Section 4 - Foreign Policy

• Many people felt that Britain should have closer ties with Europe.
• The EEC stands for the European Economic Community which was founded in 1957.
• West Germany's economy grew 5% from 1951-64 whereas Britain's only grew half as much.
• Britain originally had little interest in the EEC and they were involved in EFTA.
• EFTA stood for the European Free Trade Association with Norway and Austria also being members of it.
• Britain changed its mind on joining the EEC in the late 1950s but French President de Gaulle vetoed their application.
• De Gaulle feared that Britain's commitment to Europe was too weak and he did not want to see any special trade agreements.
• Britain had many special trade agreements with Commonwealth countries such as lamb with New Zealand.
• Britain were again vetoed by de Gaulle regarding joining the EEC in 1965 because he feared that they were too close to the US.
• Egyptian President Nasser resented the Suez Canal because it was largely owned by British and French households and brought little wealth to Egypt.
• Nasser nationalised the canal in 1956.
• France and Britain made an agreement to invade the Canal Zone.
• France and Britain wanted Israel to invade Egypt and they made an agreement at Sevres.
• Britain, France and Israel wanted to invade the Suez Canal to keep the waterway open for profit but the US and USSR opposed this agreement.
• The US threatened to withdraw loans from Britain if they invaded the Suez Canal so British troops were withdrawn.
• Eden resigned as a result of the Suez Crisis which showed that Britain had a reduced role in the world.
• De Gaulle criticised Polaris in Britain's 1961 application for the EEC which was the US nuclear weapon system.
• Britain's overwhelming dilemma of the 1950s was that it sought to maintain a global influence but it lacked the resources to do so.
• Britain's lack of resources became evident in the Cold War when it wanted its own nuclear deterrent.
• Britain was spending 8% of its GDP on defence.
• Britain was firmly tied to NATO which stood for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
• Britain was also firmly tied to the US and the UK became heavily involved in the Korean War.
• Macmillan acted as a mediator to the superpowers of the US and USSR but he was trying to emphasise the "special relationship" between Britain and the US.
• Macmillan supported the US through the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
• The post-war period saw the demise of Britain's overseas empire as independence to the former colonies was granted.
• Malaya and Kenya saw wars take place as a result of decolonisation with considerable unrest taking place in Cyprus.
• Ghana was the first Sub-Saharan country to become independent in 1957.
• Most colonies were independent by 1968.
• Macmillan acknowledged the death of colonialism in his "Winds of Change" speech which took place in Cape Town in 1960.
• The "Winds of Change" speech resonated in Rhodesia where a white supremacist government declared independence.