Suez 1956: The Secret War That Broke British Power

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In 1956, Britain and France launched a secret war to bring down Egypt’s President Nasser. Instead, they exposed the limits of their own power.

When Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal, Britain and France secretly joined Israel in a plan to invade Egypt, seize the canal and destroy Nasser’s influence. On the battlefield, the operation was succeeding. Politically, it became a catastrophe.

This episode tells the dramatic story of the Suez Crisis: the secret Protocol of Sèvres, Israel’s invasion of Sinai, British and French attacks on Egypt, brutal fighting around Port Said, and the extraordinary pressure from President Eisenhower that forced the invasion to stop.

It’s a story of Cold War rivalry, collapsing empires, deception, nationalism and civilians caught in the fighting — and the moment Britain discovered that military power no longer guaranteed political power.

Listen to our episode “Hungary 1956: Twelve Days That Shook the Soviet Empire” here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode479

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