The Suez Canal The First Test The

The Suez Canal The First Test

The Suez Canal • "The highway to India" is an artificial waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea • The Canal is owned by Egypt, and eliminates the need to go around Africa • At the start of the Cold War, it was operated by France and Britain, but was seized in 1956 by the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser

The Suez Canal • Nasser claimed that he took action because Britain and France refused to support the building of a dam on the Nile River • Many leaders saw this as troubling because Nasser was friendly with the Soviets, and the Soviets encouraged Nasser to take action

The Suez Canal • This conflict pushed the world to the brink of another war • Many people knew that if the UN failed to resolve the conflict, a new global war would inevitably ensue

The Conflict • The situation immediately escalated when Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt • Nasser went to the Soviet leader Khrushchev, and he threatened to "shower the West with nuclear weapons" if the attackers did not withdrawal

Lester B. Pearson • When the world was ready to go to war, Lester B. Pearson, a Canadian, stepped up at the UN • He proposed that Britain and France remove their troops, and instead send a UN peacekeeping force

Lester B. Pearson • All 57 members of the UN sided with Pearson, and the first international peacekeeping force of 6000 troops from 10 different nations was sent to Egypt • This force remained in Egypt from 1957 -1967

The Aftermath • The peacekeeping force was eventually forced out of the Middle East in 1967 • Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize and was later elected Prime Minister when the Liberal Party won in 1963 • Toronto Pearson International Airport was named in honor of the great Pearson for his efforts in preventing world destruction