Speaking in Alexandria, Nasser declared that Egypt would seize the Suez Canal Company, largely owned by British and French shareholders, to fund the Aswan High Dam after Western powers withdrew financing. The move struck at a vital artery of global trade and colonial prestige, provoking Britain, France, and Israel to launch a joint military invasion of Egypt that October.
Nasser delivered the nationalization speech in Alexandria's Manshia Square using a coded phrase—repeatedly invoking the name of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the canal's original French builder—as a secret signal to Egyptian army units to begin occupying canal facilities the moment he finished speaking.
The canal had been a lifeline of British imperial power for eighty years, carrying the bulk of Europe's oil supply from the Middle East. Nasser's announcement was a direct rebuke to Britain and the United States, which had just withdrawn funding for his prized Aswan Dam project over Cold War political maneuvering.
The crisis that followed nearly split the Western alliance: Eisenhower forced Britain, France, and Israel into a humiliating withdrawal after their invasion, marking the effective end of Britain's status as a global imperial power and cementing Nasser as a hero of Arab nationalism across the Middle East.
Key people: Gamal Abdel Nasser