This text analyses British official thinking behind the UK's standing aloof from the moves after 1945 towards European economic collaboration. The volume ends with General de Gaulle's veto of 1963.

This text analyzes British official thinking behind the UK's standing aloof from the moves after 1945 towards European economic collaboration, leading to the establishment of ECSC and the EEC in the 1950s. It deals with the later change of tack (1961), covers the organization in Whitehall for the negotiations with the Communities, and the major problem areas - the Commonwealth, British agriculture, financial implications of British membership, sovereignty, and the future of EFTA.

Twenty-five scholars from various disciplines analyze and explain to the reader many of the complexities of the research output of Alan S. Milward: the role of the modern European nation-state in the social, economic and political development of Europe since the 19th century; the overall social and economic impact of the two world wars; the reconstruction of Western Europe; the rationale behind the Marshall Plan and its long-term consequences; and the multidisciplinary study of the process of the political and economic integration of Europe in a long-term perspective.and the essence of his pioneering contribution to reaching a better understanding of European economic and political history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

This book examines Britain and Norway in Europe from 1945 through to the former's departure from the European Union in 2020. It compares their European relations and investigates their bilateral relationship within the contexts of security, trade and, above all, European integration. Britain and Norway are outsiders in Europe, and they have both been sceptical of the continental federalist approach to European integration. The question of membership itself has been highly controversial in both countries: the public has been divided on the issue; it has plagued political parties and governments; and prime ministers have resigned over European issues. This book explores why these countries have struggled so deeply with the idea of Europe since 1945, and looks ahead to how the relationship between Britain and Norway might develop after Brexit.

Focusing not just on the great events but on the smaller incremental developments too, this work gives an in-depth look at developments in European Union history.

Harold Wilson’s apparent volte-face on European Community membership in the autumn of 1966 has long puzzled commentators and Wilson’s colleagues alike. Based on interviews, private papers and recently released evidence from the National Archives, this book provides a fresh interpretation of Wilson’s policy towards the European Community. Studying the development of Britain’s policy between 1964 when Harold Wilson took office, and 1967 when the French President General de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s membership application for a second time, this book examines the rationale behind the British approach, explaining why Wilson launched an initiative for membership when the French seemed certain to obstruct. Also discussing Wilson’s handling of the Cabinet, and shedding light on Britain’s diplomacy towards the Six, this work places British policy towards Europe within the context of its foreign policy transition from a global to a regional role. Examining an important event in Anglo-European relations, this is essential reading for students of post-war British history, and for those interested in Britain’s historical relationship with Europe.

This book questions conventional accounts of the history of European integration and British business. Integration accounts normally focus on the nation-state, while Neil Rollings focuses on business and its role in the development of European integration, which business historians have previously overlooked. Business provided a key link between economic integration, political integration, and the process of Europeanization. British businessmen perceived early on that European integration meant much more than the removal of tariffs and access to new markets. Indeed, British entry into the European community would alter the whole landscape of the European working environment. Consideration of European integration is revealed as a complex, relative, and dynamic issue, covering many issues such as competition policy, taxation, and company law. Based on extensive archival research, this book uses the case of business to emphasize the need to blend national histories with the history of European integration.