Eden, Sir Robert Anthony, Earl of Avon

(1897–1977)

   British statesman. As foreign secretary in the government of Neville Chamberlain, Eden came into conflict with the prime minister over his policy of appeasing Hitler, and resigned. During World War II he was reappointed foreign secretary by Winston CHURCHILL. Realizing Britain’s dependence on oil, he helped create the Arab League in 1945, hoping that it would be a stable pro-British organization. He succeeded Churchill as prime minister in 1955, the year in which Britain joined the Baghdad Pact, an anti-Soviet alliance of Middle Eastern states. In November of that year Eden made his ‘Guildhall speech’ suggesting a compromise in which Israel would give up some territory, especially in the Negev. Soon afterwards he became violently hostile to NASSER, chiefly due to the latter’s nationalization of the Suez Canal in the summer of 1956. He launched the Anglo-French Suez expedition in October of that year, simultaneously with Israel’s successful Sinai Campaign. The collapse of the venture wrecked his political career and affected his health, and he retired from public life.