2The British Empire and the Evolution of the British CommonwealthMain objectives:1) Control of world trade through British territorial possessions along major sea routes over the world (e.g. Mediterranean: Gibraltar, Malta, Ionian Islands; sea route to India and Indian Ocean: Sierra Leone, Cape Colony, Mauritius, Ceylon, Singapore)=>The Policeman of the World;2) protection and expansion of colonies.Causes of expansion: (Br. Emp. doubled in 19th c., reached greatest extent after WWI)+to secure earlier/important possessions (e.g. occupation of Sudan);+to protect/increase interest zones (e.g. Opium Wars, 1839-42, 1856-60, to enforce the opening of Chinese ports to Br. trade in opium=>1842: China forced to cede Hong Kong);+to balance worldwide growth of European rivals (Germany, Russia etc.);+population increase in Britain (growth of white colonies).=> 19th c. British Empire~ a political, military empire.=> Latter half of 19th c.~ second period of empire building

1 The Indian SubcontinentSeven Years’ War=>British expansion in the next century (E, N, Central India, Burma).Administration: East India Company, The Younger Pitt’s reform of colonial gvmt. in India.Sepoy Mutiny (1857/58)-began as a local uprising by sepoys in the Bengal army against their

mistreatment=>spread to other parts of India (Punjab, Central India)~general protest against British rule and western civilization+paricipation of some Hindu and Muslim princes.The cruel ways of the British in crushing the movement=>deterioration of Brtish-Indian relations+mutual distrust bw the two communities.India Act of 1858: replacement of rule, administrative functions of East India Co. with direct rule of Brtish gvmt= The Raj, with British viceroy of India as chief administrator.India=the Jewel in the Crown

2 AfricaEarlier British acquisitions, e.g. territories in West Africa (Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Gambia); Cape Colony (from Boers in 1815).Increase of European interest in Africa (expeditions, explorers, missionories, e.g. David Livingstone)=>1870-90: scramble for Africa by European gvmts (Br., Belg., Fr., Germ., It.)=>treaties in 1890s: division of Black Continent into interest zones=>Britain gained most: Br. control of West Africa acknowledged; Br received East Africa as protectorates (modern Uganda, Kenya, part of Somalia); Br. sphere expanded in South Africa to include Rhodesia (modern Zambia, Zimbabwe).Egypt and South Africa=two main concerns of Britain in Africa well into 20th c.

Egypt (part of Ottoman Empire)Importance for Britain: the Suez Canal (built by France; 1869-joint Br-Fr possession+dual Br-Fr control of Egypt, 1879)1882-national movement of native Egyptians to remove Ottoman rule=>Br. invaded Egypt (Br. in Egypt until 1953-54, in Suez until 1956)+1884: Br. took over Sudan.

South AfricaCape Colony: tension bw earlier settlers, Boers and growing Br. community1836-’The Great Trek’=>The Orange Free State and Transvaal (independent Boer Republics north of Cape Colony)Cecil Rhodes (British South Africa Co., 1889; President of Cape, 1890): to bring Africa from Cape to Cairo under British control:+Taking over land north of Boer republics=> Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe, Zambia)+Boer War of 1881 (Transvaal its reasserted independence)+Boer War of 1899-1902: Br. attack against Transvaal; guerilla warfare by Boers=>Br. Commander Kitchener closed noncombatants into concentration camps (death of 26,000 women and children)=> Boer defeat1910-Union of South Africa: Cape, Natal, Transvaal, Orange Free Sate~dominion (self- governing) status within Br. Empire

(1931-Statute of Westminster: independence in British Commonwealth; 1961, Republic of South Africa).

3 The White ColoniesConditions in 19th c. Br. (population growth, unchecked unemployment) favoured emigration=> growth of British community in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa.

Canada

Set the example for a colony to become a self-governing, then a fully autonomus dominion of the British Crown (1840, 1867)1763 Treaty of Paris: Canada claimed by Britain from France:+Lower Province of Quebec: French population+Upper Province of Ontario: English speaking settlers.1801-The Younger Pitt’s reform: 2 Provincial Assemblies.Maladministration=>1837-rebellions in both provinces.1839-Durham Report (by Lord Durham, Governor of Canada)=>Canada Act of 1840: self-gvmt./dominion status (single elective assembly)1867- Autonomus Colonies of British North America (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia) united: Dominion of Canada ~ an autonomus federation: some sovereignty in foreign policy, i.e. dealing with US.

AustraliaDiscovered by Captain Cook=>New South Wales (E of Australia) claimed for Br. in 1770.1788-Botany Bay~arrival of convicts and guards=>Port Jackson: a penal colony.1829-Britain claimed the whole continent: 6 separate colonies.1850-Australian Colonies Government Act: self-gvmt to individual colonies.1901-Federation of 6 colonies~dominion status (1931-Statute of Westminster: independence in British Commonwealth).

New ZealandCaptain Cook: circumnavigation+maps=>in-migration of Europeans, incl. British settlers.1840-Treaty of Waitangi: native Maori leaders ceded territory to Br.=>1841-Crown Colony under Br. sovereingty=>1907-New Zealand designated a dominion (1931-Statute of Westminster: independence in British Commonwealth).

Σ After Canada, the policy of granting dominion/self-governing status to former colonies was followed up in other white provinces: 1901-Australia, 1907-New Zealand, 1910-South Africa.

1931-The Statute of West minster ~ next milestone of imperial history.Dominion status redefined ~ complete autonomy, i.e. autonomy extended to the conduct of

external affairs => The British Commonwealth.

Ireland1919-1921: Anglo-Irish War =>Anglo-Irish Treaty1922 Partition and the creation of the Irish Free State as a dominion of the British Commonwealth

3 The Decline of the British Empire and Decolonization

1 1920-British Empire reached its greatest extent (25% of the world’s population): after WWI acquisition of mandatory territories, e.g. former German territories (Kamerun, Tanganyika), Middle East territories formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire (Iraq, Transjordan, Palestine).

2 Inter-war years ~ a paradox:Tremendous confidence in Britain about the Empire ↔ difficulties of maintainig it: costly, vulnerable, less profitable;+ future of constitutional relations bw Br. and dependencies of great diversity unclear.Attempts by Britain to handle constitutional problems:1931-Statute of Westminster

India ~ Britain’s most consistent constitutional problem in the inter-war years.Anti-colonial nationalist movements:+Muslim League;+Congress Party: Hindu middle class movement led by Mahatma Gandhi=>a campaign of peaceful ’civil disobedience’.Disagreements bw W. Churchill and Gandhi=>two Government of India Acts failed to settle the imperial problem in India bw the wars.

Egypt-1922: independence, but Britain kept control of its foreign policy + a Br. force stationed in the Suez Canal Zone, until the Suez Crisis of 1956.

The Middle EastIraq, Transjordan-independence in 1922, but specially installed kings, favourable to Britain.Palestine: 1917-Balfour Declaration (by Br. Foreign Secretary A. J. Balfour)=promise of Br. support for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people + the Allies (Fr., It., Rus., US) expressed ageement. =>large influx of Jewish people from Europe=>resistance of the Arab population.

Br. proposals (partitioned, federated state in Palestine) failed.(After WWII a UN decision: establishment of Israel).

3 Post World War II YearsBritain’s declining world role=>gradual and necessary retreat from Empire.Decolonization:1947—49-India, Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon.1950s-West and East African countries, Cyprus, Malta, some West Indian Islands (Jamaica, Trinidad)1970s-Bahamas, Fiji, Rhodesia.1997-Hong Kong returned to China.

4 Today+Britain still holds some Overseas Territories (e.g. Bermuda, Gibraltar, the Falklands, British Virgin Islands): self-gvmt. but Br. control of defence, internal security, foreign relations.

+The Commonwealth of Nations: a voluntary association of former British colonies, with nearly one-quarter of the world’s population, comprising over 50 nations of various constitutional forms, e.g. Canada, India, Lesotho, Brunei.British monarch=non-political head;Commonwealth Office (London); Commonwealth Conference; Commonwealth Games.

4 Britain and the Empire in World War I, British Politics, Economy and Society in Inter-War Years

I World War IWar camps: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary and their allies)↔ The Allies/Triple Entente (Britain, British Empire, France, Russia + US, 1917)British entry on 4 August, 1914:+German invasion of Belgium (Treaty of London, 1839)+Anglo-French Entente, 1904=>tightening relations and alliance bw Fr. and Br.Britain’s complex role in the war:+land based operations (Western Eur., SE Eur., Middle East)+operations at sea.

Western European front:BEF under Sir John French, initially only 4 divisions (slowed down German advance at Mons, Belg.,) => voluntary recruitment (over 1 mill. troops) + additions from Empire (Can., Austr., NZ., S.Afr., Ind., Ire.,)=> May, 1916 conscription.Trench warfare: futile and life consuming (millions of deaths); military actions at Ypres, Belg. (1915, poison gas by Germans) Verdun, the River Somme (1916, tanks by British).South-Eastern Europe: 1915, the Gallipoli/Dardanelles Campaign: complete failire (loss of over 200,000 Aust. and NZ troops)=> W. Churchill’s resignation as First Lord of Admiralty.The Middle East:Successful British campaign against Turkish Empire in Iraq, Palestine, Syria: capture of Baghdad, Jerusalem, Damascus in 1917-18.Role of T. E. Lawrence/Lawrence of Arabia (Br. secret agent) in organizing an extensive Arab revolt against Turks.=>30 Oct. 1918: Turkey signs armistice (liberated, incl. oil rich areas – Iraq, Palestine, Transjordan – added to Br. Emp. as protectorates).

