...was not just an important market for American goods and services; its unity and prosperity was a strategic necessity. The war- and winter-ravaged continent appeared susceptible to Communist contagion. Free...
In the coming weeks, you will notice that it’s much quieter than usual on this blog. It’s because between midnight on Friday 21 April and the general election on Thursday 8 June is the pre-election period. This means that we …
When governments communicate, the medium can be as valuable as the message - and this post shows how official letters demonstrate this - dating from as early as 1258.
...financial support for Greece and Turkey would stop at the end of March. Truman’s approach to Congress was based on the belief that without financial support Greece and Turkey would...
75 years ago today, on 15 February 1942, British forces surrendered the ‘impregnable fortress’ of Singapore to the Japanese army. Defeat had come swiftly after the landing of Japanese forces in northern Malaya and southern Thailand on 8 December 1941. …
...outcry in the US. On April 2, 1917, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, stating, ‘The world must be made safe for democracy,’and war was declared on Germany...
...and Jordan, a show of force intended to deter Nasser from becoming closer to Moscow. Meanwhile, the UK Government under Harold Macmillan was preoccupied with unsuccessful efforts to promote a...
![Extract of the draft note from 2 January 1917 on 10 Downing Street headed paper which reads 'To: The Private Secretary, the Prime Minister has decided, with a view to keeping himself in close touch with the several departments, to establish a ['Secretariat' is crossed out and replaced by 'Department'] in connection with Office of the First Lord of the Treasury. The following gentlemen have been appointed to act as secretaries to the ['First Lord of the Treasury' is crossed out and replaced by 'new Department']](https://history.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/edited-e1483652073427.jpg)
...A hundred years ago today, on 5 January 1917, in the midst of the Great War, an important note was circulated around Whitehall departments. J. T. Davis, private secretary to...