Although the alliance between the UK and the USA had been established for many centuries, especially in the shared cause in WW1, it wasn’t until 1944 that the term ‘special relationship’ was used to describe Anglo-American relations. Winston Churchill said in 1944 that “unless Britain and the United States are joined in a special relationship, another destructive war will come to pass” , this was the foundation of the term ‘special relationship’. After the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, despite a frosty start in diplomatic relations, the common ground shared by the USA and Britain made diplomatic negotiations a success. During the height of the British Empire, the USA enjoyed fruitful trading with its many parts, and was grateful
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The context of the relationship is important, as it gives a platform for the challenges that the relationship faced and still faces in the post-war era.
The relationship between the UK and the USA has been severely tested multiple times since the Second World War, and many political crises have plagued relations. The first test was the Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain, …show more content…
This showcases how for the first time an American President ‘pulled rank’ over a UK Prime Minister, as Eisenhower knew the superior power of the USA would force the other countries to back down. This feeling of over-lordship from US Presidents would continue to the Polaris/Skybolt crisis of 1962, Harlech suggests that “the Administration welcomed the cancellation of Skybolt because it would put an end to Britain’s pretensions to being a Nuclear power” , this highlights the idea that US officials saw the grant of Nuclear missiles to the UK as a bad idea, to the insult and dismay of many in the UK, especially after the shared military action during WW2. At a similar time, the US was involved in the Vietnam War, a conflict which Harold Wilson felt that Britain had no business entering, and he wanted to avoid escalation to a global conflict,
The context of the relationship is important, as it gives a platform for the challenges that the relationship faced and still faces in the post-war era.
The relationship between the UK and the USA has been severely tested multiple times since the Second World War, and many political crises have plagued relations. The first test was the Suez crisis in 1956, when Britain, …show more content…
This showcases how for the first time an American President ‘pulled rank’ over a UK Prime Minister, as Eisenhower knew the superior power of the USA would force the other countries to back down. This feeling of over-lordship from US Presidents would continue to the Polaris/Skybolt crisis of 1962, Harlech suggests that “the Administration welcomed the cancellation of Skybolt because it would put an end to Britain’s pretensions to being a Nuclear power” , this highlights the idea that US officials saw the grant of Nuclear missiles to the UK as a bad idea, to the insult and dismay of many in the UK, especially after the shared military action during WW2. At a similar time, the US was involved in the Vietnam War, a conflict which Harold Wilson felt that Britain had no business entering, and he wanted to avoid escalation to a global conflict,