Chapter 12: Foreign affairs in the 1970's

Question 1

Why does Britain apply for EEC entry a third time in 1971?
Why is entry successful?

Answer 1

• Heath was pro-european - commited to membership
• De Gaule is no longer french president and all detailed arrangements were already in place making the process easy

Question 2

What opposition is there in britain to Heath’s decision to join the EEC?

Answer 2

• Conservative - many believe more strongly in the commonwealth and don’t want Britain to give up sovereignty - Enoch Powell was key critic - even called on his supporters to vote labour
• Labour - divided - some supporters but labour left were hostile - 69 rebel labour MP’s helped the government win the commons vote

Question 3

What was the purpose of Wilsons referendum of 1975?
What was the result of the referendum?

Answer 3

wanted to ensure party unity
- didn’t want to cause conflict by enforcing a party line
- voter support from the EEC was high - country was a mess econonomically
- YES campaign was well financed by business supporters
- 17 million voted yes and 8 million voted no

Question 4

What was Heaths attitude towards the Atlantic alliance?

Answer 4

more intersted in relations with Europe - rejected attempts buy US to use Britain as a link with Europe

Question 5

How did the Yom Kippur war impact British relations with the US?

Answer 5

Yom Kippur - short war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states - US supported israel and USSR supported Arab states
- US wanted to use NATO bases in Europe to airlift supplies to Israel
- most european states refused - didn’t want to risk middle east oil supplies - damaged anglo-american relations