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Suez Canal Zone in the hope that Egypt would ease its stance towards MEDO and as

a sign of goodwill. Eden also believed that reaching an agreement with Egypt would

improve Britain’s relations with the rest of the Arab World. 105 Although the

stationing of troops in the Suez Canal Zone was of vital importance to the British

during the First and Second World Wars, the coming of the hydrogen bomb

‘transformed the military situation’ as it limited the need for ‘conventional forces’. 106

Moreover, the cost of maintaining the base in Egypt with approximately 80,000

personnel was seen in Britain as a burden. 107

Britain’s foreign policy’s demarches in the Middle East at the time can be

summarised into the following four points as presented by Field Marshall Sir John

Harding, Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). First was denying Communists

from having the Middle East fall under their sphere of influence. Second was to

protect the oil resources of the Arabian Gulf region. Third was the protection of the

southern parts of Turkey. And fourthly to secure the safety and freedom of sea

passage via the Suez Canal. 108

In Bahrain in the beginning of 1953, Al-Bakir was involved in the early

attempts to give voice to various grievances. This included a demand to establish a

trade union in Bahrain. No such organisation existed at the time nor was approved

105 BDEEP, Series B, Part III, vol. 4, ‘Egypt and the Defence of the Middle East’ 1953-1956. Doc. 472: CAB
129/65, C (54)6, ‘Middle East policy’: Cabinet memorandum by Mr Eden on three possible courses of
action if no agreement is reached with Egypt, 7 January 1954.
106 BDEEP, Series A, Part I, vol. 3, ‘The Conservative Government and the End of Empire’, 1951-1957. Doc.
21: CAB 134/1315, PR(56)3, ‘The future of the United Kingdom in world affairs’: memorandum by officials
of the Treasury, Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence for Cabinet Policy Review Committee. Appendix A, 1
June 1956.
107 BDEEP, Series B, Part III, vol. 4, ‘Egypt and the Defence of the Middle East’ 1953-1956. Doc. 499: FO
371/108415, ‘Egypt: arguments for a defence agreement’: memorandum by E B Boothby, 1 March 1954.
108 BDEEP, Series B, Part III, vol. 4, ‘Egypt and the Defence of the Middle East’ 1953-1956. Doc. 455: FO
371/102823, ‘Suez Canal base’: note by Field Marshal Sir J Harding for Field Marshal Lord Alexander of
Tunis, December 1953.

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