Foreign Affairs

• • Although she had signed it in 1986 which appeared to be pro-European and she seemed to be more negative about the relationship of Britain and Europe past this point, claiming she didn't fully understand how SEA would change this said relationship
  • It soon became apparent that SEA diminished the influence of individual states
  • This worried her and many other conservatives.

  Thatcher and SEA
• • Due to her fear of Europe, she made a speech in Bruges in 1988 which set out her vision for the future of Europe.
  • She wanted an emphasis that the EEC was a trade association between sovereign states and was opposed to federalism and the idea of a 'ever closer political union' but some members such as Jacques Delores believed this was exactly the relationship Europe should be heading into. 


  Thatcher and Europe
• It showed once again that Britain's commitment to Europe was not there and enthused some Eurosceptics. Some MPs like Howe and Major thought she was backtracking from positions she had already agreed to in 1985. Some people such as Members of the Bruges Group believed that this is because of how much Europe had changed and is no longer just a common market.

  Bruges speech
• • Thatcher was enthusiastic for countries who have been under communist control to join EEC to extend trade and make sure communism was truly defeated.
  • This was partially to diffuse the power of European Commission by widening it's union
  • During office, she was never openly anti-European and this was only something that was revealed after she left her office.

  Collapse of communism
• • Conservative government that was starting to be openly divided over Europe as there were still many supporters of it such as Ken Clarke but Eurosceptics were becoming increasingly more vocal and opposed to it.
  • This meant that people such as Michael Portillo and Ian Duncan Smith became more vocal and Thatcher's anti-Europe interventions meant they took the opportunity to voice those concerns over the Maastricht Treaty of 1992


  What situation did Major inherit
• • designed to set up new structures to deal with the expansion of the EEC
  • So it would become the EU and would set up a single currency which would come into force in 1999.
  • The Treaty was signed in December 1991 and came into force in Feb 1992 and due to Major's good relations with some members such as German Kohl, he secured some opt-outs of the single currency and social chapter

  What was the Maastricht Treaty
• • In July 1993, rebel MPS blocked Major's attempt to get the treaty ratified in Parliament by threatening a vote of no confidence
  • Conservatives were far behind in opinion polls so this threat was affective, damaging Major's authority and making him look weak.
  • His inability to silence them was shown through a 'off the record' TV report in which he was asked why he didn't sack them. He replied with 'Think from my perspective, a PM with a majority of 18. Do we want 3 more bastards out there?' 


  Major and the Maastricht Rebels
• • It was eventually ratified after 18 months but this didn't stop MPs from opposing Major on European issues
  • Major's 'back me or sack me' campaign didn't really have much effect
  • This debate of EU membership went on outside of Parliament and the Anti-Federalist League and UKIP was set up in 1993 and independent James Goldsmith set up a Referendum Party in 1994, to promise a referendum on Britain's relation with Europe in 1997 election.

  Affects of Maastricht
• • Gorbachev was a reformer and due to the Soviet economy being in trouble he had passed policies such as Glasnost and Perestroika, allowing people to be openly critical of the government.
  • When Poland announced that it was going to hold free elections, Gorbachev didn't intervene and anti-communist trade unionists Lech Walesa won.
  • Realising the Soviet Union would not intervene led to a domino effects across the Union and many other states followed and Gorbachev loosing his power in 1991 to a coup. 


  Collapse of Communism in EE
• • After the cold war had ended, Saddam Hussein had sent forces to conquer oil-rich Kuwait in August 1990
  • In 1991, an American-led coalition, including Britain, backed a UN resolution and expelled forces from Kuwait.
  • Although, Iraq lot the war Saddam Hussein remained in power.

  War in Iraq
• • Some feared that the end of the cold war would bring more conflict and some that the expanding EU would mean new collective security and peaceful resolutions for disputes
  • This had been shattered by what was happening in the Balkans.

  Attitudes towards Europe
• • Stemmed from collapse of Eastern Europe and from 1989 Milosevic was transforming from a Communist Party leader to a Serbian nationalist and threatening violence to the Albanian population in Kosovo.
  • In 1991, Slovenia declared independence and the Yugoslav state broke up and this led to clashes between the different countries in that one area such as the Serbs and Croatians. 


  Crisis in Yugoslavia
• • Both EU and UN started urgent diplomatic efforts to maintain peace and British foreign secretary Douglas Hurd was convinced that effective internal mediation that Britain would contribute would solve the problem.
  • This failed and it was not clear whether or not it was aiming to keep a multi-ethnic Yugoslavia or one that is broken up. 


  What was the response to the Yugoslavia crisis
• • War broken out and the Muslim population in Eastern Bosnia was driven out due to 'ethnic cleansing' carried out by Bosnian-Serb paramilitaries backed by Milosevic.
  • August 1992: Major hosted a joint EU and UN conference in which he plead for a peacekeeping force to be put in place rather than diplomacy.
  • Oct 1992: a lasting settlement was set up

  Bosnia April 1992
• US was largely reluctant to get involved and Serb aggression continued. British and European intervention seemed ineffective as seen through the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.

