Anthony Eden

The Right Honourable Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC (June 12, 1897– January 14, 1977), British politician, was Foreign Secretary during World War II and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1950s. He is remembered mainly for his role in the disastrous Suez Crisis of 1956. In a 2004 poll of 139 political science academics organised by MORI, Eden was voted the least successful British Prime Minister of the 20th Century.

Foreign Secretary

Eden became Foreign Secretary at a time when Britain was having to adjust its foreign policy to face the rise of the fascist powers. He supported the policy of non-interference in the Spanish Civil War, and supported Neville Chamberlain in his efforts to preserve peace through reasonable concessions to Germany. He did not protest when Britain and France failed to oppose Hitler's reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936. But in February 1938, he resigned because he could not accept Chamberlain's opening of negotiations with Italy. This made him an ally of Winston Churchill, then a rebel backbench Conservative MP and leading critic of appeasement. There was much speculation that Eden would become a rallying point for all the disparate opponents of Chamberlain, but instead he maintained a low profile, avoiding confrontation though he opposed the Munich Agreement. As a result Eden's position declined heavily amongst politicians, though he remained popular in the country at large.

Related Topics:
Spanish Civil War - Neville Chamberlain - Hitler's - Rhineland - 1936 - 1938 - Winston Churchill - Munich Agreement

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In September 1939, on the outbreak of war, Eden returned to Chamberlain's government as Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, but was not in the War Cabinet. As a result he was not considered a candidate for the Premiership when Chamberlain resigned after Germany invaded France in May 1940 and Churchill became Prime Minister. He appointed Eden Secretary of State for War. Later in 1940 he returned to the Foreign Office, and in this role became a member of the executive committee of the Political Warfare Executive in 1941. Although he was one of Churchill's closest confidents, his role in wartime was restricted because Churchill conducted the most important negotiations, with Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, himself, but Eden served loyally as Churchill's lieutenant. Nevertheless he was in charge of handling much of the relations between Britain and de Gaulle during the last years of the war. In 1942 he was given the additional job of Leader of the House of Commons.

Related Topics:
1939 - Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs - War Cabinet - France - 1940 - Secretary of State for War - Political Warfare Executive - 1941 - Franklin D. Roosevelt - Joseph Stalin - De Gaulle - 1942 - Leader of the House of Commons

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After the Labour Party won the 1945 elections, Eden went into opposition as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party. Many felt that Churchill should have retired and allowed Eden to become party leader, but Churchill refused to consider this and Eden was too loyal to press him. He was in any case depressed during this period by the break-up of his first marriage and the death of his eldest son, Simon Eden, in the last days of the war.

Related Topics:
Labour Party - 1945

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In 1951, the Conservatives returned to office and Eden became Foreign Secretary for a third time. Churchill was largely a figurehead in this government and Eden had effective control of British foreign policy for the first time, as the Cold War grew more intense. He dealt effectively with the various crises of the period, although Britain was no longer the world power it had been before the war. In 1950 he and Beatrice Eden were finally divorced and in 1952 he married Churchill's niece, Lady Clarissa Spencer-Churchill (b. 1920) -- a nominal Roman Catholic who was fiercely criticized by Catholic writer Evelyn Waugh for marrying a divorced man -- a marriage much more successful than his first had been. In 1953 Eden underwent a series of operations at Boston's Lahey Clinic to correct a minor gall bladder complaint. Unfortunately Eden's health never fully recovered; this was to undermine his subsequent career. In 1954 he was made a Knight of the Garter.

Related Topics:
1951 - Cold War - 1950 - 1952 - Evelyn Waugh - 1953 - 1954 - Knight of the Garter

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