Details

Subject(s)

• Wilson, Harold 1916-1995 [Browse]
• Great Britain—Foreign relations—1964-1979 [Browse]
• Great Britain—Politics and government—1964-1979 [Browse]
• Great Britain—Foreign relations—Soviet Union [Browse]
• Soviet Union—Foreign relations—Great Britain [Browse]

Series

• Royal Historical Society studies in history. New series. [More in this series]
• Studies in history new series, 0269-2244

Summary note

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 détente 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.

Notes

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 02 Oct 2015).

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-196) and index.

Language note

English

Contents

• The evolution of British Cold War policy, 1945-19064
• The UK and East-West relations, 1964-1965
• The Wilson government and the Vietnam War, 1965-1968
• British strategy and defence policy, 1964-1968
• Détente, trade and espionage, 1966-1968
• The 'Prague spring' and its aftermath, 1968-1970.

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ISBN

• 1-282-98756-9
• 9786612987564
• 1-84615-729-3

OCLC

701718792

Doi

10.1515/9781846157295

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