Naval operations:Only 2 major sea engagements: the Falklands, Dec. 1914;

Jutland, North Sea, May 1916: left undicisive (losses: 14 Br. ships, 11 Ger. ships).

War of attrition at sea:German unrestricted submarine warfare: U-boats against merchant shipping supplying Fr. and Br. (sinking of Lousitania, 1915)=>US entry, April 1917 (decided outcome of war)+ convoy-system by P.M. Lloyd George+Br. navy imposed a surface blockade of German ports=> starvation in Germany=>mutiny in the fleet of Kiel and Hamburg, Oct. 1918+uprisings in major cities, e.g. soldiers in Cologne.Summer, 1918: arrival of US Expeditionary Force (1 mill) at Western Front=> November 1918 German forces driven back. Abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II.=> 11 November 1918: Germany signs armistice ~ end of war in Western Europe.

Paris Peace Conference, 1919+Participants: US/Pres. W. Wilson; Britain/P.M. Lloyd George; France/ P.M. Clemenceau; Italy/ P.M. Orlando).+Separate negotiations with each of the Central Powers (Versailles, St Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sévres/Lausanne).+Britian driven from US position (Wilsonian ideas, e.g. national self determination) to punitive and demanding French objectives (Clemenceau’s principle of war guilt).

Conclusion of war for Britain: undefeated, less damage than France, Br. navy still largest in the world + territorial acquisitions (from Germ. in Afr., from Turkey in Middle East).BUT Britain’s world position weakened (Japan, US), European position relative (Germany).

II The political impact of World War I and party politics in the inter-war yearsSubstantial short- and long-term political changes.

Short-term political consequences:+Total war=>widening of gvmt powers (to adjust country’s resources to war needs): nationalization of coal mines, 1914; conscription, 1916; opening hours of pubs reduced; strikes banned; summer time; food rationing, 1918; Ministry of Information to coordinate war propaganda; name of royal family changed from German Saxe- Coburg-Gotha to Windsor.+ First coalition government:+1915-16 by Liberal P.M. Herbert Asquith to include Liberals (e.g. David Lloyd George), Conservatives and one Labour member.+1916-1918: Lib. Lloyd George’s Imperial War Cabinet (a wartime coalition gvmt.).

1918-22: Lloyd George’ coalition gvmt. reinforced=>Paris Peace Conference.1922: Lloyd George fell from power (1919-20: miners’ strikes; split within Liberals, 1921-

Anglo-Irish Treaty opposed by Conservatives).

Long-term political consequences:Re-arrangement of the British two-party system in inter-war years: 1 Decline of Liberals; 2 Rise of Labour 3 Strengethening of Conservatives

1 Decline of the Liberal Party - (1910-still the largest party in the Commons with 275 MPs=>1924 - only 40 MPs=>Post WWII politics~ a handful of Liberal MPs).1908-1915-P.M. Asquith’s New Liberal Government~in the footsteps of Gladstonian reform politics: first steps in Britain towards the welfare state (free school meals in state schools; old age pension scheme; Labour Exchanges to help the unemployed find jobs; 1911-National Insurance Act=>national insurance scheme: insurance fund with regular contributions from working people=>sick-pays and unemployment

benefits allocated.)Factors weakening Liberal position:+Split over supporting Labour in early 20thc (radical Liberals↔ capitalist Liberals).+Split bw Asquith and Lloyd George over conduct of war in 1915/16.+1918 election failure: large majority of people enfranchised by 1918 People Act voted Labour.+1924 election failure: great split: Liberals with capitalist ideas to Conservatives;Lib-Lab/pro-Labour members to Labour=> 40 Lib. seats + 1930s: Liberals squeezed out.

2 Rise of Labour Party :(19th c. background: growing Trade Union Movement, 1868 TUC=>nation-wide organization of workers, 1892: 1.5 million members; Keir Hardie’s Independent Labour Party, 1893; Fabian Society, 1884, socialist urban intellectuals)=>1906-Labour Party formed officially20th c. factors of growth:

+1900-14: slow growth (30-42 parliamentary seats)-support from pro-Labour Liberals.+1918: a social programme adopted, organization on a national basis with local branches.+1918 People Act + 1928 People Act (+alliance with TUC)=>electoral basis swelled.+Decline of Liberals.1922-Labour recognized as official opposition of Conservatives.1924, 1929-31-first Labour Governments by Ramsay MacDonald.

3 Strengthening of Conservative Party1906-22 ~ after disastrous election performance in 1906: longest continuous period in 200 yrs of Br. party politics without a Conservative P.M.1914-22 ~ a period of waiting for Conservatives: disintegration of Liberals, experience in coalition gvmt under Lloyd George.Turn of tide: 1918 People Act (+ 1928 People Act)=>long term increase of Conservative electoral basis: ex-Liberals opposing growth of Labour voted Conservative.Inter-war years: dominance of Conservative Party (18 yrs=largest party in Parl.;

16 yrs=majority of seats).In power: 1922-23 (Bonar Law), 1924-29 (Stanley Baldwin).Control of national/colation gvmts through P.M.s Baldwin, Neville Chamberlain (1935-40).

Stanley Baldwin: leading Conservative politician bw wars, P.M. more times; convincing representative of Conservative claim to being the party of moderation, consensus, patriotism, e.g. Baldwin carried the Act of Universal Franchise in 1928, managed to handle the General Strike of 1926, and dealt skilfully with the Abdication Crisis of King Edward VIII in 1936. (i.e. the Mrs Simpson-case).

III Economy and society in the inter-war yearsAn ’age of unevenness’ ~ prosperity years alternated with slumps, depressions, crises.

War experience of Br. economy complex: war demands=> resurgence of traditional/staple industries (iron and steel, coal, shipbuilding, textiles) BUT Peace=>rapid contraction.

Economic problems resulting from pre-war and war years:+evidence of pre-war decline in staple industries, esp. by comparison with Germ., US. (structural problems: lack of modernization, mechanization; e.g. Br. coal mining less mechanized than German or even Polish, i.e. 80% of Br. coal still hand-picked in 1920s).+contraction of volume of overseas trade during and after the war (1913-19: Br. lost over 1/3 of markets), i.e. S.Am. markets won by US, Eur. countries built up their own capacity of coal and steel).+Disruption/decline of Br. finances/trade (decline of earnings from overseas investments and services, e.g. insurance, shipping)=>from a creditor to a debtor nation ~ from international financial power to a nation dependent on US loan.

Strikes (economic slumps/contraction=> unemployment, low wages).+1919-20- about 2000 strikes.+General Strike of 1926 ~ most of nation’s workforce stopped work in support of one union/coal miners. Immediate cause: Coal miners’ strike against mineowners’ proposals to increase working hours and reduce wages + breaking down of negotiations bw Baldwin’s gvmt and TUC on behalf of miners=>TUC called a general strike.9 days, 2-3 mill. unionized workers (transport and railway workers, printers, gas and electricity workers, workers in heavy industry).Steps by P.M. Baldwin to combat effects of strike: troops and volunteers (middle-class people, univ. students) to maintain food supplies and services + use of infomation services, BBC to agitate against strike (playing upon polarization of society in relation to class and occupation).=>TUC accepted gvmt’s offer for miners BUT miners felt betrayed=>remained on strike for next 6 months (November: threat of starvation forced them back to work).=>1927 –Trades Disputes Act: banned general strikes.Great Depression, 1929 =>acceleration of decline of staple industries in 1930s.+Chronical inefficiency: overmanned, labour-intensive, lacking modernization+ Further shrinking of European market=>cut in production=>sharp in crease in unemployment: 1931: 3 mill. out of work (23% of insured workforce).Late-1930s-beginnings of economic recovery:+New industries: motor manufacturing (Morris and Austin), electrical engieneering; chemicals; aircraft.=> transformation of economic infrastucture: new industries located in London, SE England, W. Midlands (higher levels of scientific expertise, electricity suppliable across a national grid, large populations with consumer spending power=>North-South Divide.BUT New industries more highly mechanized (e.g. car plants with assembly lines)~more efficient use of manpower=>mass unemployment remained a problem.+ War preparations ~rebuilding of Br. armed forces (assisted by US money~ beginnings of ’special relationship’): large scale production of weapons, aircraft, war equipment.

