Rapprochement

Abstract

Writing in 1932, Sir John Wheeler-Bennett, one of the most respected inter-war commentators on international relations, stated that British antagonism to the United States in the wake of the Anglo—French Compromise was ‘comparable only to that manifested towards Germany in the years 1908-14’.¹ Certainly the mood of the press of both countries, and the tone of the speeches of American politicians from Coolidge downwards, was not conducive to a renewed effort to achieve a modus vivendi on the naval relationship between Britain and America. Nevertheless in both countries more objective and sober minds appreciated the possible consequences of rivalry between the two greatest naval powers, and it was not long before the first attempts were made to extend olive branches from both sides.