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Post-war defence policy

A Royal Navy Blackburn Buccaneer S2B (XV157) on display at the 1966 Farnborough Airshow.
A Royal Navy Blackburn Buccaneer S2B (XV157) on display at the 1966 Farnborough Airshow.
©Imperial War Museum RAF-T6686

 

The end of the Second World War did not bring about complete peace. As weapon technology became more advanced, defence policy became more crucial. By the 1960s Britain had considerable worldwide defence commitments that were scaled down in the 1970s when the focus of defence shifted towards operating within North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) requirements.

Related documents

Defence reviews 1964 - 1970

Search using Defence Expenditure The Korean War Washington conference

Further reading

  • Carver, M., Tightrope Walking, British Defence Policy since 1945 (London: Hutchinson, 1992)
  • Dockrill, S., Britain's Retreat from East of Suez (London: Macmillan, 2002)
  • Dockrill, M., British Defence since 1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1988)
  • Gooch, J., The Prospect of War, British Defence Policy 1847-1942 (London: Frank Cass, 1981)