Social problems:Although no serious political crisis or social upheaval in 1930s, for big masses: Depression years=’the devil’s decade’.Paradox: politically Br. society increasingly egalitarian/democratic (e.g. universal suffrage) ↔ economic polarization of society ~ growing gap bw ’haves’ and ’have-nots’,

i.e. growing modernization=>increasing living standards for upper/middle-class people (2/3 of nation’s wealth owned by 1% of population; 10% of income-earners took 42% of national wealth).Economic+social insecurity for masses of population=>instances of social unrest (strikes) and of violence targeting ethnic minorities (Chinese, Jews)=>1919: a wave of race riots (London’s East End, Newport, Cardiff, Liverpool, Glasgow).Growing racial tension =>Aliens Acts in first two decades of 20th c.~ first official measures of modern Britain to restrict immigration=>1930s-Racially motivated organized violence and paramilitary action:British Union of Fascists (BUF) by Sir Oswald Mosley in 1932 (1934: 20,000 members, paramilitary wing, ’Blackshirts’)

5 British Foreign Policy in the Inter-War Years

1 1920sCollective security= basic principle of European policy (to maintain peace and Versailles).League of Nations (set up by Treaty of Versailles): to provide a diplomatic method for the settlement of disputes on a multilateral basis.+Locarno Pact/Treaty of Mutual Guarantee, 1925 (Br., Fr., Germ., Belg., It.) to contain Germany on the West;+Kellog-Briand Pact/Pact of Paris of 1928 (over 60 signatories)~ international agreement that nations would not use war to settle disputes.Britain joined and favoured these agreements in the 1920s.Weaknesses of League of Nations/collective security:+Collective security tied to League of Nations but League without powers to enforce peace/to prevent war+ Eastern front not contained, i.e. Germany not contained in Central-Eastern Europe+ Soviet Union not involved in arrangements.(Problem: Although Weimar Republic of Germany seemed constructive participant in coll. sec. in 1920s ↔ 1933 Hitler removed Germany from League of Nations/Geneva Disarmament Conference + by 1930s German revisionism increasingly obvious).2 1930sTransformation of collective security to a policy of appeasement towards Germany.Britain’s contribution to the undermining of collective security~ lack of total commitment:+Br. view: Versailles too harsh on Germany=>future adjustments not out of question.+Br. commitment to Empire=>limit on involvement in European politics.+Br’s suspicion of Soviet Bolshevik Regime (Lenin, Trotsky etc.) and of Stalin=>lack of diplomatic contact=>failure of involving the SU in collective security/containing Germany in Central-Eastern Europe. Consequences: Stalin’s role in Hitler’s rise, 1931-33; 1939, German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact=>Hitler’s invasion of Poland.Problems of 1930s~violation of Versailles by Germany: remilitarization of Rhineland, 1936; Annexation of Austria/Anschluss, 1938; Annexation of Sudetenland, 1938.British responses (Prime Ministers: R. MacDonald 1929-35, S. Baldwin 1935-37,

N. Chamberlain 1937-40)~dual approach:+appeasement~little resistance to powers threatening peace (Franco Regime in Spain, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany).+Br. re-armement from late 1930s (US money) to recover depressed economy.Examples of Brtish policy of appeasement:+1935-Anglo-German Naval Agreement (allowed Germany to rebuild navy to within 35% of Br. naval strength).+No counteraction by Baldwin or Chamberlain to German move to Rhineland and Austria.+Sudeten Crisis, 1938=>Munich Agreement bw Hitler and Chamberlain: Sudetenland signed away to Germany+German promise to stop expansion.BUT Dramatic events after Munich=>Change in Br. foreign policy in early 1939: guarantees to Poland and Romania against threats to their independence.+Invasion of Bohemia/Czech territory by Hitler, March 1939 (violation of Munich).+1939-Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (Pol. and Rom. considered by Br. as vital barrier against expansion of Germ. and Rus.)+September 1, 1939-Hitler’s invasion of Poland=>Sept. 3 British declaration of war on Germany.

6 Britain and the Empire in World War II

May 1940-N. Chamberline’s Cabinet was replaced by W. Churchill’s War Cabinet (a coalition gvmt incl. 1 Lib., 4 Labour, 15 Conserv. Ministers, in power until 1945).

Measures to meet the demands of war (military casualties 1/3 of those of WWI, but great civilian hardships during the Blitz).+Conscription+Emergency Powers Act, 1940 ~ unlimited powers to gvmt, e.g. strict rationing; Min. of Labour to direct workers nationally: masses of so far home-based women employed in wartime factories.+Wartime propaganda by Churchill’s morale-boosting speeches , e.g. Blood, toil, tears and sweat speech, in Commons, May 1940.

Main features of war:+Enemy camps: Axis Powers (Ger., It., Jap.)↔Allied Powers (Br. and Commonwealth, Fr., US, SU, China).+Main war theatres: Europe, Soviet Union, North Africa, Pacific and Atlantic seaborads.+End of war in Europe V-E Day, May 8, 1945 (German capitulation);

in the Pacific V-J Day, September 2, 1945 (formal capitulation by Japan).

Military events involving Britain:Unlike in WWI, in WWII, Britain’s military role more peripheral: North Africa and Italy, at sea, in the air.Phoney war ~first 6 months of war (although both Fr. and Br. at war with Ger., but did not send soldiers until Ger. attacked Denmark and Norway).April 1940 – German invasion of Denmark and Norway: failure of Allied resistance=>resignation of Br. P.M. N. Chamberlain=>Curchill’s appointment.By end of May 1940 – German invasion of Holland, Belgium, France=>Evacuation of Dunkirk, 26 May – 4 June 1940 ( a rescue manouvre organized by Churchill: over 300,000 Allied troops (Br. and Fr.) tranferred from Northern France to England, by nearly 900 vessels).

Battle of Britain, 10 July-31 October 1940 – direct threat of German invasion of Britain.Luftwaffe (Messerschmitts, Junkers) ↔ RAF (Hurricanes, Spitfires)Initial German intention: to establish air superiority over Br. => invasion, code-named Sea Lion. BUT failure=>the Blitz from early Sept.: air raids against London and other industrial cities, e.g. Coventry, Southampton, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Hull, Portsmouth (ab. 40.000 civilians killed, over 1 mill. homes destroyed).October 1940 – Hitler abandoned the plan of invading Britain (=>invasion of SU)German air raids continued BUT improvements in Br. air defences/artillery control, e.g. radars for nightfighters=>larger toll of attackers.+US help: destroyers-for-bases deal (Sept. 1940), lend-lease system (March 1941).

Spring 1941 – German move to the Balkans,Yugoslavia, Greece.June 1941 – German move to SU (finally expelled in Aug. 1944).

December 8 1941 – US enters war (after Pearl Harbor)

First front with US participation:Nov. – Dec. 1942 Operation Torch in North Africa, proposed by Churchill.

Br. Gen. Montgomery, Br., US troops ↔ Ger. Gen. Rommel’s Afrika Korps.El-Alamein, Oct.-Nov. 1942 – Montgomery’s victoryMay 1943 – Allied victory in North Africa

=>July-Aug. 1943 – Allied invasion of Sicily (July 1943 – fall of Mussolini).=>Sept. 1943 – Italian Campaign by Allies(3 Sept./landing; 8 Sept./unconditional surrender by Italy =>Germany overran Italy)

4 June 1944 – Rome fell to Allies;May 1945 – fall of Trieste=>German surrender in Italy.

Second front with US participation:6 June, 1944, Normandy – D Day ~ beginning of Operation Overlord: Allied landing and a cross channel assault on Hitler’s ’Atlantic Wall’ by nearly 1 mill. Allied soldiers (US., Br., Can., Polish), under supreme leadership of US Gen. Eisenhower.=>Liberation of France, recapture of Paris on 25 Aug., 1944.=>Allied forces gradually drove German troops back.

Setbacks in the process of driving the Germans back in Western Europe:+Battle of Arnhem, Holland, September, 1944: an airborne operation by Allies to capture a bridge on the Rhine. Failed, thousands died=>withdrawn by Montgomery after 4 days.

+Battle of the Bulge, December, 1944 ~ last desperate offensive by Germans in the Ardennes, Southern Belgium: a surprise attack against the thinnest section of the Allied frontline, punching it back in a several-mile deep swelling/bulge=>defeated by Allies in a month.25 April, 1945 – link up of Western Allies and the Soviet Army on the Elbe=>Germany capitulated on May 8, 1945.

Britain’s involvement in airborne operations, e.g. RAF’s participation in the bombing of Germany from 1943 on: ”bombing round the clock”~ US Airforce and RAF alternated their raids against Germany=> German cities, e.g. Dresden in ruins.

Battle of the Atlantic ~ British Royal Navy frustrated Hitler’s attempts to starve Br. into submission through U-boat campaign on merchant shipping.

War Diplomacy: negotiations/conferences, until winter of 1943 by US and GB, then by Big Three (US, GB, SU)Atlantic Charter, Aug. 1941, (Placentia Bay, New Foundland)- signed by Br. P.M. W. Churchill and US Pres. F.D. Roosevelt: secured the Allies of US support against the Axes.Casablanca Conference, Jan. 1943 – Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to fight on until ’the unconditional surrender’ of the enemy + discussed military strategy in North Africa.

Conferences to discuss the opening of a second front in Europe:+ With US-Br. participation: Trident Conference, May 1943 (Washington DC); Quebec/Quadrant Conference, Aug.-May 1943+ With Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin): Teheran Conference, Nov.-Dec. 1943. (final decision about the landing at Normandy)

Conferences to decide post-war arrangements:+Yalta, Febr. 1945 (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin), e.g. decisions on Allied occupation and division of Germany, foundation of UNO as a world peace organization.

+Potsdam, July-Aug. 1945 (Harry S. Truman, Clement Attlee, Stalin), e.g. fixed reparations to be paid by Germany, decision on trial and punishment of ’war criminals’; a declaration to call on Japan to surrender (Potsdam Declaration).

