The Suez Crisis was getting out of hand, and Britain and France had had enough. They were determined to get the Suez Canal back under their control, and if that meant bombing Egypt, so be it. The two European powers launched a military offensive against Egypt, dropping bombs on Egyptian cities and forcing the country's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to close the canal. It was a bold move, but not everyone was on board - the United States, for one, was strongly opposed to the invasion, and the USSR was threatening to intervene on Egypt's behalf. The crisis would go on to have far-reaching consequences, exposing the limits of European power and paving the way for a new era of American dominance.