‘The reason behind Britain’s attempts to join the EEC in the years 1967 to 1973 was that Britain could no longer claim to be a world power in its own right.’ Assess the validity of this view

The best way to approach an essay question is to brainstorm. So, why did Britain attempt to join the EEC? As well as the reason given in the question, we can also consider Britain's economic decline, the goals of leading politicians, and retirement of De Gaulle - if you are having trouble thinking of reasons, it helps to consider the themes (economy, politics, foreign policy and society). Then, we choose which reason (each of which will form a paragraph) is our strongest contributor to Britain's decision to join the EEC. As the examiners are looking for change and continuity, it helps to consider whether there one main reason (eg no longer considered a world power) that then becomes replaced by a push factor (De Gaulle's retirement). The introduction should contain a contextualisation of the question, a thesis (where you will state whether you agree with the question and provide an argument for why you think a particular reason is the most significant for Britain's attempt to join the EEC), a definition of any key terms in the question (in this case you can explain what it means by 'a world power in its own right'), and a brief layout of how you will approach the question. When writing the body of the essay, you should have two strong facts for each paragraph that you can explain and link to the question in a persuasive manner. You should organise your paragraphs by arguing the strongest reason first, then the reason in the question if this is different from your strongest reason (as it is essential that you address the question to gain marks), and then any other reasons. You should have a sentence or two at the end of each paragraph that does not agree with your argument in order to undermine it, thus further supporting your argument. To conclude you should reiterate your thesis, tying together all of the reasoning in your essay to support your point without introducing any new facts.