The consequences of the two World Wars on the British Empire

Correct the following statements:i. Britain’s declaration of war on the Central Powers in 1914 did not influence the colonies and dominions as regards involvement in warfare.

ii. The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a successful military offensive by Canadian troops against Germany in Belgium in 1917, and had a great impact on the growth of Canadian national identity.

iii. The Battle of Gallipoli (1915/16) had a remarkable influence on the national consciousness of Australia and India, which has been commemorated on ANZAC DAY to this date.

iv. After World War I the British Empire was further increased. Britain gained mandates in Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan after the fall of the Habsburg Empire, as well as in the former German colonies of Tanganyika and South West Africa (now Namibia).

v. Although the Dominions were not separately included among the signatories of the Treaty of Versailles, the inter-war years witnessed further developments in their constitutional status.

vi. The 1931 Statute of Westminster was the formal declaration of full dominion independence, including equal status with England, complete freedom in legislature and autonomy in international relations.

vii. Canada was the first dominion to establish permanent diplomatic ties with a foreign country when it opened a diplomatic mission in Canberra in 1927.

viii. As a result of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, the whole of Ireland became a dominion of the U.K.

ix. Although the U.K.’s declaration of war on Germany in 1939 did not commit the dominions, all declared a state of hostilities withGermany.

x. Despite the fact that Australia automatically entered W.W. II as Britain’s ally, the Australian political leadership became profoundly disillusioned with Britain’s mishandling of the Australian forces in the war. As a result Australia declared war on China on its own right, and fought in the Pacific on the side of the US.

7 The Impact of World War II. The Labour Government 1945-51

I The political impact of World War II

Churchill’s wartime Cabinet = an authoritarian government

+1939 National Service Act =>conscription

+evacuation & civil defence schemes

+rationing

+censorship of communist papers by Ministry of Information

BUT! End of war: democracy returned => 1945 general elections: landslide victory of Labour Party (Labour 393

seats, Conservatives 213 seats, Liberals 12 seats).

II The economic impact of World War II

1 Impact on international economic position: negative, i.e. Br’s position contracted further (loss of ¼ of

national wealth, 3-fold increase in national debt, decline of exports by 2/3)=> Br’s heavy dependence on US (1946

US loan, 1948 Marshall Aid).

2 Impact on home sector of economy more mixed:

+enormous physical destruction in cities

+military needs=>advances in science & technology=>development in iron & steel, engineering, chemicals

+advances in agriculture: overall increase in home-produced food (42% in 1938, 52% in 1945)

Importance of state intervention in economy: nationalization & adoption of Keynsian economics (John Maynard

Keynes 1883-46).

III Social developments associated with World War II

+1942 Beveridge Report (Report on Social Insurance & Allied Services) (William Beveridge 1879-1963): five

major social deficiencies: “Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor & Idleness.”

Recommendations: a scheme of social insurance from ‘the cradle to the grave’, i.e. national health service,

social insurance and assistance, family allowances & full employment policies (full implementation by Attlee

Government in the form of welfare state).

+WWII = accelerator of social change: a levelling effect on the social consciousness of population (17 mill. of

various classes involved in war effort) => a big demand for social reform, a more democratic system of social

security and welfare.

IV Clement Attlee’s Labour Government (1945-51) and the modern welfare state

(Leading Cabinet members: H. Morrison, E. Bevin, H. Dalton, A. Bevan)

1 Theoretical foundations and antecedents of the welfare reform:

+Early welfare system of Liberal P.M. Herbert Asquith’s pre-WW I government

+Beveridge Report of 1942

+Keynsian economics

2 The five main measures of Labour’s reforms ~ an extended system of welfare, publicly financed through

taxes from workers & employers, contributions from the state:

(i) Family Allowances Act, 1945 (e.g. child allowances)

(ii) National Health Service Act, 1946: universal, free medical treatment, nationalized hospitals, costs borne by

general taxation.

BUT! Strong opposition from doctors (i.e. abolished the sale of private practices)=>a mixed system (retention of

private practice & ‘pay beds’)

(iii) National Insurance Act, 1946: sickness & unemployment benefits, retirement pension scheme, maternity

grants.

(iv) National Assistance Act, 1948: a safety net for those not covered by National Insurance, e.g. state allowances

for the disabled.

(v) National Insurance Industrial Injuries Act, 1946: workers entitled to compensation for injury or to disability

pensions.

+An additional welfare measure: state-subsidized ‘council houses’=>over 1 mill. new, temporary/rented

dwellings by 1952.

3 Developments beyond the immediate scope of welfare:

+ The implementation of the Education (Butler’s) Act of 1944:

+Ministry of Education

+Free secondary education (until 15) based on the 11+Exam=>tripartite division into sec. grammar, sec.

modern & technical schools. The role of LEAs (Local Educational Authorities) in organizing secondary

education.

Problems: disillusionment with sec. modern schools; selective system of 11+ socially divisive, reinforcing class

differences=>alinated substantial numbers of lower-middle class people=>one reason for Labour’s election failure

in 1951

+ the next 20 years: spent in the undoing of the tripartite model and the introduction of the comprehensive

system.

Paradox: Independent/private sector untouched (despite growing hostility towards them by lower-class

people)=> public schools, like Eton thrived as a result of their charitable status (income exempted from taxation if

invested in education).

+The enhancement of environment by two measures:

(i) New Towns Act, 1946=>by 1951 14 new towns

(ii) Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, e.g. required local authorities to preserve local heritage.

4 Two main aspects of Labour’s welfare reforms:

(i) The new arrangements universal + in some cases free (NHS)

(ii) Central role of state + nationalization of essential services and industries: health care, Bank of England,

coal, transport, electricity, gas, civil aviation, iron and steel (1977: Labour Callaghan: aircraft & shipbuilding)=>

20% of nation’s industry taken into public sector

(N.B. Thatcher-administration: reversal ~ re-privatization/de-nationalization).

V Assessment of Labour’s welfare state:

Achievements:

+Covered a great range of people=>for most working-class people the best years since late-Victorian heyday:

wages, living standards rose; guaranteed employment; more satisfying environmental and educational facilities;

leisure aspects of life (popular sport and culture: football, cinema, dance-hall) readily accessible.

+1951: Festival of Britain: a triumphant occasion; cleaning-up of the derelict south bank of the Thames + a superb

new Festival Hall.

+Trade Unions strongly supported the Labour Government=>secured working class acceptance of restrictive

measures like wage freezes, disagreeable hardships

+A commitment to the welfare state & to full employment gained a broad measure of support and was accepted

by successive Labour & Conservative governments over the next 20 years.

Problems:

+The spiraling administrative costs of an enlarged state=>e.g. in NHS prescription charges, then charges on

spectacles and dentures introduced (Health Min. Bevan resigned).

+Disillusionment with tripartite secondary educational system

+In retrospect the era is often projected as one of austerity and gloom: Br. faced a huge post-war debt;

continuous shortages of raw materials and basic food supplies=>rationing of food, clothing, petrol and many

domestic commodities until 1954 (=>’black market’ flourished).

+Severe difficulties in national economy, e.g. huge post-war debts mostly to US; balance of payment deficits, esp.

during Korean War (1950-53).

Criticism (e.g. by C. Barnett): Welfare exerted a drag effect on Britain’s post-war industrial recovery, i.e. its costs

prevented Britain from becoming a major economic power once again=>soon fell behind such countries as Japan,

Germany, France and even Italy.

V 1951 General Elections: victory of Conservative Party

Paradox: although Labour gained nearly 49% of popular vote, and Conservatives only 48%, because of the ‘first-

past-the-post’ system Conservatives gained the majority of seats (321) in Parliament, while Labour secured 295

seats.

Reasons for Labour’s failure:

e.g.

+Reduction of middle-class support;

+1948 Representation of the People Act transformed constituencies=>unfavourable to Labour

+Problems, divisions within Labour => an ineffective campaign + problems beyond their immediate control (e.g.

Korean War=>increased military expenditure)

+The revival and convincing campaign of Conservatives

=>Labour squeezed out of power until 1964= ‘Conservative Decade’

8 Consensus Britain

8. 1 The Conservative Decade 1951-64

Introduction

‘Conservative decade’~ 13 years of uninterrupted Conservative rule:

(P.M.s: Winston Churchill (1951-55), Anthony Eden (1955-57), Harold Macmillan (1957-63), Alexander Douglas-

Home (1963-64))

General features:

+No major departure from Attlee-style consensus (retention of most reforms introduced by Labour, policy of social

peace: e.g. commitment to Welfare state and full employment, interventionist state policies).

+Favourable factors=>length of Conservative tenure of office (1950s: economic growth and affluence;

weaknesses of Labour: internal divisions bw Fundamentalists & Revisionists)

+Decline in early 1960s (consequences of Suez Crisis; 1961: sharp economic downturn; opting out of EEC in

1957, then failure to join in 1962).

Two general tendencies:

I 1951-60: ‘Conservative ascendancy’

II 1961-64: decline of complete Conservative domination

I 1951-60: ‘Conservative ascendancy’ (due to a combination of Conservative strengths and Labour

weaknesses).

A) Conservative strengths

(i) A new image of moderation & efficiency, based on research by advisory groups,

e.g. Bow Group: consensus politics (Conservative accommodation to welfare, full employment, house building

targets) to increase electoral support among the working classes=>1950s: highest proportion of popular vote

since 1930s (1959 elections: an overall majority of 100 parliamentary seats).

(ii) Pragmatism: Conservatives ready to accept compromises to gain & keep power.

e.g. Chancellor Butler with reference to the electorate and welfare state:

“If they want to have that sort of thing, they can have it, but under our auspices.”

‘Mr Butskell’~ a composite name (Conserv. Chancellor Butler, 1951-54 + Labour Chancellor Gaitskell, 1951)

invented by the Economist to express consensus bw Conservative & Labour policies).

(iii) Conservative advantage over Labour in terms of leadership: a new P.M. boosted the party on 2 occasions:

1955: Sir Anthony Eden; 1959: Harold Macmillan (‘Macwonder’, ‘Supermac’)

(iv) An effective ministerial team and talented party leadership representing a new generation of Conservatives,

e.g. Edward Heath, as chief whip kept the party together after Suez; Lord Hailsham, party chairman, leader of

successful 1959 election campaign, slogan ‘Life is better under Conservatives.’

