the dam was a
prestige project, demonstrating the nation’s greatness. Egyptian singers hailed
the Sadd el-Ali as ‘the fourth pyramid’ and Nasser cherished being likened
to his predecessors, the Pharaohs. Such mega-dams were in full accordance
with the Zeitgeist of superlatives in the middle of the twentieth century.
Nasser prepared a detailed plan based on the studies of Western, especially
German, experts, with the help of German companies. The World Bank sig-
nalled readiness to finance the project with US$1,610 million (Shibl 1971: 81),
but later succumbed to pressure from the USA and withdrew the promises
given. In order to be able to carry out the project in spite of this setback,
Nasser was forced to nationalize the Suez Canal in 1956, which brought about
the tripartite attack of Israel, Great Britain and France. The three considered
Nasser’s act as an infringement on their spheres of influence. The conflict,
which came to be known as the Suez Crisis, was terminated after a Soviet
ultimatum and US intervention. Israeli troops had to evacuate Sinai, which
they had occupied in the course of events. When finally the Soviet Union
stepped in as a financer of Egypt’s High Dam project, this led to the long-
standing presence of thousands of Russian experts, especially engineers, in
the country, and made it politically as well as economically totally dependent
on the Soviet Union for about fifteen years. However, President Gamal Abdel
Nasser’s ambitious plan now had a chance of success.