25. Stealing a River
Egypt was a British client state and protectorate from 1882 to 1952, and Britain had the right to base troops in Egypt to protect her interests. Most important of those interests was safeguarding the Suez Canal, of which the British government was a majority shareholder. Then in 1952, a military coup by nationalist Egyptian officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew Egypt’s pro-British king.
The new government demanded that British troops leave Egypt, and in 1956, nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser and his nationalist government infuriated British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, who was determined to cut the Egyptian upstart down to size and put him in his place. So his government came up with the idea of blocking the Nile, to prevent its water from reaching Egypt.