There had long been talk in many quarters about the idea of a canal linking the Red
Sea and the Mediterranean, but never, except by Bonaparte, had a direct link across
the Suez isthmus been envisaged.
Early attempts were said to have been made to build a canal linking the Nile to Lake
Timsah during the time of Pharaoh Sesostris I (circa 1960 BC)but there no traces
of the project remain and the only details of it are taken from the writings of Strabon.
The Pharaoh Necho II then had a new canal dug out (circa 600 BC), as chronicled by Darius I
(circa 510 BC), and Ptolemy Philadelphus II (circa 260) was later to give the canal its
definitive form.
Abandoned and overrun with sand, Ptolemy's canal was restored during the reign of Trajan
(circa 100 AD), but was again later abandoned. In around 640 AD, Caliph Omar had the canal
reopened. Later in approximately 775 AD, Caliph Al-Mansur closed the canal for political
and military reasons.
In 1799 during his expedition to Egypt, Bonaparte asked J.M. Le Père, the chief engineer at the Ponts et Chaussés school of engineering, to plot the isthmus in detail. Le Père mistakenly assumed a difference of approximately 10 metres in the levels of the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea.
In 1846, on the initiative of their leader Prosper Enfantin, the Saint Simonians (a group of followers of the thinking of Claude Henri de Saint-Simon) established an engineering firm to promote a project for a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea.
In 1847, Louis-Maurice Linant de Bellefonds, a brilliant French engineer working in Egypt, compiled a technical engineering dossier on penetrating the isthmus.
When Lesseps arrived in Egypt in November 1854, he found all the technical requirements in place. But none of his predecessors had had the political capability or desire necessary to drive the project forward.
At that time, the viceroy of Egypt was the vassal of the Sultan of Turkey. He felt it necessary - and Lesseps shared this view - to secure the approval of the Sultan before commencing work. Neither had any doubt that such approval would be obtained rapidly. But all manner of difficulties arose. Early on, there were British objections to the project,and as a result, the Sultan, over whom the British ambassador had significant influence, failed to grant his permission.
Following numerous attempts and many journeys, on 5 November 1858, Lesseps established the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez with its head office in Alexandria and administrative headquarters in Paris; the viceroy approved the articles of association. A fund for construction of the Suez Canal was launched.
On 25 April 1859, construction officially commenced.
But even from the early months of work, all manner of obstacles arose as a result of pressure exerted by the British and the Turks. In one particularly critical crisis, in October 1859 Lesseps was forced to turn to emperor Napoleon III, who supported his canal project reluctantly so as not to offend the British. Work continued at a somewhat slower pace.
From 1863 onwards, the campaign against Lesseps escalated, fuelled by the prime minister of the new viceroy Ismaïl, who had succeeded Saïd. At the request of the Sultan, who was himself taking his orders from England, forced labour (corvée) was abolished and work came to a standstill. Lesseps managed to substantially defuse the situation. Thanks to the engineers, steam engines, dredgers, excavators and other machines were invented, built and operated on the site. Having begun with shovels, pickaxes and containers, construction of the canal continued under the power of steam.
From 17 to 20 November 1869, the Suez Canal was inaugurated amid great fanfare in the presence of Empress Eugenie and most European governments.
At that time, 44% of the Company's capital was owned by Egypt, which, under the articles of association, also received 15% of the profits generated by the canal, giving it a total of 59% of the profits. This situation meant that the company was a semi-public company before such a term had even been coined, and provided for an unprecedented division of the spoils in favour of the licensing country, a situation that continued until 1875.
In 1875, the Khedive Ismaïl found himself in dire financial straits. England, which opposed the canal, took the opportunity to acquire, almost in secret, the 170,000 shares which the Khedive was forced to sell and consequently became the majority shareholder in the Compagnie du Canal de Suez.
En 1882, prenant pretexte de la révolte d'Arabi Pacha, les troupes britanniques débarquèrent à Alexandrie et occupèrent les points stratégiques du territoire égyptien, et d'abord le canal de Suez. Proclamant qu'elles venaient rétablir l'ordre puis se retireraient, c'est l'ordre britannique qui régna en Egypte et pour plus de 70 ans.
In 1882, on the pretext of the revolt by Arabi Pacha, British troops landed in Alexandria and occupied strategic points in Egypt, starting with the Suez Canal. Declaring that they had come to restore order and that they would then withdraw, British rule continued in Egypt for over 70 years.
As national sentiment gradually began to establish itself, the canal was seen as a reason for foreign presence on Egyptian soil. Returning the canal to Egyptian hands would mean giving back to Egypt a part of the country which had been lost. Nothing could be done as long as British civil servants and troops were present, and in 1952, independent officers seized power. King Farouk abdicated and the evacuation of the canal area began. It was completed in 1956.
On 26 July 1956 Colonel Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Maritime de Suez. Egypt planned to use the income from operating the canal to finance construction of the Aswan dam. In November of the same year, Franco-British troops landed in Port-Saïd. Egypt blocked the canal by sinking ships in it. The canal reopened in April 1957.
Following the Six Day War in June 1967, the canal remained closed until 1975 when it once again became navigable. It has remained so ever since.
Since then, the Suez Canal Authority has welcomed ships from all over the world and has respected the strict neutrality of waterways.