A microcosm of decline: British loss of nerve and military intervention in Jordan and Kuwait, 1958 and 1961

The Historical Journal

Volumn 40, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 1069-1083

  Ashton, Nigel John ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85010155668     PISSN: 0018246X     EISSN: 14695103     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0018246X97007401     Document Type: Article

References (94)

1. Elizabeth Monroe, Britain's moment in the Middle East, 1914–1956 (London, 1963), pp. 1 31–51. Monroe saw this ‘break up of confidence’ culminating in the retreat from Palestine. However, the concept seems equally applicable to the events of the next two decades.
2. PRO FO371 /157389, Johnston-Stevens, 16 Mar. 1961.
3. Evelyn Shuckburgh, Descent to Suez: diaries, 1951–1956 (London, 1986), p. 350.
4. Hansard, vol. 591, 17 July 1958, p. 1506.
5. Harold Macmillan, Riding the storm, 1956–1959 (London, 1971), p. 514.
6. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Wagingpeace (London, 1965), p. 122.
7. Also, Foreign relations of the United States (FRUS), 1955–57, XVII, 461–2, Eisenhower's diary entry, 21 Mar. 1957.
8. PRO CAB128/31 part 2, Macmillan's comments to cabinet, cabinet conclusions, ‘Syria’, 27 Aug. 1957
9. Alistair Horne, Macmillan, 1957–1986 (London, 1989), p. 44, Macmillan's memo to minister of defence, Duncan Sandys.
10. Presidential papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas (hereafter ‘Eisenhower papers’), John Foster Dulles, telephone calls series, Box 8, Lodge-Dulles and Dulles-Lodge, 21 May 1958.
11. Geoff Berridge and John Young, ‘What is “a Great Power”’, Political Studies, XXXVI (1988), 224–34. According to Berridge and Young, force remains the ultimate arbiter in international relations.
12. PRO PREM11/2380, Lloyd-Hood, 15 July 1958.
13. PRO PREM 11/2387, Eisenhower-Macmillan, phone conversation, 14 July 1958.
14. PRO CAB130/153, GEN658, first meeting, 22 July 1958.
15. Eisenhower papers; Ann Whitman file, DDE diary series, box 34, Dulles-Eisenhower, phone call, 15 July 1958.
16. Mustafa Alani, Operation Vantage: British military intervention in Kuwait, 1961 (London, 1990), pp. 72–73.
17. Operation Vantage: British military intervention in Kuwait, p. 36. The figure quoted in this instance is for 1960.
18. There are a large number of references to this process in both British and American records. A flavour of the course of discussions can be obtained by consulting PRO PREMi 1/3427, Macmillan-Eisenhower, 14 May 1959
19. PRO CAB131/21, ‘Anglo-American planning in the Middle East’, 25 July 1959
20. United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), Central decimal file, ‘US/UK Planning’, CCS381 EMMEA, JCS-Holloway, 23 Aug. 1958
21. PRO PREM11/2753, Mountbatten-MOD, 31 Aug. 1959
22. PRO CAB131/21, Cabinet Defence Committee, tenth meeting, ‘Anglo-American planning in the Middle East’, 18 Sept. 1959.
23. PRO PREM11/3266, Lloyd-Macmillan, 25 May 1959.
24. PRO PREM11/3427, memorandum for the prime minister, ‘Middle East military plans’, 8 June 1959: ‘… it would not be practicable to reconquer Kuwait by direct assault if it were suddenly invaded and occupied’. The difficulties of such an operation were the subject of further correspondence between defence minister Watkinson and foreign secretary Home in early 1961
25. PRO PREM11/3427, Watkinson-Home, 17 Jan. 1961
26. Home-Watkinson, 8 Feb. 1961.
27. For example, PRO PREM11/3427, Home-Watkinson, 8 Feb. 1961.
28. PRO PREM11/2387, Macmillan-Eisenhower, 2.32 a.m., 15 July 1958.
29. For US scepticism see PRO PREM11/2380, Hood-Lloyd, 15 July 1958
30. Eisenhower papers; John Foster Dulles, chronological series, box 16, meeting re Jordan, 15 July 1958.
31. Eisenhower papers; Ann Whitman file, DDE diary series, box 35, conference with the president, 16 July 1958.
32. Ritchie Ovendale, ‘Great Britain and the Anglo-American invasion of Jordan and Lebanon in 1958’, International History Review, xvi (1994), 293–7, puts a different gloss on this.
33. PRO PREMi 11/2380, meeting between Macmillan, minister of defence Sandys and the chiefs of staff, 15 July 1958. It was seen as vital to act before strategic facilities such as the airfield at Amman fell into rebel hands.
34. Eisenhower papers; John Foster Dulles, chronological series, box 16, meeting re Jordan, Dulles and officials, 15 July 1958
35. Eisenhower papers; Ann Whitman file, DDE diary series, box 35, meeting between Eisenhower and Twining, 15 July 1958.