(v) 1950s=a period of economic growth, affluence, increasing consumption, income tax cuts before elections

(1957, Macmillan: Br. people ‘never had it so good’)=>attracting ‘floating voters’ + it is rare for a gvmt. to be

thrown out during prosperity.

(vi) Governing according to the ‘one-nation tradition’, i.e. trying to appeal to the widest possible range of

interests and social groups.

(vi) The skilful handling of serious crises, e.g. replacement of Eden by Macmillan after Suez.

B Labour weaknesses (i.e. Conservatives also profited from Labour weaknesses)

(i) After 1951 election failure Labour slow at recovery and internal deconstruction

(ii) Internal divisions: Revisionists (Gaitskell+ party line) vs Fundamenatalists (Bevan)

Key issue: future of socialism

Revionists: supported mixed economy and emphasis on social equality

Fundamentalists: public ownership should completely replace private ownership

Two specific issues:

+Defence: Revisionists supported Conserv. gvmt’s proposal for re-armament of Germany and its inclusion into

NATO vs Fundamentalists: against the alienation of SU.

+Nuclear weapons: Bevanites/Fundamentalists in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament of Br./CND

(Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, 1958) Labour’s official policy + majority of Br. electorate.

(iii) Labour’s campaigns and leadesrship lacked the appeal of those of Conservatives: Eden vs Attlee;

Macmillan vs Gaitskell.

II Conservative decline, 1961-64

After 1959 a wide range of problems partly fortuitous, partly the gvmt’s own responsibilities => deepening decline

and fall in 1964

(i) 1961: economy took a sharp downturn=>by 1962 unemployment reached 800.000, increase in the number

of strikes, by contrast continuing affluence on the Continent.

Economic problems generated political crisis: 1962: Macmillan sacked altogether 16 ministers=> he lost his

earlier positive image: ‘Mac the Knife’

(ii) Foreign affairs intruded into domestic policy

Two dimensions:

+Cold War Crises (The Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crises) dealt with in direct confrontation bw SU and

US=>Britain no longer an international power.

Former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson: “Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role.”

+ Br’s search for alternative foreign attachments failed: 1962: sought entry into EEC but accession vetoed by

French President De Gaulle.

(iii) Early 1960s: a rash of scandals associated with the Conservatives=>widespread irreverence for the gvmt.

+Rackmanism

+Spy scandals, e.g. Portland spy scandal: discovery of Kim Philby, a member of the ‘Cambridge spies’, who gave

British secrets to SU (in 1963 defected to SU)

+Profumo affair: an affair bw John Profumo, Minister of Defence & Christine Keeler, a model also sharing her

favours with a Soviet intelligence official. After the court trial Macmillan resigned as P.M. in 1963.

(iv) After the resignation of Macmillan, Lord Douglas-Home P.M.: a far less effective leader: no experience in

domestic affairs, rather unpopular Harold Wilson, a new & pragmatic leader of Labour: managed to restore

party unity bw the left and the right, emphasized ‘modernization’ instead of ‘nationalization’ in his rhetoric on

economy

=> Labour revived, developed a new image (a party with ideas & vision) & won the general elections in

1964.

III Assessment of Conservative decade: in positive as well as negative terms

Positive aspects:

+Improvements in living standards: pay rises=>growth in purchasing power (car-ownership, a wide distribution

of TVs, fridges, vacuum cleaners, washing machines).

+ Improvements in living conditions: 300,000 new houses=>increase in home-ownership (1964: 44% of

population).

+Educational reform:

*Expansion of higher education (11 new universities)

*Allowed LEAs to introduce comprehensive system (supported by Labour).

Negative aspects:

+Economic growth relative:

*Growth-rate unimpressive in comparison to France, Germany, Japan.

*Br’s share of world trade shrank (1950: 25%, 1962: 15%)

*Growth of Br’s GDP 30% cf average growth in EEC countries 80%

+Use of pragmatic, short-term ‘stop-go’ measures to deal with economic factors=> failed by 1959/60 (price

increases, wage demands, balance of payment crises, sharp rise in unemployment.

+Failure to rebuild & modernize Br. industry (both Japan & Germany overtook Br. in industrial infrastructure,

although theirs had been destroyed in WWII).

Reason: the priority of outdated imperial legacy (overseas investments instead of internal modernization)

IV Society & culture

Experiment and innovation in arts & literature + Importance of state patronage through Arts Council (CEMA:

Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts).

+Novelists of distinction: Joyce Cary, Lawrence Durrell, Iris Murdoch

+Drama: a wide range styles from avant-garde work of Irishman Samuel Beckett & of Harold Pinter to social

realism of John Osborne (Look Back in Anger, 1956)

+Poetry: much vitality, notably through work of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas

+Music: Benjamin Britten active in both composition and opera (Peter Grimes, 1945).

+Local festivals: Edinburgh Festival (launched in 1947) most distinguished.

+Cinema~a medium for renewed artistic experimentation, drawing mass audiences.

War years & late 1940s: the cinema became an innovative art form drawing upon wartime themes to imbue a

commercially inclined industry with creative realism.

Later 1950s: Impact of new French, Italian tides on British cinema=> a wave of socially realistic films with a new

depth and sensitivity~ a shift in cultural attitudes,

e.g. A Taste of Honey, Saturday Night Sunday Morning (working-class values and related human relationships).

8.2 Consensus Britain: Years of Reform and Crisis, 1964-79

Introduction:

Alternating Labour and Conservative governments (1964-70: Harold Wilson, Labour; 1970-74: Edward Heath,

Conservative; 1974-79: Wilson & James Callaghan, Labour)

Three main developments:

1. Reform

2. Crisis

3. The post-war political consensus bw Labour & Conservatives ended.

I Reform

1. Central administration

+More emphasis on the professional training of civil servants, e.g. 1970: Civil Service College

+ Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration/Ombudsman

+ Moves to provide regional governments/devolution for Scotland and Wales: failed in 1979

2. Legislature, Parliament

+1969 Representation of the People Act: lowering the voting age to 18

+ 1975: the first ever referendum in Br. about the country’s continued membership of the EEC (2 to 1 in favour)

3. Social reforms

A/ Private members’ bills

+1964: Murder Bill of Silverman/Abolition of the Death Penalty Act

+1967: Sexual Offences Act

+1967: David Steel’s Abortion Act

+1968: George Strauss’s Theatres Act

B/Governmental bills

+1967: Family Planning Act

+1969: The Divorce Act

+1970: Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

+1975: Sex Discrimination Act + Equal Opportunities Commission

Acts related to race relations:

+the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968 & the Immigration Act of 1971: to restrict New-Commonwealth

immigration

+1976 Race Relations Act & Commission for Racial Equality: to promote the integration of the already settled

immigrants

II Crisis

Crisis during the Heath-administration (1970-74)

+October 1973: Arab-Israeli War: a 4-fold increase of price of oil=>Br. economy badly hit

+1973: NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) pressed for a 35% pay-rise NCB (National Coal Board) offered

16%.

+12 Nov. 1973: NUM introduced an overtime ban=>coal production was cut by 40%

+13 Nov. 1973: gvmt introduced a state of emergency

Britain faced a grave economic crisis=>announcement of P.M. Heath that from 1 Jan. 1974 the industry would be

placed on a three-day working week.

The aims of gvmt. with 3-day week:

1. to put pressure on miners towards a wage settlement

2. to shame miners in the public eye

The impact of the 3-day week:

+On people’s lives: limited

+On industry: difficulties in particular regions + production level decreased by 20% across the country.

+On Heath government: failure, i.e. 10 Febr. 1974: a miners’s strike began + growing irritation of the public

=>Febr. 1974 ‘crisis election’ with the slogan ‘Who governs?’=>Wilson & Labour came back to power.

Crisis during the Wilson and Callaghan-administrations (1974-79)

1975 onwards the Br. economy went into a serious crisis=>Wison applied for urgent loans from the IMF.

1975-78 the Labour governments of Wilson and Callaghan negotiated a ‘social contract’ with the trade unions:

unions agreed to moderate their wage demands in return for e.g. job protection.

BUT! 1978 P.M. Callaghan imposed a restriction of 5% on any wage increase=>”the winter of discontent of 1978-

79”~a period of sustained and sometimes violent industrial unrest when all kinds of public service workers,

including even council grave diggers, went on strike.

End: Febr. 1979: Callaghan allowed local authorities to settle their employees claims above the 5% norm.

=>28 March 1979 the House of Commons passed a motion of no confidence in the government=>29 March 1979

Callaghan offred his resignation and announced a general election=> victory of Conservative Margaret Thatcher.

9 British Foreign Policy from 1945 to 1979

9. 1 Attlee-government, 1945-51; The Conservative Decade, 1951-1964

I Introduction

After WW II: Br. forced to adapt to a new, declining role in the world.

BUT! Decline only self-acknowledged in 1957-70=>adjustments: conventional military forces reduced, nuclear

arsenal built up with US assistance + seeking entry into EC.

i.e. Right after WW II both Labour and Conservatives still confident in Br. being a great power

e.g. Churchill’s Fulton-speech, Missouri, US, 1946:

Let no man underrate the abiding power of the British Empire and Commonwealth […] or that half a

century from now you will not see 70 or 80 million Britons spread around the world and united in

defence of our tradition, our way of life and of the world cause we and you espouse. […] From Stettin in

the Baltic… to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the continent. Behind that

line lie [the] Communist parties which […] are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control” (qtd in

Lee 1996: 262, Pearce & Stewart 2002: 616).

