CONSERVATIVES 1951-64 CHAPTER 4

Question 1

Britain’s first nuclear test was in

Answer 1

1954

Question 2

EEC formed by the treaty of Rome in

Answer 2

1957

Question 3

The formation of the EFTA was in

Answer 3

1959

Question 4

britain’s EEC applicaton was rejected in

Answer 4

1963

Question 5

The second world war had left Britain badly damaged, burdened with massive deaths and in the shadow of two new military superpowers:

Answer 5

the US and the USSR.

Question 6

1947 – independence granted to India and Pakistan, marking the start of

what did dean acheson say?

Answer 6

British retreat from the Empire - 1962 Dean Acheson (US secretary of state 1949-53) stated that Britain had lost an empire and had not yet found a role

Question 7

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

The EEC was strongly supported by Britain and the US as an important contribution to the security of Europe  vital at the start of the Cold War.
However, Britain did not initially become involved for a several reasons:

6 reasons!

Answer 7

• There were a few politicians in favour of Britain taking up the leadership role in Europe.
• The left tended to be suspicious of the free market principles behind the Common Market.
• The right tended to regard the preservation of national trade links with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand as far more important than those with Europe.
• There was a belief this was an issue for continental Europe – the Germans had been wartime enemies, the French has been occupied, in contrast, Britain won the war.
• There was an assumption that Britain was still a great world power.
• Britain wanted to balance its involvement with Europe while maintaining the ‘special relationship’ (the close relationship based on historical, diplomatical, cultural, economic, and military ties between the two countries) with the US.

Question 8

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

The EEC was launched by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, without Britain.
It was dominated with the partnership between

Answer 8

France and Germany.

Question 9

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

the French president, de Gaulle was determined to protect this partnership from

Answer 9

Britain (and the influence of the US through Britain).

Question 10

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

In 1959, Britain formed the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which was only

success?

Answer 10

moderately successful and not able to match the economic growth of the EEC.

Question 11

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

In 1961, Macmillan submitted Britain’s application to join the EEC  the fundamental reason for this was economic – it was hoped that the EEC would:

3 points

Answer 11

• Boost industrial production for a large-scale export market.
• Increase industrial efficiency with greater competition.
• Stimulate economic growth with the rapid economic expansion already seen in the EEC.

Question 12

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

The US was also keen for Britain to join the EEC for strategic reasons -

Answer 12

Britain was a vital link between Europe and America + tensions were rising in the late 1950s during the Cold War.

Question 13

EFTA AND ATTEMPTS TO JOIN THE EEC

Despite the application to join the EEC, Britain wanted to keep its position in two other areas of world affairs:

Answer 13

the Commonwealth and the US made negotiations with the EEC extremely difficult.

Question 14

• The EEC had already developed detailed economic structures such as the

Answer 14

Common Agricultural Policy, which Britain found difficult to conform to.

Question 15

• Special exemptions for Britain’s Commonwealth partners such as

Answer 15

lamb from New Zealand (which would’ve been blocked by EEC rules) had to be sought.

Question 16

This took many months of bargaining, led by Edward Heath.
the negotiations seemed to have reached a successful conclusion in January 1963, but at the last minute,

flippin de gaulle

Answer 16

the French president de Gaulle exercised France’s right of veto and blocked Britain’s application.

Question 17

• Gaulle’s intervention was a bombshell – the other 5 members were shocked and disappointed but unable to

Answer 17

persuade de Gaulle to carry on with the negotiations.

Britain remained outside of the EEC until 1974.

Question 18

RELATIONS WITH AND POLICIES TOWARDS THE USA AND THE USSR

• In the post war period, Britain and the US stayed allies in opposing the expansion of communism across Europe.
• Britain had become a founder member of

Answer 18

NATO in 1949 and its troops were stationed in West Germany.

