The main treasure of Egypt. The Suez Canal
this is one of the biggest ships in the world its deck is incredibly vast with enough space to accommodate three football fields on it it is filled with numerous containers transporting technology clothing and medications for millions of individuals residing on our planet Earth and you know what right in the middle of the journey from Asia to Europe this ship barely squeezes through this event takes place in the precise center of the world where a 160 km Waterway divid Egypt into two and establishes the boundary between Africa and Eurasia only a few dozen vessels navigate through it on a daily basis but that is sufficient for a single incorrect maneuver to result in increases in prices and for the global economy to begin losing hundreds of millions of dollars per hour a giant container ship wedged from bank to bank after nearly a week stuck in the sez Shoreline blocking one of the world’s most important shipping lanes but how did the Suez Canal become one of the main routes of the planet in just 150 years of its history throughout this period he encountered former Empires and emerging superpowers and came dangerously close to triggering a nuclear war let’s find out how the real struggle for the most important resources of the planet is actually conducted and what states are willing to do in the fight for the most valuable artery of the economy this is a map of contemporary Egypt 96% of its territory is Barren desert s but the remaining 4% comprise some of the most fertile soils on the planet all thanks to the Nile river whose Waters carry Rich natural fertilizers due to the high fertility of these lands one of the first human civilizations ancient Egypt emerged along the course of the Nile it will exist for several thousand years before losing its independence and first becoming part of the Roman Empire and then becoming part of the Ottoman Empire however what will stay the same over the course of these thousands of years is Egypt’s location between Africa Asia and Europe which will always make it the Hub of global Commerce during the Middle Ages Europeans sailed to Alexandria transferred to camels and journeyed through the desert to Cairo from there they continued to the cities on the Red Sea Coast from where Traders embarked on Direct voyages to India they traded gold and Furs for spices and textiles making a fortune it was the primary SE route from Europe to India until the late 15th century when Portuguese explorer Vasco dama found an alternative route through southern Africa the new sea route from Lisbon to Goa was double the length and took approximately 6 months but the majority of Traders still opted for it there was no complex Logistics with multiple modes of transportation and difficult Crossing through the desert so the route through Egypt becomes less popular and over the next centuries it begins to be forgotten but everything changed when by the end of the 18th century the feudal system in Europe began to disintegrate one of the first to fall was the French monarchy King Louis the 16th was executed and power passed into the hands of revolutionaries who wanted to turn France into a republic however after the French Revolution there was a political vacuum in the country so the popularity among the people was gained by prominent personalities one of whom was the young and successful military leader Napoleon bonapart he becomes so well known quickly that the new authorities of France sent him far away specifically to lead a military campaign in Egypt by the way Napoleon is not against it at all as for him as a military leader it is an excellent opportunity to show his genius by establishing a strong French Colony on the coast of the Red Sea one can finally strike at the most powerful Empire of that time Great Britain because at this time the British calmly sail East to India completely capturing the subcontinent and earning hundreds of millions of pounds through trade and most importantly France could not interfere with them in this because the British Fleet controlled the passage to the Atlantic through the straight of gibralta therefore in 1798 the French army led by Napoleon invades Egypt and successfully defeats ottoman military leaders and at some point as they Advanced into the continent the French stumbled upon the ruins of the pharaoh’s Canal an ancient structure that connected the red Sea Gulf and the Nile River Napoleon understood here it is the key to France’s power it is necessary to start digging a canal from the Red Sea which will allow taking away the British control over India however Britain was not Idol either being fully aware of the risks posed by Napoleon’s successes in Egypt the English directed their Fleet to abukir Bay and successfully defeated the French ships effectively cutting off Napoleon’s Army from receiving reinforcements from France Napoleon found himself in a blockade with the French army doomed due to lack of proper supplies so a year later Napoleon escapes from Egypt and abandons plans for its Conquest redirecting all efforts towards conquering Europe when Napoleon already in Paris observes the finished undertaking of constructing the Egyptian Canal he will Express that it is a remarkable Endeavor but I am presently unable to execute it perhaps the Turkish government will take it on thereby gaining glory for itself and strengthening the existence of the Turkish Empire Napoleon’s Egyptian campaigns which were