To what extent do these sources differ in their view of the American reaction to British policy in the Suez Crisis?

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  1. To what extent do these sources differ in their view of the American reaction to British policy in the Suez Crisis?

There are some quite clear differences between sources A and B on the American reaction to British policy during the Suez Crisis.  For example, source A shows that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Macmillan, believed that United States President Eisenhower “…seemed to understand” Britain’s difficulties.  Also, he reported that Eisenhower “…accepted…” that winning this dispute was crucial to the survival of Britain’s economy from the trade angle as well as the use of resources.  In contrast to this, source B describes President Eisenhower’s “…astonishment, then anger…” at Britain’s offensive on Egypt.  This reaction was perhaps more a result of Britain’s “…glaring deception of their closest ally,” in that they went ahead without America’s say so, thereby putting their nose out of joint, rather than their rapidly resorting to “…gunboat diplomacy…”

Indeed, America’s appreciation for the use of force is reflected at the end of source A where Eisenhower’s Secretary Dulles is reported as having said that the “…threat of force was vital…”as this would perhaps intimidate Nasser into backing down.  Further more, “…he quite realised…” that acting on this force may become necessary if the threat were not enough.

Besides there being differences in these two interpretations of America’s reaction to British policy on Suez, there are to some extent, a number of similarities.  For example, source A presents America as being understanding and accepting of the British predicament, this may perhaps have given Prime Minister Eden the impression expressed in paragraph one of source B, that although America were not happy in principle, they “would go along with the operation, or at least offer no serious opposition.”  On the other  hand, the words understand and accept do not however mean wholehearted approval or agreement with Britain’s tactics.

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There are perhaps some valid reasons for the disagreement between the two sources and even within the sources themselves.  For example, source A was written on 25th September 1956 which was approximately one month before the bombing raids on Egyptian airfields. At this time, there seems to have been no problem between Britain and America, as is reflected at the beginning of source B.  However, paragraph two of source B describes the mood after the rash action taken by Britain and so understandably a rift has developed between the two disillusioned countries.

Also, source B, clearly a secondary source, ...

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