1989/04/01 by Martin S. Navias
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Defense, Military, and Policy Studies #Military History and Strategy
paper · doi:10.1177/002200948902400201
In April 1957, the annual British Defence White Paper made public the Macmillan government's intention of emphasizing nuclear deterrence at the expense of conventional force levels. Like the 1954 American New Look, this policy sought to take advantage of technological developments specifically the hydrogen bomb in order to secure major economic savings. Central to this enterprise was the termination of the expensive and unpopular conscription programme. Many commentators on the British New Look of 1957 have traced its roots to tendencies long prevalent in defence thinking,2 and, indeed, objections to conscription had been a constant factor in British politics since the beginning of discussions leading up to the National Service Act's promulgation in 1949. However, the contents of recently released documents indicate that in the period immediately prior to the drawing-up of the 1957 White Paper the armed services remained strongly opposed to the total ending of conscription, while little effort was made by the proponents of an all-volunteer force to link the termination of national service to a focus on nuclear deterrence a