Anthony Eden

Anthony Eden (Robert Anthony Eden) was a British Conservative politician. He occupied the position of Foreign Secretary three times in 1935-1938, 1940 - 1945, 1951 - 1955, and was the Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.

Anthony was born on 12 June 1897 in County Durham. He got his education at Eton like his father and grandfather. During the First World War Anthony Eden served on the Western Front and received the Military Cross at the Battle of Somme in 1916. After the war Eden thought about staying in the army, but finally decided to continue his education at Oxford. He graduated with the degree in Asian languages. His language knowledge was really helpful in his future career (he was fluent in French, German, Russian, Persian and Arabic). 

In 1923 Eden was elected as a Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington. In the government formed by Ramsay MacDonald, Eden got a position of the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs (1931-1934).  In 1935 Eden was appointed as Foreign Secretary by Stanley Baldwin. However he did not hold his post for a long time. Eden did not support Neville Chamberlain's way of dealing with fascism. Consequently in sign of protest he resigned in February 1938.

At the beginning of the Second World War Eden returned to Chamberlain's government as Dominions Secretary. In May 1940, when Churchill got the Prime Minister's post, Eden was appointed at first as Secretary of State for War and then he was reappointed as Foreign Secretary. Churchill treated Anthony Eden like his close confidant and lieutenant. At the same time his full power of Secretary of Foreign Affairs was restricted, because Churchill himself curried out the most important treaties with Roosevelt and Stalin. After the war the Labor Party won the general elections. Anthony Eden received the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition. In 1951 the Conservatives came back to the House of Commons and Eden became Foreign Secretary for the third time.

In April 1955, Anthony Eden replaced Winston Churchill from the Prime Minister's position. His popularity among the public was tremendous. In May 1955 the Conservative Party won general elections and increased its majority more than three times.Because of his inadequacies as Prime Minister, in less than a year Eden's rating fell from 70 to 40 percent. As the Prime Minister Eden was not equally competent in all areas of his political activity. For instance, he did not have enough experience in domestic and economic policy. Taking into account the lack of knowledge in those fields, Eden left them to his deputy Rab Butler. In his turn he was mostly in charge of foreign affairs. Eden tried to reduce international tension by inviting the Soviet leaders Khrushchev and Bulganin to Great Britain. Under Eden's leadership Great Britain did not join the Messina Talks in 1955, and lost the chance to make the first step to the economic integration with Western Europe. But the real downfall of Eden's career began with Suez Crisis in 1956. The Egyptian nationalist colonel Abdul Wasser nationalized the British and French-owned Suez Canal. Britain and France were afraid that nationalization of the canal could lead to future oil-boycott  on Western Europe. In order to protect their position in Egypt Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt. On the 29-th of October Israel Army together with British and French aerial bombardment entered the Egyptian territory.  However under the pressure of the United Nations, the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth and the threat of Sanctions from the United States, the occupants were forced to leave.  Nevertheless the diplomatic relations with Egypt were destroyed. The purveyances of oil to Europe were reduced by Arab Nations, which resulted to oil rationing. 

As a result in 1957 Eden resigned because of health condition and loss of the public confidence after the Suez fiasco. After the retirement he lived with his second wife Clarissa Spencer-Churchill, wrote and published his personal and political memoirs. Anthony Eden died in 14 January 1977.

Sources

Hennessy, Peter.The Prime Minister: The Office and its Holders Since 1945. London, Allen Lane, 2000. 207-247

BBC History Website: Historic Figures. http:/www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/eden_anthony.shtml. Accessed: 30.05.2012

The Official Site of the British Prime Minister's Office: Past Prime Ministers http:/www.number10.gov.uk/past-prime-ministers/sir-anthony-eden/ Accessed: 30.05.2012 Link title