Lester B. Pearson was the secretary of external affairs of Canada and he didn’t have anything great like no peace prize or having anything named after him or he never thought of becoming prime minister. But he did after he made a defining moment in Canadian history because the first problem started with the Suez Canal were the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul Nasser seized it from Britain and France and the Israeli wanted it back from the Egyptian and Israel forces with the help of British and France attacked the Egyptians to own it back.
Then, during the Suez Canal crisis he created the UNEF (United Nations Emergency Forces) on November 4, in 1956, which would create peace between Israel and Egypt. Lastly he got the noble peace prize from keeping Israel and Egypt safe and from another war starting; he also got the noble peace prize in 1957 from resolving the Suez Canal crisis. Firstly, is the Suez Canal where the Egyptian leader Nasser took control of the Suez Canal in 1956 and this was a critical shipping dock.
It was a French company that financed the construction and it was a great canal to bring oil from the south to the north like Egypt and Syria etc. The Egyptians took the Suez Canal from France and Britain. Britain and France together with the Israel forces launched an attack on Egypt. Then to keep the Suez Canal safe and own it Nasser went to the Soviet leader Khrushchev, who threatened to launch a nuclear attack on Britain and France if they didn’t withdraw.
With Britain and France, the U. S. lso joined too and that’s where the Soviet Union joined the Egyptians so they can get a chance to attack the U. S. There was a war about to break out over the Suez Canal but, Lester b. Pearson had to do something and he and his colleagues met in Paris for a meeting to make a peacekeeping force called UNEF which would go to Egypt and prevent the war from starting (nuclear warfare). Secondly, Lester b. Pearson helped with the Suez Canal crisis by making the peacekeepers or United Nations Emergency Force.
The UNEF was created in 1956, November 4. The UNEF I was established to secure and supervise the cessation of hostilities including the withdrawal of the armed forces of France, Israel and the United Kingdom from Egyptian territory and, after the withdrawal, to serve as a buffer between Egyptian and Israeli forces” (Common Menu Bar Links). UNEF II was established to look over the conflict of Egypt and Israel and that the countries were following the rules of the agreement on 18 January 1974 and 4 September 1975 to redeploy Egyptian and Israeli forces and the buffers zones according to the agreements.
The UNEF would stay in Egypt until Nasser would expels the Suez canal in 1967 on eve the 6th day war with Israel. After the UNEF worked Lester b. Pearson would go on and get the noble peace prize. Lastly, after Pearson took care of the Suez Canal Crisis with his UNEF or peacekeeping for he was awarded the noble peace prize for preventing nuclear warfare. The ceremony was held in Norway in December 1957. This news first came about in Quebec on October 13th, 1957 when it was announced that Lester b Pearson was getting a noble peace prize.
The peace prize was given after the day when the UNEF stopped the crisis when the British and French soldiers withdrew. When Pearson got the noble peace prize he said “moral force can be bulwark against aggression and that it is possible to make aggressive forces yield without resorting to power”. (Lester Pearson-Noble) Pearson meant that you don’t have to attack or use violence against a country or person to make peace with them and don’t start war. Because of the peace prize he went on and became prime minister of Canada. “Of all our dreams today there is none more important – or so hard to realize – than that of peace n the world,” Pearson said. “May we never lose our faith in it or our resolve to do everything that can be done to convert it one day into reality. “(Ctvnews)
This was a part of his speech for his noble peace prize. After getting the noble peace prize it was stored in the parliament building as a sign of respect for Pearson. In conclusion, Lester B. Pearson helped save countries and prevents a war from happening. He also saved millions of lives because soviets were ready to bomb the countries against them but Pearson had made a peacekeeping group called the UNEF that would help Egypt and Israel from destroying each other.
Lester also made people realize that betraying the motherland is okay if you are going to save lives and keep peace. He also gave the Suez crisis back to the Egyptian which till to this day they still own the Suez Canal and named it the new Suez Canal. It is a new water project made for the canal. And finally Lester B. Pearson got the noble peace prize which gave him a huge honor from the chairmen of external affairs to becoming the prime minister of Canada. With the peace prize and becoming P. M he got hospitals, schools and major company’s name after him for his defining moment to Canadian history.