=>Intentions of the gvmts of the period:

+an equal partnership with US within ‘special relationship’ to counter the Soviet threat

+to be a ‘third force’/one of the 3 power blocs, allied with US against SU

Problem: equal partnership never accepted by US

e.g. Eisenhower in his diary in 1953:

[Churchill] has fixed in his mind a certain international relationship […] that Britain and the British

Commonwealth are not to be treated as other nations would be treated by the US in complicated foreign

problems. […] he […] intends that those countries shall enjoy a relationship which will recognize the

special place of partnership they occupied with us during WW II. […] In the present international

complexities, any hope of establishing such a relationship is completely fatuous” (qtd in Lee 1996: 266).

II Foreign Policy of Labour (1945-51)

Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin ~ the most powerful figure in the Attlee Cabinet

A/ Bevin involved US in containing Soviet backed Communism and in helping Western Europe

e.g.

+Greece: an attempted takeover by Communist guerillas => Bevin ‘bounced’ the US into the ‘Truman Doctrine’ of

1947.

+Germany: Bevin took a leading role in the creation of the West German state (i.e. Bevin’s proposal to

consolidate the western zones by a new single currency:DM)

+Marshall Aid: Bevin’s role in setting up the OEEC, Paris, 1948 = formal body to channel & handle US aid.

+NATO

Sir N. Henderson, “… if one person was responsible at the time for canalizing the mood of Western Europe into

the idea of the Treaty [NATO], this was Ernest Bevin” (qtd in Lee 1996: 264)

i.e. Bevin’s campaign for a Western Union =>Brussels Treaty, 1948 (mutual defence pact of Br., Fr., Benelux

countries) + Berlin Crisis of 1948 => US & Canada joined => NATO, 1949.

B/Nuclear power: the secret decision to make Br. a nuclear power was made under Bevin => 1952 (Churchill-

admin.): Br. exploded her own nuclear bomb.

C/ Beginnings of Decolonization

(i) India : after WWII ~ an expensive luxury for Britain

BUT! Peaceful abandonment of a united India impossible: bitter divisions bw Muslims (Muslim League,

Mohammed Ali Jinnah) & Hindus (Congress Party, Gandhi & Nehru)

=>1947: end of the Raj=>Independence & Partition of India: India + Pakistan (1971: Bangladesh) BUT!

atrocities (ab. 1 mill. people died)

(ii) Palestine: British mandate after WWI

Basic problem: bitter conflict bw Arabic and Jewish communities

i.e. By the 1930s a sizeable Jewish community + Zionism=>to create a national home for Jewish people.

+ Jews insisted on the liberation of Palestine=> During WW II Irgun (M. Begin) & Stern Gang (Y. Shamir) began

terrorist action against British officials to force the British withdrawal from Palestine.

+Tension in US-Br. relations, i.e. Br.: anxious to retain the friendship of the Arabic world=>to stem Jewish

immigration + to retain Palestine US Pres, Truman (+Jewish lobby in Democratic Party and N.Y.) favoured the

Jewish community.

Climax: Jewish terrorist bombing of King David Hotel, Jerusalem, 1946 =>death of 91.

+Capture and hanging of 2 Br. officers by Irgun

1947: Br. quitted Palestine => UN received responsibility for settling the problem: voted for Partition, i.e.

independent Israel + independent Palestine.

15 May 1948: Br. mandate in Palestine ended formally + David Ben Gurion proclaimed the state of Israel.

BUT! Despite withdrawal from Palestine the Middle East remained of vital importance for Britain (strategic &

economic reasons).

D/Empire & Europe: Empire as a whole, particularly Africa still vital for Br.’s post-war economic recovery=> in

post-war years both imports & exports with Empire grew.

=> Bevin ~ coolness towards European integration (from 1948)=> Br. was not consulted in the setting up of

the European Coal & Steel Community (*1951).

E/ Korean War (1951-53): before Suez a major watershed in Br’s self-perception as a superpower:

involvement required re-armament=>harmful to the Br. economy of the time.

+Strained Anglo-American, ‘special relationship’, i.e. Korea and Far East not so vital to Br. as to US + US

annoyed by Br. recognition of Communist China + Br. deeply concerned at the prospect of US attacking China &

using nuclear weapons against it.

Σ According to certain political analysts: as regards foreign policy Attlee & Bevin had a positive balance.

III The Foreign Policy of the Conservative Decade, 1951-64 (W. Churchill, A. Eden, H. Macmillan) ~ “Managed

Decline”

Main features:

+Accelerated retreat from Empire =>by 1964: reduced to Overseas Territories (today: 14)

+”Special relationship” considered paramount

+Nuclear policy continued=>acquisition of a US nuclear deterrent

+Attitudes to Europe remained suspicious=>refusal of participation in EC/Common Market BUT! 1963: futile

attempt to seeking admission

+Middle East in the focus BUT! Suez Crisis, 1956=>humiliation+hollowness of claim to great power status

1 Churchill-administration (1951-54)

+Great emphasis on “special relationship”

+Importance of Middle East BUT! Br. unable to hold its interests without US assistance

e.g. Iran

Dr. Mussadeq removed western-friendly Shah Reza Pahlavi + nationalized Anglo-Iranian Oil Co./British

Petroleum (controlled Iran’s oil output).=>US/CIA assistance to Br. BUT! BP’s share reduced to 40% (40% by 5

US co.s, 20% by Dutch Shell & a French co.).

+Britain’s membership in anti-Soviet defence organizations outside Europe ~ world role continued:

*1955-SEATO=>British presence in South-East Asia: in Malaya, base in Singapore.

*1955-CENTO/Baghdad Pact=> British presence in Middle East: Aden, Persian Gulf.

+Geneva Conference on Indo-China, 1954: success of For. Secr. A. Eden

=>French withdrawal from Vietnam (+division into N & S), Laos & Cambodia BUT! another test of “special

relationship”, i.e. US had helped France to fight Communist Viet Minh & to keep Vietnam.

2. Eden-administration (1955-57)

The Suez Crisis, 1956

3. Macmillan-administrations (1957-64)

Main features:

+revival of “special relationship”: Macmillan on good terms with J.F. Kennedy

+a ‘revolution in defence thinking’=>Br. becomes a nuclear power, with US help.

1957-Br. explodes H-bomb BUT! no delivery system + no financial means to conduct research in nuclear

technology.

Sandys White Paper, 1957 ~ guidelines for changing Br’s foreign & defence policy: reducing conventional

forces + developing a nuclear deterrent with US help, i.e. switch from active foreign policy to a convincing

defence one.

=>1957-58: Macmillan allowed the stationing of 60 US intermediate-range ballistic missiles in return for access to

latest US nuclear technology.

The Atomic Energy Act + Nassau Agreement of 1962 => US provided Br. with Polaris submarine missiles

(upgraded under Thatcher by US Trident-system).

+Europe

Br. did not participate in negotiations leading to EC, 1958

Instead: EFTA, 1959, incl. “Outer Seven”(Br., 3 Scandinavian countries, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland) BUT! not

beneficial for Br. + EC refused to cooperate

=> early 1960s: Macmillan Cabinet realized the mistake of not joining the EC

=>1963: futile attempt to entry (veto of Fr. Pres. De Gaulle).

9.2 Foreign Policy in the Years of reform & crisis (1964-1979)

1 Wilson/Labour (1964-70)

Br’s retreat from a world role accelerated by 3 factors:

+The end of Empire in Africa

+Europe=new focus of foreign policy (1967: a 2nd unsuccessful application)

+Reoccurence of economic crisis in the late 1960s

=> Wilson announced the withdrawal of all Br. forces East of Suez: Br. forces withdrawn from Malaysia &

Singapore + Aden evacuated

BUT! Wilson maintained a consensus about the need to keep Br.’s nuclear deterrent.

1960s-1970s: US-Br. special relationship strained:

+Vietnam War

+US support for Pakistan in the war with India

+The third/Yom-Kippur Arab-Israeli War

2 Heath/Conservative (1970-74)

Initial attempt to slow down Br’s contraction overseas but eventually no real change in foreign & defence policy.

Reasons:

+Growing economic problems + industrial unrest=>domestic priorities

+From 1972 a permanent Br. military presence in Northern Ireland, i.e. The Troubles

+1973: Br. accepted as a full member of EEC=>committed Br. more to Eur. than to a world role.

3 Wilson+Callaghan/Labour (1974-79)

1974: Wilson announced a reduction of defence expenditure to give priority to welfare state.

BUT two areas to be maintained:

+nuclear deterrent

+contribution to NATO defence in Europe

Qs: Why did Br. increase its Eur. commitment? Why was Eur. more endangered?

+Reversal of US foreign policy: 1974/Watergate Crisis=>resignation of Nixon=>Pres. G. Ford & Pres. J. Carter

retracted US overseas commitment.

+Expansionist policy of SU under Brezhnev

=>European NATO members increased their contribution, Br. included.

Σ Paradoxically Br. defence expenditure increased under Labour.

