Foreign policy in the '50s and early '60s Flashcards
Why was the British Empire not as strong as it used to be?
The idea of an empire where one group is stronger than another was no longer appropriate especially as this was what Hitler believed and this was fought against
Many countries now wanted independence
What was the ‘top down’ approach to decolonisation?
Suggested by Ovendale which maintains that decolonisation was the choice of imperial powers like Britain
What was the ‘bottom up’ or ‘grassroots’ approach to decolonisation?
Approach by Coleman which believes in nationalist movements in imperial countries as more important
When was the Mau Mau rebellion?
1952
What caused the Mau Mau rebellion?
British colonial settlement in Kenya pushed the Kikuyu (largest ethnic group) off their land and the Kenyan people pushed for land rights for the Kikuyu
When British refused to listen, Mau Mau group formed which took more militant action and attacked white farms and livestock
How did the British respond to the Mau Mau rebellion?
Declared a state of emergency which lasted until ‘60 and launched counter-attack on rebels, set up prison camps which heated some of them to death
What are the death figures of the Mau Mau rebellion?
British figures say 11,000 Africans were killed but Kenyan figures think it’s more 90,000
160,000 were detained in appalling conditions without trial
over 1,000 were systematically hanged
Only 32 white deaths in 8 years of fighting
What impact did the Mau Mau rebellion have on Britain?
Severely damaged Britain’s reputation abroad and helped in Kenya’s fight for independence which was achieved in 1963
When was the Malayan Emergency?
1947-1960
What caused the Malayan Emergency?
The British post-war constitutional proposal for Malaya didn’t take into account the complex ethnic mix of Malaya, it protected the Sultans and angered the communists
Malayan National Liberation Army launched guerrilla offensive attacking rubber plantations
Had support by poor Chinese vagrants
What was Britains’ response to Malaya?
Britain introduced Briggs plan meaning curfews and detainment with trial, build towns to fence in Chinese so they couldn’t support the Malays, denying rebels food and manpower
British army in Malaya was mostly made up of National Servicemen so young force
When did Malaya gain independence?
1957
When did Harold Macmillan make Wind of Change Speech?
1960
What was the message of the wind of change speech?
He was saying that the British govt. weren’t going to stop countries from gaining independence
Indicated recognition for the need for decolonisation and were no longer going to try and crush rebellions e.g. Mau Mau
What influenced Macmillan to make this speech?
Economic, political and moral factors along with fear of impatience of nationalist movements and if he delayed decolonisation it would have caused more bloodshed
Who was Iain McLeod?
Colonial Secretary and supported Macmillan’s view on decolonisation
What happened to Ghana (Gold Coast) after the war?
A constitution was introduced to give more voice to local opinion + to bring the country under one legislature
This made local chiefs fear that they now needed political influence to maintain power, they were fearful of western style democracy
Ghana and the nationalist movement
Nationalist movement stirring through colonial govt. which grew bigger during the war and took more control
Resulted in inflation and food shortages and forced the main crop cocoa to be destroyed as it was diseased
Farmers angry as they believed it could still produce
Who was Kwame Nkrumah and what did he do?
Set up Convention People’s Party and began mobilising trade unions and farmer’s unions organising strikes and demonstrations.
An elected assembly was set up in response + despite Nkrumah’s imprisonment the CPP still did well in election and had to be let out to fulfil his role
He cooperated with Britain and Ghana achieved independence
When did Ghana achieve independence?
1957
What led to demands for independence in Nigeria?
Was a huge British colony with a mix of cultures and the new constitution wanted to bring all the different groups of people together but proved difficult to agree on power sharing method
Demands grew for a more representative arrangement which led to demands for independence
When did Nigeria gain independence?
1960
Nigerian civil war
Started soon after independence granted as groups competed for land and power
1967 independent republic of Biafra was declared but over 1 million people died from fighting and famine
Photos of this spread around the world yet it continued
Britain’s response to Biafra?
Britain refused to recognised Biafra and continued to supply Nigerian leader with weapons to fight Biafran’s
1970 Biafra collapsed and became part of Nigeria again
Kenya 1963
Come back to
What was included in the Future Policy Study?
