This Blessed Plot Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus This Blessed Plot

Einleitung anhören

00:00

Zusammenfassung von This Blessed Plot

Name: This Blessed Plot
Rating: 4.1 (36 reviews)
Author: Hugo Young

Hugo Young

Britain and Europe From Churchill to Blair

4.1 (36 Bewertungen)

20 Min.

Themen

European History UK Politics

Inhaltsübersicht

This Blessed Plot
in 8 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 8

What’s in it for me? Learn about the complex relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

It’s not often that one knows for sure that a date will go down in history. However, June 23rd, 2016, is such a date. On that day, British voters chose “Brexit,” that is, for the UK to leave the European Union. Though opinion polls showed it would be close at the ballot boxes, most pundits, journalists and politicians were stunned and surprised at the outcome. But should they really have been so surprised?

The United Kingdom’s relationship with the rest of Europe in general, and with the European Union and its predecessors in particular, has been complicated, to say the least. In these blinks, we’ll go back to the end of World War II and examine the evolution of this complex relationship, gaining on the way a deeper understanding of what led up to the historic times we’re living in.

In these blinks, you’ll find out

how the United Kingdom’s colonial past affected their integration into European cooperation;
how a dispute in Egypt shaped the United Kingdom’s relationship with continental Europe; and
how tightening European cooperation led to political tension decades before Brexit.

Britain’s post-war relationship with continental Europe got off to a shaky start.

Britain was in a unique position at the end of WWII: They were the only European power that had successfully defended its land from Nazi invasion, and they used this position to help liberate the rest of the continent from fascist rule.

Winston Churchill, eager to prevent future catastrophes, saw the unification of Europe as a way to accomplish this.

The war, Churchill recognized, was caused in large part by the divided state of Europe. He hoped that the old rivalries between these nations could be extinguished if they were all united, both economically and politically.

In fact, he’d been dreaming of a unified Europe since 1930, when he published an article calling for a “United States of Europe.”

In 1946, Churchill carried that dream to Zürich, where he gave a major speech that highlighted his ideas to the rest of the continent.

The first step in his plan called for a Council of Europe, which wouldn’t interfere with national sovereignty but instead act as a forum to help kickstart the process of deepening ties between European nations.

French and German leaders were particularly receptive to this plan and it inspired them to continue working together.

Churchill, however, having lost the general election to the Labour Party in 1945, was unable to put his European plan to work in the Britain.

The Labour Party opposed the “European supranationalism” of Churchill’s plan, preferring a more international – rather than regional – approach to European policy-making. This broader approach included the creation of NATO and providing economic aid to Europe through the American-led Marshall Plan.

Over the next few years, Britain continued to oppose plans for further European integration. So, France and West Germany moved on without them and, in 1950, they formed the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).

The ECSC acted as a common market that also included Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. By joining the ECSC, these nations gave up some sovereign powers to a supranational European authority, making the ECSC the first version of what would later become the modern European Union.

As Western Europe came together, Britain had other problems to deal with.

In 1951, Churchill and his Conservative Party were voted back into government, but by now the message of European unity had been replaced by other priorities.

Indeed, it was Britain’s partnership with the United States that was taking precedence in British decision-making.

Britain recognized the benefits of the EEC, but maintaining relations with its Commonwealth was problematic.

In January of 1957, the political fallout from the Suez Crisis led the Conservative Party to reshuffle its leadership and make Harold Macmillan the prime minister. Like Churchill, Macmillan, who clearly saw the benefits of a unified continent, had a history of pro-Europeanism.

This proved providential, because just two months after Macmillan’s appointment, the leaders of the ECSC signed the Treaty of Rome and gave birth to the European Economic Community (EEC).

Britain’s efforts to join the EEC faced stiff resistance, both at home and abroad.

On January 14, 1963, French President Charles de Gaulle vetoed Britain’s bid to join the EEC. But why did he do such a thing? After all, excluding Luxembourg, the members of the EEC were furious at de Gaulle’s action.

Chances are, de Gaulle felt threatened by Britain, fearing that it might supplant France as the political leader of the EEC.

With the economy in trouble during the 1960s, the barriers to Britain’s EEC entry slowly fell away.

In light of Britain’s increasing economic struggles, it finally dawned on Wilson that best way to restore prosperity was to shift focus away from the Commonwealth and toward Europe.

So Wilson began a cautious campaign for British entry into the EEC.

Britain began its shaky relationship with the EEC during a chaotic time.

Britain officially joined the EEC on January 1, 1973. A year later, however, the Labour Party was back in power, after having campaigned on a ticket that promised to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s entry.

Many of the Labour Party’s left-leaning members were strongly against the EEC altogether and viewed it as a threat to British workers.

