Robert Anthony Eden Biography

Eden joins the King's Royal Rifle Corps during the First World War

Serves on the Western Front during the Somme campaign

Awarded the Military Cross

Receives the Military Cross for wartime service

Serves as a young brigade major before the end of the war

Stands for Parliament in Warwick and Leamington during the general election

Elected Member of Parliament for Warwick & Leamington

Makes a speech at Stoke-on-Trent in favour of the rearmament of Great Britain

Makes a speech at the Council of the League of Nations in favour of Russian membership

Makes early parliamentary interventions as a young Conservative MP

Appointed PPS to Austen Chamberlain

Retains his seat as the Conservatives move into opposition after the election

Appointed Under Secretary at the Foreign Office

Builds his reputation through League of Nations and disarmament diplomacy

Approves of Russia's membership of the League of Nations

Appointed Lord Privy Seal

The French refuse to negotiate & allow any increase in German arms. Attempts a 4 power convention for a rearmament settlement with the Germans

Supports League of Nations efforts to restrict arms shipments to Bolivia and Paraguay during the Chaco War.

Final day of the conference but the French and German positions are irreconcilable

Is promoted to Lord Privy Seal and minister responsible for League of Nations affairs

Appointed Minister of the League of Nations

Speaks up in favour of British rearmament at a speech made in Stoke-on-Trent

Appointed Trustee of the National Gallery

Rallies the Assembly of the League of Nations against Italy if Abyssinia is invaded

Meets Hitler to discuss the terms of the London Communique agreed with France

Meets Hitler to discuss the terms of the London Communique agreed with France

Appointed Minister without Portfolio for the League of Nations

Presses for League resistance to Italian aggression.

Presses for League action as Italy prepares aggression against Abyssinia

Supports League collective security during the Abyssinia crisis.

Britain supports the League of Nations sanctions against Italy for invading Abyssinia

Britain supports the League of Nations sanctions against Italy for invading Abyssinia

Gains Government support for an international peacekeeping force in the Saarland

Laval accepts Edens offer of a British led peacekeeping force in the Saarland

Signs the treaty allowing British forces to remain in the Suez Canal Zone for imperial defence.

Appointed Foreign Minister, 2nd term

Makes a "gentlemen's agreement" with Ciano about the Mediterranean balance of power

Calls a Council of Ministers after Italian submarines attack oil tankers

Italy & Germany refuse to attend the conference, Eden promises to keep them informed

Mediterranean Powers discuss protection of shipping during the Spanish Civil War

The Eastern countries will patrol their own shores. 9 powers agree Britain & France will patrol Mediterranean trade with 60 destroyers

The Nyon powers sign decisions agreed at the conference, without Mussolini. Proposes submarine patrols to protect neutral vessels off Spain, France & Spain agree

Proposes submarine patrols to protect neutral vessels off Spain, France & Spain agree

Protests to Chamberlain about Halifax's visit to Germany

Supports a "general settlement" with Germany including a disarmament & a Western pact

Supports a "general settlement" with Germany including a disarmament & a Western pact

Becomes a prominent Conservative critic of appeasement after leaving the Foreign Office

Eden offers Chamberlain his resignation, Chamberlain agrees to "sleep on the matter"

Resigns over Chamberlains relations with Italy but generally critical of appeasement

Resigns from Chamberlain's government over policy toward Mussolini and appeasement

Abstains in the Commons on the Munich Agreement vote

Abstains in the Commons on the Munich Agreement vote

Eden abstained in the Commons division rather than endorse the Munich settlement.

