The Birth of European Unity, 1929–49

Abstract

On 13 August 1945 Ernest Bevin, Britain's new Foreign Secretary, held a meeting with Foreign Office (FO) officials to discuss future policy towards Western Europe. A few weeks earlier the Labour party had entered government with its first overall majority; the `Big Three' powers --- America, Britain and the Soviet Union --- had just held their last wartime summit meeting; Japan was on the brink of unconditional surrender. In this situation Bevin could hope to re-forge Britain's international relations and many in the FO wished to see West European co-operation become a cornerstone of post-war British policy. They did not leave the August meeting disappointed. During the session Bevin outlined a `grand design' to build co-operation with the continent at all levels: political, military and economic. The first step would be an alliance with France, a pre-war ally, a fellow colonial power, and the largest European democracy. On this basis links could be extended outwards to the Low Countries, Scandinavia, and Italy. Reading the accounts of this meeting it might seem that Britain was ready, in 1945, to undertake the close commitment to the continent in peacetime from which she had historically shrunk.1