Special Relationship

Question 1

How was the UK a close ally to the USA in the Cold war from 1951-56?

Answer 1

• a consistent and leading member of NATO from 1949
• supported US in Korean War (1950-3): January 1951 100,000 British in Korea the largest non-American element in the UN force
• US bombers arrived in Britain from 1952 on president Truman’s ‘promise’ that they would only be deployed with a joint decision
• increased defence budget to 10% of total government spending 1953-56
• along with USA supported SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organisation) vs communism

Question 2

What indications were there Britain was becoming more independent from 1951-56?

Answer 2

• H bomb tests (1952-57) to develop an independent nuclear deterrent partly due to US Congress’ opposition to US/UK sharing of nuclear weaponry
• Some UK support for reconciliation with USSR (e.g. Churchill calling for a ‘Big 3’ Conference involving USA/UK/USSR and trying to resolve issues over Berlin (1954), USSR’s President Khrushchev visiting UK in 1956)

Question 3

What tensions were caused in the special relationship from 1951-56?

Answer 3

• Burgess and Maclean’s defection to the USSR (1951)

- allegations against Kim Philby being the “third man” in Cambridge spy ring (1955)

Question 4

What crisis seriously affected the special relationship from 1956-57 and how was it reconciled?

Answer 4

• Suez affair led to anger in the USA that Eden had endangered world peace and provoked the USSR to threaten the UK and France with nuclear warfare
• temporary due to UK’s response with PM Eden’s resignation and new PM Macmillan’s pro-US approach

Question 5

How did the special relationship grow stronger due to UK’s dependence on US in military/political terms from 1957-1962?

Answer 5

• Macmillan’s Government White Paper “Defence” (1957) outlined a policy of increasing nuclear weaponry at the expense of conventional forces
• as a result troop numbers were cut by 45% (1957-1962) and National Service phased out to end in 1960
• PM Macmillan and Eisenhower met in Bermuda and Washington (1957) leading to the Mutual Defence Agreement 1958 declaring the ideas on manufacture and design of weapons and the arrival of 60 US “Thor” missiles in the UK in 1960
• UK’s independent “Blue Streak” missile project phased out by 1960 and instead the UK relied on buying Polaris missiles from the US
• UK’s EEC application was welcomed by US (1961)
• UK was kept informed and consulted over the Cuban Missiles Crisis (1962)

Question 6

How did the UK weaken the special relationship through reconciliation attempts with the USSR from 1957-1962?

Answer 6

• Macmillan’s 10 day trip to Moscow (1959) after US/USSR tension over Berlin in 1958
• disarmament talks (1959-63) leading to nuclear test ban treaty (1963) signed by the Big 3

Question 7

How did USSR and US play a bigger role in the Cold War?

Answer 7

• USSR’s construction of the Berlin Wall 1961 to prevent further defections from communist east to capitalist west Germany
• the Cuban Missiles Crisis (1962)

Question 8

How did the UK’s dependency on the US increase tensions in Britain?

Answer 8

• Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) was formed in 1958 and organised 2 huge Aldermaston marches (1958 and 1959)
• Some labour party members began to question the pro-nuclear policy, leading to some serious arguments at the 1960 labour party conference and the temporary adoption of a unilateralist policy towards disarmament