The Research Of The Relationship Between Ernest Bevin And The Establishment Of The Altantic Alliance(1945-1949)

The Attlee’s Labour administration,which came to power in 1945,faced a grim internal and external situation.First,due to the influence of the Second World War,The British Empire declined sharply.Then,The Soviet Union administration seizes the chance to "expand its power" and "infiltrate communism" in eastern and southern Europe Also,differences between the American administration and the public led to a wobble in foreign policy.In view of this,the Attlee’s administration once decided to continue the Three-Power system to maintain the continuity of foreign policy and promote the formation of domestic "consensus politics".However,after reassessing Britain’s postwar diplomatic situation,Bevin,the new foreign secretary,came up with the idea of forming the Atlantic Alliance.By forming the western European group and relying on the power of the United States,He tried to maximize Britain’s realistic interests and great power status.In face of the complex domestic and international environment,Bevin further proposed the idea of Grand Design based on the Sargent Memorandum.By strengthening the economic and political ties with western European countries,especially France,He tried to build Britain into a Third Force independent of the United States and the Soviet Union.At the same time,the financial crisis forced Attlee’s administration to engage in financial negotiations with the US.The huge price paid prompted Bevin to accelerate the promotion of western European Union.Thanks to his efforts,Britain and France signed the Dunkirk Treaty,which made the first step towards the realization of Bevin’s diplomatic concept.Nevertheless,due to the rapid escalation of the international cold war situation,domestic the sterling exchange crisis which led to severe economic pressure for government,as well as the differences in the foreign policy towards the United States and the Soviet Union,Bevin had to adjust his diplomatic strategy.Influenced by several of Lord Inverchapel’s reports,Bevin decided to use American power to advance the western European Union and strengthen the power against the Soviet Union,which meant the formation of his western alliance ideology.To achieve this concept,Bevin presented the Dunkirk model based on the Anglo-French alliance.He hoped to conclude a number of bilateral treaties with the United States and Europe countries,but was opposed by all sides.At the same time,the Soviet Union introduced a series of policies in response to the Anti-Soviet measures of the United States.This confrontation led to the "February crisis" in Czechoslovakia.To prevent Western Europe from sliding into the abyss of war,Bevin agreed to use the model of the Rio Treaty Organization to establish the western alliance.On this basis,five western European countries finally signed the Treaty of Brussels.The establishment of Brussels Treaty Organization not only realized Bevin’s"Third Force" idea,but also laid the foundation for bringing the United States into Europe to undertake the defense and security.However,th price was greatly weakening Britain’s diplomatic independence.After the establishment of the Brussels Treaty Organization,due to the crisis in Scandinavia Peninsula,the international situation had became more turbulent.In order to seek the military security commitment of the United States,Bevin proposed the idea of forming the Atlantic security system.The idea struck a chord with the US,which invited Britain and Canda to hold talks in Washington.At the meeting,Britain and the United States played games with each other over their alliance plans.American’s hardline attitude and the asymmetry of the two sides’ strength,as the decisive factors,forced Bevin to compromise.Finally the three countries signed the Pentagon Papers.Meanwhile,the first Berlin Crisis led to a sharp increase in defense pressure in Western Europe,Bevin had to urge the United States to speed up the Atlantic negotiations.At talks in Washington on July 6th,western countries were at a standstill over the organisation of defence systems,the scope of membership and the content of treaties.In order to propel the negotiation process and achieve the strategic goals,Bevin acted as a "intermediary"to coordinate with other countries and led to the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty.This treaty not only had an important impact on the European situation,but also enabled Bevin’s diplomatic goals to be achieved to a certain extent.However,the idea of "Third Force" was lost in the process.The policy of Atlantic alliance had a profound influence on postwar Britain.On the one hand,this policy strengthened the economic,political and military ties between the United States and Europe,and helped Britain to establish a dominant position in the Western Coalition,second only to the United States.On the other hand,it promoted defense co-operation between the America and Europe countries,which further ensured Britain’s security and saved the British Empire from a rapid break-up after the second world war.Naturally,Britain has paid a huge price.The fact that the Third Force plan was finally replaced by the Atlantic alliance marked the loss of Britain’s strategic initiative and freedom of action in foreign policy.This meant that Britain had become a strategic "pawn" of the United States,which was taken into the western military alliance system dominated by the latter in the cold war era.It is worth mentioning that in the process of establishing the Atlantic Alliance,Bevin was affected by many factors,such as the continuing severe economic crisis and the American-Soviet bipolar system,which greatly limited his diplomatic space.Bevin’s imperial complex,Anti-Soviet sentiment and personal political ambition became the internal influencing factors in the course of his Grand Design practice.Disagreements within the government constantly constrained his diplomatic practice,etc.In a word,during in the construction of the Atlantic Alliance,Bevin played the role of shaper and coordinator.Facing the grim internal and external situation after the war,Bevin who was appointed as Foreign Secretary in crisis tried to maintain and rescue the decline of the British Empire through diplomatic efforts.Though its not completely,Bevin created the basic framework for foreign policy,which has produced profound,dinsuperable and inevitable facts for his successor.Perhaps this is the most important legacy for Postwar Britain.