sentence-transformers/squad huggingface dataset:
Passage: Nasser was informed of the British–American withdrawal via a news statement while aboard a plane returning to Cairo from Belgrade, and took great offense. Although ideas for nationalizing the Suez Canal were in the offing after the UK agreed to withdraw its military from Egypt in 1954 (the last British troops left on 13 June 1956), journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal asserts that Nasser made the final decision to nationalize the waterway between 19 and 20 July. Nasser himself would later state that he decided on 23 July, after studying the issue and deliberating with some of his advisers from the dissolved RCC, namely Boghdadi and technical specialist Mahmoud Younis, beginning on 21 July. The rest of the RCC's former members were informed of the decision on 24 July, while the bulk of the cabinet was unaware of the nationalization scheme until hours before Nasser publicly announced it. According to Ramadan, Nasser's decision to nationalize the canal was a solitary decision, taken without consultation.

Question: How did Nasser react to the news the the US and UK had blocked construction of th Aswan Dam?

Question: What piece of infrastructure did Nasser propose to nationalize?

Question: What was Nasser's cabinet's knowledge of the nationalization scheme before Nasser announced it?

Question: When did the last British troops leave Egypt?
Passage: On 26 July 1956, Nasser gave a speech in Alexandria announcing the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company as a means to fund the Aswan Dam project in light of the British–American withdrawal. In the speech, he denounced British imperialism in Egypt and British control over the canal company's profits, and upheld that the Egyptian people had a right to sovereignty over the waterway, especially since "120,000 Egyptians had died (sic)" building it. The motion was technically in breach of the international agreement he had signed with the UK on 19 October 1954, although he ensured that all existing stockholders would be paid off.

Question: What did Nasser propose to do with funds from the nationalized Suez Canal?

Question: How many Egyptians did Nasser claim died building the Suez canal?

Question: Who did Nasser claim would still be paid despite nationalization of the canal?

Question: What country had signed an agreement with Nasser in 1954?
Passage: The nationalization announcement was greeted very emotionally by the audience and, throughout the Arab world, thousands entered the streets shouting slogans of support. US ambassador Henry A. Byroade stated, "I cannot overemphasize [the] popularity of the Canal Company nationalization within Egypt, even among Nasser's enemies." Egyptian political scientist Mahmoud Hamad wrote that, prior to 1956, Nasser had consolidated control over Egypt's military and civilian bureaucracies, but it was only after the canal's nationalization that he gained near-total popular legitimacy and firmly established himself as the "charismatic leader" and "spokesman for the masses not only in Egypt, but all over the Third World". According to Aburish, this was Nasser's largest pan-Arab triumph at the time and "soon his pictures were to be found in the tents of Yemen, the souks of Marrakesh, and the posh villas of Syria". The official reason given for the nationalization was that funds from the canal would be used for the construction of the dam in Aswan. That same day, Egypt closed the canal to Israeli shipping.

Question: How did the Arab world react to news of the nationalization of the Suez Canal?

Question: What nation's shipping was forbidden from using the Suez Canal?

Question: What US ambassador spoke about the widespread support for Nasser's nationalization of the canal?

Question: Where was Nasser believed to be a spokesman for the poor and oppressed?
Passage: France and the UK, the largest shareholders in the Suez Canal Company, saw its nationalization as yet another hostile measure aimed at them by the Egyptian government. Nasser was aware that the canal's nationalization would instigate an international crisis and believed the prospect of military intervention by the two countries was 80 per cent likely. He believed, however, that the UK would not be able to intervene militarily for at least two months after the announcement, and dismissed Israeli action as "impossible". In early October, the UN Security Council met on the matter of the canal's nationalization and adopted a resolution recognizing Egypt's right to control the canal as long as it continued to allow passage through it for foreign ships. According to Heikal, after this agreement, "Nasser estimated that the danger of invasion had dropped to 10 per cent". Shortly thereafter, however, the UK, France, and Israel made a secret agreement to take over the Suez Canal, occupy the Suez Canal zone, and topple Nasser.

Question: What nations were outraged by the nationalization scheme?

