The lessons of Abadan and Suez for British foreign policy makers in the 1960s

Historical Journal

Volumn 49, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 525-547

  Beck, Peter J ^a  

^a KINGSTON UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

FOREIGN POLICY; HISTORY; POLICY MAKING;

EURASIA; EUROPE; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 33745074142     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X06005310     Document Type: Article

References (158)

1. HMS Mauritius log, 3 Oct 1951, National Archives, Kew (NA), ADM53/130664
2. Times, 4 Oct. 1951
3. Norman Kemp, Abadan: A first-hand account of the Persian oil crisis (London, 1953), pp. 239-50
4. James Cable, Intervention at Abadan: Plan buccaneer (Basingstoke, 1991), p. 100.
5. The text uses 'Iran', as adopted in 1935, but retains 'Persia' when part of quotations.
6. Times, 3 Oct. 1951.
7. Daily Telegraph, 4 Oct. 1951.
8. Kemp, Abadan, p. 238.
9. Times, 3 Oct. 1951.
10. Tmes, 4, 9, 20 Oct. 1951
11. Daily Mirror, 9, 24, 25 Oct. 1951
12. 'Middle East Munich', Economist, 6 Oct. 1951, pp. 779-80.
13. Times, 5 Oct. 1951.
14. John Dickie, Inside the Foreign Office (London, 1992), pp. 236-7.
15. Zara Steiner, 'The historian and the foreign office', in C. Hill and P. Beshoff, eds., Two worlds of international relations: Academic practitioners and the trade in ideas (London, 1994), p. 50.
16. Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May, Thinking in time: The uses of history for decision makers (New York, 1986), p. xxii, p. 4.
17. Steiner, 'The historian', p. 46.
18. Neustadt and May, Thinking in time, p. 79.
19. Steiner, 'The historian', p. 45
20. Zara Steiner, 'On writing international history: Chaps, maps and much more', International Affairs, 73 (1997), pp. 531-46, at p. 538.
21. J. L. Gaddis, 'New conceptual approaches to the study of American foreign relations: Inter-disciplinary perspectives', Diplomatic History, 14 (1990), pp. 405-23, at p. 423.
22. Anthony Nutting, No end of a lesson: The story of Suez (London, 1967), pp. 7-16.
23. John Young, Britain and the world in the twentieth century (London, 1997), pp. 166-7.
24. Robin Cook, The point of departure (London, 2003), pp. 203, 224
25. Robert Fisk, 'New crisis, old lessons', Independent, 15 Jan. 2003
26. Robin Cook, 'The invasion of Iraq was Britain's worst foreign policy blunder since Suez', Independent, 19 Mar. 2004.
27. J. H. Bamberg, The history of the British Petroleum Company, II: The Anglo-Iranian years, 1928-1954 (Cambridge, 1994), pp. 383-511
28. Wm. Roger Louis, 'Mussaddiq and the dilemmas of British imperialism', in J. A. Bill and Wm. R. Louis, eds., Mussaddiq, Iranian nationalism, and oil (London, 1988), pp. 228-60
29. Wm. Roger Louis, The British Empire in the Middle East, 1945-1951: Arab nationalism, the United States and postwar imperialism (Oxford, 1984)
30. Wm. Roger Louis, 'Britain and the overthrow of the Mosaddeq government', in Mark J. Gasiorowski and Malcolm Byrne, eds., Mohammad Mosaddeq and the 1953 coup in Iran (Syracuse, 2004), pp. 126-77
31. Steve Marsh, 'HMG, AIOC and the Anglo-Iranian oil crisis: In defence of Anglo-Iranian', Diplomacy and Statecraft, 12 (2001), pp. 143-74
32. Steve Marsh, Anglo-American relations and Cold War oil: Crisis in Iran (Basingstoke, 2003), pp. 169-94
33. Sue Onslow, '"Battlelines for Suez": The Abadan crisis of 1951 and the formation of the Suez Group', Contemporary British History, 17 (2003), pp. 1-28
34. Ian Speller, '"A splutter of musketry?": The British military response to the Anglo-Iranian oil dispute, 1951', Contemporary British History, 17 (2003), pp. 39-66
