Why was there a Suez Crisis in 1956?
: Why was there a Suez Crisis in 1956? In Egypt in July 1952, there was a revolution. The new leader of Egypt was Colonel Gamal Abdul Nasser. Nasser: Nasser Nasser wanted to force the British to leave the bases that they still held in Egypt and unite the Arab nations in one single movement with Egypt at its head. In 1954 British agreed to evacuate all troops from Suez by April 1956, but retained the right to reoccupy the base in the event of an attack by any outside power on an Arab League state or Turkey. US Policy: US Policy At this time the USA was attempting to build a barrier against Soviet expansion. Baghdad Pact – Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq and Britain – signed interlocking agreements in 1954 -55 – and received generous US economic and military aid. Nasser refused to allow Egypt to join. Syria and Jordan declined too. – claiming imperialist aims of the west. Slide30: Nasser appealed to the USA for arms, but was refused. Instead he agreed to buy $200m Soviet arms from Czechoslo
