Table Of ContentCold War History Series
General Editor: Saki Dockrill, Senior Lecturer in War Studies, King's College,
London
The Cold War History Series aims to make available to scholars and students the
results of advanced research on the origins and the development of the Cold War
and its impact on nations, alliances and regions at various levels of statecraft, and
in areas such as diplomacy, security, economy, military and society. Volumes in
the series range from detailed and original specialised studies, proceedings of
conferences, to broader and more comprehensive accounts. Each work deals with
individual themes and periods of the Cold War and each author or editor
approaches the Cold War with a variety of narrative, analysis, explanation,
interpretation and reassessment of recent scholarship. These studies are
designed to encourage investigation and debate on important themes and
events in the Cold War, as seen from both East and West, in an effort to deepen our
understanding of this phenomenon and place it in its context in world history.
Titles include:
Gunter Bischof
AUSTRIA IN THE FIRST COLD WAR, 1945-55
The Leverage of the Weak
Christoph Bluth
THE TWO GERMANIES AND MILITARY SECURITY IN EUROPE
Dale Carter and Robin Clifton (editors)
WAR AND COLD WAR IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1942-62
Saki Dockrill
BRITAIN'S RETREAT FROM EAST OF SUEZ
The Choice between Europe and the World, 1945-1968
Martin H. Folly
CHURCHILL, WHITEHALL AND THE SOVIET UNION, 1940-45
John Gearson and Kori Schake (editors)
THE BERLIN WALL CRISIS
Perspectives on Cold War Alliances
Michael F. Hopkins, Michael D. Kandiah and Gillian Staerck (editors)
COLD WAR BRITAIN, 1945-1964
New Perspectives
Ian Jackson
THE ECONOMIC COLD WAR
America, Britain and East-West Trade, 1948-63
Saul Kelly
COLD WAR IN THE DESERT
Britain, the United States and the Italian Colonies, 1945-52
Dianne Kirby (editor)
RELIGION AND THE COLD WAR
Wilfred Loth
OVERCOMING THE COLD WAR
A History of Detente, 1950-1991
Erin Mahan
KENNEDY, DE GAULLE AND WESTERN EUROPE
Steve Marsh
ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS AND COLD WAR OIL
Crisis in Iran
Donette Murray
KENNEDY, MACMILLAN AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Effie Pedaliu
BRITAIN, ITALY AND THE ORIGINS or THE COLD WAR
Andrew Roadnight
UNITED STATES POLICY TOWARDS INDONESIA IN THE TRUMAN AND
EISENHOWER YEARS
Kevin Ruane
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE EUROPEAN DEFENCE COMMUNITY
Anglo-American Relations and the Crisis of European Defence, 1950-55
Helene Sjursen
THE UNITED STATES, WESTERN EUROPE AND THE POLISH CRISIS
International Relations in the Second Cold War
Antonio Varsori and Elena Calandri (editors)
THE FAILURE OF PEACE IN EUROPE, 1943-48
Cold War History
Series Standing Order ISBI\' 978-0-333-79482-1
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order.
Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with
your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Anglo-American Relations
and Cold War Oil
Crisis in Iran
Steve Marsh
* © Steve Marsh 2003
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2003 978-0-333-96831-4
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
wn
Road, London 4LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European
Union and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-42839-7 ISBN 978-0-230-28765-5 (eBook)
DOI10.1057/9780230287655
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the Library of Congress.
