Crime on high
Sir: W. A. C. Harvey, in his fury at the honours conferred on those principally responsible for Britain's involvement in the Suez episode (Spectator, 13 November), states, inter alia: 'Eden . . . was given an earldom, but he was also made a Knight of the Garter—the highest Order in chivalry! Nil desperanduntr What is omitted from this splenetic outburst is the vital question of timing. Eden's elevation to the Order of the Garter was announced on 24 October 1954, some two years before the Suez war. The background to this announcement might be of interest to W. A . C. Harvey.
The year 1954 was notable among other things for the collapse of the French in Indochina. Lord Boothby, who was later an outspoken opponent of the Suez war and those responsible for it, has stated the position succinctly. 'In 1954, after the French defeats in Indochina. Dulles wanted to intervene in Southeast Asia with atomic weapons in order to prevent the fall of Dien Bien Phu. He flew to Geneva. So did Eden. There was a confrontation. Eden said No. Dulles flew back to Washington in a rage. The film of his departure from the airport ran for several weeks, as a 'comic,' in the Swiss cinemas. Bidault, then in charge of the French delegation, was about to fall, and powerless. Eden was left alone to face Molotov and Chou En-lai. He did not flinch. Mendes-France, the new French Prime Minister, arrived in time to put his signature to the agreement. But the terms of the settlement which hauled the French out of an impossible situation . . . were negotiated by Eden. I was in Geneva myself as a journalist. I have never seen more political courage and patience, accompanied
by greater diplomatic skill than he then displayed. For once glittering personal success, which had so often eluded him, was Eden's portion. This was his finest hour.
Lord Boothby then adds: 'Dulles never forgave him. And indeed there was a mutual
antipathy between these two men that led ultimately to Eden's downfall.' (Boothby. My Yesterday, Your Tomorrow, pp. 57-58.) But this was not the only occasion in 1954 that Dulles was seen to disadvantage in contrast to Eden's professional skill. Later that year Eden, through negotiating an extension of the Brussels Treaty of 1948, salvaged a settlement for Western European defence in the wake of the French National Assembly's !ejection of the European Defence Community project. Eden did this without any encouragement from Dulles who once again retreated from the scene with the sulks, muttering about the likelihood of 'an agonising reappraisal' bY America of its Western European comm;tments. It was only after Eden's success became obvious that Dulles tried to re-enter the act. It was in the wake of these I" diplomatic coups that Eden was created a Knight of the Garter.
In conclusion, this correspondence raises a general point relating to official recognition of public figures. Lucky the top-ranking politician who can get through life without at least one spectacular blunder! But are all other palpable achievements to be set at nought because of such a blunder ?
J. B. Paul London House, Mecklen burgh Square, London WC1
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