1956 - The Suez Crisis #2.5: Oh No Cairo

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Zack Twamley

19th Century, 20th Century, International Relations, Politics, Thirty Years' War, Korean War, 18th Century, First World War, Phd, 17th Century, European History, History, War

4.8 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1956 Episode 2.5 looks at British commitments in the Middle East, and how setbacks there could massively drag down ideas of British ‘prestige’ in that region.

What did the French have to fear from Colonel Nasser, and how did this tie in with later Anglo-French agreements? The answers can be found here. Also of note in this episode is the moment when the Anglo-American loan to Nasser was cancelled, which meant that the Egyptian leader would be unable to construct his Aswan Dam.

With this setback for Nasser came Anthony Eden’s effort to paint the event as a personal triumph for himself, when in reality, Britain had been led by the Americans. Speaking of Eden, here we receive our first glimpse of the Prime Minister which suggest that he may not have been the flawless, crusading statesmen of the 1930s, and that he was, on the contrary, exactly what Britain did NOT need right now...

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Come to the station, jump from the train, march at the door, pull down lovers' lane,
0:15.0	dead in the glen where the roses entwined, laid on your arms, lay down your arms, lay down your arms, and surrender to mine.
0:29.9	Hello and welcome, History Friends, Patrons All to 1956, episode 2.5.
0:35.7	Last time we examined the experience of the British, as events began to march towards conflict and confrontation with Colonel Nasser's Egypt.
0:44.4	This march was aided by Anthony Eden's profound insecurities and his notable shortcomings as Britain's Prime Minister,
0:51.5	but it was also aggravated by the failures of British foreign policy,
0:54.9	which only angered Colonel Nasser and only heaped more shame on the British.
0:59.8	Britain's Conservative government, we have learned,
1:02.4	epitomised the very definition of living in the past.
1:06.3	Eden and many around him acted as though the glory days of empire were not gone,
1:10.9	and that through its empire, Britain could match the powers of the Soviets and Americans.
1:15.8	As spring 56 progressed, though, there was every indication that the first test of this idea would come from Egypt,
1:23.4	so let's see how it went down, as I take you all to late February, 1956.
1:35.3	Selwyn Lloyd had something to prove.
1:38.5	Having acquired a reputation as Anthony Eden's lackey,
1:41.5	it was vital that he was seen to speak and act for himself.
1:45.5	This indeed was why he found himself in Cairo on the evening of the 29th of February,
1:51.0	1956. He hoped, in this face-to-face meeting with Colonel Nasser, to communicate the concerns
1:57.5	of the British, and to intimate the best course Nassar should take. It was a
2:01.9	mission which many before him had tried and failed, but Selwyn Lloyd was optimistic, while he
2:07.2	sat with several British peers at the table, that Nassar could be made to see reason and sense.
2:13.6	Lloyd later recalled the discussions in his memoirs, and he did not hide Nassar's difficulty in coming to terms with him, thanks to Britain's Middle Eastern meddling, which had resulted in Nassar's rivals, the Iraqis, being raised up on an advantageous platform called the Baghdad pact.
	...

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