Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2015

 

“The Year That Never Came”: A Study of Anglo-American Diplomacy and Kissinger’s “Year of Europe”

(Abstract)

 

Liang Jun

 

In 1973, the Nixon government put forward a “Year of Europe” scheme, intending to use military advantage and diplomatic tactics to eliminate the threat to US hegemony presented by the European Community. As the scheme was being rolled out, Kissinger tried to use the principle of “links” and the Anglo-American “special relationship” to make the European Community toe the line, but only achieved the reverse effect: the external American challenge hastened the political integration of Europe. The European Community presented strong arguments and for the first time “spoke with one voice”, vigorously resisting the US idea. With Britain as mediator, it had been thought that the US and Europe could reach a compromise on the “Year of Europe”, but in fact the clash between them escalated with the outbreak of the fourth Middle East War and the energy crisis, making the “Year of Europe” a “bill that could not be honored.” However, the fact that they were accustomed to relying on the US in defense matters meant that the members of the European Community still had to yield ground. Britain that had once had high expectations of the European Community, finding that it could not change France’s leading position there, returned to the Atlantic alliance.