US independence from Great Britain, two wars and "special relations" | infodesk4n

Every year, on July 4th, the United States celebrates its independence from Great Britain when Congress declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776.

 

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Congress voted for independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, but in consultation with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and William Livingstone, Thomas' revision of the Jefferson Declaration of Independence was completed. within the next two days. It didn't happen

Initially, independence was celebrated as the king's birthday, with bells, fireworks, processions and speeches.

There have been many twists and turns in US-British relations before and after the emergence of the US state, some of which were tense but at times friendly.

 

Boston Tea Party (1773)

The controversy over the imposition of taxes on British colonies in the United States had long been in secret and, after the passage of the T-Act 1773 in the British Parliament, was openly debated.

The law favored the near bankruptcy of the British East India Company over local merchants in the American colonies, so the American colonies boycotted British tea.

When three East India Company ships docked in Boston, 50 people disguised as members of the Mohawk tribe boarded the ships and dumped all the tea overboard. This event is called the Boston Tea Party.

 

The war of independence and its consequences

The British reaction to the Boston Tea Party and other problems made matters worse. Residents of the British colonies in the United States first declared a revolution in 1775 and then a war against the British Crown, and in 1778 France joined the war with the United States and the war ended with British defeat in 1781.۔

In late November 1782, British and American negotiators signed a peace treaty in Paris and on September 3, 1783, Britain recognized American independence in the Treaty of Paris.

But war broke out again in 1812 and things did not return to normal when Britain burned down the White House and the Capitol.

During the war, Francis Scott Key wrote his famous poem, The Star Springland Banner, which later became the national anthem of the United States.

 

American Civil War, 1861-1865

Britain formally declared neutrality during the American Civil War, but British ships supplied weapons and supplies to the rogue states in the south.

And the matter turned into a diplomatic crisis when the British ship Trent was captured carrying delegations from the southern states and US Union authorities arrested the rebel delegations on the British ship.

It was a violation of maritime law and almost sparked a war between Britain and the United States, but negotiations between the two sides solved the problem.

 

World War I, 1914-1918

The United States remained out of the war for a long time during World War I, but when German ships became a major threat to the United States in the Atlantic Ocean and many American ships sank, they too joined the war in 1917..

The arrival of American troops in Europe in 1918 greatly helped the Allies, including Great Britain, but the Americans suffered heavy losses.

 

The Wall Street Crash of 1929

Between the first and second world wars, the United States pursued a policy of isolation and preferred to distance itself from European affairs.

But the Wall Street crash in 1929 had a major impact on Europe's fragile economies. This is believed to be the reason for the saying: "If America sneezes, the flu spreads to Europe."

 

World War II and beyond

The United States did not join the Second World War, which began in 1939 and lasted until 1945, until 1941.

When it decided to go to war, Japan bombed the port of Pearl Harbor.

Once again, the involvement of the US military in the war turned the tide, but the British people were angry that the Americans did not join the war until 1941.

Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill first used the phrase "special relations" in 1946. The reason was that the two countries united against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union after World War II.

This phrase reflects the relationship between US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Churchill during World War II.

In addition to devising military and diplomatic strategies, the two leaders became close friends and exchanged thousands of phone calls and letters.

 

The Vietnam War of 1965-1973

Despite the differences between British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and US President John F. Kennedy, the young President Kennedy has benefited greatly from advice from British political experts on the Cuban Missile Crisis and other Cold War issues.

But under British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and US President London Johnson, relations between the two countries have not always been pleasant. Wilson opposed the deployment of British troops in Vietnam and limited personal ties to 15 years.

 

Thatcher and Reagan

Personal relationships reached new heights under British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and US President Ronald Reagan. The two began to see their ideological partner in each other.

Due to the close relationship between the two, they avoided conflicts of interest. But when the United States invaded Grenada without warning, Britain did not join.

It was Margaret Thatcher who told Mikhail Gorbachev that she was the person she could work with. Together, the three have laid the foundation for a new era in global relationships.

 

The Gulf War in 1991

It was a very successful time for this alliance, but when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, Margaret Thatcher told George Bush Sr. not to show me weakness now.

But when John Major took over the British presidency and Bill Clinton took over the US presidency, relations deteriorated again. John Major's Conservative Party was suspected of having turned over the Oxford archives to Clinton's political opponents.

 

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton

Like Thatcher and Reagan, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton's political and personal friendship grew rapidly.

The Clinton campaign team supported Tony Blair in the 1997 British general election, and the two leaders subsequently worked together in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and Kosovo. Blair continued his friendship with Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

After the strong relationship between Clinton and Blair, many people expressed fear that the election of George W. Bush would lead to a collapse in relations between the United States and Britain, but Blair refrained from uttering a single negative word against. George W. Bush. Don't doubt their intelligence.

 

Attacks in September and beyond

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Britain immediately announced its support for the United States and Blair continued to support Bush in the war in Iraq.

"We must remain America's closest ally, not because we are strong, but because we share the same values," said Blair.

In March 2010, under British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and US President Barack Obama, the British Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Committee stated: The use of this phrase (special report) can be misleading and should be avoided. use.

The committee said the repeated use of the phrase by some politicians and media professionals devalued it and unrealistically raised Britain's hopes of benefiting from the relationship.

