Harold Wilson's Cold War
The Labour Government and East-West Politics, 1964-1970
Published on 18. June 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
220 pages
978-0-86193-332-7 (ISBN)
Description
A reassessment of the relationship between the UK and the USSR at a troubled time.
The then Labour government's efforts to promote East-West detente and to improve Anglo-Soviet relations from 1964 to 1970 have been largely overlooked; yet they were of huge significance. This book offers a major reappraisal. It challenges the caricature of Harold Wilson's rigid subservience to America, demonstrating that as a Prime Minister he intended to develop closer contacts with the Soviet leadership, and to foster co-operation on arms control, conflict resolution in Vietnam and East-West trade. It illustrates how the Labour government reconciled its policy towards the USSR and Warsaw Pact states with its alignment with the USA and NATO membership. And it concludes that Wilson's failure to improve relations between the UK and USSR was due to both the impact of crises in Vietnam, the Middle East and Czechoslovakia, and to the unwillingness of the Soviet government to alter its fundamentally adversarial attitude to the West.
GERAINT HUGHES teaches at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham.
The then Labour government's efforts to promote East-West detente and to improve Anglo-Soviet relations from 1964 to 1970 have been largely overlooked; yet they were of huge significance. This book offers a major reappraisal. It challenges the caricature of Harold Wilson's rigid subservience to America, demonstrating that as a Prime Minister he intended to develop closer contacts with the Soviet leadership, and to foster co-operation on arms control, conflict resolution in Vietnam and East-West trade. It illustrates how the Labour government reconciled its policy towards the USSR and Warsaw Pact states with its alignment with the USA and NATO membership. And it concludes that Wilson's failure to improve relations between the UK and USSR was due to both the impact of crises in Vietnam, the Middle East and Czechoslovakia, and to the unwillingness of the Soviet government to alter its fundamentally adversarial attitude to the West.
GERAINT HUGHES teaches at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham.
Reviews / Votes
A solid, insightful contribution to the literature, which serves as a thorough overview of this era and the Labour government's foreign policy. * CERCLES * The strength of the book is that it locates foreign and defence policy within a tapestry of domestic political, national and international contexts. The role and perspectives of individuals are also illuminated. [...] Hughes provides helpful detail and perspective in exploring the expectations of, and challenges for, Labour's Ostpolitik, and is a valuable overview for students of British foreign and security policy, as well as for those interested in the foreign and defence policies of Labour governments. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
1 s/w Abbildung
1 b/w illus.
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 12 mm
Weight
345 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-86193-332-7 (9780861933327)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
02/2009
Royal Historical Society
€81.90
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Geraint Hughes
Content
Introduction
The evolution of British Cold War policy, 1945-1964
The UK and East-West relations, 1964-1965
The Wilson government and the Vietnam War, 1965-1968
British strategy and defence policy, 1964-1968
Detente, trade and espionage, 1964-1968
The 'Prague Spring' and its aftermath, 1968-1970
Conclusion
Bibliography
The evolution of British Cold War policy, 1945-1964
The UK and East-West relations, 1964-1965
The Wilson government and the Vietnam War, 1965-1968
British strategy and defence policy, 1964-1968
Detente, trade and espionage, 1964-1968
The 'Prague Spring' and its aftermath, 1968-1970
Conclusion
Bibliography