55 - Sir Anthony Eden (1897–1977): Managing the Challenge of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1936–1955

Summary

INTRODUCTION

IN THE PERIOD between 1936 and 1955, when Anglo-Japanese relations suffered their deepest ever blows, Anthony Eden acted as the British Foreign Secretary on three different occasions (1935–1938, 1941–1945 and 1951–1955). While Eden is not often associated with policy towards Japan, the fact that he was in office for these years does beg the question of what attitude he took towards Britain's former ally and contemporary adversary. Considering the events that he faced as Foreign Secretary over this period, it should come as no surprise that his view of Japan was cold at best and overtly hostile at worst. He was though a politician and had to approach the making of policy in a pragmatic manner that would benefit British interests. As such, in his last period in office he tried, despite the bitter legacy of the Pacific War, to rebuild relations with the Japanese in the realization that Britain could not afford, against the background of the Cold War, to leave Japan isolated lest it fall into the communist orbit.

FIRST PERIOD AS FOREIGN SECRETARY, DECEMBER 1935-FEBRUARY 1938

Anthony Eden was appointed Foreign Secretary in December 1935 following the resignation of Sir Samuel Hoare over the signing of the Hoare-Laval Pact. He entered office with the reputation as being one of the Conservative Party's leading experts on foreign policy. He had, after all, already acted as the private secretary to Austen Chamberlain in the 1920s, then been promoted to the post of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the years 1931 to 1934, and finally been elevated to the position of the Secretary of State for League of Nations Affairs from May 1935 until Hoare's resignation. During this long apprenticeship, Eden had acquired a reputation as a keen enthusiast for the League and, accordingly, was seen by many of his peers and the public as someone who was perhaps more in tune with the spirit of the age than most of his elders. His elevation was therefore not particularly good news for Japan, which had, after all, been the first of the Great Powers to throw down the gauntlet to the League of Nations.