supposed to make Egypt a French Colony turned out to be a great setback for the country after them the authorities of Egypt secured the support of the French openly opposed the Turkish Sultan and as a result of two Egyptian Turkish Wars achieved sovereignty Egypt became a state within a state formerly it remained part of the Ottoman Empire but at this point the Turkish Sultan could no longer appoint a local ruler who instead chose his own successor realizing that economically the country lagged behind Europe the ruler of Egypt opened the borders to foreign trade and diplomats and these events became a turning point in the history of Egypt because if it were not for them this person Ferdinand leps would hardly have come to the country in the line of duty LP worked extensively with documents and one day he came across a canal project developed by Napoleon’s Engineers this idea captivated his mind he spent over 10 years was developing the project of the Soviet canal and realized that he didn’t need to build locks or use complex Technologies it’s much simpler all that was needed was to dig 100 km of sand from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean in a straight line and all that was left was to sell this idea to the authorities of Egypt and here lisp had luck in 1854 his longtime friend became the ruler whom they had met in Paris Muhammad s understanding how profitable this project is for Egypt the Pasha willingly granted leps the concession for construction but that’s only half the story the construction of such magnitude required tens of millions of Franks and neither deeps nor s himself with his influential friends had such means therefore after 4 years LPS founded the joint stock company of the Suez Canal company the logic was simple by buying a share you give money to the company for construction and in return you get a share of profits more shares bigger stake total of 400k shares with face value of 500 French Franks each were issued in the offering and of course Egypt really wanted to control the future Canal but they didn’t have enough money in the treasury to buy such a large number of shares so they borrowed 28 million Franks from Europeans however this was still insufficient to buy a controlling stake and ultimately Egypt acquired 44% of the shares France 52% while the remaining 4% went to private shareholders and a few other countries 6 months later 400,000 peasants from all over Egypt were brought to the Sinai Peninsula and construction began they excavated daily from dawn to dusk under the blazing sun and without drinking water access due to slave labor as estimated tens of thousands of people perished in such horrendous conditions and of course the construction was progressing slowly especially since digging had to be done underwater therefore soon France as the main shareholder sent modern equipment to Egypt special machines were installed Railways were built and things started moving 10 years later a grand opening of the canal took place in the Cairo opera house building now the journey from Europe to India took half the time the canal brought wealth to the shareholders and everyone who invested in this project in its early stages the company’s profit grew every year from 44,000 to 1 million in just 6 years surpassing expectations after the profits Soviet Canal shares prices also Rose becoming necessary for everyone you see when the stocks first appeared on the stock exchange they were priced at 400 Franks when construction issues arose the stocks dropped to 300 Franks but when the canal was opened the shares were already worth 700 Franks and after 6 years almost 2,000 the profit was growing so rapidly because more and more ships were choosing the route through the Suez Canal each year interestingly 2third of all Goods that passed through this route belonged to those who were not shareholders to the British crown it may appear unnecessary for Great Britain to utilize the Suz Canal when it already possesses its established Pathway to India but now this route could be halved and for the control of distant but valuable colonies in India this route was a real find and it would be nice to secure this route especially since soon fated self will provide Britain with such an opportunity in 1875 when the Suez Canal was already fully operational Egypt as one of its main shareholders still could not cover its debts he invested an excessive amount of money in foreign loans for this construction and each year had to make payments of6 million Sterling in interest while the income of Egypt amounted to 10 million to avoid default and not lose power the acting Pasha Ismael decided to sell 44% of the shares of the SE canal in an extreme measure the offer was made by England and France but French investors already held a significant stake and furthermore the country was experiencing ongoing political upheavals and Britain got busy prime minister Benjamin Disraeli understood the importance of controlling the canal so he requested a loan from the Rothchild family and in 1875 with this money the British crown bought all the shares that belonged to Egypt reporting on this deal Disraeli wrote to Queen Victoria that money was completely unimportant in this matter the sole factor of significance is that you your majesty currently have ownership of the canal in your possession indeed after the purchase Britain along with France came to own a trade archery that was located on the territory of