KEY DATES
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| NOVEMBER 14, 1955 Lester Pearson meets with British PM Anthony Eden and suggests a UN force to keep the peace on the Israeli Egyptian border. |
JUly 26, 1956 Suez Canal is nationalised. Britain starts preparing to invade Egypt. |
JULY 28, 1956 Lester Pearson already sees a looming disaster for the Western alliance. |
JULY 30, 1956 Ottawa is blasted by the Opposition for not adequately supporting Great Britain. |
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AUGUST 1, 1956 Lester Pearson tries to defend his government's position. |
AUGUST 7, 1956 Pearson sends deeply pessimistic telegram to his High Commissioner in London. |
AUGUST 8, 1956 Pearson defends his policy in the House of Commons. |
AUGUST 16–23, 1956 The UK convenes conference of canal users in London. Egypt refuses to attend and ignores all conference's proposals for international ownership of the Canal. |
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SEPTEMBER 3, 1956 Lester Pearson meets with UK Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd. |
SEPTEMBER 19–21, 1956 2ND London Conference of Suez canal users. Egypt does not accept the conclusions. |
SEPTEMBER 24, 1956 Canadian delegation at the UN sends Pearson a pessimistic summary of negotiations. |
SEPTEMBER 25, 1956 Canadian delegation at the UN cables Pearson another summary warning of trouble to come. |
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SEPTEMBER 27, 1956 Canadian High Commissioner in London meets with UK Foreign Secretary Selwyn Lloyd to try and change UK policy. |
OCTOBER 13, 1956 The Security Council adopts grounds for possible settlement of the crisis. |
OCTOBER 14, 1956 The British Prime Minister meets with French officials to discuss fabricating an excuse to invade Egypt. |
OCTOBER 29, 1956 As part of a pre-arranged deal with Britain and France, the Israeli army invades Egypt. |
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OCTOBER 30, 1956 Britain and France announce they will land their own troops to keep the peace in Egypt. The UN tries to deal with the issue. Lester Pearson suspects collusion between Israel, France and the UK. He is horrified by the huge break in US UK relations. |
OCTOBER 31, 1956 The RAF starts bombing Egyptian targets. Lester Pearson starts formulating his peace proposal. |
NOVEMBER 1, 1956 Pearson flies to the UN and starts building support for his peacekeeper proposal. |
NOVEMBER 2, 1956 Pearson informally suggests the UN should create its first peacekeeping force (UNEF). Pearson flies back to Ottawa. |
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NOVEMBER 3, 1956 Pearson flies back to the UN with a formal proposal for UNEF. |
NOVEMBER 4, 1956 The UN votes for Pearson’s UNEF proposal. |
NOVEMBER 5, 1956 British and French paratroops forces land in Egypt. Pearson works with UN officials to create the UN command for UNEF. |
NOVEMBER 6, 1956 Britain and France fight on in Egypt despite massive condemnation but then decide to ceasefire at midnight. |
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NOVEMBER 7, 1956 Britain and France declare a cease-fire. |
NOVEMBER 15, 1956 The first UN contingents arrive in Egypt. |
NOVEMBER 26, 1956 In the House of Commons, Pearson and St. Laurent are attacked by the Opposition for betraying the Mother Country. |
JUNE 10, 1957 The Liberal lose the election and Pearson is no longer foreign minister. |
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DECEMBER 10 1957 Lester Pearson receives the Nobel Peace prize. |
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