35. Amy L. S. Staples, 'Seeing diplomacy through bankers' eyes: The World Bank, the Anglo-Iranian oil crisis, and the Aswan High Dam', Diplomatic History, 26 (2002), pp. 397-418
36. 'Document: A very British coup', BBC Radio Four, 22 Aug. 2005
37. Donald N. Wilber, Clandestine service history: Overthrow of premier Mossadegh of Iran, November 1952-August 1953 (Washington DC, Mar. 1954): http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html accessed 24 Apr. 2004.
38. D. Goldsworthy, 'Keeping change within bounds: Aspects of colonial policy during the Churchill and Eden governments, 1951-1957', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 18 (1990), pp. 81-108, at p. 103.
39. Staples, 'Seeing diplomacy through bankers' eyes', p. 397.
40. Brook to heads of departments, 5 Dec. 1957, NA, CAB103/562.
41. Gowing to Sir I. Bancroft, 7 June 1978, correspondence files, Bancroft 2, papers of Margaret Gowing, Museum of History of Science, Oxford.
42. Brook to Professor W. K. Hancock, 19 Feb. 1958, NA, CAB103/562.
43. On the Treasury's use of history, see my forthcoming monograph Using history, making British policy: The Treasury and the Foreign Office, 1950-1976 (Basingstoke, 2006).
44. Minutes, 8th meeting, Steering Committee (SC), 1 Apr. 1958, NA, FO371/ 135611/ZP2/12G.
45. R. Hooper, head of PUS's dept, n.d., SC (58) 20, NA, FO371/135611/ZP2/ 15G.
46. SC (59) 7, 12 Feb. 1959, NA, FO371/143694/ZP15/2.
47. Butler, 15 Feb. 1963, p. 2, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
48. R. W. Mason, 23 Nov. 1962, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3
49. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 2, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
50. SC (59) 7, 12 Feb. 1959, NA, FO371/143694/ZP15/2.
51. Selwyn Lloyd to Hoyer Millar, 3 Nov. 1958, NA, FO371/135615/ZP2/40G.
52. Butler, Sept. 1962, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
53. Ibid., p. 2.
54. Ibid., p. 3.
55. Butler exhibited a somewhat conservative attitude towards sources, but during the early 1960s oral testimony represented an emerging form of historical evidence still being rediscovered by historians: Butler, 18 Oct. 1966, FO370/2906/LS13
56. Paul Thompson, The voice of the past: Oral history (2nd edn, Oxford, 1988), pp. 72-81.
57. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 3, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
58. Ibid., pp. 2-3.
59. Ibid., p. 2.
60. Ibid., p. 3.
61. Ibid., p. 304.
62. Ibid., p. 313.
63. See Speller, '"Splutter of musketry?"', pp. 60-2
64. Cable, Intervention at Abadan, pp. 95-123.
65. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 318, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
66. Ibid., p. 309.
67. Ibid., pp. 291, 307
68. Anthony Eden, The memoirs of Sir Anthony Eden: Full circle (London, 1960), p. 195
69. Michael T. Thornhill, 'Britain and the Egyptian question, 1950-1952' (D.Phil. thesis, Oxford, 1995), pp. 39-41, p. 136.
70. Times, 9 Oct. 1951.
71. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 309, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
72. Ibid., p. 312.
73. Ibid., p. 307.
74. Ibid., p. 314.
75. Ibid., pp. 319-21.
76. Ibid., p. 308.
77. F. C. Mason, 24 Apr. 1962, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
78. Strang, n.d. (4 Feb. 1963), NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3. This comment is also in STRN2/10. Lord Strang's papers (STRN), located at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge (CAC), are quoted by kind permission of the Churchill Archives Centre.
79. Home, 4 Jan. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3
80. D. R. Thorpe, Alec Douglas-Home (London, 1996), pp. 245-9.
