The Year of Europe: America, Europe and the Energy Crisis, 1972-74

This is the first volume of Documents of British Policy Overseas ever to be produced in electronic format, complementing three earlier volumes in the series covering East/West relations between 1968 and 1976. Focusing primarily upon intra-allied relations, this new text also traces the evolution of the transatlantic relationship during Britain's first year in the European Community. Drawing upon the archives of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Cabinet Office and other Whitehall Departments, it reproduces on CD-ROM 568 fully-searchable facsimile documents, over fifty of which (mainly from the Brimelow and Douglas-Home papers) are otherwise unavailable to researchers. The documents' official correspondence, ministerial briefing notes, Cabinet papers and Joint Intelligence Committee reports cover British reactions to Henry Kissinger's attempt to redefine America's link with Europe through his 'Year of Europe' initiative, the energy crisis and the fourth Arab/Israeli War of October 1973. They shed new light on some of the more occult aspects of President Nixon's diplomacy, and reveal the problems faced by Edward Heath's government in seeking to maintain its close ties with Washington while trying to establish its credentials as a fully committed EC member state.