Harold MacMillan Quotes
Now the Americans will realize what we in England have lived through these many years.
Earl of Stockton
Harold Macmillan, 1894-1986, British Prime Minister, Diary entry just after the Cuban Missile Crisis
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
He was urging American entry into WW I. The phrase was a slogan of pro-war Americans until 1917 when America entered the war.
This quotation is very important in helping to understand the 1950s in America with respect to nuclear weapons policy. McCormick was one the better educated, sophisticated, and influential Americans. Yet he appears to be a technological and nuclear ignoramous. Most people had not yet realized that atomic weapons were not just much larger traditional bombs. They could do terrible damage, but it would always be localized they thought. Chicago might be destroyed but the people out of range would be OK. He never got it that a dirty bomb could be dropped on Detroit and depending on which way the wind is blowing could wipe out Chicago and much of the Midwest as well. He knew nothing of the genetic effect the radiation, nor the implications for the environment of maintaining a large nuclear manufacturing industry. He and many like him did not realize that after the first bombs were created, how easy it would be for the Russians and others to also develop a nuclear arsenal. And 50,000 warheads was just a matter of effort. The implications of these things would inhibit our carrying out his and others ideological views of foreign policy. Oppenheimer and most nuclear scientists explained all this, but believing them and acting on those beliefs would have been too much of a change.
This appears to be the first public call for Anti-Ballistic Missile Weapons & Systems. To many it is surprising that in 1946, there would be concern about missile defense, however during WWII, the Germans, violating the laws of war, struck London and other English cities with V2 rocket—the first ballistic missiles. England had suffered many civilian casualties and missile defense was a high priority for them.
In both the First and Second World Wars the Western nations had a multilateral defense pact which did little good in the face of German aggression.
At the time, this was a very radical notion with the British aristocracy firmly entrenched and in control of all institutions and power.
Leval was an appeaser and a collaborator with the Nazi’s. He led the government in name but the Germans really controlled the country. His actions killed tens of thousands of French men and women by turning them over to the Germans. After the Germans were defeated in WWII, Leval was shot as a traitor by the Free French forces.
1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley. The English leadership knew that Germany would likely be the threat to England and the rest of Europe.
America, England, Germany and France Many Japanese leaders predicted war between the Great Powers while America and its European Allies did not see the danger as clearly. Shortly after 1936, Hitler began the Second World War. Japan was indeed prepared. Hiranuma became one of the Japanese extremists and after WWII was convicted of war crimes and given a life sentence.
Kennedy was then a Senator with an eye on the White House. No such missile gap existed, and when Kennedy was elected President, he had the problem of public expectation for a problem which did njot exist, but he had been instrumental in creating.
Russia announced ballistic missile testing in response to NATO announced deployment of a missile shield across Europe. It was the first mini arms race since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he was known for his pragmatism, wit and unflappability.
