On 26 July 1956, the Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, gives an address in Alexandria during which he announces the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company. France and the United Kingdom are opposed to this, fearing for their oil supplies, and decide to take military action to put an end to the occupation of the Canal.

On 2 August 1956, the French weekly publication France Observateur deplores the comparison, which has become commonplace in the West, between the Egyptian Colonel, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Adolf Hitler.

‘The mummy awakes. Down!’ On 26 July 1956, Colonel Nasser, President of Egypt, nationalises the Suez Canal Company. On 8 August 1956, French cartoonist Pol Ferjac illustrates how Guy Mollet (centre), President of the French Council of Ministers, and Anthony Eden (on the right), British Prime Minister, are endeavouring to contain the awakening of Egyptian nationalism, symbolised here by a mummy coming back to life.

In his diary entry for 8 August 1956, the American President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, refers to causes of the Suez crisis.

On 1 October 1956, the French Government asks the member States of the Council of Europe to show solidarity by condemning the unilateral decision taken by Egypt to nationalise the Suez Canal Company.

On 2 October 1956, in a statement to the Italian Parliament, Gaetano Martino, Italian Foreign Minister, expresses his hopes for a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the international crisis brought about by the nationalisation of the Suez Canal.

On 13 October 1956, in response to an initiative by Christian Pineau, the French Foreign Minister, and his British counterpart, Lord Selwyn Lloyd, the United Nations Security Council adopts a resolution of principle with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mahmoud Fawzi, in order to solve the Suez crisis in a peaceful fashion.

In October 1956, members of the French Second Regiment of Colonial Parachutists (2nd RCP) are on patrol in Port Said, Egypt. In the near distance, stores of fuel are on fire.

In November 1956, soldiers from the British 36 Engineer Regiment carry out a mine clearance operation on the coastal road from El Gamil to Port Said in Egypt.

In November 1956, Egyptian army prisoners are assembled on the beach at Port Fuad and guarded by French troops.

Aerial view of two of the vessels scuttled by the Egyptians in Port Said at the entrance to the Suez Canal in order to prevent any shipping movements. On the right, a British vessel specially equipped for refloating operations.

Map showing the Israeli offensives and the Franco-British reaction during the Suez crisis of 1956.

In his Memoirs, Anthony Eden, British Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957, recalls the need to take immediate measures in November 1956 following the invasion of the Sinai Peninsula by Israeli troops on 29 October 1956.

On 30 October 1956, the day after the Israeli military invasion of Egyptian territory, the President of the French Council, Guy Mollet, issues an ultimatum calling on the warring parties to bring about an immediate end to the hostilities.

In an address to the House of Commons on 31 October 1956, the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, comments on the events taking place in the Suez region.

On 31 October 1956, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité criticises the military intervention of France, the United Kingdom and Israel in Egyptian territory and calls for an immediate end to hostilities.

On 2 November 1956, the Italian daily newspaper Il nuovo Corriere della Sera gives an initial analysis of the military intervention by France, the United Kingdom and Israel in Egypt.

On 4 November 1956, Henry Cabot Lodge, the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations gives a speech to the General Assembly calling for all warring parties to respect the ceasefire immediately.

On 4 November 1956, the Soviet Government strongly condemns French and British military intervention in the Suez Canal region.

In his Memoirs, Nikita Khrushchev, former First Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR, recalls the Soviet position at the time of the Suez crisis of 1956.

Twenty years after the event, Christian Pineau, former French Foreign Minister, recalls exactly the attitude of the United States and the Soviet Union on the eve of Franco-British military intervention in the Suez Canal Region.

On 5 November 1956 the Soviet Marshal, Nikolai Bulganin, notifies the French, British and Israeli Governments that the Soviet Union is prepared to employ all modern forms of destructive weaponry to halt Western military intervention in Egypt.

On 5 November 1956, Nikolai Bulganin, President of the Soviet Union Council of Ministers, sends a letter to the US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in which he calls for the United States to form an alliance with Moscow in order to put an end, even by military means, to the armed attacks to which Egypt is being subject.

On 8 November 1956, the French weekly publication France Observateur assesses the military operations and analyses the implications of the diplomatic fiasco that was the Franco-British Suez Campaign.

‘Tourist season in Egypt. Hey, Tommy, don’t you think the Egyptians look a bit odd this year?’ On 14 November 1956, French cartoonist Pol Ferjac takes an ironic look at Moscow’s involvement and role in the events of the Suez Crisis. The two French and British soldiers keeping guard around the Suez Canal and safeguarding the interests of France and the United Kingdom in the region are speculating on the strange appearance of the Egyptians, who all seem to look identical to Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

On 20 November 1956, Dag Hammarskjöld, UN Secretary-General, presents his report on the establishment of an international military force to oversee the cessation of conflict in the Suez Canal area.

In his memoirs, Anthony Eden recalls the pressure exerted by the United Nations and the United States in order to speed up the withdrawal of French and British troops from the Suez region.

On 23 November 1956, the British cartoonist, Michael Cummings, illustrates the political and military imbroglio which is characteristic of the conclusion of the Suez Crisis.

‘Russian supply pipeline. Small oil lamp. Vase. Canal water. Overheated atmosphere. Delivery of boiling water. Translation into French of English splutterings. Cooling tank. US elections. Tepid saliva. Residue of Western solidarity. End of the crisis. Diagram illustrating the Suez Crisis.’ The French cartoonist, Pinatel, illustrates the complexity of the Suez issue and takes an ironic look at an international crisis which is coming to an abrupt end.

On 30 November 1956, British and French delegations meet secretly in London to discuss the speedy withdrawal of French and British forces from Port Said.

On 3 December 1956, the US State Department announced the withdrawal of French and British forces from Egypt and stressed the importance of action taken by the United Nations in the peaceful settlement of the Suez crisis.

In January 1957, an agreement between the United Nations and Egypt provides for the clearance of the Suez Canal. Under the auspices of the United Nations, a fleet of tugs begins the salvage of some 40 vessels sunk by the Egyptian authorities to block traffic in the canal. The canal was finally reopened in April 1957.

On 2 January 1957, as part of the United Nations' clearance operations in the Suez Canal, the wreck of the Egyptian tug Ardent, one of the six tugs sunk to block the canal, is refloated.

On 13 January 1957, Fernand Baudhuin, Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, analyses in the Belgian Conservative daily newspaper La Libre Belgique the political and economic impact of the Suez crisis on Europe.

Twenty years after the event, Christian Pineau, former French Foreign Minister, summarises the implications of the Suez Crisis for the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union and the United States.

On 26 July 1956, the Egyptian President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, nationalises the Suez Canal Company. France and the United Kingdom, the principal shareholders of the company, send troops to Egypt. On 6 November, they begin their military operation, but withdraw the following day in the face of threats from the United States and the Soviet Union.