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Abstract
Henry Kissinger's ‘Year of Europe’ was supposed to produce a renewed ‘Atlantic Charter’. Anglo-American differences over the creation of this led to severe discord between the two countries. The severity of this disagreement has not been noted by the existing historiography. These political antagonisms resulted in the cancellation of both intelligence and nuclear cooperation between the United States and Britain. This was done at the behest of Kissinger in an attempt to make British policy-makers more forthcoming towards the ‘Year of Europe’ concept.
Notes
Thomas Robb is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University. His work focuses upon the Anglo-American relationship, 1970–1980. He would wish to thank Dr. R. Gerald Hughes, Professors Len Scott, David Gill, Christopher Curran, Robert McGee and Donna L. France for reading various draft versions of this article.
[1] The term used to describe the US–European relationship in NSSM 164. See ‘NSSM 164: US Relations with Europe’, attached to Memorandum for Mrs Jeanne Davies from A.M. Christopher, 29 December 1972, NSCIHF (hereafter: NSCIHF), Senior Review Group Meetings, Box H-066, Nixon Presidential Materials Project, National Archives II, College Park, Maryland, United States of America (hereafter: NPMP).
[2] Telcon: The President-HAK, 9 August 1973, Henry A. Kissinger Telephone Conversation Transcripts (hereafter: HAKTELCONS), Box 21, NPMP.
[3] On the ‘special relationship’ see Danchev, ‘The Cold War’, 579–95; Reynolds, ‘A “Special Relationship”?’, 1-20.
[4] See Hamilton, ‘Britain, France and America's Year of Europe, 1973’, 871–95. Also see Ferraro, Tough Going, 12–4; Burk, Old World, New World, 622–5; Dumbrell, A Special Relationship, 92–3; Dobson, Anglo-American Relations, 139–43. The existing historiography concentrating upon the Nixon presidency has barely touched upon the ‘Year of Europe’. See, for instance, Suri, Henry Kissinger and the American Century; Black, Richard Milhous Nixon; Reeves, President Nixon; Isaacson, Kissinger.
[5] This is in broad agreement with the recent work of Catherine Hynes. Hynes whilst arguing that Anglo-American relations were strained at the political-diplomatic level does not illustrate how this manifested into practical Anglo-American cooperation, notably in the nuclear and intelligence realms. See Hynes, The Year That Never Was.
[6] Hanhimäki, The Flawed Architect, 275; Horne, Kissinger, 110.
[7] Dallek, Nixon and Kissinger, 473–6; Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 96.
[8] See Laing, Edward Heath, 124–47; Campbell, Edward Heath, 108–38.
[9] Kennedy, Realities behind Diplomacy, 381–4.
[10] On the ‘natural’ relationship see Dimberley and Reynolds, An Ocean Apart, 282–5.
[11] On Anglo-American differences regarding the Indian–Pakistan war, see Kissinger, The White House Years, 913–8; Heath, The Course of My Life, 485–6. On the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system see Gray, ‘Floating the System’, 295–323.
[12] Hamilton, ‘A “Week that Changed the World”’, 117–35.
[13] See as an example, DEFE 25/234 ‘Record of Discussion between CSA [Professor Bondi] and Mr Sonnenfeldt,’ 7 December 1971, TNA, ‘NSSM-123: US–UK Nuclear Relations, Analytical Summary’, undated, NSCIHF, Study Memorandums, Box H-182, NPMP.
[14] See Twigge, ‘Operation Hullabaloo’, 689–701; Sarotte, ‘The Frailties of Grand Strategies’, 156–7.
[15] FCO 59/931 ‘Prime Minister's Meeting with President Nixon, 1–2 Feb’, H.T.A. Overton Minute, 12 February 1973, The National Archives, (Formerly the Public Records Office), Kew London (Hereafter TNA). For the Christmas bombing see Ambrose, ‘The Christmas Bombing’, 397–418.
[16] FCO 59/931 ‘Prime Minister's Meeting with President Nixon, 1–2 Feb’, H.T.A. Overton Minute, 12 February 1973, TNA. For Cromer's comment see FCO 82/294 Lord Cromer to Denis Greenhill, 17 January 1973, TNA.
[17] See ‘Memorandum for the President's Office Files from B/Gen Brent Scowcroft’, 15 February 1973, President Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 91, NPMP. See also ‘Memorandum for the President's Files from Henry A. Kissinger’, 10 April 1973, Ibid.
