Suez Crisis at 70 reveals the humiliation France tried to keep hidden

Seventy years after France, the United Kingdom and Israel invaded Egypt following its nationalisation of the Suez Canal, the military operation is remembered as a diplomatic disaster. Friday marks the anniversary of a ceasefire that halted the fighting under international pressure, despite the invading forces’ success on the battlefield. Archive footage excluded from French cinema newsreels shows the humiliation that followed, as Europe’s colonial powers faced the limits of their influence.