7.1 how successful did Britain respond to international crisi Flashcards
Name the 4 Crisis which during this time
- The Korean War
- The Suez Crisis
- The Falklands Crisis
- The Gulf War
Explain the Korean War (timeline)
-It began in 1950 with the north almost conquering the south
-The Us helped with a coalition of 16 countries to push the north back
-This led to a stalemate in July 1953
Why was the Korean War seen as controversial?
-There was a lot of anti-war feeling in the public (especially after WW2)
-Splits in the Labour Government due to economic issues
Why was the Korean War seen as successful?
-Strengthened the relationship between the British and the Americans
-Showed that the UN was not weak like the League of Nations
Explain the Suez Crisis
-With Nasser taking charge of Egypt in 1954, he wanted to remove British troops
-In 1956 he took control of the Anglo-French company controlling the Suez
-This caused Britain, France and Israel to launch a plan to take it back, staging an Israeli invasion
-This humiliated Britain with it failing greatly, being condemned by both the US and USSR
What made the Suez Crisis such a failure?
-Eden and Britain acted without informing Eisenhower which made him furious
-Britain were forced to withdraw or the US will stop helping them financially
-They were condemned by both the USSR and US with there being no real justification for the invasion
Explain the Falkland War
-On the 2nd of April 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland islands which were under British rule
-It took Thatcher 3 days to dispatch troops to defend the island
-On the 2nd of May the British sank the Belgrano ship ending the lives of 360 men
-By June Argentina surrendered
Why were the Falklands seen as successful?
-It showed that Britain were no longer a declining power
-By assembling a taskforce in 3 days it showed Thatcher to be a strong leader
-Persuaded the European Committee to impose sanctions on Argentina
Why were the Falklands seen as controversial?
-The sinking of the Belgrano was not in the 200 meter war zone but was rather sailing away
-The islands weren’t seen as very important with maintaining the islands costed £1.5 million per person yearly
Explain the Gulf War
-On the 2nd of August 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait
-Bush began to build a coalition against them with bombing being allowed in January 1991
-A ground invasion was done in February with the fighting ending in 100 hours
-53,000 British troops were used
Why was the Gulf War successful?
-Helped to strengthen US-UK relations
-Played a significant role in air defence with the RAF
-Showed Majors role in diplomacy with him acting swiftly
Why was the Gulf War seen as controversial?
-Saddam Hussein was still in charge of Iraq
-Could be seen as imperialism against the Middle East
