UK joins France in leaving NATO?

What if after Suez, or after a similar snub after Suez, the UK gets disgruntled with the U.S. and leaves NATO alongside France? How could this happen and what would happen afterwards?
 

yourworstnightmare

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Well, without the Brits NATO lose much of it's credibility and it's edge. It would more be the Yanks and their West German protectorate. Could lead to more nations leaving NATO, which would inevitably lead to the abolishment of NATO and the establishment of a new American- West European Defence Pact.
 
What if after Suez, or after a similar snub after Suez, the UK gets disgruntled with the U.S. and leaves NATO alongside France? How could this happen and what would happen afterwards?
I don't see it happening. Most British political figures realised in the aftermath of Suez that if Britain was to remain a world power it needed the USA to underwrite it - that was really the lesson of the fiasco. There were anti-American noises on the right of the Tory Party but there wasn't anyone there with enough credibility to take the Conservative leadership after Eden resigned.
 
Small point: While France withdrew from the combined military command it never actually left NATO.

And they continued to station troops on W. German soil. VERY close to the French border and not subject to NATO or W. German command, but still there.

I don't think it would take ASB to get the UK to also pull out of the joint command, though it would be highly unlikely. If they do Belgium would probably pull out as well; they tended to do as little as possible in that alliance IOTL.

We MIGHT see a domino effect, with the shakier or more remote NATO members edging down their commitments. Denmark and Norway might decide to form a neutral Scandinavian block with Sweden, for example.

W. Germany is going to stay allied to everyone it can as long as the GSFG is sitting in the other side of the border. They need all the help they can get, and they know it. Based on their NATO involvement, I don't think any of the other members really felt the same urgency; even the US, at times.
 
Small point: While France withdrew from the combined military command it never actually left NATO.

Good point, and the same would almost certainly apply to Britain. Although not members of the NATO military command structure, both Britain and France would remain committed to the defense of West Germany (and the rest of the NATO alliance) from Soviet threats. They would also maintain various bilateral understandings with the USA to assist in this common objective. This would strengthen the role of West Germany as the USA's "best friend" in Europe and Germany might see it's role and flexibility a a US partner expanded. Norway might well become a major base for US sea and air assets.

With the collapse of the USSR, however, NATO would probably cease to exist in anything like its present form if Britain and France were still marginal participants (A lot would depend on their degree of participation in the 199091 Gulf War and the later "War on Terror", assuming these events were not butterflied away. The EU itself might have to develop a military alliance structure that would accomodate alliance expansion east as former Warsaw Pact states approached the EU for membership. Or not. In this scenario, the USA and Germany might themselves abandon NATO and work directly with Russia to establish the groundwork for a post-Cold War understanding.
 
Some serious problems for NATO if the United Kingdom lost.

The United Kingdom, France and other European countries could form their own version of NATO without the United States? How much of the Empire did the United Kingdom and France have at that time?
 
Some serious problems for NATO if the United Kingdom lost.

The United Kingdom, France and other European countries could form their own version of NATO without the United States? How much of the Empire did the United Kingdom and France have at that time?

It wouldn't matter how much they had left, at least not to Britain. Suez largly killed off any remaining mainstream colonial aspirations.

Russell
 
It wouldn't matter how much they had left, at least not to Britain. Suez largly killed off any remaining mainstream colonial aspirations.

Russell

Then France and the United Kingdom could just of ignored the warnings from the United States.
 
What, no other responses? I mean seriously, would this create a new Entente that is out for its own interests, to try to preserve what little is left of either empire, or at least to try to create a new power between West and East? Could this lead to divisions between "Old Europe" and "New Europe" half a century early?

And most importantly, is this even feasible? Would the British really choose the Continent with their Gallic cousins over their American children?

It might prompt the US to support it's remaining European allies a bit more.

Or maybe seek out European allies wherever they can, as long as they were anti-Soviet. Maybe even reach out to Tito?
 
Would the U.K. ever consider joining France (and the rest of the Continent) in forming a bloc to both counter Soviet expansionism and U.S. supremacy, or are the Anglo nations destined to stick together?
 
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