Holding Course: The Labour Government of 1945–51 and the Struggle over Strategy

Abstract

1945 marked a dramatic swing to the left in domestic politics in Britain, encouraged in part by the widespread admiration of the struggle of the Soviet Union against Nazism.¹ A Labour government came to power committed to the creation of a welfare state and an extensive program of nationalization. Many backbenchers also heralded the long-awaited arrival of a socialist foreign policy, which would not only bolster Britain’s international standing, but also would revolutionize world affairs. The slogan ‘left understands left’ was used frequently by Labour campaigners in 1945 when international issues were raised. Perhaps not surprisingly, the foreign policy establishment greeted this phenomenon with undisguised apprehension, and a pervasive gloom spread over the Foreign Office after the 1945 election. Orme Sargent, soon to become Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, pessimistically foresaw ‘a Communist avalanche over Europe, a weak foreign policy, a private revolution at home and the reduction of England to a 2nd-class power.’² As we have seen, such anxieties were unfounded. Britain’s foreign policy followed a well-trodden, traditional path after 1945, particularly with regard to the east of Suez role.