To Lorna and Brian
And for Nuria. Te quiero, siempre
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 'What reason commands, the heart approves':
The Special Relationship of 1950 10
Postwar Anglo-American malaise 11
The bond of mutual utility 16
Britain, America and the Middle East 22
Britain, America and Iran 29
Special once more 32
2 Formative Times 37
From concord to discord 38
Paradigm shift 40
Beyond Anglo-American consensus 50
Ominous tidings 58
3 From Dispute to Crisis 62
Echoes of imperialism 63
Ties that bind 67
The Harriman mission 72
Ties that frustrate 75
Security Council action 78
What goes around comes around 80
The Anglo-American nadir revisited 84
4 The Special Relationship of 1952 89
Conference preparation 89
The Washington talks 95
The state of the Special Relationship 101
5 Escaping the Special Relationship 'Trap' 105
Anglo-American reassessments 105
An Anglo-American lull 112
Truman's reluctant 'gallop' 117
vii
viii Contents
'One more big effort': the Truman administration's
last oil plan 124
Truman's legacy 135
6 Enter the Republicans 139
Continuity not change 139
Full circle 149
Operation Ajax ISS
From coup to consortium 163
Conclusion 169
A Cold War triumph 169
An effective Anglo-American relationship? 171
The global Anglo-American relationship 176
Lessons for the study of international relations 180
Notes and References 195
Bibliography 252
Index 266
Acknowledgements
This book has been variously a labour of fascination, frustration and
compromise. Perhaps the most difficult task has been deciding what to
leave out. This was the case when writing the first draft, but especially so
in editing to fit the final remit. Any remaining errors or quirks of inter
pretation are, of course, mine, but the outcome, I feel, is a work that
holds true to the traditions of the Cold War History Series.
Along the way I have incurred a number of debts of gratitude, all of
which I happily acknowledge. The first is to the archivists and librarians
in numerous archives and libraries in both Britain and America. My par
ticular thanks here go to the Harry S. Truman library, whose staff were
exceptionally helpful and whose scholarship was vital, and to the BP
archive for access to invaluable company records that afforded me new
insights into the oil crisis. I am also grateful to all those involved with
this project at Palgrave, to Saki Dockrill, series editor, and to the British
Academy for their indispensable research grant.
I would like to acknowledge, too, those academics whose comments
and suggestions on various aspects of this work have made it all the richer.
In this respect I am particularly grateful to James Bamberg, Robert
Bideleux, Fiona Venn, John Young, and the referees of the book's first draft
whoever you are! And, for moral support and holding to their ideals, my
thanks go to David Broughton, Hans Mackenstein and Pete Dorey.
Within any project, however, there is always someone without whom
it might never have existed. In my case there are two. First, Nuria
Lorenzo-Dus, who has painstakingly read draft after draft, indulged my
creativity (aka moods), and enriched my life in so many ways. Second,
my friend and mentor, Alan P. Dobson, who first inspired me and whose
comments and soul-crushing rigour (those who have been on the receiv
ing end will know of what I speak!) have been so instructive in writing
this book. Thank you, both.
STEVE MARSH
ix
List of Abbreviations
AIOC Anglo-Iranian Oil Company
ANZUS Defence pact between United States, Australia and
New Zealand
APOC Anglo-Persian Oil Company
ARAMCO Arabian American Oil Company
BP BP Archive
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
DDE Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
DMPA Defence Materials Procurement Agency
EDC European Defence Community
ERP European Recovery Programme
ExIm Bank United States Export-Import Bank
FRUS Foreign Relations of the United States
FTC Federal Trade Commission
GTI United States Office of Greek, Turkish and
Iranian affairs
HMG His/Her Majesty's Government
HST Harry S. Truman Presidential Library
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development
IC] International Court of Justice
IMF International Monetary Fund
IPC Iraq Petroleum Company
ITO International Trade Organisation
MDAP Mutual Defence Assistance Programme
MEDO Middle East Defence Organisation
NA National Archives Washington
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NEA United States Bureau of Near Eastern and
African affairs
NIE National Intelligence Estimate
NIOC National Iranian Oil Company
NSC National Security Council
OEEC Organisation for European Economic Cooperation
PAD Petroleum Administration for Defense
PRO Public Record Office
SACEUR Supreme Allied Commander Europe
SACLANT Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic
UN United Nations
US United States
USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
x
