Using Europe, Abusing the Europeans: Britain and European Integration, 1945-63

by W. Kaiser, Institute of Contemporary British History Staff (Contribution by)

Overview

British policy towards European integration has been one of the most divisive issues in British politics since 1945. Based on a detailed evaluation of the newly-accessible government records, of the Conservative Party records, private papers and interviews, this timely book analyses British European policy between 1945 and de Gaulle's veto against British EEC membership in 1963. It explores, in particular, the ambiguities in Britain's first EEC application of 1961. The epilogue highlights some of the most important continuities in British European policy until the present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780333649428
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	08/13/1999
Series:	Contemporary History in Context Series , #14256
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

WOLFRAM KAISER is Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Research Fellow and Lecturer at the University of Vienna. He was previously a Research Fellow at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen, Germany and a Lecturer at Edinburgh University. Dr Kaiser has published widely on the history of European integration and on postwar British history.

Table of Contents

Preface to the 1999 Reprint General Editor's Foreword Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction Building and Defending a British Europe, 1945-55 What Bus? The Messina Conference, 1955 Best of all Worlds: The Free Trade Area Plan, 1956-7 Makeshift Solution: From FTA to EFTA, 1958-9 Dual Appeasement: Towards the EEC Application, 1960-1; From Laggard to Leader?; The Bomb and Europe Failure, yet Success: the EEC Entry Negotiations, 1961-3 Epilogue: Britain and European Integration, 1963-96 Notes Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

'An outstanding book about the wars before the beef war - a compelling analysis written from a most valuable multilateral perspective of Britain's loss of the political leadership of Western Europe and her vain struggle to regain it. Compulsory reading for anybody interested in the history and future of the European Union.' - Professor Werner Abelshauser, University of Bielefeld, Germany

From the Publisher

Assembling evidence from newly accessible government records, records of the Conservative Party, private papers, and interviews, offers a new perspective on British policy towards Europe from the end of World War II to the French veto of British membership in the EEC. Finds the 1961 application to have been motivated by an attempt to please the US government, to hold the Conservative Party together, and to splinter the Labour Party. Concludes that the ambiguity in the British leaders' true feelings about European integration continues to influence current debates. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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