60s - Foreign Affairs

Question 1

What was the main reason that Wilson was pro-USA?

Answer 1

He wanted to ensure that the US stayed in Br defence.

Question 2

What triggered the fear of the Red Army in 1964?

Answer 2

The Czechoslovakia invasion.

Question 3

What was the Vietnam War?

Answer 3

Ongoing since 1955 - the USA and Australia got involved when it escalated in 1964. Wilson refused to send troops.

Question 4

What was the main reason Wilson held back troops?

Answer 4

The war was unpopular so Wilson risked a split in the party. Britain also couldn’t afford military involvement and Wilson already needed financial aid froth USA to survive.

Question 5

What was Gaitskell’s fear about Europe in 1962?

Answer 5

That it was a first step towards a federal political union wherein Br lost all sovereignty.

Question 6

What was the object of the TUs and Labour Left?

Answer 6

The EEC was a club for international capitalists who didn’t care about the man.

Question 7

Who were the Europhiles in Wilson’s cabinet?

Answer 7

Brown and Roy Jenkins.

Question 8

What was Wilson’s personal view on EEC?

Answer 8

ambivalent - preferred the USA but appreciated the economic benefits. He was overly conscious of keeping unity

Question 9

When was the EEC application pushed through Parliament?

Answer 9

October 1966.

Question 10

What did Wilson do to gain support in 1967?

Answer 10

Wilson toured all 6 EEC countries to gain support, but De Gaulle put him on the spot to completely detach from the USA - Wilson couldn’t promise that and France vetoed in November 1967.

Question 11

Where was decolonisation focused in this period?

Answer 11

East of Suez.

Question 12

What did Healey propose for defence spending?

Answer 12

To bring it below £2 billion by 1970.

Question 13

What did the 1967 White Paper set out?

Answer 13

A timetable for withdrawal from Aden, the Middle East and Malaysia.

Question 14

What prevented significant spending cuts?

Answer 14

Maintenance of the nuclear deterrent - 1967 commitments to upgrading Polaris.

Question 15

What caused accelerated withdrawal in 1967?

Answer 15

The devaluation - Britain could not afford an elongated withdrawal - East of Suez fully independent from Br by 1971.

Question 16

After Macmillans WOC speech, what happened in Rhodesia?

Answer 16

It split into Zambia, Malawi and Southern Rhodesia. SR wanted full independence but Britain would only let that happen with majority rule in place.

Question 17

What did Ian Smith issue in 1965?

Answer 17

After becoming PM he issued the Unilateral Declaration of Independence without accepting majority rule - seen as a direct challenge to labour.

Question 18

What happened in Rhodesia in December 1966?

Answer 18

There were talks on the HMS Tiger which seemed to make progress but Smith publicly disavowed everything he said once home.

Question 19

Why were oil sanctions ineffective against Rhodesia?

Answer 19

It was easy for Rhodesia to get oil from Mozambique and South Africa (Ecca).

Question 20

What did Smith believe he could rely on?

Answer 20

The support of the Cons party in Parliament, preventing Labour from passing any radical anti-minority rule legislation so Wilson’s diplomacy was ineffective.