Foreign Policy 1951-64

Question 1

What success did the UK see in 1949?

Answer 1

Became one of the founding members of NATO

Question 2

How successful was UK’s industrial production in 1955-60?

Answer 2

The lowest in any major world economies

Question 3

Describe the Blue Streak programme

Answer 3

Programme that aimed to build a land-based long range missilery to carry nuclear warheads

Cancelled in 1960 due to costs, among other issues, showing UK’s weakness

Question 4

What was the effect of Suez on UK’s colonies?

Answer 4

The pace of decolonisation hastened

This is both positive and negative, as the UK was clearly losing influence, but not as badly as other nations (eg France with Algeria)

Question 5

Describe Project Emily

Answer 5

1959
The UK and US agreed to base Thor, intermediate-range ballistic missiles, in the UK
These were strictly American missiles, merely based in British soil
Showed UK weakness + made UK a Soviet target

Question 6

What did Chancellor Thorneycroft infamously say?

Answer 6

Described Britain as ‘bystanders’ during the Cuban missile crisis: one of the most consequential moments in human history

(Closest we’ve ever come to WWIII, according to Naz)

Question 7

What happened on 6 Nov 1956?

Answer 7

US denied Britain International Monetary Find (IMF) support as a result of the Suez crisis

Shows that UK-US ‘special relationship’ isn’t so special after all

Question 8

UK is one of five permanent members of…

Answer 8

United Nations Security Council (UNSC), founded in 1945

Question 9

What other negative consequence of Suez did UK face? (oil)

Answer 9

Saudi Arabia initiated an oil embargo (ban) against Britain and France, and the US refused to alleviate this shortage until the two nations’ withdrawal from Suez

Question 10

Which year did the UK conduct their first atomic bomb test?

Answer 10

1952, becoming the third nuclear armed country after US and USSR

Question 11

Which year did the UK test their first own hydrogen bomb?

Answer 11

1957 (but the US did in 1952)

Question 12

How well did UK’s economy do in 1960-1965?

Answer 12

1960: fourth largest by GDP
1965: fifth largest by GDP

Question 13

What was UK’s trade balance between 1957-60?

Answer 13

£132 million+

Question 14

Describe the Nassau Agreement

Answer 14

The US was to supply the UK with submarine-launched Polaris missiles by 1968

However, the UK can only use these missiles independently when ‘supreme national interests are at stake’ - which are defined by the US

Question 15

When did the UK apply for EEC?

Answer 15

1961
Rejected in 1963 by the veto of French President De Gaulle

Question 16

What happened in Iran in 1953?

Answer 16

Iran’s democratically elected leader was overthrown by the MI6 and CIA

Question 17

Describe Sky Bolt missiles and their significance

Answer 17

The UK agreed to get the American Sky Bolt air-launched missiles in exchange for the US to have a submarine base for Polaris at Holy Loch, near Glasgow

In 1962, Robert McNamara admitted that Sky Bolt was a ‘pile of junk’, so they were cancelled and no missiles were delivered - yet the US kept its base at Holy Loch

Question 18

How successful was the UK at world trade between 1955-60?

Answer 18

Consistently in the top 2-3

Question 19

What losses did the Bank of England suffer in the first 2 days and mid-Nov 1956?

Answer 19

Depletion of £50m —> £279m in the reserves

Question 20

Which two people showed that the UK had a serious spy problem?

Answer 20

Burgess and Maclean

Question 21

How was Britain’s employment by 1955?

Answer 21

Full employment

Question 22

How many colonies gain independence 1957-64?

Answer 22

14 (incl Ghana in 1957, Nigeria and Cyprus in 1960, Tanganyika and Sierra Leone in 1961, Uganda in 1962 and Kenya in 1963)

Question 23

How many nuclear weapons did the UK have in 1965?

Answer 23

436 - third most behind the USSR (over 6,000) and the US (18,000)