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Summary Foreign Policy
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Notes on the Foreign Policy section of the British History exam for AS and A-Level History
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Chapter 7-Britain’s position in the world, 1951-97Relations with the USA and the USSR
Relations with the USA
After the Second World War, fears of Russian expansion led to the Cold War. Relations between Britain and the USA
consequently became closer:
The USA gave Britain aid under the Marshall Aid scheme.
Britain and the US cooperated over the Berlin Blockade, 1948-48.
Britain and the USA were members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which was established in 1949.
There was talk of a ‘special relationship’.
In 1950-51, Britain and the USA sent troops to defend South Korea against an invasion by the Chinese –backed
Communist North Korea.
Britain joined the US in the Geneva agreement which divided Vietnam in 1954.
However, there were strains and Britain was not an equal partner as its economic problems and decline as a world power
limited its possible military assistance. Two conflicts also strained relations. Britain’s intervention in Suez 1956 was not
supported by the USA and when the USA became involved in a war in Vietnam, Britain did not offer military support because of
Britain’s economic problems and the lack of public support for the US and tried to bring about a peace settlement. In the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962 which, perhaps, was the closest the world came to a hot, rather than cold, war. The USA did not act in close
co-ordination with Britain.
Thatcher and Reagan
Thatcher and Reagan were both staunch opponents of Communism. They undertook well-publicised visits to one- another and
they established strong personal ties. They agreed on many policy issues such as opposing UN sanctions against South Africa and
helped each other militarily: Reagan lent some US assistance to the British in the Falklands War and Thatcher allowed the USA to
use British air bases. However, there were areas of disagreement:
Thatcher was sceptical about Reagan’s ‘Star Wars’ initiative. The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated
anti-ballistic missile system, I.e lasers, in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the Soviet
Union.
She was worried that Reagan might make too many concessions on nuclear disarmament.
She disliked the US invasion of Grenada to remove a left-wing government in 1983.
Cooperation after 1990
The UK and USA maintained strong ties after the Thatcher-Reagan years. They co-operated in the First Gulf War 1993 to remove
Iraq’s troops from Kuwait after an invasion by Saddam Hussein, and the two countries collaborated in UN efforts to stop violence
in the former Yugoslavia in 1995.
Relations with the USSR
In many ways, mutual suspicion, distrust and disapproval characterised Britain’s relationship with the USSR. Britain’s defence
planning envisaged the USSR as the major threat for the Cold War period and Britain and the USA kept a military presence in
Germany to guard against Russian expansion. Both the UK and the USA agreed to the rearming of West Germany and its
inclusion in NATO, which the USSR opposed, and both countries opposed North Korean expansion in 1950, which had the
backing of the USSR.
Russia disapproved of the Suez Crisis and was critical of Britain’s imperialism generally while Britain was critical of the USSR’s
repression of unrest in eastern Europe, especially the Hungarian Revolt of 1956 and the Czech crisis of 1968. Britain condemned
the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. Both sides accused the other of espionage,
and a low point in relations was the expulsion of over a hundred Soviet diplomats from Britain in 1971.
However, there were frequent attempts to relieve tensions. After the fall of Stalin in 1953, there was greater contact between
the two sides and more state visits. For example, Khrushchev visited Britain in 1956 and Macmillan went to Moscow in 1959.
Despite her strong criticisms of Communism, Margaret Thatcher’s Britain established good relations with Gorbachev, and there
were state visits in 1984. The fall of the USSR’s control in eastern Europe in 1989 and the reforms which brought about the end
of Communism and the break-up of the USSR in 1991 were welcomed in Britain and brought about a new phase of Anglo-
Russian relations.
, Britain and the United Nations
British support for the UN
Britain had a historic role in the founding and the early development of the United Nations and the first meetings of
the general assembly and Security Council were in London in January 1946. Since then, Britain has been an active
and supportive member of the UN.
Britain has always been a permanent member of the Security Council.
Britain has been a major contributor to the UN budget and in 2013-15 was still providing 6.7% of the total.
British-born officials have played a significant role in the agencies of the UN.
Britain has had one judge on the International Court of Justice at the Hague.
Britain has been a member of the important Economic and Social Council.
British governments have been anxious to obtain UN support for policies, which has boosted the authority of
the UN. The war against Iraq in 1991 was justified by UN condemnation of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
British forces have taken part in peacekeeping missions and in UN military actions. The most prolonged conflict was
the Korean War 1950-53 in which British forces took part in a war to prevent North Korea, backed by the Communist
China and USSR, from taking over the independent South Korea. The other major contribution was the deployment
of British forces in the former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1995 to prevent ethnic cleansing by Serbian troops in Bosnia
and Croatia. British participation in other peacekeeping activities has been less developed but British troops have
been part of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus since 1964.
British Conflict with the UN
Despite close ties with the UN mentioned above, Britain has also asserted its own interests and those of its allies.
Britain has had a right of veto, which it has used 32 times since 1956, such as when it vetoed resolutions over
demands for majority rule in Rhodesia between 1963 and 1976 as Britain did not wish to take military action.
One major example of Britain acting outside of the UN is in the Suez Crisis. In 1956 Britain, France and Israel allied to
attack Egypt after General Nasser had nationalised the Suez Canal in order to fund the Aswan Dam’s construction.
The UN was not consulted, though Britain accepted the intervention of Un peacekeeping forces when it was clear
that domestic and international opinion was against the intervention. Other examples of such deviation from the UN
include:
When the UN wished to condemn the US bombing of Libya in 1986, Thatcher joined the USA in vetoing the
critical resolution.
Britain did little to limit the conflicts in Rwanda and the Congo.
Britain resented and largely ignored criticism within the UN about its colonial policies.
British military support for the UN has been relatively limited. Only 2,500 troops were deployed to support
humanitarian aid and peacekeeping in the former Yugoslavia. British membership of NATO has been more significant
in terms of its foreign policy and defence policy.
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