  US and Bosnian intervention
• • Bosnian Serbs force their way into Srebrenica with Dutch UN peacekeepers stood at the border who had been order to not intervene.
  • More than 7000 Bosnian boy sand men were killed which was the biggest atrocity since WW2
  • Showed failure of UN peace keeping and diplomacy.

  Srebrenica massacre 1995
• • Britain had turned to the US and NATO and Clinton was persuaded to get involved. NATO's military power was seen to be essential in warring Bosnian leaders to negotiate.
  • American air strikes led to a peace conference and a peace treaty was signed in Paris Dec 1995. 


  Srebrenica US effect
• • Europe shifting towards the East
  • Britain's place in EU was increasingly questioned
  • NATO needed to find a new role, the dominance of the US seemed unchallenged and the special relationship strong which was still expected a play an important role in the new world order. 


  How was Britain's place in the world changing since 1980s
• 'to create an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe'

  What was Major's aim in Europe?
• • case for Britain's involvement in European monetary union was weakened
  • Argument of the Eurosceptics against deeper integration with Europe was strengthened.
  • Conservatives reputation of being trusted with the economy was damaged
  • Labour gained 15-point lead in opinion polls
  • Cabinet divisions tightened between Eurosceptics such as Peter Lilley, Portillo and Howard and Europhiles such as Clarke, Heseltine and Hurd.

  Consequences of ERM
• • Black Wednesday wasn't that bad economically and in fact made the economy stronger in some ways.
  • By 1996, the exchange rate of the pound was at DM3 which was higher than when Britain was in the ERM
  • Britain outperformed EU partners with the highest growth rate of 2.7% compared to the 2% of Germany and 1.5% of France. 


  What was 'white Wednesday'
• • BIRMINGHAM SIX:
  • The men claimed in court they had confessed only after being beaten by police.
  • In January 1987, their first appeal was rejected.
  • New scientific tests now show that statements made by the Birmingham Six were altered at a later date. Scientists also admitted that forensic tests which were said to confirm 2 of the 6 had been handling explosives could have been produced from handling cigarettes.

  This miscarriage of justice was finally quashed in the Court of Appeal in 1991. The men were released.


  Miscarriages of justice
• Both cases took place in an English Court which may make tensions worse (discrimination and less respect for the legal system) and Northern Ireland may feel like they’re being targeted. Unionists would definitely agree with this and a broader response from Irish people.

  Effect of miscarriages of justice
• • The IRA blew a 10-foot hole in the London Stock Exchange. Nobody was injured in the blast, although police say there would have been fatalities if they had not evacuated the area before.
  • 7TH February 1991 the IRA attempted to assassinate Major and his War Cabinet who were meeting to discuss the Gulf War, using a mortar attack on Downing Street. Two shells overshot Downing Street and failed to explode, and one shell exploded in the rear garden.
  • No members of the cabinet were injured, but 4 people received minor injuries, including two police officers.


  IRA bombing 1991-94
• Ordinary people were angry, which led to peace rallies in London, Belfast and Dublin.

   

  The IRA put out disclaimers saying deaths were unintentional and the fault of the police, as they had been warned out the location of the bombs.

  Effect of IRA Bombing
• • New US president Bill Clinton encouraged Sinn Fein away from use of arms.
  • 15th December Major & the Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds delivered the Downing Street Declaration. It argued for self-determination on the basis of consensus for all the people of Ireland.
  • The British government's role was identified as to "encourage, facilitate and enable" the peace process - rather than specifically encourage any single outcome.


  Downing street declaration 1993
• • Hardliners were outraged. Ian Paisley called it a sell-out.
  • The more moderate Ulster Unionists were prepared to consider the document.
  • Sinn Fein said it would be hard to sell the plan to the IRA.
  • It effectively signalled a public sea-change by the two governments in how they were prepared to approach Northern Ireland's political future.
  • This effectively set the ball rolling for the removal, as part of the Good Friday Agreement, of the Republic's constitutional claim over Northern Ireland.


  DS Declaration 1993 effect
• ·         Unofficial contacts between the government and Sinn Fein convinced the IRA that the Downing Street Declaration 1993 had recognised their needs & that Britain was not determined to keep control of the region.

  ·         As a result, the IRA announced a ceasefire August 1994.

  ·         Major then reassured the unionists that the British government would not force the North to reunite with Southern Ireland.

  ·         In October loyalist units then announced a ceasefire.

  Ceasefire 1994
• ·         First time since the start of the Troubles in the            that there was peace.

  Did not last. Between 1996-1998 there were frequent outbursts of violence as both sides do not completely trust each other so they will eventually clash with each other.


  ceasefire effect
• • 1995 US president Bill Clinton visited both Dublin and Belfast. Next year Senator chaired an international commission.-
  • Major supported this move rather than seeing it as interference. The key thing for talk between the two groups to start is disarmament and a reliance on politics rather than fear.
  • His report was published in January 1996 and laid out key principles that would allow peace process:
  • Total disarmament of organisations
  • Agreement that all parties would accept any agreement reached in negotiations.  


  Mitchell Report Jan 1996