Question: What nation did Nasser judge impossible to become militarially involved?

Question: What entity drew up an agreement that drastically reduced the threat of military action against Egypt?

Question: What did the UK, France and Israel intend to do to Nasser?
Passage: On 29 October 1956, Israeli forces crossed the Sinai Peninsula, overwhelmed Egyptian army posts, and quickly advanced to their objectives. Two days later, British and French planes bombarded Egyptian airfields in the canal zone. Nasser ordered the military's high command to withdraw the Egyptian Army from Sinai to bolster the canal's defenses. Moreover, he feared that if the armored corps was dispatched to confront the Israeli invading force and the British and French subsequently landed in the canal city of Port Said, Egyptian armor in the Sinai would be cut off from the canal and destroyed by the combined tripartite forces. Amer strongly disagreed, insisting that Egyptian tanks meet the Israelis in battle. The two had a heated exchange on 3 November, and Amer conceded. Nasser also ordered blockage of the canal by sinking or otherwise disabling forty-nine ships at its entrance.

Question: In what year did battle over the Suez Canal commence?

Question: What did the British and French air forces bomb?

Question: What city did Nasser want to keep the French and British out of?

Question: Who wanted the Egyptian armored units to fight the Israelis?

Question: What did Nasser do to the canal?
Passage: Despite the commanded withdrawal of Egyptian troops, about 2,000 Egyptian soldiers were killed during engagement with Israeli forces, and some 5,000 Egyptian soldiers were captured by the Israeli Army. Amer and Salah Salem proposed requesting a ceasefire, with Salem further recommending that Nasser surrender himself to British forces. Nasser berated Amer and Salem, and vowed, "Nobody is going to surrender." Nasser assumed military command. Despite the relative ease in which Sinai was occupied, Nasser's prestige at home and among Arabs was undamaged. To counterbalance the Egyptian Army's dismal performance, Nasser authorized the distribution of about 400,000 rifles to civilian volunteers and hundreds of militias were formed throughout Egypt, many led by Nasser's political opponents.

Question: How many Egyptian soldiers died during the fighting?

Question: How many Egyptian soldiers did the Israeli army capture?

Question: To whom did Nasser authorize distribution of small arms?

Question: Who recommended Nasser surrender himself to the British?

Question: What was the consequence to Nassir's admiration among the Arab world for Egypt's military failure?
Passage: It was at Port Said that Nasser saw a confrontation with the invading forces as being the strategic and psychological focal point of Egypt's defense. A third infantry battalion and hundreds of national guardsmen were sent to the city as reinforcements, while two regular companies were dispatched to organize popular resistance. Nasser and Boghdadi traveled to the canal zone to boost the morale of the armed volunteers. According to Boghdadi's memoirs, Nasser described the Egyptian Army as "shattered" as he saw the wreckage of Egyptian military equipment en route. When British and French forces landed in Port Said on 5–6 November, its local militia put up a stiff resistance, resulting in street-to-street fighting. The Egyptian Army commander in the city was preparing to request terms for a ceasefire, but Nasser ordered him to desist. The British-French forces managed to largely secure the city by 7 November. Between 750 and 1,000 Egyptians were killed in the battle for Port Said.

Question: How many Egyptians died in the battle for Port Said?

Question: What did Nasser think was the most importatnt location in the battle for the canal?

Question: In what state was the Egyptian army after fighting the French and UK?

Question: Who was ultimately able to claim victoy in Port Said?
Passage: The U.S. Eisenhower administration condemned the tripartite invasion, and supported UN resolutions demanding withdrawal and a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) to be stationed in Sinai. Nasser commended Eisenhower, stating he played the "greatest and most decisive role" in stopping the "tripartite conspiracy". By the end of December, British and French forces had totally withdrawn from Egyptian territory, while Israel completed its withdrawal in March 1957 and released all Egyptian prisoners of war. As a result of the Suez Crisis, Nasser brought in a set of regulations imposing rigorous requirements for residency and citizenship as well as forced expulsions, mostly affecting British and French nationals and Jews with foreign nationality, as well as some Egyptian Jews.

