On October 29, 1956 AD, Israel invaded Egypt, and the Suez Crisis began. This incident contributed to shedding light on the unstable state of play in the post-World War II world, indicating the continued decline of European empires, the complex politics in the Middle East and the dominant role that was The Soviet Union and the United States play in international affairs.

And the Israeli occupation forces will be joined by the British and French forces, which have been deployed in the region under the pretext of protecting the Suez Canal from the fighters. Britain was suspicious of the Egyptian nationalist President Gamal Abdel Nasser, who believed that he was trying to limit their interests in the region and reach the vital trade route it provides. the channel.

France believed that Nasser was providing aid to the rebels in the Algerian colonies, and he was also relying on the canal as a trade route. Israel considered Abdel Nasser a threat, especially since there were various border skirmishes between the Israeli and Egyptian forces leading to the invasion, and they considered attacking Egypt as a preemptive step to secure their own borders, All three countries had a common interest in exerting pressure on Egypt, although the reasons were very different.

As was the case in this period in history, the conflict quickly attracted the United States and the Soviet Union, Nasser was receiving financial and military support from the Soviet Union, and soon the Kremlin began issuing threats about the involvement of the British and French in the conflict, and made it clear that supporting the United States would lead to a confrontation. And US President Eisenhower moved to defuse the situation, warning the Soviet Union not to get involved, but also to pressure Britain, France and Israel to remove their forces from Egypt, and indeed they withdrew the forces in 1956.

European interests in the Suez Canal go back to the nineteenth century. In 1854 CE, the French diplomat, Ferdinand de Lipps, persuaded the Egyptian Vice-King Mohammed Said to allow the construction of a canal across the Sahara sector that linked Africa to Asia, and he began building the canal in 1859 CE, and Egypt owns 44% of its shares In the 1870s, Egypt found itself in huge debts, forcing the country to sell its shares in the Suez Canal.

British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli bought an Egypt stake for $ 4 million, which led to Britain's long-term interest in the waterway.
The Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 declared Egypt an independent state, but it allowed British forces to station there to protect the canal, and this situation continued throughout World War II, as Britain fought to liberate Egypt and the canal from German and Italian control. Beedo that the renaissance of nationalism in the early fifties of the last century threatened To destabilize the situation.

In 1951 AD, the newly elected national government canceled the 1936 treaty, and attacks on the British forces stationed in the canal soon followed. Tensions between Britain and the Egyptian nationalists continued over several years, but it was agreed on October 19, 1954 that British forces would withdraw from Egypt by June 1956. They could not return unless the canal was threatened by an external force, and the channel itself would be run by a group of British and Egyptian engineers.

On July 26, 1956 AD, the growing nationalism in Egypt culminated in Nasser’s announcement to nationalize the French-English Suez Canal Company, the organization that owns and runs the canal, and despite the provisions requiring Britain and France to be economically compensated, the two countries consider this a far-fetched step, and the United States tried to mediate access For a peaceful solution to the crisis, but at the same time Britain and France were holding secret meetings with Israel, and this was the primary moment in the escalation of the crisis that ultimately led to the Israeli attack and then the tripartite aggression.

Looking back, the Suez Crisis can be considered a final attempt by Britain and France to exercise imperial authority over the Middle East, but the United States pressured them to withdraw their forces in November 1956 AD, from this moment it became clear that the balance of power between the Soviet Union and the United States became a fundamental consideration in International Relations, Britain and France still play an important role, but it seems that the Suez Canal crisis has touched upon the period in which the old empires left the international arena.