From Neutrality to Commitment: Dutch Foreign Policy, NATO and European Integration (International Library of Twentieth Century History)

✍ Scribed by William Mallinson

• Publisher: Tauris Academic Studies
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 317
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Until the mid-twentieth century, the Dutch, with their overseas empire, had managed to stay aloof from the machinations of intra-European fighting. However, the beginning of the Cold War found them persuaded by Britain and the US to break with their independent past, and fit into the emerging Western security system. William Mallinson here considers how major post-war developments in Europe affected Dutch foreign policy, traditionally one of abstentionism, and studies the extent of Dutch influence in post-war Western co-operation. Important landmarks, including the Marshall Plan, Brussels Treaty Organisation, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Council of Europe, Schuman Plan and Pl?ven Plan, so vital to an understanding of contemporary international relations, are all treated incisively. The book sheds light on defence, foreign and economic policy, treating European developments from a previously neglected angle. In so doing, it provides vital insights into the history of European recovery after World War II and into the development of a postwar international order.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 6
List of Abbreviations......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 12
Foreword......Page 14
Preface......Page 16
INTRODUCTION......Page 18
The Nature of Netherlands Neutrality......Page 22
The German Problem and the Effects of the War......Page 27
The Commercial Question......Page 33
Dutch Territorial and other Claims on Germany......Page 34
The Indonesian Factor......Page 43
The Role of National Characteristics......Page 49
Conclusion......Page 51
The Netherlands and Europe......Page 52
Marshall Aid and the Dutch Dilemma......Page 54
Dutch Claims and Frustrations......Page 61
European Unity......Page 68
Conclusion......Page 70
Introduction......Page 71
The Indonesian Thorn......Page 73
The Path to the Brussels Treaty......Page 76
The Brussels Treaty - a way of being heard?......Page 79
Conclusion......Page 82
Introduction......Page 84
Lip Service - The Dutch Position on NATO?......Page 87
The Indonesian Complication......Page 92
The Dutch Atlantic Attitude......Page 98
Conclusion......Page 100
Introduction......Page 102
Dutch Restraint......Page 103
The British Information Campaign......Page 106
Slow Realisation of Harsh Realities and Defence Problems......Page 111
Trade before Ideology......Page 120
Germany and NATO......Page 122
The European Angle......Page 129
Conclusions......Page 132
Introduction......Page 134
The Council of Europe - a weak beginning......Page 135
The Schuman Plan......Page 140
The Stikker Plan and the British......Page 148
Conclusion......Page 151
Introduction......Page 154
The Pleven Plan......Page 157
The Dutch View......Page 160
The English Disappointment......Page 168
Conclusion......Page 173
Introduction......Page 175
The Resignation of the Government......Page 176
External Pressures and Dutch Indignation......Page 182
Stikker's Crisis......Page 185
The British and American View......Page 187
Conclusion......Page 191
Introduction......Page 193
Reluctant Participants......Page 194
The Dutch Blindness......Page 197
Germany and NATO......Page 200
A New Enthusiasm for Europe......Page 202
Defence - Less Enthusiasm......Page 208
Conclusion......Page 210
Germany and Commercial Precedence......Page 212
Dutch-British Relations......Page 214
EDC Enthusiasm - The Shining Example......Page 216
Security through Europe......Page 220
No Divorce, because of the Children......Page 223
Conclusion......Page 224
Introduction......Page 227
The Dutch, Europe and the EDC......Page 228
The German Angle......Page 231
Between EDC and NATO......Page 235
Back to NATO......Page 238
Conclusion......Page 241
12. CONCLUSIONS......Page 242
Notes......Page 252
Appendix: list of Missing and Unavailable Files in the National Archives......Page 296
Archivalia......Page 298
Interviews......Page 300
Bibliography......Page 302
Index......Page 312