81. Caccia, 17 Dec. 1962, 7 Jan. 1963
82. Home, n.d. (Jan. 1963), NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
83. Strang, n.d. (4 Feb. 1963), NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3. 'Personal' comments in paragraphs 14-23, formerly extracted from FO370/2694, have now been re-inserted separately. They are also in CAC, STRN2/10. Significantly, his commentary glossed over Britain's role in the 1953 coup: Louis, 'Britain and the overthrow of Mosaddeq', p. 176.
84. Strang, n.d. (4 Feb. 1963), paras. 20-2, CAC, STRN2/10.
85. Ibid., para. 64, p. 41.
86. Ibid., pp. 30, 51.
87. Ibid., para. 69.
88. Ibid., para. 75.
89. Lord Strang, Britain in world affairs: A survey of fluctuations in British power and influence, Henry VIII to Elizabeth II (London, 1961), pp. 38, 108-10, 304
90. Strang, 28 Jan. 1963, CAC, STRN2/11, pp. 5-8.
91. Strang, n.d. (4 Feb. 1963), para. 75, p. 33, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
92. Qu. Caccia to Strang, 7 Feb. 1963, CAC, STRN2/10.
93. Caccia, 1 Feb. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
94. Caccia, 1 Mar. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
95. Hankey to Caccia, 8 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/2/i
96. Gore-Booth to Caccia, 30 Apr. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4n
97. Dean to Caccia, 16 Mar. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4j.
98. Wallinger to Caccia, 22 Mar. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4k.
99. Gore-Booth to Caccia, 30 Apr. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4n.
100. Maud to Caccia, 8 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/2h
101. Parkes to Caccia, 22 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/3k.
102. Dean to Caccia, 16 Mar. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4j.
103. Wallinger to Caccia, 22 Mar. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/4k.
104. Hankey to Caccia, 8 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/2i.
105. George Vaughan, Panama, to Caccia, 14 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/ 3d. Subsequently, lingering anti-British sentiment qualified initial impressions of success: Nigel Ashton, 'Britain and the Kuwaiti crisis, 1961', Diplomacy and Statecraft, 9 (1998), pp. 163-81
106. Wm. Roger Louis, 'The British withdrawal from the Gulf, 1967-1971', Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 31 (2003), pp. 83-102, at p. 91
107. Simon Smith, Britain's revival and fall in the Gulf: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the Trucial States, 1950-1971 (London, 2004), pp. 119-28.
108. Maud to Caccia, 8 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/2h.
109. Saki Dockrill, Britain's retreat from east of Suez: The choice between Europe and the world? (Basingstoke, 2002), pp. 24-42
110. Peter Mangold, Success and failure in British foreign policy: Evaluating the record, 1900-2000 (Basingstoke, 2001), pp. 13, 121-4.
111. Pointing to its 'folly' and 'persistent stupidity', Acheson, the US secretary of state (1949-53), proved highly critical of British policy over Abadan: Dean Acheson, PresenM at the creation: my years in the State department (London, 1970), pp. 501, 506.
112. Caccia, 1 Mar. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
113. Butler, 24 May 1963, para. 52, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
114. Caccia, 29 May 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/1
115. Woodfield, 13 May 1964, NA, PREM11/4808.
116. See David Thomson, 'Gaullism's point of reappraisal', Times, 22 Aug. 1963.
117. Minutes, 39th, 41st meetings of Steering Committee, 30 July 1963, 23 Aug. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/8.
