It began when Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal, which was then followed by a military attack from Israel, France, and Great Britain. The canal is an important man-made waterway in Egypt that connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea; it is a critical shipping route operated under the French and British own-ed Suez Canal Company. Developed by French developer Ferdinand de Lesseps, the canal was first opened on November 17, 1869. In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser took control of Egypt; he wanted to build the Aswan Dam on the Nile River to modernize Egypt. The United States and the British had agreed to loan Egypt the money for the Dam, but cut off their aid upon discovering Egypt's military and political ties to the Soviet Union. In order to pay for the construction of the Aswan Dam, Nasser ordered the Suez Canal seized and nationalized. It had been controlled by the British in order to keep it open and free to all countries. Nasser seized the canal and was planning to charge for passage in order to pay for the Aswan Dam. The British, the French, and the Israelis decided to use the canal as a reason to attack Egypt. They secretly planned that Israel would attack and seize the canal, then, the French and the British would enter as peacekeepers taking control of the canal. France, Britain, and Israel did not inform the U.S., …show more content…
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles on Cuba. The crisis started when American spy planes detected nuclear missiles sites under construction by the Soviet Union on Cuba. These missiles were capable of reaching the U.S. In response, President John Kennedy secretly met with his advisors and officials (executive committee) to discuss the problem and a decision to place a naval blockade around Cuba was finalized. The president also asked for U Thant to assist in playing the mediatory role in the crisis. The aim of this was to “quarantine” Cuba and prevent the Soviets from bringing more supplies. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles be removed and the sites destroyed. On October 22, 1962, a television broadcast by the president notified Americans about the presence of the missiles and explained his decision to enact the blockade, making it clear to the Soviet Union and the world that the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize the threat to national security. U Thant foresaw that the Russians would dismantle their missiles in return that America would not invade Cuba; he advocated his idea publicly and the Soviet Union agreed to the deal. In a separate secret deal, the U.S.