Appointed Dominions Secretary

Returns to government as Dominions Secretary at the outbreak of the Second World War

Appointed Foreign Minister, 3rd term

Appointed Secretary for War, May-December

Appointed Secretary for War, May-December

Churchill appoints Eden Secretary of State for War in the new coalition government

Broadcasts the appeal for volunteers to form the Local Defence Volunteers

Calls for volunteers to form the LDV, within 24 hours 250,000 enrol

Works in Cabinet during the Dunkirk evacuation crisis

Agrees that the BEF should evacuate after deciding "no further proportionate damage could be inflicted on the enemy"

The Local Defence Volunteers are renamed the Home Guard, risen to 1,250,000

Renames the Local Defence Volunteers as the Home Guard

Returns to the Foreign Office as Churchill's Foreign Secretary

Tries to get Turkish alliance with a Balkan bloc, Russia disapproves & Eden withdraws

Tries to get Turkish alliance with a Balkan bloc, Russia disapproves & Eden withdraws

Draws up a list of 33 top German war criminals

Leaves office after Labour's general election victory

Acts as a senior Conservative spokesman on foreign affairs in opposition

Supports a firm anti-Communist foreign policy as the Cold War begins

Engages in Conservative debates over postwar European cooperation and security

Supports the creation of NATO as a cornerstone of Western security policy

Helps the Conservatives recover ground in the 1950 general election

Attends a NATO meeting & says that Britain cannot join the European Defence Community

Attends a NATO meeting & says that Britain cannot join the European Defence Community

Attends a NATO meeting & says that Britain cannot join the European Defence Community

Returns to the Foreign Office after Churchill's Conservatives win the election

Appointed Foreign Minister

Anti-British riots follow after British forces seize the police HQ at Ismailia

Anti-British riots follow after British forces seize the police HQ at Ismailia

Anti-British riots follow British forces seize the police HQ at Ismailia

The Shepheard Hotel is burnt down killing 17 people during anti-British demonstrations

The Shepheard Hotel is burnt down killing 17 people during anti-British demonstrations

Gradually resumes foreign policy work after serious illness

Serves with Molotov as joint Chairman of the Geneva Conference

The West forward the "Eden Plan" for demilitarization of East Germany & free elections

The West forward the "Eden Plan" for demilitarization of East Germany & free elections

The West forward the "Eden Plan" for demilitarization of East Germany & free elections. The East rejects the "Eden Plan"

The Conservatives win an overall majority of 59. The Conservatives win 49.7% of votes cast & 345 seats to Labour's 277

The West forward the "Eden Plan" for demilitarization of East Germany & free elections

Appointed Party Leader of the Conservative Party

Succeeds Churchill as Prime Minister

Appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1st term

Calls a general election, the 1st in which television is extensively used

Wins the general election and increases the Conservative majority

Wins the general election and increases the Conservative majority

General election outcome recorded for Robert Anthony Eden: Wins the general election and increases the Conservative majority

Government context for this general election: Wins the general election and increases the Conservative majority

Attends the Geneva Summit conference

The Allies agree Israel should invade & Britain & France would intervene & instruct the Israeli & Egyptian armies to withdraw 10 miles either side of the canal. The Canal owners, Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez, held a secret meeting between Israel, France & Britain at Sevres, outside Paris

Calls for Israel to invade Sinai

Issues an ultimatum to Egypt & Israel to withdraw forces from the Suez Canal

Eden compares Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal with the nationalism of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler 20 yrs earlier

The Canal owners, Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez, held a secret meeting between Israel, France & Britain at Sevres, outside Paris

This record states: Eden compares Nasser's nationalization of the Suez Canal with the nationalism of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler 20 yrs earlier.

This record states: The Allies agree Israel should invade & Britain & France would intervene & instruct the Israeli & Egyptian armies to withdraw 10 miles either side of the canal.

This record states: The Canal owners, Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez, held a secret meeting between Israel, France & Britain at Sevres, outside Paris.

This record states: The US will support Britain if it accepts the United Nations solution, the pound collapses.

