The Suez Crisis and British and French policy revaluations towards membership of the European Communities

This thesis attempts to demonstrate that, far from being of little or even no importance as some authors have argued, the 1956 Suez Crisis was an event of great significance to the evolution of British and French policies towards membership of the European Communities. It identifies a gap in the historiographies of the Suez Crisis and the European integration process, and seeks to fill it, while at the same time providing a new interpretation of the link between the two areas of historical focus. Using manuscript sources from English, French and American archives, as well as contemporary media articles and personal papers, it will present six ways in which Suez directly influenced the development of British and French policy towards the European Communities: by forcing the British government to review the country’s position in the world, by enhancing the career of Harold Macmillan, boosting that of Edward Heath, changing French attitudes towards the Common Market in late 1956, its role in the return to power of General de Gaulle, and the development of the French nuclear deterrent. It will conclude that not was Suez a significant factor, but that without it, there may not be a European Union today.

Grantor dc:publisher

Oxford Brookes University

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Saunders, Nicholas G. R.

Contributors dc:contributor

• O'Hara, Glen
• Crook, Tom
• Browning, Gary

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language

en

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.24384/3bd4-jx97

OAI identifier oai:identifier

tle:95457aab-8aac-4537-9d77-e3fe77ceb7ce:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1