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The Attlee Government’s Nuclear Strategy, 1945–51

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Britain and the First Cold War

Abstract

This chapter will examine the origins of British nuclear strategy, and place Britain’s strategic ideas and planning in the context of its perceptions of the Soviet Union and the United States during the period of the Attlee Government. It is argued that Britain’s security in the early postwar period was contingent upon the protection of one superpower and on the restraint of the other, and that its nuclear strategy was directed towards both superpowers in an attempt to achieve a stable strategic environment.

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© 1990 The Graduate School of European and International Studies, University of Reading

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Wheeler, N. (1990). The Attlee Government’s Nuclear Strategy, 1945–51. In: Deighton, A. (eds) Britain and the First Cold War. University of Reading European and International Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10756-8_8

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