The ‘Problem of de Gaulle’, 1958–1967

Abstract

In January 1962 a Foreign Office paper on Anglo-French relations came to two broad conclusions: firstly, that ‘French and British interests in the world of today are becoming more and more similar’, that ‘the Russian threat, still more than the previous German threat, imposes Anglo-French solidarity’, and secondly, that

the history of this country has shown that the French have never been exactly easy allies or partners in foreign affairs … in the last sixty years we have learnt that if the French are crossed or suspicious of our motives they have a positive genius for making life difficult for us out of all proportion to their real power or influence.