The History And Development Of The Suez Canal

In 1854, former French consul to Cairo Ferdinand de Lesseps, formed an agreement with the Ottoman governor of Egypt to build a canal at Suez. In 1856, the Suez Canal Company was formed and granted the right to operate the canal for 99 years. Work began in April 1859, with labor disputes and a cholera epidemic slowing construction The Suez Canal was not completed until 1869 – ten years later. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was officially open.

When it opened, the Suez Canal was relatively small and narrow – only 25 feet deep, 72 feet wide at the bottom, and 200 to 300 feet wide at the surface. Due to its size, only a small number of ships navigated it in its first full year of operation. Improvements were attempted in 1876 and the canal soon grew into the one of the world’s most used waterway for shipping purposes. The Suez Canal provided safer, faster navigation to India and East Asia than navigating around South Africa and the dangerous waters of the Cape of Good Hope.

In 1875, Great Britain became the largest shareholder in the Suez Canal Company, dominating trade once again when it bought out the Ottoman’s shares of the canal due to Khedive Ismail declaring Egypt’s bankruptcy. Britain invaded Egypt in 1882, due to the financial dealings of Khedive Ismail, who had debts of almost £100 million, a sum that even the sale of Egypt’s Suez Canal shares could not diminish. This began the British occupation of Egypt, which also started the internationalizing of the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal only closed to the Central Powers throughout World War I (1914-1918) and was closed to the Axis powers during World War II, all due to British presence in Egypt.

British occupation did not end until the Anglo–Egyptian Treaty of ...

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...ternational control of the canal and refused any further proposals, such as the establishment of the Canal User’s Association. A secret agreement between France, Britain, and Israel was suddenly underway.

On October 29, Israeli forces crossed the border into Sinai and progressed to the canal as the Egyptians headed their way. On October 30, Britain and France called on Israel and Egypt to cease their warlike actions and withdraw. It was then proposed that an Anglo-French force would be stationed at key points along the canal, but Nasser refused. “In the United Nations Security Council, Britain and France vetoed a U.S./USSR resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal. On October 31, Anglo-French air attacks were launched against Egyptian positions along the Canal Zone, and on November 5, Anglo-French forces landed at Port Said.” The Suez Canal Crisis had begun.