Republic of Egypt (1953–1958): Difference between revisions

[[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] assumed power as president in June 1956. [[British Armed Forces|British forces]] completed their withdrawal from the occupied [[Suez Canal]] Zone on 13 June 1956. On 26 July 1956, [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]] gave a speech in [[Alexandria]] announcing the [[nationalization]] of the [[Suez Canal Company]] as a means to fund the [[Aswan Dam]] project in light of the British–American withdrawal.<ref name="Goldschmidt162">{{Harvnb|Goldschmidt|2008|p=162}}</ref> In the speech, he denounced [[British Empire|British imperialism]] in Egypt and British control over the [[Suez Canal Company|company]]'s profits, and upheld that the [[Egyptians]] had a right to sovereignty over the waterway, especially since "120,000 Egyptians had died building it".<ref name="Goldschmidt162" /> He [[Nationalization|nationalised]] the Suez Canal onthe 26same Julyday 1956of the speech; his hostile approach towards Israel and economic nationalism prompted the beginning of the [[Suez Crisis|Second Arab-Israeli War]] ([[Suez Crisis]]), in which Israel (with support from France and the United Kingdom) occupied the [[Sinai Peninsula]] and the [[Suez Canal|Canal]]. The war came to an end because of US and [[Soviet Union|USSR]] diplomatic intervention,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Ellis|first=Sylvia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MYs-8OMk_H0C&pg=PA212|title=Historical Dictionary of Anglo-American Relations|date=2009-04-13|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6297-5|language=en}}</ref> and the status quo was restored. The motion was technically in breach of the international agreement he had signed with the UK on 19 October 1954,<ref name="Jankowski68">{{Harvnb|Jankowski|2001|p=68}}</ref> although he ensured that all existing stockholders would be paid off.<ref name="BBC: 1956: Egypt Seizes Suez Canal">{{cite news|date=26 July 1956|title=1956: Egypt Seizes Suez Canal|work=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_2701000/2701603.stm|access-date=4 March 2007}}</ref>