another state and importantly received cash back in the form of annual dividends for each of its ships passing through however for Egypt itself this sale turned out to be a serious blow the main resource from which the country derived income ended up in the hands of foreigners as did the government which was tied to foreign loans in fact the sovereignty that the Egyptians fought for 30 years ago has once again been lost against this background in the year 1881 a rebellion of officers started in Egypt and the leader in power was ousted in his place stood officer Ahmad orabi at that time France was occupied with suppressing a colonial Uprising in Tunisia while Britain realizing that they could lose control of the canal and not gain anything from Egypt sent their troops to the country overthrew orabi and installed a loyal government in his place so a year later Egypt while remaining part of the Ottoman Empire essentially became a British colony and in this particular condition the Suz Canal brought Financial returns to Britain until the middle of the subsequent Century until two of the largest conflicts in the history of humanity took place the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century redrawn the political map of the globe especially in the Middle East over the years Jews from all over the world gathered in Palestine their historical Homeland due to persecution by 1947 there were a significant number of them leading to frequent conflicts with the Arab population living in Palestine in order to resolve this conflict the United Nations established a separate state for Jews in the territory of Palestine which is commonly known as Israel but the Arab parties considered this not only as a of indigenous peoples but also as a threat to the entire region so in 1947 the Arab Israeli War started as Egypt Syria Lebanon and other states deployed troops to Palestine to demolish Israel and reinstate the status of Palestine however this war not only concluded with Israel’s Triumph but also effectively eradicated British influence in Egypt the Egyptian opposition accused King Farooq of defeat and collaboration with the British Invaders who continued to control the Egyptian government and if previously Britain could suppress these uprisings now it has lost a whole range of Asian colonies including India and was no longer as powerful on July 23rd 1952 Egyptian army officers led by Gamal abdal NASA and Muhammad Nagib carried out a smooth State coup effectively overthrowing the government and seizing power initially the president of the new Republic was Muhammad Nagib but shortly Gamal Abdul NASA will oust him and start implementing a strategy for a powerful and autonomous Egypt and of course the first item on his presidential agenda will be to regain control of the Suz Canal Egypt’s problem was that even after it became a republic Britain managed to obtain permission to maintain military bases in the Suez Canal Zone Egypt itself essentially did not cease fighting with neighboring Israel and for this the country required to acquire weapons however neither Britain nor the USA were planning to sell weapons to Egypt and strength the Egyptian Army it’s all because Britain wanted to continue dominating the Canal Zone while the USA understood that by selling weapons to Israel’s opponent they would be shooting themselves in the foot seeking allies Egypt’s authorities approached the Soviet Union eager to establish a presence in the region and influen the Egyptians towards socialism therefore in July 1955 airplanes tanks artillery and other types of state-of-the-art Weaponry were sent to Egypt directly from Czechoslovakia Eastern Europe became a mediator so that the Soviet Union would not openly engage in conflict in the Middle East hoping to strangle Egypt with sanctions the United Kingdom and the United States refused to finance a project that was crucial for the country’s economy the construction of the Awan Dam it was necessary to control the yearly flooding of the Nile and provide Egypt with electrical power but NASA seemed to have been waiting for just that on July 26th 1956 he announced the nationalization of the Suz Canal stating that it was the only way the government could Finance the construction of such an important [Laughter] [Music] Dam at the same time the shareholders of the sus Canal were entitled to Fair compensation their shares were to be bought back at the current price on the Paris Stock Exchange and Egypt promised to maintain freedom of navigation for all countries except Israel naturally the Western block did not agree with NASA’s decision for Great Britain nationalization was seen as an encroachment on its interests 1/4 of British Imports passed through this canal which was under the control of Britain the country itself France was also dissatisfied Not only was it the main shareholder but NASA also decided to help other countries in the Arab world become independent and supported the uprising in Algeria against French rule finally the West has already tasted the flavor of oil and half of the Black Gold consumed by Europe came from the East specifically through the Suez Canal however despite all this Great Britain and France could not deploy troops to Egypt direct aggression would have meant a violation of un principles and no one would have supported this Invasion so a formal pretext was needed to start the war on October 22nd 1956 a secret meeting took place in France involving the