Dating ideas Suez Egypt
In the end, Napoleon III stepped in to arbitrate. Fellahs were replaced by foreign labourers from Greece, Italy, and Dalmatia, and unprecedented efforts at mechanisation were made, with investments to produce dredgers that could dig faster and deeper.
The Suez project became a symbol of technical progress, and for that matter represents a crucial stage in the history of civil engineering. The canal was finally inaugurated in after ten years of construction, with lavish celebrations organised by the Viceroy of Egypt, who was proud of this showcase for Egyptian modernity. It is estimated that tens of thousands of the , Egyptian peasants mobilised during the early years of construction died.
Yet the honeymoon with Egyptian authorities would not last long Egypt began a colonial period that would last until the s, and at the same time lost all influence over the canal's management. The majority of skilled labourers were Greek and Italian, while the Egyptians held the lowest positions as unskilled workers. Is this why the Suez Canal Company was criticised for being a state within a state?
The company, which employed thousands of people, created two cities from scratch, Ismailia — where its administration was based — and Port Said on the Mediterranean, while the small fishing village of Suez became a leading Red Sea port.
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The architecture and lifestyle in all three were European. The firm had a highly paternalistic policy, subsidising schools reserved for French staff and those for Egyptians, as well as bringing missionaries for the Greek and Italian labourers. Although accounts from the period speak depict a multicultural melting pot and gentle lifestyle, historians are dubious, for while these cities were certainly cosmopolitan, they were also very compartmentalised socially and geographically.
In Port Said, a city created from scratch by the Suez Canal Company, both the architecture and the lifestyle were European. When did relations begin to deteriorate between Egypt and the company? But the true tipping point came in , when the United Kingdom withdrew from the country's internal management. The company found itself alone before the Egyptian government, which asked for royalties for operating the canal, and demanded the firm's Egyptianisation in addition to the training of skilled Egyptian personnel, which French administration was reluctant to do.
Tensions escalated, with rising discord between the company's foreign and local staff.
So President Nasser's announcement of the canal's nationalisation on 23 July did not come as a surprise for the Suez Canal Company? Nasser had just been refused financial assistance from the United States to build the Aswan High Dam, so it was primarily a way of expressing his displeasure and recapturing a certain amount of financial leeway.
His decision was certainly brutal, although it is important to remember that the canal's concession was imminent, for according to the contract signed in , Egypt would take over its operation in The decision by President Nasser pictured here in Port Said in was of course a brutal one, although the end of the year concession granted to the Suez Canal Company was planned for By contrast, the Anglo-French military intervention a few months later was a dramatic turn of events! They did everything they could from the s onwards to show that the Egyptians were incapable of operating it properly, hence their reluctance to train local pilots to steer ships from one end of the channel to the other.
They instead offered Egypt an international administration, in which the French and British were of course prominent. Nasser refused, which is why the military operation of was planned. The rest is history: according to a secret agreement, Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula on 29 October, followed by France and the UK who bombarded the area surrounding the canal on 31 October, before parachuting in their troops, officially to maintain peace.
The so-called "Suez Crisis" was abruptly ended one week later under pressure from the United Nations, the US, and Russia, who did not want to upset Nasser and wished to ensure regional stability around the canal, which had become crucial for the transportation of oil. However, the damage inflicted on the Egyptians was considerable, with thousands of civilian and military deaths. The company's last French employees were hastily repatriated. From then on, the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority was in charge of operating the canal.
Was the canal an issue in the ensuing regional conflicts in and ? It was not an issue in the Arab-Israeli War of the Six-Day War or the Yom Kippur War , even though by virtue of its geographic position it became a de facto military border between the two belligerents. It was closed for eight years, and reopened definitively to navigation in What role does the Suez Canal play in the Egyptian economy today?
It is a booming maritime route that has taken full advantage of the growth of international commerce since the s.
In , Egypt engaged in major construction work on the canal to improve the flow of traffic and increase profitability, especially through the creation of passing areas. Indeed, its permanence is at stake, for while it is a very popular maritime route that saves many ships from travelling around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, the Suez Canal is not the only option for shipowners, who make their decisions based on the fluctuating fares set by the Egyptian authority.
For ships coming from the Pacific, or that are headed there from Europe, the Panama Canal is a true competitor; with the melting of Arctic sea ice, the Northern Sea Route via Siberia will prove to be an increasingly attractive option between Asia and Europe. Finally, the return to service of Syria and Iraq's oil pipelines could capture a share of hydrocarbon transportation, for which the canal is a favoured route. Sign in. Meanwhile, the financial problems linked with the construction of the canal allowed the British government to buy the stakes owned by Egyptian interests in to become the major shareholder in the Suez Canal Company.
The canal was vital to the British economy as it provided shorter sea route to its colonies and the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Britain strengthened its control over Egypt in when the latter went bankrupt, allowing the banks in Europe to take control of the country financially. As the French and British continued their control over the country, it started resentment among the Egyptians. This caused Brittan to invade Egypt in Though Egypt remained virtually independent due to the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of , Britain took complete control of the Suez Canal.
During the First World War, Britain announced Egypt a protectorate and sent forces to protect the canal, and this lasted till when Britain provided nominal independence to Egypt. Though the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty declared Egypt as sovereign state , Britain only agreed to withdraw its troops from Egypt in It was only after the intervention of the United Nations, the three forces withdrew from Egypt, allowing the country to reopen the canal for commercial shipping.
The political unrest, however, continued for a long time to come and the canal was shut down by the Egyptian authorities in during Six-day War between Israel and Egypt. The closing of the canal also led to the stranding of 15 shipping vessels in the middle of the canal, at the Great Bitter Lake. These vessels, known as Yellow Fleet, remained trapped there till after Egypt reopened the Suez Canal after peace talks with Israel.
Since then, the canal remains as a significant transport link between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, allowing the international ships to avoid the difficult voyage around the southern tip of Africa. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same.
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Tags: gulf of aden suez canal. Mohit Kaushik is a marine engineer sailing with Maersk Shipping.
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He handles website development and technical support at Marine Insight. Apart from handling web development projects, he also manages a logistics company and have a keen interest in modern logistic technologies. It has been alleged that Frederic Bartholdi, the French sculptor of the Statue of Liberty may have originally been inspired by the opening of the Suez Canal in Your email address will not be published. Report an Error. Want to share your tips and advice?
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