The Rise and Fall of the European Defence Community: Anglo-American Relations and the Crisis of European Defence, 1950-55 (Cold War History) - Hardcover
Synopsis
Using the European Defense Community (EDC) as a case-study, this book examines the competing and often conflicting views of the British and American governments towards European integration in the early–1950s. The British, fearing an "agonizing reapprais"' of the American defense commitment to Europe if the supranational EDC failed, went to great lengths to ensure the success of the scheme. When despite these efforts, the EDC finally collapsed in August 1954, NATO was plunged into arguably the most severe crisis in history. The crisis also possessed an Anglo-American dimension, with London and Washington badly divided on how it should be resolved. In the end, the British were instrumental in the creation of the Western European Union as a successor to the EDC. Their crisis management, however, had been rooted in fear of the "agonizing reappraisal"—a danger dismissed by many historian as exaggerated but which the British, in 1954, were perhaps right to take seriously.
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About the Author
Kevin Ruane is Principal Lecturer in History, Canterbury Christchurch University College.
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