The committee said the link was with Britain's support for former President George W. Bush in the Iraq war.

 

Boris Johnson's relationship with Trump and Biden

When Boris Johnson took office as prime minister in July 2019, Woody Johnson, the former US ambassador to Britain, said, "Relations between Britain and the US will be strong."

He told the The News Agency that US President Donald Trump and Boris Johnson had a lot in common in their leadership style and that they both wanted to "get things done".

Trump approved Johnson to come to power, saying he "would do very well". He also suggested that Boris Johnson would be the British Trump.

Trump was a strong supporter of Britain's secession from the European Union and criticized former Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiations with the EU.

There have also been disputes between the two countries over climate change and the former president's views on race and emigration.

In addition, the British Ambassador to the United States, Kim Daroch, had to resign after the leak of British diplomatic messages.

Woody Johnson told The News Agency Radio Four that his job was to focus on what we agreed on.

“We will go through difficulties in this period, but there is no doubt that we are two great countries. "If we look at our relationship with optimism, we can develop the people of this country and free them, and all the things they voted for in the referendum."

"I think that's what President Trump and the UK Prime Minister want," he said.

Boris Johnson recently met with President Joe Biden to discuss a number of issues, including the situation in Northern Ireland following Britain's secession from the European Union.

Boris Johnson told the News Agency: "This is a deep and meaningful relationship that is safe from disaster. It is a long-standing relationship that has contributed to peace and prosperity in Europe and around the world.

Biden said he will not allow peace in Northern Ireland to deteriorate because of Bridget. He also said during his election campaign that any trade deal between Britain and the United States should be "conditional" on compliance with the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.

US President Joe Biden is known to be proud of his Irish ancestors and has claimed that many American presidents, including Reagan and Kennedy, were Irish ancestors.

Many presidents of American history were born in Britain, including George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter, and some presidents such as Franklin Pierce and Chester Arthur were from Wales.

Furthermore, the ancestors of President Ulysses Grant and James Buchanan are from Scotland.

Of the 46 presidents of the United States, 40 are British. Furthermore, the current British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was born in New York City, USA, for which he had the American citizenship which he renounced.

 

"Special report"

Reuters reports that Britain's relationship with the United States is one of the strongest alliances of the 20th century, but Britain's secession from the European Union and President Donald Trump's presidency have raised questions about the future of that relationship.

According to Reuters, the cracks in the alliance formed between Reagan and Thatcher during the Trump presidency could be clearly seen.

But is this "special relationship" between the two countries the end?

 

Economy

The United States is the largest economy in the world with 3.213 trillion. This is equivalent to 24% of the world gross national product. The UK is the fifth largest economy in the world with 24.2 trillion, or 3% of GDP.

By the way, half of Britain's foreign trade is with the European Union, but the United States is Britain's largest trading partner, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, France and China.

The UK is the United States' seventh trading partner, followed by China, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany and South Korea.

And both the UK and the US view trade as a surplus, which means they don't adhere to the same standards.

For decades, Washington and London have tried to open world markets to free trade.

 

Military cooperation

The US administration approved $ 68.686 billion in defense spending in 2019. When it comes to defense spending, the US spends more money on the military than the seven countries that support it. According to Reuters, the United States has the second largest number of nuclear weapons after Russia.

The United States Navy has a fleet of 14 Ohio-class nuclear submarines, each capable of carrying 20 Trident 2D5 multifunction missiles.

The largest defense budget in the European Union is the UK, which spends between 40 billion and 40 billion annually on its forces, followed by France and Russia.

The UK has a fleet of Vanguard-class submarines capable of carrying 16 Trident 2D5 missiles.

The two countries fought wars in Europe, Korea, Kuwait, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. The UK is also a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US is the head of the alliance.

The US military has several bases in the UK, including Heath, Croton and Mennonite Hill airbases.

 

Intelligence

Intelligence cooperation between the UK and the US is very close and is one of the key areas that has impacted this alliance.

During World War II, the two countries signed an intelligence-sharing agreement, which later included Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This alliance was later called "Five Eyes".

The alliance uses powerful American computer espionage technologies and Britain's conventional human intelligence. And this strategy is working well in the former Soviet Union, Europe and the Middle East.

There is close cooperation between the different intelligence agencies. Because the two capabilities are mutually exclusive, the information gathered by the UK wiretapping agency is particularly useful for the US National Security Agency.

The US intelligence budget (excluding military intelligence) is 60 billion rupees, while the British intelligence budget is 2.3 billion.

 

The world of money

London and New York are the two financial centers of the world. London is the largest international debt and currency trading center, while New York is at the forefront of bond and equity trading.

And according to the Global Index of Financial Centers, New York has overtaken London as the world's most attractive market. The index evaluates 100 financial centers on factors such as infrastructure and ease of access to specialized personnel.

The global foreign exchange market trades more than 51 51 billion per day.

The volume of currencies traded in London exceeds that of the United States and the European Union as a whole.

Shares in the S&P 500 Index, based on the top 500 US companies, are worth 7,257 trillion, according to data from Refinitive.

By comparison, the FTSE All Shares Index, based on the shares of 600 London Stock Exchange companies, stands at £ 25 trillion.

The US bond market, which includes government and corporate debt, is worth 7,407 trillion, according to the Bank for International Settlements, while the UK bond market is worth 58,58 trillion.