[18] ‘Memorandum for the President's Office Files from B/Gen Brent Scowcroft’, 15 February 1973, Ibid.
[19] See Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 142.
[20] FCO 82/303 ‘Record of a Discussion at Camp David’, 2 February 1973, TNA.
[21] ‘Memorandum of Conversation’, 8 February 1973, RG 59 General Records of the Department of State, Subject Numeric Files, 1970–73, Box 2649, National Archives II (hereafter: NAII), College Park, MA, USA (hereafter: CPMUSA).
[22] Ambassador at London Embassy (Annenberg) to Secretary of State (Rogers), Tel. 1476, February 1973, RG 59 General Records of the Department of State, Subject Numeric Files, 1970–73, Box 2649, NAII, CPMUSA, FCO 59/931 ‘Prime Minister's Meeting with President Nixon, 1–2 Feb’, H.T.A. Overton Minute, 12 February 1973, TNA. See Young, Twentieth-Century Diplomacy, 135.
[23] Ambrose, Nixon, 168.
[24] Sandbrook, ‘Salesmanship and Substance’, 96–7.
[25] Hanhimäki, The Flawed Architect, 332; Kutler, The Wars of Watergate, 405–6.
[26] ‘Memorandum of Conversation’, 10 September 1972, National Security Council Files: Henry A. Kissinger Office Files, HAK Trip Files, Box 24, NPMP.
[27] See Nixon's complaints here: ‘Memorandum for the President's Office Files from Brigadier General A.M. Haig Jr’, 10 August 1971, White House Special Files, President Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 85, NPMP. For attempts to get the British to take an increased share of NATOs budget see FCO 82/71 ‘Record of Plenary Session between the UK and US Delegation’, 21 December 1971, TNA.
[28] PREM 15/1273 ‘Record of a Discussion with Dr. Kissinger’, 14 September 1972, TNA. Also see FCO 82/177 ‘Charles Powell Minute’, J.A.N. Graham to A.A. Acland, 24 November 1972, TNA.
[29] FCO 82/197 ‘Briefing Papers’, B.M. Norbury to H.T.A. Overton, 12 September 1972, TNA.
[30] FCO 82/193 ‘Secretary of the Cabinet's Meeting with Dr. Kissinger’, 20 October 1972, TNA.
[31] FCO 82/303 ‘Record of Discussion at Camp David’, 2 February 1973, TNA.
[32] CAB 130/671 GEN 161 (73) 1, 30 March 1973, TNA.
[33] CAB 130/671 GEN 161 (73) 21 March 1973, TNA. See the FCO's analysis here: CAB 164/1232 ‘Assumptions Regarding US Policy’, attached to J.E. Cable to Sir D. Allen, 9 April 1973, TNA.
[34] Hill and Lord, ‘The Foreign Policy’, 312–4.
[35] FCO 73/135 ‘Record of a Conversation at the British Embassy, Washington D.C.’, 5 March 1973, TNA.
[36] PREM 15/2089 ‘The Year of Europe: The Impact on Transatlantic and Anglo-American Relations: An Analytical Account, Feb–July, 1973’, TNA.
[37] For the speech in full see Mayall and Navari, The End of the Post-War Era, 360–7.
[38] ‘National Security Decision Memorandum 68’, 3 July 1970, NSCIHF, National Security Decision Memorandums, Box H-217, NPMP.
[39] Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 161.
[40] Heath, The Course of My Life, 493.
[41] PREM 15/1359 ‘Personal Record of a Discussion in the British Embassy, Washington D.C.’, 19 April, 1973, TNA. A point Kissinger retrospectively argued. See Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 151.
[42] PREM 15/1359 Burke Trend to the Prime Minister, 24 April 1973, TNA.
[43] PREM 15/1362 Rowley Cromer to the Prime Minister, 23 April 1973, TNA.
[44] Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 106–8; Hamilton, ‘American's Year of Europe’, 877.
[45] Carrington, Reflect on Things Past, 228–33; See ‘Lord Carrington's Meeting with Acting Secretary’, Johnson to Ambassador in London Embassy (Annenberg), Tel. 193761, 24 November 1970, RG 59 General Records of the Department of State, Subject Numeric Files 1970-73, Political & Defense, Box 2848, NAII, CPMUSA.
