'Special relationship' with the USA and attitudes to the USSR and China 1970s Flashcards
Why was Heath less inclined to strengthen the Atlantic Alliance?
Heaths approach was orientated towards Europe.
What attempts made by Henry Kissinger did Heath reject?
To use Britain as a link with Europe. Heath insisted that the US should negotiate with the European Community as a whole, rather than using Britain as a go-between.
What did Kissinger comment after Heath rejected him?
Heath ‘dealt with us with an unsentimentality totally at variance with “the special relationship”.
However, who did Heath personally get on with?
The US president, Richard Nixon, and he was more forthright with Vietnam than Wilson had been.
When and how did relations between Britain and the US worsen?
In October 1973 during the Yom Kippur War.
The US wanted to use NATO bases in Europe for an airlift of supplies to Israel. Most European states, including Britain, refused permission.
Why did most European states refuse the USA’s demand during the Yom Kippur War?
They feared that supplies of oil from the Middle East would be put at risk. This put Anglo-American relations under great strain.
Describe how Callaghan was still keen on the Atlantic alliance.
He forged a strong personal relationship with Kissinger and negotiated the replacement of Polaris nuclear missiles with Trident in 1979 with President Jimmy Carter.
What was the mutual interest that kept Britain and the USA together in the 1970s?
Despite disagreements, they continued to share the foreign policy objective of holding back communism.
What happened after the tension if the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Successive presidents of the US and the USSR tried to prevent such a situation recurring by establishing direct contact.
What did this direct contact lead to?
Meetings and eventually agreement to limit the build-up of arms.
Why were there still underlying tensions? What was this demonstrated by?
There were still fears about the USSR’s influence in Eastern Europe. This was demonstrated by the George Markov affair.
Describe the George Markov affair.
Markov was a Bulgarian who was outspoken in criticising the communist regime in Bulgaria - assassinated in London in 1978 supposedly by Russian secret service KGB but never proven.
When did the strained relations between China, Britain and the US change?
In July 1971, when Nixon surprisingly announced a thawing of relations followed by a visit to China in feb 1972 with leader Mao Zeldong.
What happened from 1974 onwards?
Heath made many visits to China and was awarded the title of ‘People’s Friendship Envoy’, the highest possible honour given by the Chinese government to a foreigner.
What had improved relations with China meant by the end of the decade?
In October 1979, the Premier Hua Guofeng visited Britain as part of a European tour; this was the first visit to Britain by a Chinese leader since the communist revolution.
