1956 Episode 2.21: From Eden
Added 2019-08-18 22:57:42 +0000 UTC[PATRONS]
Episode 2.21: From Eden concludes our story by examining the person of Anthony Eden in context. The Prime Minister, once so revered, had irreparably damaged his reputation by acting as he did in the Suez Crisis. While on paper the record stated that Britain and France had acted with the most noble of intentions, in reality, as Eden well knew, the ambitions had been far more rudimentary and straightforward, and the miscalculations far more grave, than Eden would ever let on. He would meet his maker still parroting the lies which had so stupefied his political rivals, frustrated his allies and outraged the Western powers.
Our episode begins on afternoon of 8th November in the Commons, where a Cabinet minister was left to stand in for the embattled PM and his Foreign Secretary. As ever, the act of reading from this ridiculous hymn sheet did not impress the Labour opposition, who tore into the Government spokesmen with a new fury and passion. We unpack Eden’s claims that Britain should have been thanked for its contribution towards making the UN Emergency Force come into being, and we examine as well how important the concept of an Emergency Force has been for the UN’s presentation of itself over the years.
How can we explain Eden’s policy? How did the British political nation react afterwards? Was it ever possible to leave Suez behind? Did the incident significantly damage Anglo-Americans, as we are sometimes led to believe? Did it result in a downturn of British fortunes in the Middle East? All of these are critical questions, so I hope you’ll join me to investigate them as we tackle Anthony Eden, the Suez Crisis and this fascinating year of 1956 in one more eventful episode.