10 From Thatcher to Blair

10. 1 The Thatcher Era, 1979-1990

I A brief career history of the ‘Iron Lady’

+“Small beginnings” of Margaret Roberts; Conventional education: grammar school;

+Oxford: chemist, then Barrister;

+Until 1957: marriage (Denis Thatcher), work & family;

+1959: beginning of parliamentary/political career: Conservative MP;

late 1960s: member of Conservative Shadow Cabinet;

Heath-gvmt: Minister for Education (‘milk snatcher’);

1975: Tory Party leader;

1979-1990: Conservative Prime Minister

II Thatcherism as an ideology~ to recover Britain through the fulfillment of 6 priorities:

1. to reduce the role of the state in the life of the individual, i.e. to reduce welfare and public spending

2. to develop a market economy=>cuts on direct/income taxation (but! increase in indirect taxation, e.g. VAT)

3. to promote popular capitalism through a process of privatization~de-nationalization/re-privatization of the main

services, e.g. Br. Petroleum, Br. Telecom, Br. gas, Br. Airways, Br. Steel, Br. Rail, the Water and the Electricity

Companies.

4. to destroy inflation by the application of monetarism, i.e. by controlling the money supply

5. to end industrial conflict by cutting the power of trade unions

6. to enhance Britain’s international position, e.g. winning the Falklands War, upgrading Br.’s nuclear arsenal,

strengthening relations with the US within the frame of the “special relationship”.

Σ A combination of late 19th-century/Victorian Liberal values, 20th-century Conservative outlook and

monetarist/post-Keynsian economic principles.

III Thatcher’s first government, 1979-83: ‘property-owning democracy’

Areas requiring urgent remedy:

+wage disputes, i.e. trade unions

+high inflation

Proposals for solution:

+breaking the strength of TUs=>controlled by legislation: Employment Acts of 1980, 1982 (gave employers

legal weapons to break strikes)

+monetarism ~ the control of the money supply => inflation fell

BUT! early 1980s: serious recession: industrial output fell sharply + unemployment rose steadily: by 1983: 3

mill.(=>later monetarism dropped as a guiding economic principle)

Home-ownership= the ‘flagship policy’ of the first term

+1980 Housing Act: to enable council house tenants to become owner-occupiers with local authority

mortgages=> a dramatic growth in the number of home-owners.

1983 general elections: a landslide Conservative victory

Reasons: Conservative achievements (e.g. falling inflation, prosperity in the SE) + disastrous performance of

Labour

IV Thatcher’s second government, 1983-87: ‘share-owning democracy’

Most successful period.

Regular reshuffling of gvmt (‘One of Us’; ‘uncertainty’ principle

Reforms:

+Education (both in 2nd & 3rd terms): GCSE; National Curriculum; greater parent participation; open enrolment;

City Technology Colleges.

+Privatization stepped up

Aim: free market economy

Consequences: a ‘nation of share-holders’

BUT! increased the ‘North-South divide’ & the gap bw the ‘haves’ & ‘have-nots’.

Crisis ending with the gvmt’s victory:

Miners’ Strike of 1984/85: ‘the last great industrial strike in Britain’, for 362 days (!)

Details: 1984: gvmt. determined to close down 20 ‘uneconomic’ pits

=>5 March 1984: miners started industrial action across the country (now on behalf of the whole TU movement

led by Arthur Scargill)

=>a lot of violence; regular physical confrontations bw strikers & police; traffic delayed/blocked because of ‘flying

pickets’

BUT! Thatcher held out => in the end many miners forced back to work out of economic necessity + devastated &

divided communities, i.e. miners slowly worn down.

Consequences:

+dramatic reduction of Br. mining (e.g. 42 pits closed)

+1984 Trade Union Act (even more powers to gvmt & employers)=> Thatcher’s initial promise of ‘taming’ the TU

movement fulfilled=>prestige

Embarrassments for government:

+Westland Scandal ~ a Cabinet controversy over rival bids to rescue Westland helicopter company: European

Consortium, supported by pro-European Defence Secretary M. Heseltine vs US Sikorski, supported by

Thatcher=>Sikorski won, Heseltine resigned + embarrassing side effects for gvmt, e.g. Thatcher criticized for

being US President Ronald Reagan’s ‘poodle’.

Σ Westland Scandal ~ a symbolic clash bw pro-European stance & the Transatlantic/’special relationship’ policy,

favoured by Thatcher.

1987 general elections: Conservative victory (BUT! with a more moderate majority)

V Thatcher’s third government and resignation 1987-90: ‘the people’s revolt’

1. Economy: return of recession (e.g. high inflation)=>political effects: damage of the unity & popularity of Tory

regime + Tory backbenchers increasingly critical of Thatcher’s leadership.

2. Europe: a rift within the Conservative Party

Single European Act of 1987: Thatcher signed it because it offered a huge market for Br. goods BUT! strongly

opposed centralization of EC, i.e. political & monetary union = a view shared by many Tory MPs Pro-

Europeans, e.g. Chancellor Sir Geoffrey Howe: his resignation harmful to Thatcher’s prestige (‘Little Englander’)

3. Community Charge/Poll Tax ~ ‘flagship policy’ of Thatcher’s 3rd term BUT! a major cause of Thatcher’s fall.

Background: Thatcher determined to reform the traditional system of local taxation, i.e. the ‘rates’ (based on the

notional rental value of property, regardless of the number of adult occupiers), and replace it with the Community

Charge/Poll Tax: a tax on people, not on property. (In fact, opposed by many Conservatives: the tax should be

banded according to the ability to pay)

1989: Poll Tax first introduced in Scotland => strong opposition & refusal to pay.

1990: Poll Tax introduced in England & Wales => fierce and widespread protests.

Culmination: London, 31 March 1990 (200,000 protestors, hours of rioting).

=>enormous harm to gvmt’s and Thatcher’s prestige.

BUT! Thatcher resigned both as party leader and Prime Minister before the Poll Tax was withdrawn in March

1991.

Causes of Thatcher’s fall in 1990:

+unpopularity of key policies, esp. the Poll Tax

+party divisions over Europe

+the return of economic recession

+criticisms of Thatcher’s style of leadership (‘remote’, abrasive, authoritarian)=>resignation of leading Cabinet

figures (e.g. Howe).

+growing fears among Tory MPs that Thatcher had become an electoral liability, incapable of repeating her earlier

victories at the polls, i.e. winning a 4th term for the Conservatives.

1990: John Major = new Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister.

10.2 The Major Administrations, 1990-97

I Introduction

Lee’ assessment of John Major’s leadership & premiership: “A compromise successor”.

Pearse & Stewart: Major ’not his own man’=‘his Cabinet a mixture of a friends, supportors & Thatcherites.

A short career history until P.M.

+A very different P.M. ~ the archetypal of the classless society. (Major admired by some people for his ‘working-

class background’ and for his aim to achieve a ‘classless’ society, but others criticized him for being ‘grey’ (dull,

ordinary)

*1943: last P.M. to be a child of the war generation. He had an undistinguished school career; attended no

university & he was unvoluntarily unemployed for a while.

He had made a career in banking and local politics before he was elected MP in 1979.

When in 1990 he replaced Thatcher, he was the youngest PM of 20th c at the age of 47 (until T. Blair who was 44)

Σ He hadn’t had a long political career behind him. He had spent 11 years in Parliament, and 3 in the Cabinet: he

served as Foreign Secretary, and then as Chancellor in Thatcher’s 3rd gvmt.

II Major’s first term (1990-92): 4 immediate problems to address:

1.to settle the debacle of the Community Charge/Poll Tax

2. to push on with reforms, esp. in health, education & judiciary

3. to tackle the problem of deepening recession

4. to carry on negotiations Europe for the inter-governmental conference to be held in Maastricht, 1992.

1. Sorting out the mess of the Poll Tax

+1991- the demise of it was announced and then it was withdrawn

+1992 – a New Council Tax: property based=>in part related to the ability to pay, i.e. the housing market was

banded with those in more expensive properties paying more.

2. Reform legislation

A/ Education:1991, 1992: the ‘binary system” of higher education ended, i.e.. Polytechnics applied for full

university status: “New Universities”

(2nd phase of university building after WWII: 1960: “Town Universities”).

B/ Reform in the judicial branch:

A series of unsound convictions, esp. if related to Irish or Black people, eg. Birmingham Six, Guildford Four,

Maguire Seven.

↓The Royal Commission on Criminal Justice appointed by gvmt. to investigate & report on unsound

convictions =>recommended changes to the police and legal procedures.

3. Economy~ an area of great concern: troubles deepening, e.g. house repossessons rising, unemployment

climbing, bankruptcies reaching record level. =>gvmt. no successful policy to reverse trends.

4. Europe

Dec. 1991 Maastricht Treaty negotiated.

Each signatory nation committed itself to validation according to its own constitutional laws, e. g Holland, France,

Ir, Rep.~referenda;

UK: validation taken to Parliament = debate over Maastricht caused party division and strife in Major’s next

term (1992-97).

+Constitutional matters with the Monarchy in focus.

Perceptions about the monarchy were changing (More & more people lost respect for the Royal Family after the

excessive exposure of personal & family problems, e.g. separation of Lady Diana & Prince Charles)

+Republican people questioned the maintenance of the monarchy, e. g. because of its high costs covered by

taxpayers.

↓Civil List: severely curtailed for members of the extended royal family.

+ Since 1993: The monarch pays an income tax.

1992 general elections: Conservatives in a difficult position, e.g. economy

+A ‘New Labour’ had taken shape.

Pre-election suggestions: a ‘hung’ parliament.

