How did the Suez canal crisis spell the end of the British Empire plz?

Question

How did the Suez canal crisis spell the end of the British Empire plz?

Answer 1

There have been several "Suez Canal Crisis" but presume you mean the one in 1956, when President Nasser of Egypt "nationalized" the canal.

Here is brief section about all the tensions of that year there:

"The events that brought the crisis to a head occurred in the spring/summer of 1956. On May 16th Nasser officially recognised the People's Republic of China, a move that angered the U.S. and its Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, a keen sponsor of Taiwan.

This move, coupled with the impression that the project was beyond Egypt's economic capabilities, caused Washington to withdraw all American financial aid for the Aswan Dam project on July 19th.

Nasser's response was the nationalisation of the Suez Canal. On July 26th in a speech in Alexandria, Nasser gave a riposte to Dulles. During his speech he deliberately pronounced the name of Ferdinand de Lesseps, constructor of the Canal, a code-word for Egyptian forces to seize control of the Canal and implement nationalisation of it.

The weakness of Britain's position in the Middle East now became abundantly clear. The Suez Canal, vital to the British Empire, was in the hands of a hostile foreign power: worse, the withdrawal from the Suez base had made a swift reprisal impossible.

Britain hoped to gain American acquiescence in forcing Nasser to back down. However, the American government, mistrustful of British motives, and mindful of the impending presidential election, rejected such a move and made implicit their objection to the use of force. (Eisenhower was USA President then)

Britain was now faced with a dilemma. Direct military intervention with the French ran the risk of angering Washington and damaging Anglo-Arab relations still further.

Yet to do nothing would run the risk of complete collapse of British prestige in the region. Britain, under immense domestic pressure from Conservative MPs who drew direct comparisons between the events of 1956 and those of Munich in the 1930s, was driven into a desperate secret military pact with France and Israel that aimed at regaining the Suez Canal"

Well, to make a long story short, "The Three Musketeers", Britain, France and Israel, invaded Egypt and won a great victory.  But, Eisenhower, forced them to give back their gains.  Egypt kept control of the Suez Canal.  

So, British power and Israel's interests  took back seat to USA Cold War  (and need for oil, even in the 1950's).

Britain decided it time to liberate most of it's colonies in Africa too. (in the 1960's)  They already had plans to do this, now there was little reason to keep them, and needed "good will" in Africa to balance off the growing power of Egypt.

Thus, without the Suez, and without the African colonies, Britain had "no empire."

However, there is a large British Common Wealth, it's sort of a group of former colonies that speak English and use English Common law, and these get special trade agreements with England.

Answer 2

it didnt ,,,suez crisis was in 1956,,,,when president nasser of egypt vied for control of the canal.

the british empire became defunct in 1973 when edward heath severley limited entry to the UK of "commonwealth" immigrants (that is Aussies,NZ Canadians,West Indians and instead gave open access to the Dross of the third world ,as in fact Harold Mcmillan had done before him)to this country,,,,all the advantagous deals we had with them were cancelled(cheap new zealand lamb,butter and lots of other deals with other commonwealth countries)and without asking the public he did a deal with the common market instead(didnt he do well?")bit like gordon broon ,we didnt get a referendum then either,,,they signed our lives away!

Answer 3

The Americans turned their backs on us!

Answer 4

Just read the U K France and America wanted to take over the canal NOT true at all The U K France and Israel wanted to do this Ike pres of the U S ,at the time, got wind of it and got the U k to back off Ike told them we would release the warehouse full of  British pounds we were storing to keep their money from becoming worthless  The Brits pulled out without telling the French Just as they did at Dunkirk I lived over the pond and I must say i have never seen any people twist history as you Brits That post that talked of our need for oil We were EXPORTERS of oil at that time y'all wanted to take over the canal to cut shipping cost of YOUR oil Tell me again about war for oil Y'all drive me nuts

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal_...

Answer 6

it only failed due to US interferance and the threat of santions that would be brought by them US.  juat shows that the us only ever care for there own intrests and will sell there own granny to get what they want

Answer 7

Made British power impotent against a country like Egypt especially without the support of the US.

Answer 8

To many, it appeared that the British government had entered into an international conspiracy with France and the US. When Nasser blocked the Suez Canal, he also used his new status as leader of the Arab Nations, to cut back on oil production and exports to Western Europe. Anthony Eden had to resign and the French government under Mollet collapsed. The British had lost a lot of respect and support in the Middle East.