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Description
The third programme concentrates on the terms of the negotiation and compares those issues which were too important to individual powers for them to be prepared to negotiate, with those mere periph...eral issues on which some kind of agreement could be reached after prolonged negotiation. Spain and the recognition of the Franco regime is taken as an example of the former, and reparations and the position of the German/Polish border as examples of the latter. Again these issues are analysed using drama, archive film and interviews, including a very specific Soviet viewpoint on reparations put forward by a Russian specialist in International Relations from the Moscow Institute, and a British view on the settlement expressed by Sir Con O'Neill, a diplomat in the Foreign Office during that period.
The third programme concentrates on the terms of the negotiation and compares those issues which were too important to individual powers for them to be prepared to negotiate, with those mere periph...eral issues on which some kind of agreement could be reached after prolonged negotiation. Spain and the recognition of the Franco regime is taken as an example of the former, and reparations and the position of the German/Polish border as examples of the latter. Again these issues are analysed using drama, archive film and interviews, including a very specific Soviet viewpoint on reparations put forward by a Russian specialist in International Relations from the Moscow Institute, and a British view on the settlement expressed by Sir Con O'Neill, a diplomat in the Foreign Office during that period.
| Module code and title: | D233, World politics |
|---|---|
| Item code: | D233; 03 |
| First transmission date: | 14-04-1981 |
| Published: | 1981 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:35 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Carol Haslam |
| Contributors: | F. S. Northedge; German Rosanov; Gar Alperovitz; Con O'Neill; Richard Little |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Cold War; Diplomacy; Politics; World War |
| Footage description: | Archive film of Soviet and British troops. Professor Northedge presents a statement from the set book which describes how states negotiate with each other. Each state hands over to the other what it considers to be a lower-priced interest in order to secure a higher priced interest in return. Archive film of the Spanish Civil War. The commentary describes official British reaction to the war. Professor Northedge explains the strategic importance of Spain to the West. A reconstruction of a discussion between Stalin, Truman and Churchill at Potsdam follows. Churchill stresses his distaste for Franco's regime in Spain but refuses to interfere in the internal affairs of another country. Truman agrees, having no desire to have any part in starting a new civil war in Spain. Stalin argues that Spain is fascist and as such is a threat to Europe. The Spanish people should know that the three states sided against Franco. Churchill stresses Britain's trade with Spain. Stalin suggests that the problem is referred back to the countries' Foreign Ministers. A map of Europe is used to explain the strategic importance of Spain to the West and the importance of the Eastern European States to the USSR. Professor Northedge argues that these problems were non-negotiable issues to the parties at Potsdam. The programme now looks at how settlements were achieved at Potsdam. Professor German Rosanov explains the Soviet position towards reparations. Archive film of the devastation in the Soviet Union during the war. Professor Gar Alperovitz explains why the Western powers were against Germany paying excessive reparations. The commentary describes the trade-off that was established over the size of reparations and the border between Germany and Poland. Con O'Neill states that at the time of Potsdam, there were fears that Germany had been too mutilated by the agreement reached. Professor German Rosanov argues that the Allies took far more from the Germans than the Soviet Union. The lack of support for the Soviet case from the West led to a souring of international relations after the war. Professor Northedge explains that the agreement reached at Potsdam led to the division of Germany. This solution had a good deal to recommend it to the West. Gar Alperovitz argues that many fundamental issues were not settled at Potsdam because of the development of the atomic bomb by America. Archive film of Atomic explosion. |
| Master spool number: | OU3403 |
| Production number: | FOUD109T |
| Videofinder number: | 115 |
| Available to public: | no |