Issues an ultimatum to Egypt & Israel to withdraw forces from the Suez Canal

Nasser announces the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company, which operated the vital trade route to the east, in which British banks & business held a 44% stake

the first nuclear power generated in Britain is produced in Calder Hall

the first nuclear power generated in Britain is produced in Calder Hall

Submits the Suez dispute to the United Nations Security Council

Opens Calder Hall, promoted as the world's first full-scale nuclear power station

Secretly agrees with France and Israel on the sequence leading to intervention in Egypt

Issues an Anglo-French ultimatum to Egypt and Israel after Israel's invasion of Sinai

Israel accepts the Anglo-French ultimatum to withdraw 10 miles from Suez. Egypt turns down the Anglo-French ultimatum for a cease-fire

The UK & France bomb Egypt to force the reopening of the canal with Operation Musketeer, Egypt blocks the canal with scuttled ships in the canal & closes it until 1957

The UK & France bomb Egypt to force the reopening of the canal with Operation Musketeer, Egypt blocks the canal with scuttled ships in the canal & closes it until 1957

Authorises the bombing phase of Operation Musketeer against Egyptian targets

The UK & France bomb Egypt to force the reopening of the canal with Operation Musketeer, Egypt blocks the canal with scuttled ships in the canal & closes it until 1957. British & French planes bomb Egyptian airfields

The Allies agree Israel should invade & Britain & France would intervene & instruct the Israeli & Egyptian armies to withdraw 10 miles either side of the canal

The US will support Britain if it accepts the United Nations solution, the pound collapses

The Allies agree Israel should invade & Britain & France would intervene & instruct the Israeli & Egyptian armies to withdraw 10 miles either side of the canal

The US will support Britain if it accepts the United Nations solution, the pound collapses. The Allies agree Israel should invade & Britain & France would intervene & instruct the Israeli & Egyptian armies to withdraw 10 miles either side of the canal

Gaza falls to the British forces

Makes a TV broadcast to the nation appealing for national unity

Anti-Suez demonstrators advance from Trafalgar Square toward Downing Street.

The United Nations adopts a Canadian resolution to send a United Nations force, Britain & France abstain. Makes a TV broadcast to the nation appealing for national unity

Faces mass protest in London against the invasion of Egypt.

The 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment drops at El Gamil Airfield, establishing a secure base for incoming support aircraft & reinforcement

Paratroops land to recover the canal Eden says is vital if Britain is not to starve

The 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment drops at El Gamil Airfield, establishing a secure base for incoming support aircraft & reinforcement

Accepts a ceasefire under United States, United Nations and Soviet pressure

Eden confronts severe pressure on sterling as American financial support is withheld during the Suez Crisis.

Eden announces in the Commons United Nations forces will be used & military operations cease. Cease-fire commences after the Russian threat of rockets. Britain says she will evacuate her troops from Suez on the arrival of the United Nations forces

Survives parliamentary attacks after the Suez ceasefire

No confidence debate in the Commons

The United Nations forces arrive in Suez

Leaves for Jamaica as his health and authority deteriorate after Suez

Eden goes to Jamaica for the sake of his health

Denies prior collusion in the Suez invasion during Commons questioning

Returns from Jamaica

Makes a speech in the Commons denying all knowledge of the invasion of Suez

The last Anglo-French forces leave Port Said

The United Nations fleet begins clearing the canal of scuttled ships

Eden informs Elizabeth II he is resigning

Eden resigns as Prime Minister

Resigns as Prime Minister and is succeeded by Harold Macmillan

Leaves the House of Commons after his resignation as Prime Minister

Remains a central figure in debate over Britain's postwar world role after Suez

Watches Macmillan consolidate Conservative leadership after the Suez crisis

Publishes Full Circle, his account of later foreign policy and the Suez years

Publication of "Full Circle"

Is created Earl of Avon and enters the House of Lords

Publishes Facing the Dictators, covering his prewar diplomacy

Publication of "Facing The Dictators"

Publishes The Reckoning as part of his memoir sequence

Publication of "The Reckoning"

Continues defending his political record in memoirs and public commentary

Speaks occasionally from the Lords as a former Conservative prime minister

Continues to be associated publicly with the controversy over the Suez Crisis

Death of Robert Anthony Eden

Dies at Alvediston in Wiltshire