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Walking a Fine Line: Britain, the Commonwealth, and European Integration, 1945-1955

Dunbar, Cameron A.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1505144142763366

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, History (Arts and Sciences).
Alongside the decline of its empire, the integration of Western Europe was the greatest foreign policy question facing the United Kingdom in the wake of the Second World War. The preeminent Western European power in 1945, Britain stayed aloof instead of taking the leadership of the emerging European communities in the first 10 years after the war. By thoroughly examining the pivotal post-war decade, this thesis will argue that staying outside of these earliest post-war European communities severely damaged the United Kingdom both politically and economically. In particular, it will argue that Britain’s deep attachment to the Commonwealth of Nations – and specifically the relationship with the `old dominions’ of Australia, Canada and New Zealand – played the vital role in binding the hands of British leaders who were straddling the fine line between the old Commonwealth connections and the attempted new closer relations with Western Europe. It is only by examining and understanding British reasoning and reserve in regards to the European project in these years of 1945-1955, when Britons earned the moniker of `reluctant Europeans,’ that we can appreciate why Britain has had such a difficult time dealing with the issue of European integration ever since.
Peter John Brobst (Advisor)
Steven Miner (Committee Member)
Paul Milazzo (Committee Member)
173 p.
History
United Kingdom; European Economic Community; European Coal and Steel Community; British Commonwealth; Winston Churchill; Ernest Bevin; Harold Macmillan; Anthony Eden; Russell Bretherton; France; Germany; New Zealand; Canada; Australia

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dunbar, C. A. (2017). Walking a Fine Line: Britain, the Commonwealth, and European Integration, 1945-1955 [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1505144142763366

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dunbar, Cameron. Walking a Fine Line: Britain, the Commonwealth, and European Integration, 1945-1955. 2017. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1505144142763366.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dunbar, Cameron. "Walking a Fine Line: Britain, the Commonwealth, and European Integration, 1945-1955." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1505144142763366

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1505144142763366
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.