The closure of the Suez Canal from November 1956 to April 1957 was caused by the Second Arab–Israeli war also known as the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...

in 1956. On 26 July 1956

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

president

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

nationalized the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

from British and French investors who owned the

Suez Canal Company Suez (, , , ) is a seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest city of the ...

, causing Britain and France to devise a military operation with the help of Israel to invade the Egyptian

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

and have British and French

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

s drop in to protect the Suez Canal, but the objective was to take the canal back. The United States and Soviet Union condemned the invasion and de-escalated the situation by early 1957.

Oil supply through the canal

Around 66% of oil that Europe consumed at the time came through the Suez Canal from mostly Arab States.

Aswan Dam project

The United States was initially going to help fund the

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in the world, surpassing the Chatuge D ...

but reneged on their earlier commitment because Egypt was cozying up to Communist influences in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, and recognizing the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

as the government of China.

nationalized the

to get the transit fees from that to help fund the Aswan Dam project.

Egypt blockade of Straits of Tiran

In the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, growing tensions between Egypt and Israel resulted in the blockade of the

Straits of Tiran The Straits of Tiran ( ') are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai Peninsula, Sinai and Arabian Peninsula, Arabian peninsulas that connect the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about . The Multinatio ...

. This action was followed by diplomatic protests by the Israeli government, as the blockade prevented passage through this international waterway and blocking safe passage of civilian ships to the

Port of Eilat The Port of Eilat () is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. This strategic location has given it outsized importance despite being remote from the country's main population centers, and access ...

, Israel's southern port, and was contradictory to an Egyptian proclamation of freedom of access on 28 January 1950. The Israel government followed through with stated warnings that it considered the blockade of the Straits of Tiran a ''casus belli'', launching attacks on Egyptian forces in the Sinai. In the ensuing

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

(5–10 June 1967), Israel gained control of

. Egypt launched the 1973

Yom Kippur war The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

(6 to 25 October 1973) to try and regain control of the Suez Canal; while militarily defeated, the postwar negotiations resulted in renewed diplomatic negotiations via the Kilo 101 talks, which eventually lead to the 1979 peace talks. In 1982, the Sinai was returned to Egypt and diplomatic relations normalized through the successful

Egypt–Israel peace treaty The Egypt–Israel peace treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., United States, on 26 March 1979, following the 1978 Camp David Accords. The Egypt–Israel treaty was signed by Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt, and Menachem Begin, Prime Minist ...

References

Suez Canal Egypt–United States military relations Suez Crisis History of the foreign relations of Egypt 1956 in international relations 1957 in international relations 1956 in economic history 1957 in economic history Economic history of Egypt {{Cold War

Oil supply through the canal

Aswan Dam project

Egypt blockade of Straits of Tiran

See also

References