Korean War #29: With Allies Like These

Episode 29: With Allies Like These looks further at the Anglo-American relationship from where we left off last time. After July 1950, the British were militarily committed to Korea under the auspices of the United Nations, and under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. If these facts made Britons nervous, these nerves were not soothed by the repeated examples of where the two allies differed in their attitudes towards the theatre.

The British were hesitant to invest too much resources in a region where they could construe little benefit, and they, unlike Washington, could not afford to anger the Chinese, whom they had recognised and wished to retain a favourable trading partnership with. These differences led to some stunning scenes, such as British intransigence in the United Nations General Assembly nearly forcing the British to vote on the side of the Soviets! These scenes and more come under our microscope here, as we examine the often fraught but desperately needed Anglo-American alliance as it traversed the perils of the Korean War.

The sheer amount of content we have to cover means that Episode 29 is the largest yet, but I hope you will also agree that it is one of the most interesting, as we challenge the idea that the British and Americans remained on good terms throughout the postwar era. Certainly, it would all come crashing down quite painfully for Britain in 1956, but until that point, cracks were already beginning to show in the Anglo-American axis.

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Music used:

We look at a 1950 radio program in support of the American Heart Association, where Jo Stafford, 'American Singing Sensation', gives us a quality gem. Giving the link for this specific song is tricky, since it came as a part of a big audio bundle of a radio archive, but the link is available here: https://archive.org/details/1950-1959RadioNews

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