The Suez crisis of 1956 : political and economic consequences for Britain

Abstract

What were the political and economic consequences of the Suez crisis of 1956 for Britain? This dissertation is intended to analyze the events surrounding that short-lived but explosive crisis which allegedly was one of the major turning-points for the political history of the post-Second World War period. But, in truth, how far reaching were the effects of Suez? To what extent can it be held responsible for the new trends which appeared in international politics in its aftermath? My theory, as I will try to show in this dissertation, is that Suez was indeed an international crisis which threw four nations into war and which temporarily caused a rift between allies such as Britain and the United States. However, I do believe that, in certain textbooks, the consequences of Suez were exaggerated. I do not think that Suez triggered off so many changes in the international system. Rather, I think that certain major changes had been due for some time and that Suez merely served as a catalyst to hasten the change. After examining the more familiar of the alleged consequences of Suez, I formed the opinion that some were actually phenomena directly caused by Suez; others were only indirectly attributable to Suez; and yet others probably would have happened, with or without the Suez affair. The objective of this dissertation can never be reached with certainty, simply because it is impossible to physically calculate intangible quantities such as the damage inflicted by Suez upon Britain. So, at the end, I can only produce my own opinions and the reasons behind them.