Question: What country was opposed to the invasion of the canal?

Question: What leader did Nasser applaud?

Question: What military force was brought in to calm the situation?

Question: What did Nasser impose as a result of the conflict?
Passage: By 1957, pan-Arabism was the dominant ideology of the Arab world, and the average Arab citizen considered Nasser his undisputed leader. Historian Adeed Dawisha credited Nasser's status to his "charisma, bolstered by his perceived victory in the Suez Crisis". The Cairo-based Voice of the Arabs radio station spread Nasser's ideas of united Arab action throughout the Arabic-speaking world and historian Eugene Rogan wrote, "Nasser conquered the Arab world by radio." Lebanese sympathizers of Nasser and the Egyptian embassy in Beirut—the press center of the Arab world—bought out Lebanese media outlets to further disseminate Nasser's ideals. Nasser also enjoyed the support of Arab nationalist organizations, both civilian and paramilitary, throughout the region. His followers were numerous and well-funded, but lacked any permanent structure and organization. They called themselves "Nasserites", despite Nasser's objection to the label (he preferred the term "Arab nationalists").

Question: What radio station furthered Nasser's agenda?

Question: What were Arab admirers of Nasser called?

Question: What did the admirers of Nasser lack?

Question: Who said that Nasser conquered the Arab workd with radio?

Question: What would have Nasser prefferred his admirers call themselves?
Passage: In January 1957, the US adopted the Eisenhower Doctrine and pledged to prevent the spread of communism and its perceived agents in the Middle East. Although Nasser was an opponent of communism in the region, his promotion of pan-Arabism was viewed as a threat by pro-Western states in the region. Eisenhower tried to isolate Nasser and reduce his regional influence by attempting to transform King Saud into a counterweight. Also in January, the elected Jordanian prime minister and Nasser supporter Sulayman al-Nabulsi brought Jordan into a military pact with Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia.

Question: What was the policy meant to contain communism in the middle east?

Question: When was the Eisenhower Doctrine adopted?

Question: What leader did the US prop up to foil Nasser?

Question: What country joined an alliance with Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia?

Question: Although not communist, what about Nasser concerned pro-western groups?
Passage: Relations between Nasser and King Hussein deteriorated in April when Hussein implicated Nasser in two coup attempts against him—although Nasser's involvement was never established—and dissolved al-Nabulsi's cabinet. Nasser subsequently slammed Hussein on Cairo radio as being "a tool of the imperialists". Relations with King Saud also became antagonistic as the latter began to fear that Nasser's increasing popularity in Saudi Arabia was a genuine threat to the royal family's survival. Despite opposition from the governments of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Lebanon, Nasser maintained his prestige among their citizens and those of other Arab countries.

Question: What leader accused Nasser of trying to overthrow him?

Question: What did Nasser call King Hussein?

Question: What non-Egyptian leader was concerned about Nasser's popularity outside of Egypt?

Question: Despite conflicts with Arab governments, who continued to support Nasser?
Passage: By the end of 1957, Nasser nationalized all remaining British and French assets in Egypt, including the tobacco, cement, pharmaceutical, and phosphate industries. When efforts to offer tax incentives and attract outside investments yielded no tangible results, he nationalized more companies and made them a part of his economic development organization. He stopped short of total government control: two-thirds of the economy was still in private hands. This effort achieved a measure of success, with increased agricultural production and investment in industrialization. Nasser initiated the Helwan steelworks, which subsequently became Egypt's largest enterprise, providing the country with product and tens of thousands of jobs. Nasser also decided to cooperate with the Soviet Union in the construction of the Aswan Dam to replace the withdrawal of US funds.

Question: What nations' assets did Nasser nationalize in 1957?

Question: How much of the economy was not controlled by Nassir's government?

Question: What entity did Nasser spearhead that was a boon for Egypt's economy?

Question: What nation did Nasser join economic forces with?

