Suez Canal reopened - March 8, 1957

On this day in 1957, the Suez Canal was reopened after being closed for several months during the Suez Crisis. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio Welcome Back. I'm your host Eves, and You're
tuned into This Day in History Class, a show that
takes history and squeezes it into bite sized stories. Today's
March eighth. The day was March eighth, nineteen fifty seven.

(00:28):
The Suez Canal was reopened after being closed for several
months due to Britain, France, and Israel occupying Egypt during
the sus Crisis. The Suez Canal is an artificial waterway
that runs north to south in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean
and Red Seas. Construction began on the canal in eighteen
fifty nine. The project was completed by French engineers in

(00:51):
eighteen sixty nine. It provided Britain with a shorter sea
route to its empire and a shipping route for oil
from the Middle East to Europe. The canal was owned
and operated by the sus Canal Company, a joint British
and French enterprise. After World War One began, Britain declared
Egypt Protectorate, and British and Indian forces were sent to

(01:13):
protect the strategically important sus Canal. The United Kingdom and
Egypt signed the Anglo Egyptian Treaty of nineteen thirty six
in London. The treaty required Britain to withdraw its troops
from Egypt, except for those protecting Britain's interest in the canal.
Those troops could remain in the area for twenty years,
at which point the need for the presence of British

(01:35):
troops would be reassessed. But in the early nineteen fifties,
political tensions between Egypt, Britain and France were escalating. Anti
British sentiment was growing in Egypt, but in nineteen fifty
four Britain and Egypt reached an agreement that British troops
would be withdrawn from Egypt by June of nineteen fifty six.
Egypt would honor freedom of navigation through the Sious Canal,

(01:59):
and British troops would be allowed to return if the
canal was threatened by an outside power. In nineteen fifty four,
Gamal Updal Nasser became the second president of Egypt. He
aimed to improve Egypt's economy by constructing a high dam
at as Swan to irrigate the Nile Valley. Because other
goals included ending British occupation in Egypt and building up

(02:20):
Egyptian forces for an attack on Israel. Britain and the
US had agreed to finance the construction of the Swan
High Dam, but the two countries withdrew their offer due
to Egypt's ties with communist Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.
The US also wanted to reduce spending on a foreign aid,

(02:40):
so in nineteen fifty six, President Nasa declared martial law
in the canal zone and nationalized the Suez Canal Company.
He said that tolls collected from ships passing through the
canal would finance the construction of the dam, even though
Nassa agreed to compensate the shareholders the nationalization via related
terms of the nineteen fifty four agreement, and France, Israel,

(03:04):
and Britain opposed it. The three countries formed a joint
plan to invade Egypt and overthrown Nasser. It's Raeli troops
invaded Egypt in late October, and days later British and
French troops began occupying the canal and other SUS territory,
but the US pressured France and Britain to accept a
United Nations ceasefire. The US also voted for UN resolutions

(03:28):
denouncing the invasion and approved the creation of a U
N peacekeeping force. By the end of nineteen fifty six,
Britain and France withdrew it's. Raeli forces withdrew in March
of nineteen fifty seven. Egypt then took control of the
canal and reopened it to commercial shipping on March eighth,
nineteen fifty seven. Britain's influence in the Middle East and

(03:51):
its relations with the US were strained as a result
of the CS crisis. The Egyptian government continues to have
complete control over the canal through the US Canal Authority.
I'm Eve Chef Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. You can
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(04:16):
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(04:36):
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