'A Sludgy Amalgam': Churchill, Eisenhower, and Anglo-American Alliance Building in Europe, 1945-1955

Abstract

In the wake of the Second World War, Britain still clung to its tenuous position as a world power, the United States was still getting use to the idea that it was a world power, and Europe was soon under threat from Soviet forces. Western European nations began making plans for its defense. The role Britain and the US played in this is generally understood. With the political whirlwind that was the Brexit vote and the debate about what Churchill would think, it is important to recount the positives and negatives of Churchill’s post-war tenure as former prime minister and prime minister. It is equally important to examine the impact the United States, and in particular, General and future President Dwight Eisenhower had on British and European defense planning. This paper argues that Eisenhower played a large role in forcing Churchill to acquiesce to British integration into a European defense plan. It will do so by demonstrating that Eisenhower forced Churchill to overcome his faith in a British-American partnership and accept Britain’s role in the defense of Europe.