ESSAY - “Britain was no longer a world power in the period 1951-1964.”

Note: these are essays written by me and have not been marked, so may contain mistakes. Please use for revision purposes only :) 

“Britain was no longer a world power in the period 1951-1964.” Is this a fair assessment of Britain’s influence on world/European affairs in this era? (45 marks)

After World War II, countries such as Japan and Germany began to rebuild their country, eventually stabilising and even exceeding Britain’s economy. Britain’s status as world power was therefore beginning to decline rapidly, especially between 1951 and 1964. Britain’s influence around the world continued to decline as Britain granted independence hastily to its colonies, took a leading role in the infamous Suez Crisis and were humiliatingly rejected from the EEC. These events question whether Britain remained an imperial power or were being left behind in a fast developing world.

The view of Britain from the British people was always one of pride. Britain in their eyes was a prospering place, a country which ruled almost half the world and was deeply respected among the other half. However, it is these opinions that led to the failure in British foreign policies. The Suez crisis for example was driven by Eden who still believed Britain to be a colonial power in the post war era. He allowed the invasion of Egypt without the assistance of the USA, full of confidence that Britain can attain the Suez Canal from the Egyptian government. This was a massive failure. The Suez fiasco proved to the world that Britain’s role as an imperial power had fast reduced. Britain was weak without full military and financial aid from the USA which therefore confirmed that Britain was no longer a world power.

Likewise, decolonisation was sped up between 1951 and 1964. The imperial illusion had been stripped due to the Suez Crisis and publically exposed just how weak Britain had become. This encouraged the growth of independence movements in colonies since Britain could no longer stop them with military force. By 1964, many African countries such as Ghana, Kenya and Uganda had become independent, with other countries around the world following over the next several years. This shows that Britain was no longer a world power since attitudes in the colonies about Britain had changed and Britain did not have the military influence to remain a world power.

Economically, Britain was in a state of relative decline. Superpowers such as Japan and Germany were thriving financially with their new technology - a feat which Britain lacked - and so where considerably behind other economies. After the Suez crisis, Britain not only faced a run on the pound, but also lost a significant amount of influence and prestige in the Near East which took a toll on the import of oil into Britain. This all caused Britain’s status as world power to deteriorate as Britain could no longer afford to venture any military action, were economically behind a number of countries and were heavily reliant on the USA showing that Britain cannot influence other countries since it was them that needed the assistance.

Finally, the fact that Britain was rejected from the EEC is clear evidence that Britain was no longer influential in Europe or European affairs. The rejection was a massive blow on British pride. Even after the Suez crisis, Britain still held the arrogance which caused the problems in the first place. They demanded that the EEC take into account the interests of the commonwealth and the newly developed EFTA. Predictably, the EEC of course discarded Britain’s requirements and outright rejected them, showing to the world that Britain is neither influential nor needed in an organisation that allied the now most powerful countries in Europe. 

On the other hand, Britain was still influential to an extent. An example of this was decolonisation. Although it was rapid and a lot of countries sought it, decolonisation happened swiftly and without violence like the civil war that erupted in Belgian and French colonies. The “Wind of Change” speech that Macmillan gave contributed to the positivity of decolonisation, allowing Britain to remain in good terms with the countries in the commonwealth. This shows that even though Britain may no longer be powerful in Europe, it was still influential in a number of countries around the world.

Furthermore Britain, along with a number of other countries, successfully found NATO and EFTA. NATO had fifteen member states by 1964, including several European countries such as France and Germany and also Britain’s greatest ally, the USA. Although Britain eventually left EFTA to join the EEC, the financial benefits was more than what was predicted as EFTA stimulated the increase in foreign trade. Both of these organisations showed that countries still respected Britain and so were able to create international organisations because they were still a world power and therefore influential.

To conclude, it is evident that Britain was in fact no longer a world power. The growth of superpowers and the advancement in technology that Britain lacked allowed countries to move forward and prosper economically as Britain stood at a standstill. Not only that, but two World Wars clearly took their toll as Britain’s economy faltered, leaving them with no choice but to rely heavily on the USA. With the decline in economy came a number of other weaknesses, especially regarding the military which were instrumental in keeping the British Empire. After the Suez crisis publically exposed Britain’s weaknesses, Britain’s influence in Europe and around the world began to slowly fade, the rejection from the EEC only proving that fact; therefore it is fair to say that Britain was no longer a world power.