LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Suez Canal: Great Britain
built 622 days ago
The majority of the people in Britain opposed the idea of a Suez Canal. One of those who thought the canal was a good idea was King William IV, and he wrote to Lord Palmeston in 1833 that it was in Britain's interest, as ruler of India, to become a more friendly ally of Egypt. The reasoning behind this communication is that the king was thinking of the quicker (and shorter) route for passengers, cargoes, and mails travelling between Britain and India. The overland route, established by Thomas Waghorn, beginning at Alexandria used horse drawn boats to transport the passengers and their luggage together with any cargo, including any mail, on the old Mamoudieh Canal, which was rebuilt in 1819-20, some 17 kilometres to Afteh where the canal met the Nile. At Afteh the passengers, mail, and cargo were transferred to either sailing boats or steamships to take them to Cairo, and across the desert to Suez by a selection of canals and horse drawn vans. This continual changing means of transport (for the passengers) was rather tedious and was partially alleviated when the Alexandria to Cairo railway was opened in 1856, and almost totally when the line was extended to Suez in 1859.
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The dream of a canal across the Isthmus of Suez had existed since the time 4,000 years ago when the pharaohs built Egypt's first canal. (It linked the Nile River with the Great Bitter Lake, which then opened onto the Gulf of Suez.) This canal... was filled in, and for centuries trade with the Far East was carried overland across Asia. Eventually ships began to sail around the…
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One of Nasser's goals was the ownership of the Suez Canal and the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt. Through diplomatic attacks on Britain, he was able to force a gradual withdrawal of British troops. Nasser wanted to build a damn on the Nile River. However, Egypt did not have the financial means to undertake such a task. Therefore, Nasser asked the British and the Americans for financial aid. Britain, angered over previous encounters with Egypt declined.
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You may recall that on June 13, 1956, Britain gave control of the Suez Canal to Egypt. You may ... associate June 13 as the day in 1886 that King Ludwig II of Bavaria drowned in Lake Starnberg. June 13, 2003, marked a day in financial history: It's when the bear market in bonds began.
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The article presents information on the Suez Canal. One believes it will appear that Suez and Panama, narrow isthmuses, which a little more or less of geological dynamics might have left in repose beneath the Silurian waters, have been up-heaved in accordance with a great design, first to delay, then to excite and invigorate and finally to reward with victory the enterprise of science, capital and labor. Within the last ten years, and especially within the last few months, public attention has been directed to the Isthmus of Suez by an enthusiastic and indefatigable Frenchman, who subscribes himself with a charming brevity and simplicity "Minister Plenipotentiary."
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On July 26, 1956, Egypt seized the canal, which caused Britain, France and Israel to invade in the week-long Suez War. Led by the United States who did not want such an important route held by countries they could not control, the United Nations declared the canal Egyptian property.
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