elite of Israel France and Britain where the participants agreed that Israel would initiate an open war with Egypt for the Sinai Peninsula and Passage through the Suz Canal following this France and Great Britain would deploy their troops to the region under the pretext of protecting the canal and separating the Waring parties think this is a fabricated story no just one week after that meeting the Israeli Army crossed the border with Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula and started to crush the Egyptian Army France Britain immediately issued an ultimatum for the Waring parties to cease fire and withdraw 10 mi from the canal it was clear that no one would comply with this requirement but it allowed France and Britain to deploy their troops EU Armed Forces started bombing Cairo and the exit from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea the port of Suz was taken by a British French Landing in response the Egyptian Army blocked the canal with sunken ships to hinder the movement of enemy troops and the supply of Arab oil to the Western World Egypt will use such tactics in the future more than once of course the European expansion was sharply condemned by the UN and the Soviet Union even threatened nuclear strikes against Great Britain France and Israel if they did not withdraw their troops from Egypt even the United States of America which was aware of this operation in advance realized that things had gone too far hence on November 2nd 1956 the UN demanded to Cease the war and unblock the Suz canal under this pressure the Waring parties withdrew their troops and the first un peacekeeping Mission entered Egypt which monitored the border between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula essentially the sus crisis was a defeat for Britain and France signaling the collapse of colonial empires and the rise of new spheres of influence for the Soviet Union and the United States however this was far from the end yes Europeans stopped interfering in Egypt’s Affairs but the territorial dispute with Israel did not disappear there therefore a new War began after 10 years Israel captured territories in the Sinai Peninsula and the Suez Canal turned into a mined border between the Waring parties in 1973 Egypt crossed this border and attacked Israel in an attempt to regain lost territories initially the Western World supported Israel in the conflict however when Arab countries imposed an embargo on fuel supplies against the United States and its allies oil prices quadrupled leading to a severe crisis in West Western economies especially in the USA so on October 20th 1973 the US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger flew to Moscow and 48 hours later the UN issued another resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire Egypt and Israel signed peace agreements establishing modern borders of Sinai Peninsula and confirming Suz canal under Egypt’s control with help from the Soviet Union and the USA the Soviet Canal was demed and after 8 years the first civilian ship finally passed through it however during its years of closure the canal managed to become outdated because while it was blocked Engineers were inventing super tankers that could carry so many containers that circumnavigating Africa finally became economically viable and the Soviet Canal turned out to be too shallow and narrow for the passage of such giant ships therefore since the early 1980s until today the Suez Canal has been constantly expanding and deepening Egypt invests billions in Canal’s development as Suez Canal alone contributes as much to Egypt’s economy as tourism making it a vital investment for the country but for the global economy the Suz Canal is a crucial artery with a third of all Container ships in the world passing through it and up to 10% of global oil trade all this oil comes from the Middle East and is supplied not only to Europe and the USA but also to China India and Singapore therefore control over the Suz canal remains a significant economic advantage that allows influence in global politics however the regular conflicts that erupt in the region discourage its potential customers to reach the northern point of the Red Sea Merchant ships must pass through the Gulf of Aiden where militants and Pirates operate so many companies opt for the longer but more reliable route through the Cape of Good Hope there is also another option it is the Northern sea route that goes through the Arctic Ocean it is shorter than passing through the Suz Canal but it is in a stage of development and its prospects are unclear therefore today the Suz Canal is a monopolistic stretch of a small waterway in the very center of the planet controlled by one party but so essential to the entire global economy
Imagine that on the territory of your country there is something that all the states of the world want to use. If you have enough military and economic power, then you will extract maximum profit from your monopoly. But if you are a country with a weak economy, then other, more powerful powers will seize your resource, and a puppet government will be put in power.
What will happen next? Sooner or later, revolutions and civil wars will break out in your country for power over this resource. Some will try to maintain the status quo, while others will try to nationalize what is rightfully theirs. And when the superpowers intervene in this conflict, the world will no longer be the same.