118. Butler, 24 May 1963, paras. 51-2, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3
119. Ernest Barnes, 4 Oct. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/8
120. Office Circular, no. 27: Reorganisation of planning work in the Foreign Office, 30 Dec. 1963, NA, FO371/178812/PLA1/1.
121. B. Burrows, in Oct. 1963, Nicholls, 14 Oct. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/ 8.
122. Palliser to John Peck, Dakar, 6 Feb. 1964, NA, FO371/178812/PLA1/4.
123. Dockrill, Britain's retreat, pp. 209-26
124. Louis, 'British withdrawal', pp. 83-102
125. Smith, Britain's revival, pp. 1-6, 151-6.
126. Heath, 15 Oct. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/8.
127. Stewart to Gore-Booth, 5 July 1965, NA, FO370/2807/LS13/4.
128. N. Henderson, n.d. (July 1965), NA, FO370/2807/LS13/4.
129. Gore-Booth, 13 July 1965, NA, FO370/2807/LS13/4
130. Paul Gore-Booth, With great truth and respect (London, 1974), p. 230.
131. This claim should be viewed alongside reports that relevant material, including the British copy of the Treaty of Sèvres, was destroyed: Avi Shlaim, 'The protocol of Sèvres, 1956: Anatomy of a war plot', International Affairs, 73 (1997) pp. 509-30, at p. 509.
132. Qu. F. Bishop to Laskey, 28 Dec. 1956, NA, PREM11/1138.
133. Millard, Aug. 1957, pp. 1-2, 29, NA, FO800/728.
134. Ibid., pp. 1-2.
135. 'World at one', BBC Radio Four, 4 July 2004.
136. Parrott to Caccia, 22 Feb. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
137. Vaughan to Caccia, 14 Feb. 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/3d.
138. Times, 14 Nov. 1996; Caccia, 1 May 1963, NA, LCO27/21.
139. Butler, 24 May 1963, para. 3, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
140. Butler to R. Mason, 9 March 1962, Butler, 15 Feb. 1963, NA, FO370/2694/ LS18/3.
141. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 308, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
142. R. Makins, 11 Aug. 1951, Strang, 11 Aug. 1951, NA, FO371/124968/ZP24/2.
143. D. C. Watt, 'Introduction', in J. T. Emmerson, The Rhineland crisis 7 March 1936: A study in multilateral diplomacy (London, 1977), p. 13.
144. Steiner, 'The historian', p. 45
145. Steiner, 'On writing', p. 546
146. Neustadt and May, Thinking in time, pp. 233-72.
147. Butler, Sept. 1962, p. 3, NA, FO370/2694/LS18/3.
148. Strang, BBC Overseas Service, 'This day and age', 2 Mar. 1960, CAC, STRN3/8
149. John Young, 'Conclusion', in S. Kelly and A. Gorst, eds., Whitehall and the Suez crisis (London, 2000), p. 228.
150. See Peter Nailor, Learning from precedent in Whitehall (London, 1991), pp. 25-9, 33-9
151. Yuen Foong Khong, Analogies at war: Korea, Munich, Dien Bien Phu, and the Vietnam decisions of 1965 (Princeton, 1992), pp. 3-18, 174-205
152. Jeffrey Record, Making war, thinking history: Munich, Vietnam and presidential uses of force from Korea to Kosovo (Annapolis, 2002), pp. 11-18, 146-55.
153. James Joll, 1914: The unspoken assumptions (London, 1968), pp. 8-9, 23-4.
154. The mindsets of post-1945 British diplomats is a topic in need of further research building upon studies covering the interwar years: Donald Lammers, 'From Whitehall after Munich: The Foreign Office and the future course of British policy', Historical Journal, 16 (1973), pp. 831-56
155. Michael J. Hughes, 'The peripatetic career structure of the British diplomatic establishment, 1919-1939', Diplomacy and Statecraft, 14 (2003), pp. 29-48
156. Kelly and Gorst, eds., Whitehall and the Suez crisis.
157. Noble to Butler, 18 June 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/5.
158. Guy Millard, 17 June 1963, NA, FO371/173334/WP30/1.