The Suez Canal: Flowing with history - Part Two

Part II - 1882 to Present: In August 1882, the British troops invaded Egypt using the Suez Canal to reach Isma'ilia, defeated Urabi and his supporters at El-Tal al Kabir in September and from there marched to Cairo to back up the monarch. Urabi was captured and later exiled to Ceylon, present day Sri Lanka. The British would actually control the country while the Khedive would nominally rule under the name of the Ottoman Sultan.

During World War I, Egyptian resources were used to support Britain and its allies. Egypt was announced a protectorate in 1914 and Britain declared its responsibility to defend the Suez Canal. During wartime, Saad Zaghloul led a nationalist movement and gained popular approval. It came to be known as Al- Wafd, meaning 'Delegation', because it demanded to represent the Egyptians in the Paris Peace Conference.

In February 1922, Britain abolished the protectorate and recognized partial independence of Egypt but retained full responsibility for the defense of the country and the security of the Suez Canal. The country was proclaimed a constitutional monarchy but the constant struggle for power continued among the three contestants: the British High Commissioner, the king and the Wafd.

Again another Anglo-Egyptian treaty of independence was signed in 1936 to officially end the 54-year occupation; but Britain reserved the right to station 10,000 of its troops and 400 Royal Air force pilots in the Canal area. Consequently, Egypt became a member of the League of Nations; but still its independence was confined within the British cage.

By 1952, Egypt was ready for a revolution. A secret society called the 'Free Officers', led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser seized power and King Farouk was sent to exile in Italy. Some social reforms, such as distributing land among poor farmers, were proclaimed and won the movement public support.

A final Anglo-Egyptian agreement was signed in 1954 whereby the British troops would gradually evacuate the Canal Zone. By 1955, two-thirds of the European oil from the Persian Gulf was passing through the Canal.

In July 1956, President Gamal Abdel Nasser declared the nationalization of the Suez Canal, whereby its tolls would finance the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the southern borders of the country. Shareholders would be compensated the entire value of their shares in the money market in Paris instantly. Britain and France - being the major shareholders in the Suez Canal Company – refused to comply with that decision. Both countries formed a triad alliance with Israel to invade Egypt and regain control of the waterway.

In October of the same year, Israeli brigades crossed the borders into the Sinai Peninsula and occupied most of the land east of the Canal while British and French armed forces landed at Port Said.

However, the UN resolutions - supported by the U.S.A. to counter Soviet threats of intervention - put the Canal Crisis to an end. Britain and France withdrew their armies in December while Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula in March 1957 and the canal was re-opened for international navigation.

Nasser emerged as a Pan-Arab hero from this conflict while Britain and France lost their prominence as world powers capable of acting solely on the global stage.

On the other hand, what later came to be known as the Six-Day War put an end to Nasser's charismatic popularity in the Arab World and led to dramatic changes in the map of the Middle East.

On the early morning of June 5th, 1967, Israel launched a heavy military strike wiping out ¾ of the Egyptian Air force on the ground and on the following days killed 12,000 Egyptians, took 60,000 as prisoners of war and occupied the whole of Sinai Peninsula. Israel's victory was quick and overwhelming. It reached the eastern shore of the Canal seizing the Gaza strip, the West Bank of the Jordan River, the old City of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in Syria. The Suez Canal, instead of acting as a water way linking East with West, would be closed for the next eight years acting as a barricaded ditch between enemies.