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‘Paying Our Way in the World’: The FCO, Export Promotion and Iran in the 1970s

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The Foreign Office, Commerce and British Foreign Policy in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

In late 1973 Britain, and other Western industrialized nations, were dealt a profound shock when, as a result of the Yom Kippur war, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quadrupled oil prices. This checked European economic growth for the first time in a quarter of a century and brought with it recession and continuing inflation. The rise in oil costs, coupled with a strike by miners, led to an energy crisis in Britain which pushed the government to declare a state of emergency and a three-day working week from 1 January 1974.

The views expressed here are those of the author alone, and do not represent those of any government department.

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Smith, R. (2016). ‘Paying Our Way in the World’: The FCO, Export Promotion and Iran in the 1970s. In: Fisher, J., Pedaliu, E.G.H., Smith, R. (eds) The Foreign Office, Commerce and British Foreign Policy in the Twentieth Century. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46581-8_22

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