Question 19

RELATIONS WITH AND POLICIES TOWARDS THE USA AND THE USSR

• Britain and the US remained close allies throughout the Cold War period.
• Macmillan established a good relationship with Eisenhower’s successor,

CMC

Answer 19

Kennedy, who kept Macmillan informed with the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, although Thorneycroft described Britain as bystanders during the crisis

Question 20

RELATIONS WITH AND POLICIES TOWARDS THE USA AND THE USSR

what was the cuban missile crisis?

Answer 20

• The Cuban missile crisis occurred when Cuba (communist) asked USSR to station nuclear weapons in Cuba. The US feared this as Cuba was 90 miles away and set up a blockade to prevent soviet ships from reaching Cuba. It was eventually resolved when the Soviets withdrew weapons from Cuba and the US secretly agreed to withdraw weapons from Italy and Turkey.

Question 21

RELATIONS WITH AND POLICIES TOWARDS THE USA AND THE USSR

• However, this special relationship was sometimes put under strain, such as during the

a crisis and an affair

Answer 21

Suez Crisis and the Burgess and Maclean affair.

Question 22

RELATIONS WITH AND POLICIES TOWARDS THE USA AND THE USSR

what was the Burgess and Maclean affair?

Answer 22

• Burgess and Maclean were highly placed British intelligence officers who defected to the USSR n 1951. For years, there were concerns about finding who tipped them off. The revelation that the British were leaking vital secrets to Moscow deeply worried the Americans, who shared less intelligence secrets with Britain

Question 23

• In many respects, it appeared that Britain had kept its place at the international ‘top table’.
• On the other hand, Britain was still dependent on the American power, as demonstrated by

Answer 23

the costs of Britain’s own nuclear deterrent.

Question 24

DEBATES OVER THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT

• The post war labour government had committed Britain to developing an independent nuclear deterrent - the US had stopped sharing its

Answer 24

nuclear secrets with Britain so if Britain wanted to become a military superpower it had to do it itself.

Question 25

DEBATES OVER THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT

• Churchill continued this policy and Britain’s first tests of the atomic bomb were in 1952 - it became the 3rd country in the world to develop nuclear weapons.
• Britain’s first hydrogen bomb was tested in

Answer 25

1957.

Question 26

DEBATES OVER THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT

Concerns over these developments led to the formation of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1958, becoming the

Answer 26

most powerful pressure group in Britain, backed by many intellectual and middle-class protesters who wanted Britain to follow a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament.

Question 27

DEBATES OVER THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT

• CND’s unilaterism became a powerful magnet for anti-government protest -

Answer 27

• Around 8000 people took part in a demonstration in Berkshire in 1958 and 1959 and many Labour-party left wingers joined in.

Question 28

DEBATES OVER THE NUCLEAR DETERRENT

• By 1958, the US agreed to share nuclear technology with Britain under the mutual defence agreement.
• Britain’s own project, the Blue Streak, was abandoned in 1960 due to

replaced by ?

Answer 28

financial reasons and replaced by a dependence on the American Polaris submarine weapons system.

Question 29

THE KOREAN WAR, 1950-3

• At the end of WW2, Korea was occupied by the USSR in the north and by the US in the south. this led to

Answer 29

2 separate governments were set up, each claiming to be legitimate.

Question 30

THE KOREAN WAR, 1950-3

• In 1950 forces from north Korea supported by the USSR and China invaded the south.
• The UN condemned this action and sent UN troops to combat the invasion with over 20 countries supplying troops. Britain sent

Answer 30

90,000 soldiers, second biggest after the US.

Question 31

THE KOREAN WAR, 1950-3

• The war showed how the Cold War was being fought across the whole world and showed Britain’s willingness to continue to play a major role in

Answer 31

world affairs, despite economic constraints (however it was clear that the US was the greater power).

Question 32

SUEZ, 1956

• The Suez Canal connected trade routes from the Mediterranean through to the Indian ocean and beyond to Asia, Australia, and NZ.
• Was a vital route for oil shipments -

%

Answer 32

80% of Europe’s oil import passed through the canal

Question 33

SUEZ, 1956

• The emergence of Egyptian independence under a nationalist leader, Colonel Nasser deeply worried Britain’s strategic interests  US and GB had planned to invest in the Aswan Dam but pulled out in 1956. In response, Nasser announced

Answer 33

the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company to provide finance needed for the Dam.

