Anthony Eden, the son of Sir William Eden, was born at Windlestone Hall, Bishop Auckland, in 1897. Eden, like his father and grandfather, was educated at Eton and his one hope to join the British Army once he had completed his education. However, he was rejected because of his poor eyesight. With the outbreak of the first world war, the British Army lowered its standards which allowed Eden to eventually join.
Eden served on the Western Front and won the Military Cross at Battle of the Somme in 1916. After one attack at Delville Wood, Eden's battalion suffered 394 casualties, of whom 127 were killed. Nearly all the junior officers were either dead or badly wounded and as a result Eden was promoted to adjutant. By the time the war ended, Eden had reached the rank of major. .
After the war, Eden was undecided about whether to stay in the army. However after much deliberating, Eden eventually selected a career in politics and eventually in the 1923 General Election he won the Warwick & Leamington constituency for the Conservative party. From this point on, his political career began to flourish. In parliament, he showed a keen in foreign and defence affairs, and three years later he was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Austin Chamberlain at the Foreign Office. A post he held until the government lost power in 1929. .
In the National government formed by Ramsay McDonald in 1931, Anthony Eden became Under - Secretary for Foreign Affairs (1931 - 1934). It was also during this period that Eden spent much of his time in Geneva pursuing his interest in the League of Nations, and it is fair to say that this paid off, because in 1935 under Stanley Baldwin's third government, Eden was appointed Minister for League of Nations Affairs. It was recognised and clearly noticeable that Anthony Eden was a passionate advocator of the Leagues principles and in time, proved himself to be an excellent diplomat and negotiator.
