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N0KFQ > TODAY 29.10.14 16:00l 49 Lines 2201 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 38938_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 29
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<CX2SA<N9PMO<N0KFQ
Sent: 141029/1457Z 38938@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Oct 29, 1956:
Israel invades Egypt; Suez Crisis begins
Israeli armed forces push into Egypt toward the Suez Canal,
initiating the Suez Crisis. They would soon be joined by French
and British forces, creating a serious Cold War problem in the
Middle East.
The catalyst for the joint Israeli-British-French attack on Egypt
was the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian leader
General Gamal Abdel Nasser in July 1956. The situation had been
brewing for some time. Two years earlier, the Egyptian military
had begun pressuring the British to end its military presence
(which had been granted in the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty) in the
canal zone. Nasser's armed forces also engaged in sporadic
battles with Israeli soldiers along the border between the two
nations, and the Egyptian leader did nothing to conceal his
antipathy toward the Zionist nation. Supported by Soviet arms and
money, and furious with the United States for reneging on a
promise to provide funds for construction of the Aswan Dam on the
Nile River, Nasser ordered the Suez Canal seized and
nationalized. The British were angry with the move and sought the
support of France (which believed that Nasser was supporting
rebels in the French colony of Algeria), and Israel (which needed
little provocation to strike at the enemy on its border), in an
armed assault to retake the canal. The Israelis struck first, but
were shocked to find that British and French forces did not
immediately follow behind them. Instead of a lightening strike by
overwhelming force, the attack bogged down. The United Nations
quickly passed a resolution calling for a cease-fire.
The Soviet Union began to issue ominous threats about coming to
Egypt's aid. A dangerous situation developed quickly, one that
the Eisenhower administration hoped to defuse before it turned
into a Soviet-U.S. confrontation. Though the United States
sternly warned the Soviet Union to stay out of the situation,
Eisenhower also pressured the British, French, and Israeli
governments to withdraw their troops. They eventually did so in
late 1956 and early 1957.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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