New Problems: Attlee and Defence and Foreign Policy, 1931–5

Abstract

Attlee and the Labour Party’s developing foreign policy position between 1931 and 1935 was influenced by a number of factors. These include their foreign policy position in 1931, their stance on disarmament and collective security, their reaction to the rise of Hitler, and the internal debates with the pacifists and the Left. They also had to develop responses to the 1935 Defence White Paper, military affairs, the Peace Ballot and the rising crisis over Abyssinia. Indeed their success in dealing with these factors, it is argued, marked the beginning of Labour’s development of a more realistic approach, not only to foreign policy, but also to government. It is well known that the party was deeply split over foreign policy questions, and that Attlee was slow to react to the rise of Hitler. But it is here argued that Labour changed its foreign policy stance significantly in 1934, but obscured the fact for political reasons. It is also shown that, despite accusations to the contrary Attlee was at times prepared to give a strong lead in the foreign policy debate.