British Empire and International Relations Today

1
British Empire and International Relations Today
2
Why is it important to start with the Empire?

• Influence on
• PEOPLE MIGRATION, SLAVE TRADE, SETTLEMENT
• LAND AGRICULTURE, CROPS, TRADE
• LANGUAGE ENGLISH IN EDUCATION
• ADMINISTRATION AS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
• POLITICAL LEGACY - IN BRITAIN AND AROUND THE
  WORLD

3
Development of the Empire

• IRELAND the first colony?
• CARIBBEAN (THE WEST INDIES) plantations,
  slavery
• NORTH AMERICA colonies soon lost (1783)
• INDIA the Jewel in the Crown.
• The East India Company. Expansion in the 19th
  century.
• Queen Victoria becomes Empress of India

4
Development of the Empire

• AFRICA initially trading posts in W. Africa,
  later the scramble for Africa between European
  powers in the 19th century
• WHITE SETTLER COLONIES S. AFRICA CANADA
  AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND indigenous populations
  suffered, early independence from Britain (early
  20th century)
• The Empire on which the sun never sets

5
British Empire 1919
6
The End of the Empire

• Dominions self-government for Canada, New
  Zealand, etc.
• Waves of countries became independent after WW2.
  
• Indias independence 1947 (Ghandi)

7
The End of the Empire

• Colonies were no longer profitable for Britain.
• A small number remain overseas territories
  e.g. Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, Diego
  Garcia.

8
The Commonwealth

• Founded 1931
• 53 member states 1.7 bn people (30 of the
  worlds population)
• Queen Elizabeth II is head of the Commonwealth
• Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings
• Commonwealth Games
• Promotion of democracy, good government, human
  rights and economic development
• Sanctions can be imposed. Zimbabwe suspended 2002
  (Robert Mugabe)

9
(No Transcript)
10
The Commonwealth of Nations 2005
11

• Queen Elizabeth II The Commonwealth
  symbolises the transformation of the Crown from
  an emblem of dominion into a symbol of free and
  voluntary association. In all history this has no
  precedent.

12
Britain and Europe

• We must now build a kind of United States of
  Europe... the first steps must be a partnership
  between France and Germany Winston Churchill

13
Britain and Europe

• Key dates
• 1949 Council of Europe
• 1950 ECSC talks
• 1951 ECSC treaty
• 1954 EDC shelved
• 1955 talks to form EEC
• 1957 Treaty of Rome

14
Britain and Europe

• Britain as outsider
• Key Dates
• 1958 Treaty of Rome in force
• 1960 EFTA set up
• 1961 UK under Macmillan applies to join EEC
• 1962 CAP set up
• 1963 De Gaulle's veto
• 1967 UK applies again vetoed again

15
Britain and Europe
Key Dates 1970 UK's third application 1972 UK
signs treaty 1973 UK joins EEC 1975 UK's
referendum 1977 Roy Jenkins tops EC 1978 ERM
established
1970
1972
1973
1975
1977
1978
16

• 1974 Labour return to power.
• EEC referendum part of manifesto.
• Both Labour and Conservatives divided
• Labour for Harold Wilson, Roy Jenkins, Shirley
  Williams
• - against Tony Benn, Barbara Castle
• Conservative for Edward Heath, Margaret
  Thatcher
• - against Enoch Powell
• EEC referendum result
• "Yes" 17,300,000, "No" 8,400,000

17
Britain and Europe

• Key Dates
• 1979 European elections
• 1984 UK budget rebate
• 1985 Delors heads EC
• 1985 Single market by 1992
• 1987 Single European Act
• 1989 Berlin Wall falls
• 1990 UK joins ERM

1979
1984
1985
1985
1987
1989
1990
18
Britain and Europe

• We have not successfully rolled back the
  frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see
  them reimposed at a European level, with a
  European superstate exercising a new dominance
  from Brussels
•  Margaret Thatcher's Bruges speech
• provokes resignation of Geoffrey Howe
• savaged by a dead sheep
• sets off chain of events leading to Thatcher
  resignation

19

• I want us to be where we belong. Right at the
  very heart of Europe. John Major

20

• Key Dates
• 1992 Maastricht Treaty
• 1992 UK forced to leave ERM
• 1993 Passes Commons

21
Britain and Europe

• Under Blair
• 1997 Amsterdam Treaty
• 1998 Central Bank
• 1999 Euro is born
• 2002 Euro in circulation
• Wait and see policy on Euro
• Economic tests must be met

22
Britain and the US Special Relationship
Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the
continuous rise of world organization will be
gained without what I have called the fraternal
association of the English-speaking peoples ...a
special relationship between the British
Commonwealth and Empire and the United States.
Fraternal association requires not only the
growing friendship and mutual understanding
between our two vast but kindred systems of
society, but the continuance of the intimate
relationship between our military advisers,
leading to common study of potential dangers, the
similarity of weapons and manuals of
instructions, and to the interchange of officers
and cadets at technical colleges. It should carry
with it the continuance of the present facilities
for mutual security by the joint use of all Naval
and Air Force bases in the possession of either
country all over the world. There is however an
important question we must ask ourselves. Would a
special relationship between the United States
and the British Commonwealth be inconsistent with
our over-riding loyalties to the World
Organization? I reply that, on the contrary, it
is probably the only means by which that
organization will achieve its full stature and
strength.
23
Britain and the US Special Relationship

• A one way street?
• US is the largest source of Foreign Direct
  investment in the UK
• UK largest single investor in the US
• Military ties US bases in the UK nuclear
  weapons policy

24
Britain and the US

• Churchill and Roosevelt
• Churchill half-American distant cousin of
  Roosevelt
• Links created in WW2

25
Britain and the US Special Relationship

• Highlights Harold Macmillan and John F. Kennedy
  - JFK consulted Mac about the Cuban missile
  crisis
• Thatcher and Reagan Thatchers relationship
  with Reagan is widely regarded as contributing in
  part to the end of the Cold War

26
Britain and US Special Relationship

• Blair and Bush
• At first cool and stiff (Blair was regarded as
  Clintonesque) but post 9/11 and during Iraq
  war, close ties developed
• Blair had 54 meetings with world leaders in the
  run-up to the Iraq war and travelled 60 000 km
• Beyond Blair? Gordon Brown widely regarded as an
  Atlanticist confirmed commitment to nuclear
  deterrent and to special relationship

27
Quiz

• When was the British Empire at its largest? a)
  1949 b)1919 c) 1869 d)1809
• Which country was called the Jewel in the Crown
  of the British Empire? a) India b) Canada c)
  America d) South Africa
• Which crop allowed British people to become very
  rich in the Caribbean colonies? a) rice b) silk
  c) sugar d) tea
• Queen Victoria was the first Empress ofa) India
  b) East Africa c) Australia d) the West Indies
• The scramble for Africa took place in which
  century? a) 20th b) 19th c) 18th d) 17th
• When did India become independent? a) 1967 b)
  1947 c)1907 d) 1847
• Which of these is a British Overseas Territory?
  a) Canada b) New Zealand c) Gibraltar d) South
  Africa
• Which of the following is no longer a member of
  the Commonwealth? a) South Africa b) India c)
  Zimbabwe d) Jamaica
• In which year did Britain join the EEC (as it was
  then called)
• Which French president vetoed Britains entry to
  the EEC twice?
• Who is credited with coining the term special
  relationship regarding UK/US relations?
• Which British Prime Minister did John F. Kennedy
  consult over the Cuban Missile Crisis?