‘By 1975 Britain had accepted her new place in the world.’ Assess the validity of this view.

In 1962, Dean Acheson the United States Secretary of State at West Point asserted that ‘Britain has lost an empire, and has not yet found a role’. However, this cannot be taken at face value when evaluating Britain’s world position and foreign policy record. By examining the key issues surrounding Britain’s global position such as Europe and the Empire, this essay will argue that by 1975, Britain did have a role but a role that we had stumbled upon in the new world. The grim forces of reality had, by 1975, cajoled Britain into a role that both bridged the gap between the emerging dominance of Europe and the ever omnipotent America. Conversely, this was not a role that Britain as a nation accepted willingly, and by no means was Britain united in the recognition of this somewhat diminished position, impact and standing that was once possessed on the world stage.Undoubtedly there were those, who were far more open-minded and willing to accept Britain’s new place, ergo, they looked forward to the task of cementing her role and safety within her reduced stature. In 1973, Britain had finally successfully acceded membership to the EEC, an issue that had provided unstable foundations politically within Britain for the past two decades. However, the referendum of 1975 provided an empathetic majority of 67% for Heath’s goal and vision. Heath’s clever campaign of using notable figures such as Henry Cooper and Jackie Stewart, allowed many pro-Europeans to see that Britain was increasingly willing to accept that she was no longer strong enough to remain in the previous splendid isolation. Britain and her citizens finally recognised and accepted that their future role lay in collaboration with a Europe from which they had for so long remained aloof. They had learned to both compromise and accept that an ideology of ‘go it alone’ would no longer function. Britain’s acceptance of its European role by 1975 stemmed from the origins of the economic disarray in which the country lay. Britain suffered from stagflation, rocketing prices and memories of the three-day week . These were still painstakingly fresh. As Sandbrook notes ‘Britain was mocked abroad as the sick man of Europe’. In stark contrast, the rest of the continent seemed to be racing ahead in united economic growth that was leaving Britain wallowing further and further behind its counterparts. To many, there was no viable alternative, to remain aligned with her competitors Britain must join Europe, something Harold Wilson describes as a ‘historic decision’.