[46] T 355/80 F.R. Barratt to Mr I.P. Wilson, 19 June 1973, TNA, Ibid. I.P. Wilson to Mr Bailey, 20 June 1973, TNA. See also Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 140–1.
[47] PREM 15/1984 Burke Trend to Lord Bridges, 11 May 1973, TNA.
[48] Hynes, The Year That Never Was; Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’. Mary Sarotte mentions this point but fails to explain its contextual importance vis-à-vis the ‘Year of Europe’. See Sarotte, ‘The Frailties of Grand Strategies’, 156.
[49] Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 162–3.
[50] CAB 164/1232 Burke Trend to the Prime Minister, 19 March 1973, TNA.
[51] Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 879; Hill and Lord, ‘The Foreign Policy of the Heath Government’, 308–9.
[52] FCO 30/2011 ‘The Prime Minister's Meeting with President Pompidou: Steering Brief’, 9 May 1973, TNA.
[53] PREM 15/1541 ‘Record of a Conversation between the Prime Minister and the President of the French Republic’, 21 May 1973, TNA.
[54] Ibid. See also, Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 874.
[55] CAB 134/3625 ‘European Unit: Minutes of a Meeting Held in Conference Room E, Cabinet Office’, 23 May 1973, TNA.
[56] Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 874.
[57] CAB 164/1233 Burke Trend to Lord Cromer, 8 June 1973, TNA.
[58] As was suggested to Kissinger only a week prior to Jobert's announcement. See Ibid, ‘Record of a Meeting held in the British Embassy, Washington D.C.’, 4 June 1973, TNA.
[59] Burke Trend mentioned this to Heath in, CAB 164/1234 Burke Trend to Prime Minister, 19 June 1973, TNA.
[60] Ibid.
[61] CAB 164/1234 Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Prime Minister, 18 June 1973, TNA.
[62] CAB 130/671 GEN 161 (73) 20 June 1973, TNA.
[63] See, for instance, FCO 58/930 ‘Draft Brief’, attached to Private Secretary to Lord Bridges, undated (circa January 1973), TNA.
[64] CAB 164/1234 Denis Greenhill to Burke Trend, 6 July 1973, TNA, CAB 164/1235 Michael Palliser to J.O. Wright, 24 July 1973, TNA, CAB 134/3625 ‘European Unit: Minutes of a Meeting held in Conference Room E, Cabinet Office’, 27 June 1973, TNA.
[65] Heath did not inform Jobert during a meeting on 2 July 1973 that Britain possessed a draft Declaration of Principles. This British ‘duplicity’ was to result in a rather acrimonious squabble with Jobert. See Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 158, 160–1.
[66] FCO 59/931 Rowley Cromer to Denis Greenhill, 19 January 1973, TNA.
[67] FCO 59/930 ‘Draft Brief’, attached to Private Secretary to Lord Bridges, undated (circa January 1973), TNA.
[68] On Kissinger's feud with Rogers see Dallek, Nixon and Kissinger, 116–7, 211–12, 221–3.
[69] CAB 164/1233 A.A. Acland to Mr. Butler, 12 June 1972, TNA.
[70] CAB 164/1234 Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Prime Minister, 18 June 1973, TNA.
[71] British officials had long raised concerns about Kissinger's modus operandi and personality. See FCO 82/183 Lord Cromer to Denis Greenhill, 3 January 1972, TNA, FCO 82/177 Lord Cromer to Denis Greenhill, 27 April 1972, TNA, PREM 15/1272 Permanent Under-Secretary [Greenhill] to Washington, 27 May 1971, TNA.
[72] Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 132–3.
[73] Schwartz, ‘“Henry… Winning an Election Is Terribly Important”’, 173–90.
[74] Sandbrook, ‘The Influence of Domestic Policy and Watergate’, 85–103.
[75] Dallek, Nixon and Kissinger, 473–76; Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 96.
[76] ‘Conversation between President Nixon and his Assistant for National Security Affairs [Kissinger], 19 April 1972, Doc. 126, Foreign Relations of the United States 1969-1976 (Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 2007), 14: 445.
[77] Memorandum for the President's File from Ronald L. Ziegler, 15 February 1973, President Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 91, NPMP.
[78] Kissinger had written extensively on the subject whilst at Harvard. See Kissinger, The Troubled Partnership.
