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The Suez Crisis of 1956. Context. Egyptian President, Gamel Abdel Nasser had initially received American backing for his ambitious Aswan Dam, which harnessed hydroelectric power from the Nile to power Egypt's Industrial Revolution.
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Context • Egyptian President, Gamel Abdel Nasser had initially received American backing for his ambitious Aswan Dam, which harnessed hydroelectric power from the Nile to power Egypt's Industrial Revolution. • However he provoked hostility with the US after receiving arms for Czechoslovakia. • The United States withheld funding, which prompted Nasser to nationalize the Suez Canal.
The UN elected Dag Hammarskjöld as the new Secretary-General in 1953. • Many saw Hammarskjold as more independent than his predecessor, Trygve Lie, who was more pro-western. • Dag had a vision for the UN to act before a military collective security response was needed.
Development • Israel attacked Egypt, with the backing of the Britain and France. The United States immediately called a Security Council meeting • The U.S’s draft resolution called for an Israeli withdrawal and on other UN members not to intervene. • Britain vetoed this.
The General Assembly • The issue was then passed onto the General Assembly • On the 4th of November the Assembly passed a resolution creating the first UN peacekeeping force, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF)
Arrival • UNEF forces arrived in Egypt on the 15th of November 1956 • Before the end of December, Britain and France had withdrawn.
Impact • In terms of aims, the first peacekeeping mission was successful. • However in the context of the cold war, it was not USSR against America, and therefore their success was negligible.