The Suez Canal was built in Egypt under the supervision of French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps. Its value to international trade -- connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea -- made it a source of conflict among Egypt’s neighbours, and to Cold War superpowers vying for dominance.

The catalyst for the joint Israeli-British-French attack on Egypt – the “Crisis” -- was the nationalisation of the Suez Canal by Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser in July 1956. Two years earlier the Egyptian military had begun pressuring the British to end their military presence in the canal zone, which had been granted in the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty.

The Israelis struck first on 29 October 1956. Two days later, British and French troops landed at Port Said and Port Fuad and took control of the area around the Suez Canal. The USSR, an ally of Egypt, threatened a nuclear attack on Western Europe if the Israeli-French-British force did not withdraw. The US responded by warning the USSR that talk of nuclear conflict would only make matters worse and cautioned it to refrain from direct intervention. However, the US also warned the French, British and Israelis to give up their campaign and withdraw from Egypt, threatening all three nations with economic sanctions if they persisted in their attack.

The British and French forces withdrew by December; Israel finally complied in March 1957, relinquishing control over the canal to Egypt.

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