Posted on 11/26/2006 3:57:25 AM PST by Nextrush
For Egypt, the Suez War was a military disaster with thousands of dead, wounded or captured. The Israelis captured miltary equipment they would put to use in later wars. The Egyptian Air Force was driven from the skies with much of it destroyed on the ground.
But Abdel Gamal Nasser and his Egyptian regieme won a great propaganda victory that was handed to him by the power of the United States in getting Britain, France and Israel out. The United States wanted to win favor with the "Third World."
Nasser didn't run away from Soviet support after the war and he became a hero for standing up to the "colonial powers" in the increasingly Soviet-influenced 'non-aligned" nations.
He got Soviet support for building the Aswan Dam (the American aid cutoff started the chain of events that led to Suez) and more Soviet weapons that would be used in losing wars in 1967 and 1973.
Until he died in 1973, Nasser was a towering figure in the Middle East with military officers in other nations launching coups of their own to seize power (Iraq, Libya, Algeria) in the spirit of Nasser.
United States influence in Egypt would pick up with Nasser's successor, Anwar Sadat. Foreign aid poured in and a peace deal with Israel was signed.
Israel, with British and French help, took out Egypt's Soviet-supported military before it could destroy the Jewish state.
Israel survived again to prepare for the next wars.
The war also established the Israeli belief that Sinai should be a buffer against Arab attack.
David Ben-Gurion insisted that Sinai would not be given back to Egypt, but President Eisenhower and the United Nations demanded it.
Israel gradually pulled back across Sinai until January 1957.
It kept forces in place in Gaza, the Rafah crossing west of Gaza, and the Gulf of Aquaba coast in eastern Sinai. Israel wanted to use the port of Eilat and not be blockaded by Egypt plus provide a buffer against attacks from Rafah and Gaza (terrorist attacks).
And again President Eisenhower applied pressure threatening Israel with an aid cutoff that included all private fundraising in the United States. (Eisenhower made a televised speech on February 20, 1957.)
Congressional leaders opposed the president (including Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson and Senate Minority Leader William Knowland).
Under pressure Israel moved out of the areas in March 1957 and the United Nations Emergency Force moved in.
The Suez Crisis marked an historic first for the United Nations. The first "peacekeeping" force was set up.
The United Nations Emergency Force, with Danish, Norweigan, Indonesian, and Canadian soliders among its members, moved into the Suez and Sinai area.
United Nations "traditions" were established by the first of many such forces that exist to this day.
This UN force is credited with the use of blue hats and helmets and the creation of the United Nations blue flag.
The "emergency force" was the brainchild of Canada's Foreign Minister, Lester Pearson.
During the UN debate over Suez Canada's Liberal Party government charted a "neutral" course that would go unchallenged for the next 50 years.
Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
He received the prize in December 1957, then a month later was made leader of the Liberal Party.
Pearson led the Liberals to a landslide defeat in March 1958 with the Progressive Conservatives taking 208 of 265 seats in the House of Commons.
The economy is a common explanation for the loss that took the Liberal Party out nationwide including Quebec.
However, resentment by many Canadians over the Liberals abandonment of Canada's mother countries (Britain and France) in the Suez crisis appears to have credibility as a reason for the major election defeat.
The Suez-Hungary Crisis shows what happens when "containment" becomes official policy in the face of evil. The United States looks ready to pursue that course now more than ever and we should consider history in charting our course today.
All articles in the series are under keyword "1956."
A bibliography:
Several books figured in this.
"Crisis: The Inside Story of the Suez Conspiracy" by Terence Robertson. This book is pro-UN and details UN actions as well as British-French-Israeli actions. It also looks at US and Soviet policy in the crisis.
"Suez: The Twice-Fought War" by Kennett Love. Its a book by a "New York Times" correspondent during the Suez crisis. Full details about the Suez Crisis and even some on the Hungary Crisis to put it in context with Suez. Its as biased as you would expect from a Times reporter.
"Events Leading Up To My Death" by Howard K. Smith. The autobiography of the then chief CBS foreign correspondent includes a section about these events.
I used information from a "Variety" magazine article about newsfilm in a January 1957 issue.
And webites that figured prominently in this work include:
http: www.hungarianhistory.hu/lib/unreport/unreport.pdf
Detailed United Nations and Congressional reports on the events in Hungary.
http://www.hungarianrevolution.com
The website has plenty in it inclduing articles, pictures and film archives.
http://www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_256.shtml
There are Suez War details here that focus on the airwar aspects.
Some additional films related to the crises can be seen in the BBC and CBC archives on their websites.
Eisenhower admitted later that forcing Britain and France to back down was probably his greatest foreign policy mistake. It's easy in hindsight to understand why it seemed like the right thing to do at the time; it occurred at the height of the cold war, and the Soviets were screaming bloody murder. Also, Eisenhower had a pretty robust sense of fairness, and it is hard to claim the moral high ground for the British and French in this one.
But it set a terrible precedent, helping to set the stage for the problems we have with Arab nationalism now. It also accelerated the demise of Britain and France as world powers. All in all, a pretty bad blunder by Eisenhower (but I still like Ike - one of the greats)...
I went through the Suez canal in June of 1957 (as a 10 year old on a trip around the world with my grandparents aboard the freighter "Lone Star Mariner".
Ships had to travel in convoys, no cargo for Israel allowed, Russian canal pilots. We missed our scheduled convoy, and one of the ships in it hit a mine, which delayed our next convoy.
Crashed and burned mig fighters on both sides of the canal were in view, as well as destroyed tanks. When we arrived in Port Said, the harbor was littered with sunken ships with just their superstructure above water. It was impressive.
Re: I went through the Suez canal in June of 1957 (as a 10 year old on a trip around the world with my grandparents aboard the freighter "Lone Star Mariner"
Gad! Sounds like a great vacation...
Info on the SS Lone Star Mariner at http://www.ss.northropgrumman.com/portfolio/ships57a2.html
Delivered Dec 22, 1952
More info on Korean War service at http://www.usmm.org/koreaships.html
And American Merchant Marine Veterans "Lone Star" info at http://www.usmm.org/chapters.html
That's a pretty fascinating piece of history to have witnessed firsthand.
If they would have just slapped Nasser down, ruined and humiliated him, who knows how different the region would be today?
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