June 13:Britain ends its military occupation of the Suez Canal.
June 24:Egyptian president Nasser wins an uncontested election to remain in office.
July 20:The United States announces that it will not provide financing for Egypt’s
project to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Britain also withdraws its
offer to help finance the dam.
July 27: Reacting to U.S. and British refusals to fund the Aswan dam, Nasser
announces the nationalization of the Suez Canal, setting off an international crisis
over access to and control of the waterway.
October 24:British, French, and Israeli officials sign a secret agreement in Sévres,
France, providing for an invasion of Egypt to seize control of the Suez Canal.
October 29:In keeping with its agreement with Britain and France, Israel attacks
Egyptian forces in the Sinai.
November 2:The UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 997, demanding a halt to
the fighting in Egypt.
November 5:British and French forces attack Egypt. The UN General Assembly adopts
Resolution 1000, again calling for a halt to fighting and proposing creation of a
UN Emergency International Force to monitor the withdrawal of foreign forces.
November 6:Israel completes its occupation of the Sinai Peninsula (except for the canal
zone).
November 7:The UN General Assembly adopts Resolution 1001 demanding that Brit-
ain, France, and Israel withdraw from Egypt. U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower
sends a letter to Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion on November demand-
ing that Israel comply with the UN resolution.
November 15:The first contingents of the UN emergency force arrive in Egypt.
November 21:British and French forces begin withdrawing from Egypt.
December 24:Israel begins withdrawing its forces from Egypt. Britain and France had
completed their withdrawals three days earlier.
1957
January 4:The Suez Canal reopens for medium-size ships.
January 5:In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Eisenhower says the
United States will use military force, if necessary, to prevent communist domination
of the Middle East. His declaration becomes known as the Eisenhower Doctrine.
March 13:Britain and Jordan cancel a 1958 mutual defense treaty, and Britain agrees
to withdraw its troops from Jordan within six months.
March 15:Egypt says Israeli ships will not be allowed to pass through the Suez Canal.
April 24:In response to a leftist rebellion against Jordan’s King Hussein, the United
States says it considers the “independence and integrity of Jordan as vital.”
September 5:In keeping with the Eisenhower Doctrine, the United States announces
plans to send weapons to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.
1958
February 1:Egypt and Syria agree to form a single country called the United Arab
Republic.
February 14:Iraq and Jordan announce the formation of the Arab Federation,
with Iraq’s King Faisal II as head of state. King Hussein remains head of state in
Jordan.
660 CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST, 1914–2007