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H:(Slide 6) So now that you’ve gotten some background information, let me explain what happened in 1956. The Egyptian Prime Minister Gamal Abdel Nasser seized the Suez Canal from the British, since the British and the Americans would not finance the construction of the Aswan Dam as they had previously promised. They broke their promise because Egypt had affiliated with Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union which are communist nations.(Slide 7) The Egyptians’ relationship with these nations consisted of trading for soviet arms. In the 1950’s, Britain and U.S.A used propaganda to persuade civilians of the danger of Communism. (was known as the Red Scare). |
Britain specifically had responsibilities in its diminishing empire, to protect its people from communism.(Slide 8) High tension between Britain and Egypt had begun to formulate once Britain and US formed an alliance with Israel, a neighboring country that was already hostile towards Egypt. Troops from Britain, France and Israel prepared military action to regain the possession of the canal. (Slide 9) They also held secret military consultations, to discuss the matter of overthrowing the Nasser’s Government, as they viewed him as a threat to their security. |
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H: (Slide 11) Now I want to touch upon one Canadian man who had been a key figure in dissipating the crisis. Lester B. Pearson had worked with the UN to develop a peacekeeping force in 1956. Since Canada had no involvement or interest in the Canal, Pearson was in a perfect position to intervene in the matter and propose a solution.(Slide 12) Pearson was Canada’s secretary of State for external affairs and was the Canadian representative of the United Nations. Pearson’s initial idea was to convert the invading French and British forces into peacekeepers with ruling from the U.N. |
However, the United States would not allow this to happen as it was completely against Britain’s decisions during the crisis.(Slide 13) Pearson decided that sending in non-British and French troops to stop the invasion would be the best course of action; and he had spent days trying to influence the U.N assembly to support his idea. (Slide 14) As the United Nations Emergency Force (also known as UNEF) arrived, British and French units were forced to withdraw by the end of 1956. Israeli forces had withdrawn by spring of 1957. (Slide 15) Though Pearson was praised by the U.N for his proposal, many from Britain had condemned him for “betraying the Motherland.” Pearson won a Nobel Peace prize in 1957 for his excellent proposal. |
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