[79] For Kissinger's internal battles with Melvin Laird, see Van Atta, With Honor, 180–3, 216–8. See also Memorandum for the President from Henry A. Kissinger, undated (circa October 1970), NSCIHF, Meeting Files: National Security Council Meetings, Box 029, NPMP. For Laird's opposition to a conventional force build up and instead for a renewed focus on tactical nuclear weapons see Ellis H. Veatch to NSPD (Fischer), 17 November 1970, Ibid. See the policy review towards NATO at the onset of the Nixon administration here: ‘NSC Review-US Policy Toward NATO’, attached to Jeanne W. Davies to Richard Pederson et al., 17 March 1969, NSCIHF, Meeting Files, Senior Review Group Meetings, Box H-035, NPMP.
[80] For instance, NATO was described as ‘decaying’ by two of Kissinger's NSC aides. See Memorandum for Dr. Kissinger from Phil Odeen and Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 28 June 1972, NSCIHF, Senior Review Group Meetings, Box H-064, NPMP.
[81] Memorandum of Conversation, 2 July 1973: File: 2 July 1973, Kissinger–Schlesinger–Moorer, National Security Adviser Memoranda of Conversations (hereafter NSAMC), Box 2, Gerald Ford Library, Ann Arbor, MI, USA (hereafter GFL).
[82] ‘NSSM-123: US–UK Nuclear Relations, Analytical Summary’, attached to Memorandum for Under Secretary John Irwin et al. from Jeanne W. Davies, 2 July 1971, NSCIHF, Study Memorandums, Box H-182, NPMP.
[83] As noted by Hanhimäki. See Hanhimäki, The Flawed Architect, 275.
[84] Nixon feared that a unified EEC foreign policy would be based on an ‘anti-American’ ethos or it would deviate too far from the US objectives in its détente policies with Moscow.
[85] ‘Memorandum for the President's Files: Meeting with John McCloy’, 13 March 1973, NSCIHF, Presidential/HAK Memcons, Box 1025, NPMP.
[86] Memorandum for the President's Office Files from B/Gen Brent Scowcroft, 15 February 1973, President's Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 91, NPMP.
[87] Telcon: The President-HAK, 9 August 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[88] Devuyst, ‘American Attitudes’, 19.
[89] Ibid., 24–5. For specific examples within the US documentation see Memorandum for the President's Office File from David N. Parker, 25 May 1973, President Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 91, NPMP.
[90] Memorandum for the President's File from Peter Flanigan, 11 September 1972, President's Office Files, Memoranda for the President, Box 89, NPMP.
[91] Memorandum for Mr Kissinger from Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 30 January 1973, NSCIHF, Senior Review Group Meetings, Box H-066, NPMP. Also see Lundestad, The United States and Western Europe, 181.
[92] See Kissinger's initial order here: ‘National Security Study Memorandum 79’, Henry Kissinger to the Secretary of State et al., 13 October 1969, NSCIHF, Study Memorandums, Box H-164, NPMP. For the report see ‘Enlargement of the European Community: Implications for the US and Policy options’; Martin J. Hillenbrand to Henry Kissinger, 23 April 1970, Ibid.
[93] ‘Discussion of United States Policy Toward Europe: NSC Meeting’, 28 January 1970, NSCIHF, National Security Council Meetings, Box H-026, NPMP.
[94] Memorandum of Conversation, 17 August 1973: File: 17 August 1973 Kissinger–Schlesinger–John S. Foster, NSAMC, Box 2, GFL.
[95] Ibid.
[96] Ibid.
[97] On the oil embargo and the EEC reaction see Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 887–90. See also Venn, The Oil Crisis; Yergin, The Prize, 598–632.
[98] Telcon: General Scowcroft–Secretary Kissinger, 12 February 1974, HAKTELCONS, Box 24, NPMP.
[99] Telcon: Secretary Kissinger–The President, 13 February 1974, Ibid.
[100] Telcon: Secretary Kissinger–The President, 14 February 1974, Ibid.
[101] Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 881.
[102] Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 189.
[103] Ibid., 191–2.
[104] Telcon: President–Kissinger, 30 July 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[105] FCO 82/311 ‘Record of a Meeting’, 30 July 1973, TNA.
[106] Ibid. Kissinger evidently meant nuclear discussions within the context of NATO, as detailed Anglo-American discussions were on-going regarding the updating of the British nuclear deterrent. See Baylis and Stoddart, ‘Britain and the Chevaline Project’, 124–55.