* This placed Egypt on the soviet side of the cold war.

Question 34

SUEZ, 1956

• British PM, Eden was considered an expert on foreign policy, but his understanding of the situation was influenced by the belief that

Answer 34

Britain was an imperial power his experience in fiercely opposing appeasement in the 1930s.

Question 35

SUEZ, 1956

• Eden saw Nasser as ab evil dictator, and most of his cabinet, including his chancellor, Macmillan, agreed with him.
• He was encouraged by both France and Israel – a top secret meeting

Answer 35

was held in Paris at which Britain, Israel and France agreed a plan of action - Israeli forces would invade Egypt and British and French forces would then intervene, using peace as an excuse, where the real effect would be to seize control of the Suez Canal zone.
* The details of the plan were concealed from the Americans and the parliament.

Question 36

SUEZ, 1956

• This plan was put into operation on 29 October when the Israeli attack was launched, followed by the British and French invasion, causing a storm of political protest in Britain -

Answer 36

the labour party opposed the conflict, anti-war protests were held, and public opinion was split on the need for intervention.

Question 37

SUEZ, 1956

• The US opposed the act – Britain was not strong enough in 1956 to stand up to American pressure and plunged into a serious financial crisis:

Answer 37

gold reserves fell by £100M, there was a run on the pound and Eisenhower forced Britain to buy oil in dollars.

Question 38

SUEZ, 1956

• Macmillan was first to realise it was essential to pull out even though this meant failure and accepting humiliation.

what were the 3 main consequences of the crisis?

Answer 38

• Eden’s reputation was fatally damaged and Britain’s position in the world was being questioned.
• It most importantly highlighted the inability of Britain to act without the support of the US, and the economic and financial dependence on the US.
• The crisis started the undermine the belief that Britain was still a major world power.

Question 39

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

• By 1951, Britain’s retreat from the empire had already begun.
• In the 1950s British forces found themselves fighting against national independence movements in

Answer 39

Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus.

Question 40

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

Independence granted to Ghana in

Answer 40

1957

Question 41

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

Macmillan’s winds of change speech in Cape Town, South Africa in

Answer 41

1960

Question 42

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

South Africa leaves the commonwealth in

Answer 42

1961

Question 43

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

• In the early 1950s, Britain’s rulers believed they could manage a gradual transition from the empire to the new commonwealth and colonial resistance movements could be controlled until

give an example (think kenya)

Answer 43

their people for ready for independence.
* When the Mau-Mau rebellion broke out in Kenya in 1952, it was assumed it would be quashed by the military  at the time, independence for Kenya was unthinkable.

Question 44

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

• The difficult struggle to contain the Mau-Mau rebellion in Kenya had already demonstrated the problems with Britain’s colonial policies. After the Suez crisis, British policymakers began to

Answer 44

reconsider the pace of decolonisation.

Question 45

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

independece:
1957
1960
1962
1963

Answer 45

• Ghana was granted independence in 1957 and Nigeria and Cyprus were granted independence in 1960. Uganda gained independence in 1962 and Kenya in 1963.

Question 46

THE WINDS OF CHANGE AND DECOLONISATION

• This shift in policy was signalled by Macmillan’s winds of change speech:

what did this aim

Answer 46

• Macmillan’s speech at Cape Town called for decolonisation and recognition of independence movements. He sought to persuade countries to accept majority rule, however south Africa preferred to follow minority white rule and voted in a referendum a year later to break all ties with Britain.

Question 47

DECOLONISATION SUMMARY

• The policy was extremely successful – British decolonisation was completed swiftly and with less violence compared to other colonial powers.
• By 1964, the transition from

Answer 47

Empire to Commonwealth seemed to represent a significant achievement.