Construction and strategic significance of the Suez Canal

French engineer and diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps secured permission from Said Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, and initiated construction in 1859.

Digging continued for ten years under the Suez Canal Company, which gained the right to run the canal for ninety-nine years in return for funding and supervision.

The workers laboured in harsh desert environment, but dug out over seventy-five million cubic metres of earth without modern machines.

The early stages relied heavily on unpaid Egyptian labour, and Egyptian officials drafted tens of thousands of farm workers each year; many of whom died from exhaustion, disease or accidents, though the exact death toll remains uncertain.

Upon its completion, a large opening ceremony was held on 17 November 1869, at which time the canal stretched approximately one hundred and sixty-four kilometres, with no locks, since engineers took advantage of the flat terrain to create a level waterway from sea to sea. 

Financial control remained in French hands until 1875, when British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli arranged the purchase of the Khedive’s forty-four percent stake for £4 million, funded through the Rothschild banking family.

This decision proved decisive for British imperial strategy, since the canal offered a drastically shorter maritime route to India, which cut thousands of kilometres off the journey and strengthening the empire’s logistical reach.

British investment in the canal soon included military and political control, especially after Britain invaded Egypt in 1882 when they aimed to restore order during a public revolt.

Although Egypt remained technically independent, British officers and advisors controlled important government departments and British forces maintained a continuous military presence in the canal zone.

The Suez Canal Company itself, however, remained an international enterprise, operated primarily by the French until its state takeover in 1956. 

In the First World War, the canal was a crucial supply route for the Allies, particularly for moving troops and equipment between India, Australia and the Western Front.

Turkish forces launched several attacks in early 1915, hoping to cut the British supply line, but failed because of strong British and colonial defences, which highlighted its supply importance.

British troop movements frequently used the canal to strengthen positions in Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf.

Then, in the Second World War, the canal once again became a key target, as Axis nations under Erwin Rommel advanced across North Africa.

As a result, British and Commonwealth forces saw the need to defend the canal at all costs and sent many troops and supplies to stop the Axis advance at El Alamein, which kept the canal secure and maintained key shipping routes. 

After Egypt achieved partial independence from Britain in 1922, calls for more control over resources grew, especially under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser.

By 1956, Nasser had taken control of the canal after France and the United States withdrew funding for the Aswan High Dam.

This directly challenged French and British economic interests and led to the Suez Crisis, in which Britain, France and Israel planned a military operation under a secret agreement.

Although the attacking powers achieved quick success in battle, world pressure, including condemnation from both the United States and the Soviet Union, forced a withdrawal.

The failure of the intervention damaged the global standing of Britain and France and signalled a shift in the international balance of power during the Cold War period.

The United Nations sent its first major peace force, the UN Emergency Force, to the Sinai region to prevent more fighting. 

Following the Six-Day War in 1967, the canal stayed closed for eight years because sunken ships and undetonated bombs blocked the passage.

Egypt opened the canal again in 1975 after thorough cleanup operations. From that point onwards, it operated fully under Egypt’s control.

Later Egyptian governments used canal fees as an important source of foreign income and invested in widening projects to fit larger ships and handle growing amounts of world trade.

The 2015 New Suez Canal project, which cost approximately $8.5 billion, created a thirty-five-kilometre parallel lane and deepened key sections to ease congestion and cut travel times.

The canal’s strategic value was highlighted again in March 2021 when the container ship Ever Given ran aground and blocked traffic for six days, disrupting twelve percent of world trade and prompting further calls for modernisation. 

Throughout its history, the Suez Canal has been a commercial thoroughfare and a key military goal for colonial powers, nation-states and modern world alliances.

The fact that it connects the European and Asian maritime worlds has meant that it has continued to guide diplomatic engagements.