China and losing in Algeria. Israel was solidifying its power following its desperate victory against the Arab coalition, and Britain was too distracted by insurgencies in Cyprus, Kenya and Malaya.
In July 1956, the last British soldiers left the Suez in accordance with the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement of 1954. Just days later, Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company, a clear blow to imperial prestige. Faced with a wave of popular indignation against Egypt, Eden was emboldened, and prepared a hugely disproportionate reaction: a full-scale invasion and occupation of Egypt. This was to be the last roll of the dice to save the British Empire.
The Military Campaign
While there were diplomatic attempts made to achieve a resolution to the crisis, neither side was willing to relent. Nasser had made it clear that the Suez was Egyptian and that Egypt’s sovereignty had to be respected. Meanwhile, the British pretended to engage in diplomatic activity just as a smokescreen for military preparations. The British quickly reached an agreement with the French for military assistance, while the Israelis were convinced to join in order to secure their southern flank and to reopen the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.
On October 29th, Israeli forces, spearheaded by armour formations, blitzed into the Sinai peninsula, wrecking all Egyptian formations that stood against them. In under a week, the Israeli army stood 10 kilometres from the canal, and the entirety of the Sinai was within Israeli hands.
On the 31st, the Anglo-French invasion began with airborne landings. While easily taking Port Said and positions along the canal, the Anglo-French army was forced to halt by a UN ordered ceasefire led by the Americans on the 6th of November. The Egyptian army had been wrecked, and its air force destroyed, but the war backfired immensely for the British and the French. Aside from ensuring international safe passage of the canal, military operations had resulted in the canal being totally blocked. Further, Anglo-French political prestige took an immense blow. By the 23rd of December, the Anglo-French forces had withdrawn.
Far-Reaching Consequences
The Suez Crisis made it clear that the British Empire had thrown the last roll of the dice. Britain was simply not capable of mounting military campaigns on its own anymore. It had been forced to ask for help from the French, and the only power in their coalition who had seen success was Israel, the youngest nation in the Middle East.
Further, it was quickly apparent that the age of imperialism was over. Condemnation from the Soviet Bloc, despite their own brutality in Hungary, quickly turned half the world against Britain, while threats from the Eisenhower administration in the USA sealed Britain’s fate. Eisenhower, enraged by the British decision to invade, stated that the US would not stand by and aid in a colonialist adventure. The US imposed heavy financial pressure on the British pound, and vetoed any British request for IMF assistance. When Eden was forced to approach the US for a financial loan, Eisenhower only granted it after the ceasefire occurred.
Politically at home, the Suez Crisis gave birth to the anti-war movement. While there was a tide of genuine public support against Nasser, there was a huge popular wave of anti-imperialism and pacifism. This wave of anti-war sentiment was unprecedented with a whopping 44% of British citizens opposing the war, shocking the nation to its core. In France, the Suez Crisis indirectly led to the fall of the Fourth Republic in 1958, and contributed to an immense distrust of the Americans.
The only real victors in the war were Israel and Egypt. Not only did the Israelis prove themselves as the dominant military force in the Middle East, they also secured the reopening of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. They additionally achieved the presence of UN Peacekeepers in Sinai, safeguarding its southern border with Egypt for the next eleven years. Israel even avoided the political humiliation that befell Britain and France due its refusal to withdraw from the Sinai without guarantees. Egypt, while militarily defeated, managed to secure sovereignty over the Suez. Nasser was seen as a pan-Arab hero, and his popularity was cemented as a crusader against colonialism.
In the end, the main implication of the Suez Crisis was the end of the empires of old. While colonial wars still persisted following 1956, the outcome of Suez greatly hastened the decolonisation process. There is little doubt that the Suez was where the sun finally set on the British Empire.