BUT! The Tories/Major won, however, this secured them the smallest majority since 1952 (21 seats)

III John Major’s second term (1992-97)

Three areas of concern:

1. Ratification of the Maastricht Treaty Bill in Parliament

2. Recession and the need to re-invigorate the economy

3. Increase the probity/transparency of the gvmt. & the Civil Service

1. Maastricht divided even the Tory faction: 11 ‘rebel’ conservative MPs (Eurosceptics, Europhobes, anti-

Maastricht MPs) were without the party whip for 6 months.

2 Aug. 1993 Treaty ratified, but Major’s gvmt. opted out of the Single Currency Act (provided for the EMU, Euro)

and the Social Chapter.

(The latter signed by Labour P.M. Blair).

2. Economy

Main problem: the pound came under increasing pressure=> its devaluation and the following speculation against

it on the currency exchange market

=>Black Wednesday, 16 Sept. 1992: Chancellor Lamont raised the interest rates by 5 % in an unsuccessful

attempt to improve the value of the Br. currency within European ERM (exchange-rate-mechanism)=>scheme

failed=>Br. forced to leave the ERM =>pound left floating.

3. Probity/transparency of the government & the Civil Service:

White Paper on ‘Open Government: still fell short of a Freedom of Information Act but did give more information

about the workings of the secret state.

(Freedom of Information Act, 2000, first Blair-administration: provides legal guarantee of the public’s right of

access to information about certain bodies, e.g. through documents kept in archives).

Other reforms:

+Equalization of state pensions was settled: in order to rein in spending on Welfare, retirement ages for both

men and women were set at 65.

+Environment: Major-gvmt. the first one to begin to address this agenda:

1994: ‘Sustainable Development: the UK Strategy’ published + a Secretary of State for Environment appointed.

1996: Environmental Agency set up

Σ The first national environmental plan in Britain.

Problematic areas:

+Health service: public complaints about a ‘two-tier’ system, high waiting lists, rise of the number of

administrators at the expense of medical staff, hospital closures.

+Privatization: Major’s proposal to privatize the Post Office dropped because of=>Conservative backbench

revolt in 1994.

↕

By this time ‘New Labour’ appeared as a more convincing party with a more dynamic agenda, e.g. constitutional

reforms: Devolution for Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland; Reform of the House of Lords (both rejected by Major

& Conservatives but vote-winning for Labour in 1997).

Scandals => eroded electoral support for Conservatives

+Matrix-Churchill Scandal: arms sold to Iraq, dating back to 1985, came to haunt Major’s gvmt. Since several

ministers were implicated in breaching the gvmt.’s own guidelines on the sale of arms, Major set up the Scott

Inquiry =>1995 Report: damaging for Major and the Conservatives.

+’Back to Basics’ : a slogan adopted by Major to express concern about moral standards in people’s private and

public life =>1994 Criminal Justice Act

BUT! Conservative scandals => ’Back to Basics’ ~ a synonym of political hypocrisy.

+’Cash for Questions’ Scandal, 1994-95 (involved many Conservative MPs and Minister Neil Hamilton): It was

revealed that some Conservative MPs were accepting money from business people in order to ask questions for

them in Parliament.

=> A severe loss of support for Conservatives

IV 1997: Fall of John Major and the defeat of the Conservatives

Causes:

+Divisions within Conservatives over EU (EU-ban on Br. beef causes by ‘Mad Cow Disease’)

+Persistent economic recession, esp. ‘Black Wednesday’

+Erosion of electoral support for Conservatives: by 1995 lost all but 8 councils in England; wiped out in Scotland

and Wales (Devolution by Labour for both countries in 1999)

+ Northern Irish ‘Peace Process’ faltering => renewed violence (New Labour’s manifesto promise: pacifying N.Ir.

=>1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement)

+External factor: Labour had been re-organized as ‘New Labour’. Their candidate for Prime Minister: Tony Blair

11 Foreign Policy and Defence from 1979 into the New Millenium

I The Foreign Policy of Margaret Thatcher

*Aim: to re-assert Br. influence in international affairs through the revival of special relationship (US Pres. R.

Reagan & Thatcher~ ‘ideological soulmates’)

+to upgrade Br.’s nuclear defences=>1980: Trident missile system.

*At the same time, acceleration of arms race: Soviet medium range nuclear missiles in Central Eur.=>96 US

cruise missiles in Br.

*Also, increased expenditure on defence in Eur. through NATO

=>cuts on conventional sector: 1981, decision to decommission 2 out of Br’s 3 aircraft carriers (probably

precipitated Falklands War).

*US aid in Falklands War=>1986: Thatcher allowed the use of Br. airbases by US jets to attack Lybia & kill

Pres. Gaddafi.

*Good relationship bw Thatcher & the new Soviet administration of Gorbachev=>at 1987 agreement bw US &

SU on reduction of intermediate range nuclear weapons Thatcher acted as a mediator.

Q: Thatcher’s role in the collapse of SU & end of Cold War.

Σ Special relationship: revived but remained unequal,

i.e. sometimes Thatcher’s gvmt came close to humiliation by US,

e.g. 1983 US invasion of Grenada (West Indies), a Commonwealth member, without Br. resistance.

Falklands War, 1982 ~ peak of Thatcher’s foreign policy

Falklands + economic recovery in 1982-87 increased Thatcher’s position.

BUT! By the time of Thatcher’s resignation the revival of Br.’s prestige had worn off=>no real, permanent

change in Br.’s world role

=> Thatcher was over-optimistic in 1988: “ I believe that Britain’s role & standing in the world have increased

immeasurably … We are now able again to exercise the leadership & influence which we have historically

shown.”

*Europe

Thatcher’s achievement: Br’s contribution to EEC budget reduced.

BUT! Her opposition to EMU & Social Chapter marginalized Br.

1989: further marginalization of Br.

+US Pres. G. Bush less enthusiastic about special relationship

+break-up of Soviet Empire=>US attention shifted to Germany & Central Europe.

II Foreign and defence policy in the 1990s

Soon after his appointment P.M. John Major confronted by the 1991 Gulf War (an agenda set by

Thatcher)=>45,000 Br. troops + jet fighters assisting US, ‘coalition forces’ under UN auspices to recover Kuwait

from Iraqi Saddam Hussein=>victorious involvement~an asset for Conservatives & Major to win 1992 gen.

elections.

BUT! From 1992: Br. foreign policy less decisive, i.e. Br. a reluctant European + a reluctant Atlanticist.

Europe:

Major signed the Maastricht Treaty but opted out of the EMU and the Social Chapter. Social Chapter signed by

Labour P.M. Tony Blair.

Special relationship: ups and downs

+conflict bw Major & US Pres. Clinton over Balkan Crisis

+revival bw Clinton & Blair e.g. US assistance in the completion of the Belfast Agreement, 1998.

NATO~a crucial plank in Br.’s world position.

Although end of Cold War required a new agenda, Br. an enthusiastic member.

e.g.

+biggest single contribution to UN/NATO Peace Keeping Force in Bosnia during Balkan Crisis

+1999, Kosovo: Br.’s leading role in securing eviction of Serbian army.

Conflict bw France & Br. over an independent European force:

France: a more independent European military force, i.e. less dependence on US air force.

Br./P.M. Blair: the integration of a European force into a NATO planning structure.

Σ By beginning of new millennium Br’s world position wholly different from 1945:

+British Empire gone

+Entry of EU but least enthusiastic member

BUT! Br. still an important player on the world scene:

+closest partner of US in NATO, e.g. 2003 war in Iraq

+1 of the big 4 in EU

+mother country of Commonwealth

=>according to some opinions: the most world orientated country in Europe.

13 Britain and Europe

History of membership:

1950s: Br. did not join the Treaty of Rome, 1957 (EEC), instead formed EFTA, 1959.

1960s: growing commitment in Britain to Europe => 2 attempts to accession (both vetoed by Fr. Pres. Ch. De

Gaulle).

1970: renewed negotiations of Br. membership =>

1st Jan. 1973: Britain a full member of EEC (along with Denmark & the Rep. of Ireland).

1975: Referendum on continued membership=>2:1 in favour

1970s: contradictions of early membership (high costs of membership BUT regional funds).

1986: Single European Market (EC) => British benefits: remarkable increase in the volume of trade with Europe.

1992: Maastricht Treaty (EU; provisions for EMU, Euro, European Bank, common defence, foreign and social

policy)↔ Britain: against greater integration & supranationalism (e.g. Conservative P.M. Margaret Thatcher

strongly opposed)

Conservative P.M John Major signed Maastricht, but opted out of Social Chapter withdrew support for monetary

union.

Labour P.M. Tony Blair: ‘two-track policy’:

1. More supportive of Europe.: 1997 signed Social Chapter, & EU’s Charter on Human Rights & Freedom of

Information (=>1998: first Br. Human Rights Act)

2. 1999: Britain did not join the Euro-zone + Blair has joined US in military undertakings despite opposition by

some European powers (2003 Iraq War).

Attitudes to EU membership divided: pro-Europeans/marketeers vs. Euro-sceptics.

Political circles:

Major parties agree that Britain should be in Europe but differences in opinion:

+opposition to greater political/economic integration and supra-nationalism, instead: a free- trade area in

which national legal rights & interests firmly retained.

+Britain’s sovereignty is undermined by the implementation of EU Law (‘wets’).

+arguments for a federal Europe.

Labour gvmt. about the pace & direction of future developments:

+Supports a Europe of nation states where Britain can play a central role.

+Opposes the concept of a ‘super-state’ (e.g. an elected president & a written constitution for EU, increased

power to European Parliament).

+ Favours Council of Ministers as key-decision-making body; enlargement, a second chamber of representatives

from national parliaments, and moves towards a common European defence system.