Outlined core policy to be NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), inc. 12 countries and was based on the fact that if one country was attacked, the others would step in to defend it
Also inc. strengthening the commonwealth
What did Dean Acheson say about Britain?
‘Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role’
The formation of the EEC
French Foreign Minister, Schuman, wanted coal and steel community in ‘50 which would integrate heavy industries of Germany and France, enabling quick economic recovery and bond between former enemies
Strongly supported by US and UK
Why didn’t Britain initially become involved with EEC?
Left wing suspicious of free market principles behind Common Market
Right wing saw traditional links with Australia etc. as more important than new links with Europe
Some saw it as a continental European issue and B saw that they ‘won the war’ so different to Germany and France
B valued special relationship with US far too much
Messina conference 1955
International conference where EEC began to take shape, was a British representative present, was there to encourage and observe rather than to join
Treaty of Rome
1957 and marked the launch of the EEC and was primarily based on rela with F and G
Charles De Gaulle said he wanted to keep out ‘les Anglo Saxons’
Who were the six founding members of the EEC
France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
What was the European Free Trade Association?
1959 created link between Britain, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland, alternative to EEC
Often referred to as ‘outer seven’ rather than ‘inner six’ of EEC
Why did Macmillan request to join the EEC?
In 1961 because the EFTA couldn’t match the growth of the EEC
Fundamental reason was economic, he wanted to boost industrial efficiency with greater competition and stimulate economic growth
What was USA’s view on Britain joining the EEC?
Keen for it to happen as Britain could become a vital link between USA and Europe
Why was Britain’s application so long and complicated?
Because of its commitments to other relationships e.g US and commonwealth so new negotiations had to be drawn e.g New Z’s lamb exports in Britain would have to stop under EEC but strong relationship with commonwealth so this had to be renegotiated, these were largely negotiated under Heath
Rejection in 1963
Application looked close to successful but last minute Charles De Gaulle vetoed Britain’s application unless Britain would cut ties with US
Macmillan broke down in tears
Britain’s relationship with the cold war
Britain and US were allies in Cold War, opposing USSR and spread of communism, had substantial amount of troops stationed in West Germany
Had entered Korea in 1950 to support US and to try and stop the spread of communism
What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
USSR tried to station nuclear weapons in Cuba which was only 90 miles off the coast of Florida so US set up naval blockade to stop Soviet ships from reaching Cuba
Tense negotiations followed and people were scared of nuclear war
Agreement reached where Russia would withdraw weapons from Cuba if US withdrew weapons from Turkey
What was Macmillan’s relationship like with the US presidents?
Had a good relationship with Eisenhower and Kennedy
During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Kennedy kept Macmillan informed of events but Britain were described as ‘bystanders’ in the crisis
Why was Britain’s ‘special relationship’ put under strain?
Due to Suez Crisis, failure of EEC entry and the Burgess and Maclean affair
Britain was in difficult position as still dependent on US and militarily overstretched
What was the Burgess and Maclean Affair?
Burgess and Maclean were high ranking officers in British intelligence that defected to Soviet Union in 1951
British spies had been leaking vital info to Moscow and this deeply worried the Americans who were reluctant tp trust Britain with intelligence secrets
Nuclear deterrent after the war
Tory govt. continued the policy that B should develop its own nuclear deterrent which was crucial if B was to retain its status as an important power in the world
So Churchill first tested this in 1952
What was the Mutual Defence Agreement?
Where the USA agreed to share nuclear technology with Britain so Britain abandoned its own rocket projects, Blue Streak in 1960
When it became clear that Britain would not have an independent nuclear deterrent, the pro-nuclear part of the Labour Party become more sceptical
When was the Korean War?
1950-53
What happened with the Korean War?
After WWII north of Korea occupied by USSR and south occupied by US
1950, Soviet forces and China invaded the south
UN condemned the action and sent troops from over 20 countries, B sent 90,000
How did the Korean War end?
Fighting was heavy and ceasefire agreed in 1953 after 1,000 British soldier had died
Agreement was that Korea would be split into communist North and capitalist South Korea
What impact did the Korean War have on Britain?
Proved Britain’s desire to continue to be a major power in world affairs, despite major economic restraints
