In the aftermath of World War II, the European colonial powers, such as Great Britain and France, still controlled large parts of the world, although their colonial empires were undergoing a process of progressive independence and fragmentation. The Suez Canal had been an important strategic connection point of the British Empire with its colonial possessions in the Indian Ocean for almost a century. It was in this geopolitical context that the Suez crisis of 1956 erupted.

The president of the newly formed Egyptian state, Nasser, decided to nationalise the Suez Canal, dealing a severe blow to British power. The British reaction was immediate and violent. Forming a coalition with France and Israel, London decided to invade Egypt with the intention of regaining control of the canal. The invasion began in October and immediately proved to be a disaster. The new world superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, condemned the invasion and the Soviet Union even threatened armed intervention. The role played by the US and the USSR made it clear to the Europeans that the geopolitical balance of the world had changed: Europe was no longer the imperial centre of the world, but was on its way to becoming an appendage of the American Atlantic world in the ‘great game’ of the Cold War.

The Suez crisis was finally resolved after only a few days of conflict, when, on 7 November, thanks to Russian-American pressure, the British coalition decided to withdraw, fearing an escalation with the Soviet Union. However, even in just a few days of conflict, the death toll was dramatic. About 1,500 Egyptian civilians and an equal number of military personnel lost their lives. The British and French lost about 50 men, a limited number due to their air superiority; the Israelis, on the other hand, lost about 240 men in the course of military operations in East Sinai.

The Suez crisis finally resulted in the solid reinforcement of the leadership of President Nasser, a central figure from then on in the decolonisation of the Arab world and in establishing new balances of power in the new world of decolonisation.