Anthony Eden: British Prime Minister
His short premiership (1955–7) came to an ignominious end
Anthony Eden is generally regarded as one of the least successful British prime ministers of the 20th century, whose poor judgment over the Suez Crisis led to a considerable lessening of British influence in Middle East affairs and caused a deep rift with the United States that took some time to repair.
Early years
Robert Anthony Eden was born on 12th June 1897 at Windlestone Hall in County Durham. He was the third son and fourth child of Sir William Eden, a baronet who owned large tracts of land in County Durham and Northumberland.
After private tuition and preparatory school, Anthony went to Eton College in 1911 and so was at school when World War I broke out in 1914. On leaving school he enlisted with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in September 1915 and was awarded the Military Cross in 1917 for rescuing a wounded man when under fire. He was promoted to brigade major in May 1918 when still aged only 20.
After the war he entered Christ Church College, Oxford, to read oriental languages, particularly Persian and Arabic, and was awarded a first-class honours degree in 1922. He had a flair for languages, also being fluent in French and German. This doubtless had a strong bearing on his…