Question: What project did Nasser cooperate with the Soviet Union on?
Passage: As political instability grew in Syria, delegations from the country were sent to Nasser demanding immediate unification with Egypt. Nasser initially turned down the request, citing the two countries' incompatible political and economic systems, lack of contiguity, the Syrian military's record of intervention in politics, and the deep factionalism among Syria's political forces. However, in January 1958, a second Syrian delegation managed to convince Nasser of an impending communist takeover and a consequent slide to civil strife. Nasser subsequently opted for union, albeit on the condition that it would be a total political merger with him as its president, to which the delegates and Syrian president Shukri al-Quwatli agreed. On 1 February, the United Arab Republic (UAR) was proclaimed and, according to Dawisha, the Arab world reacted in "stunned amazement, which quickly turned into uncontrolled euphoria." Nasser ordered a crackdown against Syrian communists, dismissing many of them from their governmental posts.

Question: What country wanted to join with Egypt?

Question: What Syrian group did Nasser crack down on?

Question: What was the Egyptian-Syrian alliance called?

Question: What year was the UAR formed?
Passage: While Nasser was in Syria, King Saud planned to have him assassinated on his return flight to Cairo. On 4 March, Nasser addressed the masses in Damascus and waved before them the Saudi check given to Syrian security chief and Nasser supporter Abdel Hamid Sarraj to shoot down Nasser's plane. As a consequence of Saud's scheme, he was forced by senior members of the Saudi royal family to informally cede most of his powers to his brother, King Faisal, a major opponent of Nasser and advocate for pan-Islamic unity over pan-Arabism.

Question: Who tried to assassinate Nasser?

Question: How was the assassination supposed to have been carried out?

Question: Who assumed power in Saudi Arabia after the failed assassination attempt?

Question: What was King Faisal's position toward Nasser?
Passage: A day after announcing the attempt on his life, Nasser established a new provisional constitution proclaiming a 600-member National Assembly (400 from Egypt and 200 from Syria) and the dissolution of all political parties. Nasser gave each of the provinces two vice-presidents: Boghdadi and Amer in Egypt, and Sabri al-Asali and Akram al-Hawrani in Syria. Nasser then left for Moscow to meet with Nikita Khrushchev. At the meeting, Khrushchev pressed Nasser to lift the ban on the Communist Party, but Nasser refused, stating it was an internal matter which was not a subject of discussion with outside powers. Khrushchev was reportedly taken aback and denied he had meant to interfere in the UAR's affairs. The matter was settled as both leaders sought to prevent a rift between their two countries.

Question: How many members were in the National Assembly?

Question: How many members of the National Assembly were from Egypt?

Question: What Soviet leader did Nasser spar with?

Question: What did Khrushchev want Nasser to remove the ban on?

Question: Who were the two National Assembly vice-presidents in Egypt?
Passage: In Lebanon, clashes between pro-Nasser factions and supporters of staunch Nasser opponent, then-President Camille Chamoun, culminated in civil strife by May. The former sought to unite with the UAR, while the latter sought Lebanon's continued independence. Nasser delegated oversight of the issue to Sarraj, who provided limited aid to Nasser's Lebanese supporters through money, light arms, and officer training—short of the large-scale support that Chamoun alleged. Nasser did not covet Lebanon, seeing it as a "special case", but sought to prevent Chamoun from a second presidential term.

Question: Who was Nasser's opponent in Lebanon?

Question: What did Lebanese pro-Nasser groups want?

Question: What did Nasser want to deny Chamoun?

Question: Who was in charge of dealing with the Lebanon situation?

Question: What degree of support did pro-Nasser factions in Lebanon receive?
Passage: On 14 July, Iraqi army officers Abdel Karim Qasim and Abdel Salam Aref overthrew the Iraqi monarchy and, the next day, Iraqi prime minister and Nasser's chief Arab antagonist, Nuri al-Said, was killed. Nasser recognized the new government and stated that "any attack on Iraq was tantamount to an attack on the UAR". On 15 July, US marines landed in Lebanon, and British special forces in Jordan, upon the request of those countries' governments to prevent them from falling to pro-Nasser forces. Nasser felt that the revolution in Iraq left the road for pan-Arab unity unblocked. On 19 July, for the first time, he declared that he was opting for full Arab union, although he had no plan to merge Iraq with the UAR. While most members of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) favored Iraqi-UAR unity, Qasim sought to keep Iraq independent and resented Nasser's large popular base in the country.

