单项选择题

When the Western European nations rose to power in the 15th and 16th centuries, their aim was to find a trade route to the East.
Competition for the priceless Eastern trade was intense, and France, with ports on the Medi-terranean, was a special rival of England. During the 17th and 18th centuries she considered the possibility of piercing the Isthmus of Suez for a shortcut waterway to the East. With Napoleon when he occupied Egypt went a noted French engineer, to study the problem.
But it was not until 1859 that a Frenchman, Ferdinand de Lesseps, who had long been fasci-nated by the idea of a canal, turned the first spadeful of earth to start the excavations.
De Lesseps, by virtue of his diplomacy and charm, had found favor with the Egyptian vice-roy. Over bitter opposition from the British, who saw communication with their Indian empire threatened, he had won concessions from the Egyptians and Turks, making possible for the work to go forward.
Although de Lesseps had hoped to have the enterprise financed by all the great western pow-ers, most of the capital was provided by France and Egypt. Finally de Lesseps" dream was real-ized, and in the summer of 1869 the waters of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean were united. The two major rivals for Eastern trade were ______.