36. Eisenhower papers; Ann Whitman file, DDE diary series, box 35, conference with the president, 23 July 1958
37. Eisenhower papers; John Foster Dulles, telephone calls series, box 8, Vorys-Dulles, 23 July 1958.
38. The American response was ‘wholly negative’: PRO PREM11 /2380, Hood-Lloyd, 23 July 1958.
39. PRO PREM11/2388, Lloyd-Hood, 1 Aug. 1959.
40. Macmillan, Riding the storm, p. 518.
41. Riding the storm, p. 521.
42. Hansard, vol. 591, p. 1547, 17 July 1958.
43. For example, Macmillan, Riding the storm, pp. 526, 529.
44. PRO PREM11/73427, ‘ Exchange of notes regarding relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Kuwait’, 19 June 1961.
45. ‘ Exchange of notes regarding relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Kuwait’, Trevelyan-FO, 26 June 1961.
46. ‘ Exchange of notes regarding relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Kuwait’, Trevelyan-FO, 27 June 1961.
47. ‘ Exchange of notes regarding relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the State of Kuwait’, Trevelyan-FO, 26 June 1961.
48. Humphrey Trevelyan, The Middle East in revolution (London, 1970), pp. 187–189.
49. The Middle East in revolution, p. 188.
50. Alani, Operation Vantage, pp. 108–9, refers to the puzzling failure of the British government to make use of air reconnaissance in this case.
51. PRO PREM11/3427, FO-Kuwait, D.6.40 p.m., 29 June 1961.
52. The Middle East in revolution, FO-Kuwait, D.2.35 a.m., 30 June 1961.
53. The Middle East in revolution, Richmond-FO, D.g.26 a.m., 30 June 1961.
54. PRO CAB131/26, cabinet defence committee, meeting on the afternoon of 29 June 1961, withheld under Section 3(4).
55. withheld under Section, cabinet defence committee, 3 p.m., 30 June 1961.
56. Horne, Macmillan, 1957–1986, p. 419.
57. U.S. state department 686D.87/7–161D, London-State, D. 1 p.m., 1 July 1961.
58. U.S. state department 686D/g-1161, ‘Effects of the Kuwait crisis on British policy’, London-State, 11 Sept. 1961.
59. Presidential papers of John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, Massachusetts (hereafter ‘John F. Kennedy papers’), box 313, NSC, 486th meeting, 29 June 1961.
60. PRO PREM11/3428, Caccia-FO, D.6.53 p.m., 1 July 1961.
61. PRO FO371/156878, Caccia-FO, 5 July 1961.
62. U.S. state department 686D.87/7–461, Baghdad-State, 4 July 1961.
63. U.S. state department 786D.00/7–761, Talbot-Rusk, ‘Consultation with the UK on the Kuwait situation’, 7 July 1961.
64. Orna Almog, ‘An end of an era-the crisis of 1958 and the Anglo-Israeli relationship’, Contemporary Record (1994), pp. 49–76, provides a good account of this and Anglo-Israeli relations in general during the crisis.
65. Macmillan, Riding the storm, p. 520.
66. Riding the storm
67. Almog, ‘An end of an era’, pp. 57–61.
68. PRO PREMi 11/2377, Rundall-FO, 19 July 1958.
69. PRO CAB131/26, cabinet defence committee, 9.15 p.m., 30 June 1961.
70. Riding the storm, cabinet defence committee, 10.30 a.m., 1 July 1961.
71. Shuckburgh, Descent to Suez, p. 311.
72. Eisenhower papers, John Foster Dulles, chronological series, box 16, memorandum of a conversation, Hood and Dulles, evening 14 July 1958
73. PRO PREM11/2380, Hood-FO, 14 July 1958.
74. PRO PREM11 /2380, FO-Washington, 15July 1958.
75. PRO CAB 130/153, Gen 660, first meeting, 6 Aug. 1958.
76. Ovendale, ‘ Great Britain and the Anglo-American invasion of Jordan and Lebanon’, pp. 300–301.
77. PRO CAB131/26, cabinet defence committee, 7 p.m., 29 June 1961.
78. See also, PRO PREM11/3427, Home-Richmond, D.2.35 a.m., 30 June 1961.
79. PRO PREM11/3428, Richmond-FO, 4 July 1961. Brian Urquhart, Hammarskjold (New York, 1972), p. 290.
80. Harold Macmillan, Pointing the way, 1959–1961 (London, 1972), p. 385.
81. See for example, PRO PREM11/3429, De Zulueta-Macmillan, 9 July 1961
82. Pointing the way, Macmillan-Home, 9 July 1961
83. PRO FO371/156880, Kuwait-FO, 9 July 1961
84. PRO FO371/156882, FO-Bahrain, 21 July 1961.
85. For concerns over Nasser's role see PRO PREM11/3429, FO-Rabat, 18 Aug. 1961
86. PRO FO371/156888, meeting at the foreign office, 11 a.m., 18 Aug. 1961.
87. Macmillan, Pointing the way, p. 386.
88. PRO PREM11/3428, Kuwait-FO, 4 July 1961.
89. Nigel Pearce, The shield and the sabre: the desert rats in the Gulf, 1990–1991 (London, 1992), p.12, notes that this was a lesson not forgotten in the deployment of 1990.
90. Macmillan, Riding the storm, p. 518.
91. PRO FO371/156889, FO Arabian department-Home, 2 Sept. 1961.
92. Macmillan, Riding the storm, p. 516.
93. Riding the storm
94. PRO PREM11/3430, Brook-Macmillan, 13 Sept. 1961.