Question: What two men overthrew the Iraqi monarchy?

Question: What anti-Nasser Iraqi was assassinated?

Question: Where did US Marines land?

Question: Why did Jordan and Lebanon seek outside aid?

Question: How did Nasser see the prospects for Arab unity?
Passage: In the fall of 1958, Nasser formed a tripartite committee consisting of Zakaria Mohieddin, al-Hawrani, and Salah Bitar to oversee developments in Syria. By moving the latter two, who were Ba'athists, to Cairo, he neutralized important political figures who had their own ideas about how Syria should be run. He put Syria under Sarraj, who effectively reduced the province to a police state by imprisoning and exiling landholders who objected to the introduction of Egyptian agricultural reform in Syria, as well as communists. Following the Lebanese election of Fuad Chehab in September 1958, relations between Lebanon and the UAR improved considerably. On 25 March 1959, Chehab and Nasser met at the Lebanese–Syrian border and compromised on an end to the Lebanese crisis.

Question: Who did Nasser appoint to run Syria?

Question: What was Syria like under Sarraj?

Question: Who did Lebanon elect in 1958?

Question: How did relations between Lebanon and the UAR change with Chehab's election?

Question: In what year did Nasser and Chehab agree to end the Lebanon crisis?
Passage: Relations between Nasser and Qasim grew increasingly bitter on 9 March, after Qasim's forces suppressed a rebellion in Mosul, launched a day earlier by a pro-Nasser Iraqi RCC officer backed by UAR authorities. Nasser had considered dispatching troops to aid his Iraqi sympathizers, but decided against it. He clamped down on Egyptian communist activity due to the key backing Iraqi communists provided Qasim. Several influential communists were arrested, including Nasser's old comrade Khaled Mohieddin, who had been allowed to re-enter Egypt in 1956.

Question: What Iraqi leader clashed with Nasser?

Question: What did Quasm do to anger Nasser?

Question: What did Nasser suppress as a result?

Question: What old ally did Nasser turn against?
Passage: Opposition to the union mounted among some of Syria's key elements, namely the socioeconomic, political, and military elites. In response to Syria's worsening economy, which Nasser attributed to its control by the bourgeoisie, in July 1961, Nasser decreed socialist measures that nationalized wide-ranging sectors of the Syrian economy. He also dismissed Sarraj in September to curb the growing political crisis. Aburish states that Nasser was not fully capable of addressing Syrian problems because they were "foreign to him". In Egypt, the economic situation was more positive, with a GNP growth of 4.5 percent and a rapid growth of industry. In 1960, Nasser nationalized the Egyptian press, which had already been cooperating with his government, in order to steer coverage towards the country's socioeconomic issues and galvanize public support for his socialist measures.

Question: What Syrian social group opposed the UAR?

Question: How was Syria's economy fairing under the arrangement?

Question: How did Nasser respond to economic problems in Syria?

Question: What did Nasser do to Sarraj to try and help the political situation?

Question: What industry did Nassir nationalize in 1960?
Passage: On 28 September 1961, secessionist army units launched a coup in Damascus, declaring Syria's secession from the UAR. In response, pro-union army units in northern Syria revolted and pro-Nasser protests occurred in major Syrian cities. Nasser sent Egyptian special forces to Latakia to bolster his allies, but withdrew them two days later, citing a refusal to allow inter-Arab fighting. Addressing the UAR's breakup on 5 October, Nasser accepted personal responsibility and declared that Egypt would recognize an elected Syrian government. He privately blamed interference by hostile Arab governments. According to Heikal, Nasser suffered something resembling a nervous breakdown after the dissolution of the union; he began to smoke more heavily and his health began to deteriorate.

Question: What Syrian anti-Nasser group lauched a coup?

Question: In what year did Syria leave the UAR?

Question: Where did Nasser send Egyptian special forces?

Question: What happened to Nasser after the breakup of the UAR?

Question: How was Nasser's health after the breakup of the UAR?