Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis

265 Pages·2006·1.53 MB·English

by  Jonathan Pearson

Sir Anthony Eden and the
Suez Crisis
Reluctant Gamble
Jonathan Pearson
Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis
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Sir Anthony Eden and the
Suez Crisis
Reluctant Gamble
Jonathan Pearson
© Jonathan Pearson 2003
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2003 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
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ISBN 0–333–98451–X
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pearson, Jonathan, 1971–
Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez crisis:reluctant gamble / Jonathan Pearson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–333–98451–X
1. Egypt—History—Intervention, 1956. 2. Great Britain—Foreign
relations—1945–1964. 3. Eden, Anthony, Earl of Avon, 1897–
I. Title.
DT107.83 .P38 2002
962.05′3—dc21 2002072620
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne
To Doug and Joan Pearson
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Contents
List of Abbreviations viii
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 Nationalisation of the Canal: 26 July–3 August 20
2 Negotiation: 4 August–9 September 42
3 SCUA: 10 September–21 September 67
4 Mounting Pressure: 22 September–3 October 92
5 Transition to Force: 4 October–14 October 120
6 Collusion: 15 October–25 October 145
7 Finale: 26 October 1956–9 January 1957 158
Conclusion 169
Notes 181
Bibliography 233
Index 248
vii
List of Abbreviations
Archival
ADM UK Admiralty Files
AIR UK Air Ministry Files
ALBP Alan Lennox-Boyd Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
AP Avon Papers, Heslop Room, University of Birmingham
BeP Beaverbrook Papers, House of Lords Record Office, London
BLP Bruce Lockhart Papers, Lilly Library, Indiana University,
Bloomington, Indiana
BP Butler Papers, Trinity College, Cambridge
BrP Brendan Bracken Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
CAB 128 UK Cabinet Meetings
CAB 129 UK Cabinet Memoranda
CAB 131 UK Defence Committee
CAB 134/1216 Egypt Committee Meetings
CAB 134/1217 Egypt Committee Memoranda
CCUKC Cartoon Centre, University of Kent
CiP Cilcennin Papers, Camarthenshire County Council Archives,
Camarthen, Wales
CP Churchill Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
DDE The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Eisenhower Library,
Abilene, Kansas
DEFE 4 UK Chiefs of Staff Committee Meetings
DEFE 5 UK Chiefs of Staff Memoranda
DEFE 32 UK Chiefs of Staff, Secretary’s Standard File
DP Sir William Dickson Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
DSP Duncan-Sandys Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
FO 371 UK General Foreign Office Files
FO 800 UK Foreign Secretary’s Private Files
GBP Gore-Booth Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
GMP Gilbert Murray Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
HP Hayter Papers, in the private possession of Lady Hayter
JFDOH John Foster Dulles Oral History, Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript
Library, Princeton
KP Kilmuir Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
LHA Liddel Hart Archive, Liddel Hart Centre for Military Archives,
King’s College, University of London
MP Macmillan Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
NACP US National Archives, College Park
viii
List of Abbreviations ix
NAW US National Archives, Washington, DC
NBP Norman Brook Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
PREM 11 UK Prime Minister’s Files
PRO Public Records Office, Kew, London
RG 218 Records of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
RG 263 Records of the Central Intelligence Agency
SCP Spencer Churchill Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
SELO Selwyn Lloyd Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
SLA Squerryes Lodge Archive, Churchill College, Cambridge
SOHP Suez Oral History Project, Liddel Hart Archive, Liddel Hart
Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, University of
London
T UK Treasury Files
TNLA The Times News Library Archive, News International, London
WCP William Clark Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
WHP William Hayley Papers, Churchill College, Cambridge
WMP Walter Monckton Papers, Bodleian Library, Oxford
WO32 UK War Office Files on Suez Crisis
WP Wright Papers, in the private possession of Sir Denis Wright
Other
ALPHA The plan to give land to Egypt and financially compensate
Israel (for more details, see PRO CAB 129/75. Memoran-
dum by Macmillan, 11 June, 1955)
CASU Co-operative Association of Suez Canal Users, an acronym
superseded by SCUA (see below)
COS Chiefs of Staff
DAFR Documents of American Foreign Relations (New York, 1956–57)
DDF Documents Diplomatique Français
EC Egypt Committee
E(O)C Egypt Official Committee
FO Foreign Office
FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States (Washington, DC,
1979–90)
HMG Her Majesty’s Government
IMF International Monetary Fund
JIC Joint Intelligence Committee
ME(O) Middle East Official Committee
ME(O)(SC) Suez Canal Sub-Committee of the Official Middle East
Committee
OMEGA The Anglo-American plan to destabilise Nasser’s Regime by
economic sanctions and covert activity
RIIA Royal Institute of International Affairs