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in effect be Egyptian satellites if not Russian ones. They will have to
place their united oil resources under the control of united Arabia led
by Egypt and under Russian influence. When that moment comes
Nasser can deny oil to Western Europe and here we shall all be at his
mercy. 753

Even prior to the crisis, Eisenhower understood the importance of oil to Europe, as

‘The economy of European countries would collapse if those oil supplies were cut

off’. 754 Likewise, as Macmillan illustrated in his diary, the dilemma Britain was in, as

Western Europe relied eighty to ninety per cent of its oil supplies on Middle Eastern

oil. He, moreover, feared that action against Nasser would close the Canal and result

in revolts in the Arabian Gulf States. But if Nasser was left unchecked, the next

possible step in the Arab World would be the nationalisation of oil production. 755

The new conflict must have brought back to Eden memories of his stance in

1938 against Neville Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement with European dictators

like Hitler and Mussolini. Eden, who was then the Foreign Secretary, had resigned

from his post in 1938 in opposition to Chamberlain’s policy. 756 The Prime Minister’s

memoir compared Nasser’s takeover of the Canal to that of Hitler’s seizure of the

Rhineland and Stalin’s suppression of liberty in Czechoslovakia. 757 Although in

Egypt’s case the Suez Canal lay within its own boundaries and was not a separate

entity outside of its borders. Nevertheless Eden refused to be haunted by the ghosts

753 Eden to Eisenhower, 6 September 1956, (also found in Boyle, 164-67).
754 The Eisenhower Diaries, 13 March 1956, 319.
755 Macmillan Diaries, 25 August 1956, 590-91.
756 D. Yergin, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (New York: 2009), 469; on the news
of Eden’s resignation see ‘What will Mr. Eden do? Will He Decide to Fight for His Policy?’, The
Manchester Guardian, 21 February 1938, 11; and F. Kuhn Jr., ‘Britain is Shocked: Foreign Secretary
Quits Over Issues of Seeking Deals with Dictators’, New York Times, 21 February 1938, 1.
757 Eden, Full Circle, 441.

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