AffSoc - Foreign Relations

Question 1

What was Britain’s position in the world following WW2?

Answer 1

Damaged, with massive debts and in the shadow of the USA and the USSR.

Question 2

What did Britain inform the USA of in 1947?

Answer 2

That they were facing bankruptcy, and would have to withdraw from Greece, Turkey and Palestine. India and Pakistan also gained independence in 1947.

Question 3

What did the Future Policy Study indicate?

Answer 3

Focus should be on an Atlantic Alliance, and Britain had not yet seen all the consequences of decolonisation.

Question 4

What was the quote from the American Foreign Minister?

Answer 4

‘Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role’.

Question 5

What was the 1950 Schuman Plan?

Answer 5

To set out proposals for an ECSC that would integrate French and German heavy industry - this would promote rapid economic reconstruction and prevent future wars due to shared interest.

Question 6

Who supported the 1950 Schuman Plan?

Answer 6

The USA & UK - to keep the two countries strong meant they acted as a blockade for communism

Question 7

Why was Britain not initially involved (6 reasons)

Answer 7

Few politicians interested in a leading role in Europe
The Left suspicious of free-market principles behind the Common Market
Right wanted to preserve the Commonwealth relations
ESCS an issue for continental Europe - not UK the victors of the war.
Assumption Br was still a world power.
Br wanted to balance Europe and USA.

Question 8

When was the EEC formed?

Answer 8

1955 in Sicily - solidified into the EEC in the 1957 Treaty of Rome. It was dominated by France and Germany - De Gaulle was determined to protect the partnership from Britain and the USA.

Question 9

What did Britain found in 1959?

Answer 9

The EFTA - with the ‘outside seven’ in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. This was moderately successful and didn’t rival the EEC with the ‘inner six’.

Question 10

Why did Macmillan apply to the EEC in 1961?

Answer 10

To boost industrial production for a large-scale export market
Increase industrial efficiency with greater competition
Stimulate economic growth with rapid economic expansion already in the EEC

Question 11

Why did the USA support Britain’s EEC application?

Answer 11

They wanted the UK to act as a bridge into Europe.

Question 12

What made Britain’s negotiations difficult?

Answer 12

Britain wanted to keep a strong relationship with the USA and the Commonwealth.
The EEC Common Agriculture Policy would stop BR from importing agricultural goods from elsewhere (namely the Commonwealth).

Question 13

When did Heath reach a successful deal?

Answer 13

January of 1963 - just to be blocked by De Gaulle

Question 14

What was the reaction of the other 5 leaders to De Gaulle’s veto?

Answer 14

Shock and disappointment - they could not change his mind on it. Fr-Br relations remained low for a while afterwards.

Question 15

What did BR help found in 1949?

Answer 15

NATO - a formal UK-USA Alliance against the USSR. British troops then stationed a large contingent in West Germany.

Question 16

In which 3 major situations did Britain support the USA in?

Answer 16

Korean War, stabilising West Berlin, and a conference with Khrushchev in 1960.

Question 17

What event showed that Br was still at the top table internationally?

Answer 17

Kennedy kept Macmillan informed during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Question 18

What event strained the Special Relationship most?

Answer 18

The Burgess and Maclean affair - two high-level British intelligence officers had been leaking secrets to Moscow and defected to Russia in 1951 - The USA no longer trusted Britain with intelligence.

Question 19

How was Britain militarily in 1960?

Answer 19

Overstretched and dependent on American power.

Question 20

Which Labour commitment did Churchill see through?

Answer 20

Their commitment to developing an independent nuclear deterrent - USA stopped sharing nuclear secrets with the UK so Br had to develop its own.

Question 21

When were the first atomic and H-bomb tests in Britain?

Answer 21

Atomic - 1952
H-bomb - 1957

Question 22

What formed in 1958 and what was the impact of that?

Answer 22

CND - they were the most powerful pressure group at the time with backing from intellectuals, middle-class protestors and Labour MPs.

Question 23

What was the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement?

Answer 23

The US shared Polaris with Britain.

Question 24

What was Blue Streak and when was it abandoned?

Answer 24

The British rockets, abandoned in 1960.

Question 25

What was the impact of Polaris politically?

Answer 25

Britain were the 3rd country to obtain nuclear weaponry, and Labour were now wary of supporting a pro-nuclear policy.

Question 26

What was the 1950-53 Korean War?

Answer 26

The USSR-occupied North invaded the USA-occupied South. Britain sent 90,000 troops and the UN condemned USSR and sent troops swell. There was a stalemate and a ceasefire agreed in 1953, with a communist North Korea and non-communist South Korea. Over 1000 British troops died in action.

Question 27

Which conviction did Macmillan have that was proven wrong?

Answer 27

That Britain could manage a gradual withdrawal and that resistance could be controlled until the country was ready for independence.

Question 28

When was the Mau Mau rebellion?

Answer 28

1952

Question 29

What was the Mau Mau rebellion?

Answer 29

Jomo Kenyathu led a rebellion for independence. The Mau Mau fighters were branded as terrorists, but brutal POW treatment damaged the British reputation.

Question 30

What was the impact of the Mau Mau rebellion?

Answer 30

They struggled to contain the rebellion, and this demonstrated issues with a gradual withdrawal - after the Suez crisis, Br quickly dropped colonies.

Question 31

When were Ghana, Nigeria, Cyprus and Kenya granted independence?

Answer 31

Ghana - 1957
Nigeria & Cyprus - 1960
Kenya - 1963.

Question 32

Was decolonisation a success?

Answer 32

Massively - the process had a lot of violence but it was much swifter and less bloody than the French or German withdrawal. By 1964, decolonisation was seen as a significant achievement.