The Suez Crisis of 1956

Key learning aims:
By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Explain the causes, events and results of the Suez Crisis of 1956.

Key themes, concepts and processes:

• Nasser’s motives for nationalization of Suez Canal
• British, French and Israeli motives
• Joint British, French, Israeli attack
• US attitude toward the crisis
• UN action
• Results of Suez Crisis

Readings
• Edexcel, pp. 18-21: The origins of the Suez war of 1956; pp. 22-23: The Events of the Suez War of 1956.
• Hodder, pp. 21-27
• A good brief summary of key events is provided by the the BBC British History in depth pages (no longer updated unfortunately).
• Also worth a look, is this article by Nigel Ashton, author of Eisenhower, MacMillan and the Problem of Nasser (1996).

 

Tasks

1. See the video and exercise on BBC bitesize
2. Use the Edexcel textbook to explain:
   • Nasr’s aims for Egypt
   • Nasr’s reasons for seizing Suez
   • Why Britain and France’s sent forces to reclaim it
   • Why Britain and France eventually withdrew
   • The results of Suez for:
     • France and Britain
     • Isreal
     • The Middle East
   • Complete questions a and b in the Edexcel e-textbook, p. 27
3. Create a storyboard/cartoon: of the key events of the Suez crisis
4. Individual task: Produce a flow chart showing the causes, events and results of the Suez Crisis.

 

Of related interest

• Brief documentary about the Aswan dam – see the video from the History channel (interesting but perhaps of limited relevance)
• Newsreel footage about the US involvement in the Baghdad Pact from 1958

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