Lecture programme
Lectures take place on Fridays, from 2–3.15pm (UK time).
Friday 18 October 2024
Khrushchev: European clampdown reveals limits of ideological reform
Acknowledged to be a relative liberal in domestic policy, Khrushchev’s foreign policy has always been a complicated mixture of hard-line Cold War repression and conciliatory diplomacy with the United States and NATO. Co-existence was a subtle way of maintaining the nuclear balance of ‘mutually assured destruction’ while allowing the Soviet Union to pursue a global ideological conflict with the West. The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis fits this template. Within the Eastern bloc Khrushchev brutally crushed the Hungarian uprising of 1956 but made concessions to Gomulka in Poland and took a relaxed view of Tito’s Yugoslavia, Albania’s pro-Chinese stance and tolerated – albeit with bemused contempt – the foreign policy experimentation of Romania.
Friday 25 October 2024
De Gaulle: making France great again
De Gaulle’s maverick foreign policy – wildly popular on the campaign trail at home – infuriated both superpowers. Showing independence from the Americans, he withdrew France from the military structure of NATO (but not its political structure to hedge his bets), expelled US troops and the NATO Headquarters, and denounced American involvement in Vietnam. Moreover, he pursued a French nuclear deterrent without an American finger on the trigger. But de Gaulle was no Soviet apologist, not least because his main domestic opponents were the powerful French Communist Party (PCF), then in its heyday. Accordingly, on visiting Moscow, de Gaulle gratuitously insulted Communism, to Brezhnev’s surprise and annoyance.
Friday 1 November 2024
Brandt: the contradictions of 'Ostpolitik'
Electorally successful at home because of the family reunions, Brandt was hailed as a statesman abroad. Despite his history of impeccably opposing fascism, he took on his shoulders the guilt of the Third Reich, for which he apologised throughout Eastern Europe. Famously falling to his knees seeking forgiveness in Warsaw and signing a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, Brandt was viewed as a heroic champion of peace. But with the passage of time critics multiplied, arguing that his diplomacy strengthened the repressive East German regime, giving it a legitimacy which its citizens never did. In the end, critics claimed, Gorbachev’s reforms which ushered in the end of the Cold War occurred despite Brandt’s Ostpolitik rather than because of it.
Friday 8 November 2024
Tito: straddling both sides in the Cold War
Maintaining power for 35 years, Tito was a skilful political operator who purged his rivals at home and pursued a non-aligned foreign policy abroad after the breach with Stalin in 1948. Navigating diplomatically between the Soviets and Americans, he did enough to please both sides. Posing as a true Communist, he flattered Khrushchev and his successors, greatly assisting the Soviets in crushing the 1956 Hungarian uprising. But feigning fear of a Soviet invasion, he secured weapons and money from the Americans, becoming an ’unofficial member of NATO’. Cynically, in private he mocked the naivety of the West for its provision of aid. After his death, critics, especially Nora Beloff, claimed that he left only a flawed legacy.
Friday 15 November 2024
Franco: from Axis collaborator to unofficial member of NATO
After 1945 and the Allied victory Franco sought to reinvent his foreign policy. The fascist Falange were marginalised and the right arm salute discontinued. Taking advantage of the Cold War, Franco sought American friendship. While Truman kept his distance, Eisenhower was eager to enlist Spain as an ally, albeit stopping short of NATO membership. A lucrative deal for Franco enabled the US Air Force to use Spanish bases, Hollywood was encouraged to make western movies in Spain’s remote regions, and Eisenhower paid a visit to Madrid to cement the new friendship. Although unable to obtain membership because of his authoritarian regime, Franco pursued economic ties with the EEC and signed a landmark deal with Fiat to manufacture its cars badged as SEATS. Ultimately the ties with Europe, including increased tourism, undermined the nature of the regime, paradoxically preparing the way for democracy after Franco’s death.
Friday 22 November 2024
Wilson: juggling decolonisation, NATO and EEC application
Prioritising domestic affairs and social reform Wilson boasted in 1967 that, for the first time ever, education spending now exceeded military spending. Wilson’s foreign policy exemplified the transition from hard power to soft power. Despite intense pressure from Lyndon Johnson, Wilson refused to send UK troops to Vietnam, which some of his biographers regard as his finest hour. Nonetheless, he instructed the Foreign Office to ensure that the UK backed America’s policy in Vietnam in votes at the United Nations. Separately, he reversed Labour party policy to seek membership of the EEC in 1967, but failed to see that de Gaulle would again use the veto. After the UK joined in 1973 he favoured a renegotiation of the terms of membership and presided over the 1975 referendum, which delivered a 66% to 34% vote in his favour.
How and when to watch
Each lecture will last approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, followed by questions.
For those attending in person at Rewley House, registration takes place at 1.45pm before each lecture. Tea and coffee are provided in the Common Room after each lecture, from 3.15pm.
For those joining us online, please join in good time before each lecture to ensure that you have no connection problems. We recommend joining 10-15 minutes before the start time. If joining from another time zone, please note that the first two lectures will take place from 2-3.15pm BST (UTC+1), whereas the lectures from 1 November onwards will take place from 2-3.15pm GMT (UTC).
