Gill Bennett

Formerly Chief Historian of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Senior Editor of the FCO’s official history of postwar foreign policy, Documents on British Policy Overseas, 1995-2005. She was a Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 2002-03 and formerly Assistant Editor of Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939.

What’s the context? Polish cryptologists reveal they have cracked the Enigma code, 26 July 1939

Gill Bennett, 26 July 2019 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

On 26 July 1939, in a forest near Warsaw, Polish code breakers told their British colleagues how they had cracked the German Enigma code. As war against Nazi Germany approached, the meeting symbolised the importance of political, as well as intelligence co-operation in the struggle ahead.

What’s the context? 4 April 1949: signature of the North Atlantic Treaty

Gill Bennett, 4 April 2019 - Foreign affairs and diplomacy, Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

NATO remains the cornerstone of Western security. But as it celebrates its 70th birthday, it is worth remembering the part played in the negotiations by other regions such as Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific.

What’s the context? 31 March 1939: the British guarantee to Poland

Gill Bennett, 28 March 2019 - Foreign Office Historians, Second World War

On 31 March 1939 Neville Chamberlain committed Britain to defending Polish independence. After years of trying to preserve peace and buy time for rearmament, he recognised that international developments and domestic opinion meant this guarantee was necessary, though it was to mean war with Germany 6 months later.

Soviet forces invade Czechoslovakia, 20 to 21 August 1968

Gill Bennett, 20 August 2018 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...Czechoslovakian reform movement. Evidence of supposed ‘Western plots’ was manufactured, while up to 20 ‘illegals’, posing as Western tourists, students and businessmen, were sent to Czechoslovakia in an operation codenamed...

What’s the context? George Brown resigns as Foreign Secretary, 15 March 1968

Gill Bennett, 15 March 2018 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...US government who gave him a hard time in Washington. Britain could not sustain a large military presence in the Far East and Middle East as well as Europe without...

What’s the context? The resignation of Anthony Eden, 20 February 1938

Gill Bennett, 20 February 2018 - Foreign affairs and diplomacy, Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...Mussolini also hoped to avoid war with Britain while achieving their own ambitions. Mussolini was agitating for recognition of his conquest of Ethiopia, and sought dominance in the Mediterranean; Hitler,...

What’s the Context? 20 December 1917: formation of the Cheka, the first Soviet security and intelligence agency

Gill Bennett, 20 December 2017 - Foreign affairs and diplomacy, Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

‘The Soviets would not last two days without the activities of the Cheka, but with the Cheka, the Soviet State was safe’: Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Defending the Revolution Before the October Revolution in 1917 that put the Bolsheviks in power …

What’s the Context? 18 November 1967: Devaluation of Sterling

Gill Bennett, 17 November 2017 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...Secretary George Brown, together with the TUC, took the traditional Labour view that devaluation was a betrayal of the working classes; the Bank of England was opposed on principle, although...

What’s the Context? US President announces the ‘Truman Doctrine’, 12 March 1947

Gill Bennett, 10 March 2017 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...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...

What’s The Context? 8 January 1959: Fidel Castro enters Havana in triumph

Gill Bennett, 8 January 2017 - Foreign Office Historians, What's the context? series

...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...

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