Who was the British prime minister between 1951-1957?

Answer 1

Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS (3 Jan 1883 - 8 Oct 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955.

He was Deputy Prime Minister under Winston Churchill in the wartime coalition government, before leading the Labour Party to a landslide election victory over Churchill's Conservative Party at the 1945 General Election. He was the first Labour Prime Minister to serve a full Parliamentary term and the first to have a majority in Parliament.

He was in turn defeated by Winston Churchill in the 1951 election.

Answer 2

Up until mid-1955 it was Winston Churchill, who had been re-elected in 1950 as a peacetime leader. However, although he served his full term in office, by '55 he was an old man and his mental faculties were failing, so at the General Election he was succeeded by his Chancellor, Anthony Eden.

Eden is chiefly remembered as having been responsible for the Suez Crisis, which was one of the most dangerous incidents of the Cold War. The military leader of Egypt, Colonel Abdel al-Nasser, did not think it fair that rich Western nations should be able to use the Suez Canal free of charge to transport oil from the Middle East. He thought that they should pay a toll fee for the use of it. Up until '56 the Canal was privately owned by a consortium of British and French companies, but Nasser nationalised it as Egyptian property and declared that Western International Shipping could only use it if they paid a tariff for doing so.

This placed the prospect of a plentiful supply of cheap Middle East oil for the West in jeopardy- the toll fees paid for use of the canal would have been so high that they would have massively raised the cost of oil in Western Europe and the US. Thus, to attempt to protect British economic interests, Eden launched a military takeover of the Canal Zone in November '56 along with the French and with some support from Israel, in an attempt to place it under international control. Meanwhile Eden's government was forced to introduce petrol rationing in the UK, giving priority to public transport and the emergency services.

The Soviet Union threatened to intervene to support Egypt if the fighting escalated, and nuclear threats were made by the Kremlin against London. For a while, it looked as if WW3 might be imminent- although the United States and other NATO states were not obliged by treaty to support Britain (as this only applies to DEfensive action, not OFfensive action), had Russia launched a nuclear attack on the UK, American bases in England would inevitably have been among the targets. This WOULD have been offensive action by the USSR against America, and would have resulted in an all-out nuclear war. The US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, talked Eden into withdrawing from Suez, saying that he risked plunging the world into a nuclear holocaust and going down in history as the world's worst ever mass murderer.

Eden resigned in disgrace on 11th January '57 and was replaced by his Chancellor, Harold MacMillan, who was in power until October 1963.

Answer 3

In 1951 it was Winston Churchill, who was re-elected in the 1950 General Election. However, his performance as a peacetime Premier did not match up to his standards as a wartime leader, and although he served his full term in office, he resigned from politics at the '55 election due to failing mental health.

He was replaced by his Chancellor Sir Anthony Eden, who was responsible for the Suez Crisis of 1956. When Egyptian leader Colonel Nasser closed the Suez Canal to foreign shipping unless the shipping companies paid toll fees to use it, Eden launched a military invasion of the Canal Zone in an attempt to place it under international control. The Soviet Union pledged to support Egypt if war broke out, and the crisis threatened to escalate into a major Superpower confrontation because, as Britain is a NATO member, all other NATO member states would have been bound by treaty to support it- including the USA. The US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, talked Eden into withdrawing from Suez, telling him that he risked plunging the world into a nuclear war and that the United States would find it very difficult to support Britain if conflict broke out with Russia.

Eden was effectively disgraced, and resigned from office early in 1957 to be replaced by his Chancellor, Harold MacMillan. MacMillan was in office until October '63.

Answer 4

Of what? Hitler died as prime minister of Germany in April 30, but Wnston Churchill was the prime minister of the Soviet Union... at least in 1945.

Answer 5

Clement attlee