Class 3 Anthony Eden’s Speech

Outline  How persuasive is the speech?  Leadership  Ideology

How persuasive is the speech? It is very easy to see that the speech did not work, but would it be possible to explain it?

Persuasion ‘Being Right’ J. Charteris- Black 1. Establishing integrity: ‘Having the right intentions’(ETHOS) 2. Expressing political arguments: ‘Thinking right’ (LOGOS) 3. Heightening emotional impact: ‘Sounding right’ (PATHOS) 4. Mental representations: ‘Telling the right story’ 5. Appearances: ‘looking right ’

Rhetoric Anthony Eden’s use of Aristotle’s proofs Ethos > Establishing Integrity: Having the Right Intentions:  Explain/ justify himself line 3  To guarantee Israel’s security line 22  To protect the Canal and all its users line 38

Right intentions  Explain the situation  Protect Israel  Protect the Canal  Guarantee stability in the Middle East >> Eden is seen as a peace-maker whose interest is not restricted to Britain alone

Problem  Ethos > Personal/ Government Decision: no consultation of the House, no support from UNO or USA > not credible

Arguments Logos > Communicating Political Arguments: Thinking Right  Egypt is a threat to the peace in the Middle East Line 43  Suez is essential to British and Western economy Line 40  GB’s responsibility Line 54

Thinking right  Egypt is the aggressor  Israel is a victim  GB is responsible for the stability of the Middle East >> it is Britain’s duty to intervene

Problem  Logos > Egypt was attacked by Israel, France and GB not the other way round

Emotions Pathos > Heightening Emotional Impact: Sounding Right Demonizing Egypt >FEAR Violent campaign l 11 Seizure of the Canal (vs. Nationalisation) l 10 > theft A dictator l 52 Rhetorical Questions > INVOLVING THE HOUSE Survival l 68 and Honour l 54

Sounding right  Egypt is evil > that is supposed to work (Middle East = Forces of evil)  Survival and honour of Britain at stake >> this intervention is not a choice but a necessity

Problem  Pathos > rhetorical questions fail (see brackets l 26)

How Eden sees the world Mental representations: ‘Telling the right story’ > show how the world works > to be persuasive: Conception of the world of the speaker has to be in accordance with the way the audience sees the world.  Egypt is an economic asset, not a country  Suez does not belong to Egypt l 28  Suez is economically important l 57  ‘Seizure’ vs. ‘nationalization’ l 10  Britain is independent Line 76

Problems  World representation >  No longer possible to see another country as a colony (cf India)  GB is dependent on US money.

Not Persuasive Anthony Eden’s speech is not working because:  He does not have the rights intentions  He is lying to the House (distorting reality)  People do not believe him  His worldview is too archaic to be realistic

Prime Minister: the question of leadership Anthony Eden is often described as the heir of Winston Churchill, and his handling of the Suez crisis seems to vindicate this claim:  Still believed GB was a super-power (romatic vision of Britain)  GB is alone against an evil dictator  Personification of power (‘my decision, let me explain’)  Aggressive rhetoric, sure of himself >> it worked with WSC, not with Eden > WHY?

Illusion of Grandeur: The question of ideology in our societies What fuelled British post WWII ideology >> Britain standing alone against Germany, the victory of the West, Churchill’s rhetoric, the so-called SP > Eden still believed GB was a superpower and could have a word to say internationally, without US support:  Importance of ideology, discuss the WWII myth in GB and France (la Résistance, good vs. evil > a necessary veil on reality?)  Illusion of grandeur > necessarily a bad thing?

Coming Weeks  Next week > The Wind of Change, p 20, Groupe 3  Week 5 >Holidays  Week 6 > The Rivers of Blood, p 23, Groupe 4  News