[107] Telcon: Mr Kissinger–Sir Burke Trend, 30 July 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[108] See PREM 15/1981 Richard Nixon to Edward Heath, 26 July 1973, TNA. The tone of this letter was in stark contrast to Nixon's letter to Heath at the end of May. See PREM 15/1554 Richard Nixon to Edward Heath, 30 May 1973, TNA.
[109] FCO 82/311 R.A. Sykes to Thomas Brimelow, 13 August 1973, TNA.
[110] See Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 113–4; Horne, Kissinger, 119; Kissinger, Years of Upheaval, 192.
[111] Telcon: Secretary Rush–Kissinger, 31 July 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[112] On the ‘special relationship’ in the intelligence realm, see Aldrich, ‘The Anglo-American Special Relationship’, 331–51; Richelson and Ball, The Ties That Bind.
[113] Several scholars have noted that Anglo-American intelligence collaboration was halted for a period following the Yom Kippur War fallout. However, no mention of this earlier incident is recorded. See Garthoff, Détente and Confrontation, 450; Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 210; Bartlett, ‘The Special Relationship’, 133.
[114] Telcon: The President–HAK, 9 August 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[115] Ibid.
[116] FCO 82/311 Richard Sykes to Thomas Brimelow, 13 August 1973, TNA.
[117] PREM 16/733 James Callaghan to the Prime Minister, 22 July 1975, TNA.
[118] One report supplied to Heath in November 1970 suggested ‘The British strategic deterrent is at present entirely dependent upon our continued access to US information and material’. See PREM 15/299 ‘Anglo-French Nuclear Cooperation in the Defence Field: Paper Prepared by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,’ attached to Solly Zuckerman to the Prime Minister, 5 November 1970, TNA. Lord Cromer in 1971 reaffirmed such arguments. See PREM 15/787 Cromer to the FCO, 17 April 1971, TNA.
[119] PREM 15/1357 Denis Greenhill to R.A. Armstrong, 20 May 1973, TNA. On the possibility of Anglo-French nuclear cooperation under Edward Heath, see Stoddart, ‘Nuclear Weapons’, 719–44.
[120] On this see Baylis, ‘British Nuclear Doctrine’, 53–65.
[121] PREM 15/1359 ‘Appendix 1 to Annex B’ attached to Robert Armstrong to Robert Andrew, 15 April 1972, TNA, CAB 164/1232 ‘United States-United Kingdom Discussions on European Security: Analysis of Objectives’, attached to Howard Smith to Burke Trend, 2 March 1973, TNA.
[122] See Horne, Kissinger, 106–21; Hynes, The Year That Never Was; Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’.
[123] Telcon: Schlesinger–Kissinger, 28 August 1973, HAKTELCONS, Box 21, NPMP.
[124] Schlesinger was appointed in July 1973. See Memorandum of Conversation, 9 August 1973: File: 9 August 1973 Kissinger–Schlesinger, Memorandum of Conversation, 9 August 1973: File: 9 August 1973 Kissinger–Schlesinger, NSAMC, Box 2, GFL.
[125] Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 882.
[126] FCO 82/311 R.A. Sykes to Thomas Brimelow, 13 August 1973, TNA.
[127] CAB 164/1235 ‘Record of Conversation between Sir Thomas Brimelow and the French Foreign Minister’, 29 August 1973, TNA.
[128] CAB 164/1235 AW to Burke Trend, 22 August 1973, TNA.
[129] ‘Memorandum of Conversation’, 7 September 1973, RG 59 General Records of the Department of State, Subject Numeric Files, 1970-73, Box 2649, NAII, CPMUSA.
[130] FCO 82/321 ‘Message from the Prime Minister to the President’, Tom Bridges to M. Alexander, 4 September 1973, TNA.
[131] Memorandum for Mr Kissinger from Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 11 September 1973, RG 59 General Records of the Department of State, Subject Numeric Files, 1970-73, Box 2649, NAII, CPMUSA.
[132] Hamilton, ‘Year of Europe’, 882.
[133] Memorandum for Secretary Kissinger from Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 3 October 1973, National Security Council Files, Country Files-Europe, Box 679, NPMP.
[134] Lundestad, The United States and Western Europe, 182–3.
[135] See Note 4.
[136] See Hanhimäki, The Flawed Architect, 351; Hynes, The Year That Never Was, 196–231.