A British diplomat of war and decolonisation
At the 1945 San Francisco Conference, the foreign ministers of the four sponsoring Allied powers took turns chairing the plenary sessions, with Eden among them.
Anthony Eden was a British Conservative statesman whose First World War service reinforced his commitment to the League of Nations and collective security. He served three times as foreign secretary amid the rise of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and during the Second World War acted as Winston Churchill’s principal diplomatic lieutenant in negotiations with the Soviet Union and the other Allies over the postwar order. Representing Britain at Yalta and at the 1945 San Francisco Conference, he helped shape the emerging international institutions, yet as prime minister he pursued the Suez invasion, exposing both the limits of British imperial power and Britain’s dependence on the United States.
Career Timeline
- 1915–1919British Army officer, Western Front
- 1923–1957MP for Warwick and Leamington
- 1931–1934Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs
- 1935–1938Foreign Secretary
- 1940–1945Foreign Secretary and War Cabinet minister
- 1945British representative at Yalta and the San Francisco Conference
- 1951–1955Foreign Secretary
- 1955–1957Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Conservative Party leader