For better or for worse, Margaret Thatcher’s leadership further integrated Britain into the EEC.

In 1979, the reigns of the British government again changed hands, and this time the Conservative Party was being led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Another round of renegotiations were soon underway, as Thatcher was eager to lower Britain’s net contribution to the EEC.

In the 1990s the Labour Party and Tony Blair took advantage of Britain’s divisiveness over Europe.

After the declaration of a monetary union, Thatcher only intensified her anti-EEC attitude. This inflexibility eventually led to the party replacing her in 1990 with a more pro-EEC leader.

But then, in 1991, the Maastricht Treaty was signed into effect, giving others opposed to the EEC even more reason for concern.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von This Blessed Plot sehen?

Kernaussagen in This Blessed Plot

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in This Blessed Plot?

Nowadays, it’s common knowledge that Britain sees itself as distinct from the rest of Europe. For instance, they use the pound instead of the euro and do not take part in the EU free travel zone. But how did Britain’s relationship with Europe end up like this? That’s what This Blessed Plot (1998) is all about. It explains that, since WWII, Britain has had a conflicted relationship with the European project, filled with negotiations and exemptions. With the “Brexit” now on everyone’s mind, find out more about this complicated history and what it might be able to tell us about Britain’s future.

Bestes Zitat aus This Blessed Plot

We must recreate the European family in a regional structure called, as it may be, the United States of Europe. - Winston Churchill

—Hugo Young

Wer This Blessed Plot lesen sollte

Anyone interested in the “Brexit” referendum
Political junkies
Students of modern European history

Über den Autor

Hugo Young was a British author and acclaimed journalist whose work appeared regularly in The Sunday Times and The Guardian. His other books include One of Us, an award-winning biography of Margaret Thatcher. He died in 2003.

Kategorien mit This Blessed Plot

History Politics

Ähnlich wie This Blessed Plot

The Splendid and the Vile

Erik Larson

A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

My Battle With Europe’s Deep Establishment

The Last of the Soviets

Reflections on Leadership from Wilson to May

An honest account from a prime minister who truly altered his country’s course

31 min

4.4

A Short History of Brexit

Kevin O’Rourke

From Brentry to Backstop

29 min

4.3

Why We Get the Wrong Politicians

Isabel Hardman

A quick tour of British politics

Timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy

What the Rich Teach Their Kids about Money – That the Poor and the Middle Class Do Not!

How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World

29 min

4.4

How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

Donald Robertson

The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius

How Europe Went To War in 1914

22 min

4.6

NFTs Are a Scam / NFTs are the Future

Bobby Hundreds

The Early Years: 2020-2023

What to Say to Get Your Way

17 min

4.6

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

Shoshana Zuboff

The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

27 min

4.6

The Great Money Reset

Jill Schlesinger

Change Your Work, Change Your Wealth, Change Your Life

17 min

3.9

American Prometheus

Kai Bird & Martin J Sherwin

The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Helping Kids Develop Healthy Sexuality in a Porn-Driven World

A foundational work in the history of Western political philosophy

29 min

4.7

The Story of Philosophy

Will Durant

The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers

Friedrich August von Hayek

Van Hayek's classic text on Freedom

Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.

How Your Brain Tricks You Into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do about It

A Guide To Spiritual Enlightenment

19 min

4.5

Political Order and Political Decay

Francis Fukuyama

From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy

How Debate Teaches Us to Listen and Be Heard

The Failure of Globalism

A Common Sense Guide to the Economy

20 min

4.5

The 48 Laws of Power (New Version)

Robert Greene

The secret methods to getting what you want

The Secret History of the Religion with No Name

18 min

4.0

The Fine Art Of Small Talk

Debra Fine

How To Start a Conversation, Keep It Going, Build Networking Skills – and Leave a Positive Impression!

19 min

4.1

Impromptu

Reid Hoffman with GPT-4

Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI

The Psychology of Human Relationships

17 min

3.7

Mindful Self-Discipline

Giovanni Dienstmann

Living with Purpose and Achieving Your Goals in a World of Distractions

Find Out What People Really Think, What They Really Want, and Who They Really Are

16 min

4.5

In Pursuit of the Unknown

Ian Stewart

17 Equations That Changed the World

22 min

4.4

The Romanovs

Simon Sebag Montefiore

How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way

Architect of American Ambition

A Brief History of Humankind

28 min

4.4

Reinventing Your Life

Jeffrey E. Young and Janet S. Klosko

The Breakthrough Program to End Negative Behaviour...and Feel Great Again

The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe

Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown

Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism

The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

18 min

4.6

Russian Roulette

Michael Isikoff and David Corn

The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump

27 min

4.1

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.