Cold War · 1956

1956: Suez and Hungary

In the same weeks of 1956, Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt over the Suez Canal, and Soviet tanks crushed a revolution in Hungary. Students follow both crises on the map and discover what they revealed about the real superpowers.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1960
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In the same weeks of 1956, Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt over the Suez Canal, and Soviet tanks crushed a revolution in Hungary. Students follow both crises on the map and discover what they revealed about the real superpowers.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain why Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and why Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt.
  • Describe the Hungarian uprising of 1956 and why the Soviet Union crushed it.
  • Explain what 1956 showed about the power of the United States and the Soviet Union.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1960

The canal

Open the map in 1960 and zoom in on the Suez Canal from Port Said to Suez. Which two seas does it join? Ask the atlas: "Why was the Suez Canal so important in 1956?"

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1960

Budapest

Travel to Budapest on the Danube. Then find the border with Austria to the west. Why did so many Hungarians head that way in November 1956?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1960

Two crises at once

Zoom out until you see both Egypt and Hungary. Both crises peaked in the first week of November 1956. Ask the atlas: "How did the Suez crisis affect the West's response to Hungary?"

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did Nasser take over the Suez Canal Company, and why did Britain and France see that as a threat?
  2. The United States opposed its own allies over Suez. Why?
  3. In Hungary students and workers demanded free elections and Soviet troops out. What did they hope the West would do?
  4. About 200,000 Hungarians fled abroad, most through Austria. How did other countries respond to these refugees?
  5. Some historians say 1956 showed that Britain and France were no longer world powers. Do you agree?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Ramesses II, the pharaoh who made Egypt a great power. Then compare: in 1956 Nasser wanted Egypt to be strong and free of British and French control. What risks did he take, and how did they pay off?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.