1956 - The Suez Crisis #2.6: The Entente Rides Again!

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

🗓️ 21 March 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

1956 Episode 2.6 looks at the increasingly close cooperation between Britain and France in light of the signal defeat of Western imperialist ambitions in Egypt.

We open our episode with a defining scene – President Nasser’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal. The nationalisation of the Canal was not the moment that the world flocked to condemn Nasser’s regime, as Anthony Eden may have hoped. For a time, the Egyptian leader would be seen as unstable, aggressive and unreasonable, but this bad press would die down as the Egyptians proved themselves very capable in handling the new responsibilities which the Suez Canal Company presented.

After convincing himself that the nationalisation of the Canal represented a national humiliation for he and his government, Eden proceeded to cement the Anglo-French commitment in the days that followed. Only 24 hours after the nationalisation occurred, French government ministers and the French premier were talking of travelling to London.

Within a week, military plans were being developed. These plans would be carried out by WW2 era weaponry, under WW2 era ideas of strategy, and even in the same secret bunkers under the Thames which had been used by Churchill to plan a resistance to the Nazis. Yet, this latest iteration of the entente cordiale was to prove anything but glorious, since at its heart was the desire to turn back the clock, and preserve the systems and status quo which held the developing world in permanent bondage. This mission was to doom Eden’s career and lead to the deaths of so many lives, and its planning stage began here.

Remember history friends - you can get these episodes ad-free with scripts attached for just $2 a month - for a fiver you can access our PhD Thesis series, so come and nerd out with us!

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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,
0:26.0	and surrender to mine.
0:30.1	Hello and welcome, History Friends, Patrons All to 1956, episode 2.6.
0:36.6	Last time we examined the final tense few days before the storm erupted,
0:41.3	forced into making a rash decision after learning of the Anglo-American reneging on their deal to finance
0:47.1	the Oswan Dam, President Nasser determined to make the most out of his decision to re-nationalise
0:52.9	the Suez Canal Company and take the profits
0:55.5	back for the Egyptian people. This at least was what he had said in a speech in Alexandria on
1:01.7	the 26th of July, four years to the day since King Farouk had been forced to abdicate. Since the West
1:08.8	had proved so eager to interfere in Egyptian business,
1:12.3	and since the treacherous Anglo-Americans had not upheld their promises, it was time for
1:17.1	Egyptians to fight back. Nasser went for the jugular, as hundreds of thousands of his countrymen
1:22.8	looked on in rapture. Let's see how this all went down then, as I take you to the moment of Nassar's
1:28.9	pivotal speech.
1:35.6	While the speech was the signal to rush the Suez Canal Company offices in Port Said,
1:40.5	Cairo and Alexandria, President Nassar's speech made in the the evening of the 26th of July, was also a call to arms.
1:48.2	It was an attack on imperialism and a rousing cry to get the Egyptian people to believe in their country and to fight for their independence if necessary.
1:57.1	The speech ran for over two hours, but will cover some of its main points in the following
2:01.6	extract.
2:02.6	Nasser said,
2:03.6	Imperialism has attempted to shake our nationalism, weaken our Arabism and separate us by every means.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Zack Twamley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Zack Twamley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.