Harold
Macmillan, the grandson of Daniel
Macmillan, the publisher, was born in 1894. Educated at Eton
and Balliol College, Oxford.
On the outbreak of the First World War, Macmillan
left university and joined the Grenadier Guards. He served on the
Western Front where he was wounded three
times.
After the Armistice, Macmillan joined
the family publishing company but in the 1924
General Election he became the Conservative
MP for Stockton-on-Tees. Defeated in the 1929
General Election he returned in to the House
of Commons in 1931.
Macmillan was a strong believer in social reform and his left-wing
views were unpopular with the Conservative
Party leadership. Macmillan was also highly critical of the foreign
policies of Stanley Baldwin and Neville
Chamberlain and remained a backbencher until in 1940 Winston
Churchill invited him to join the government as parliamentary
secretary to the ministry of supply. In 1942 Macmillan was sent to
North Africa where he filled the new cabinet post as minister at Allied
Headquarters.
Harold Macmillan was defeated in the 1945 General
Election but returned to the House of Commons
later that year in a by-election at Bromley. After the 1951
General Election, Winston Churchill
appointed Macmillan as his Minister of Housing. Macmillan was seen
as one of the major successes in Churchill's government and received
praise for achieving his promised target of 300,000 new houses a year.
This was followed by a series of senior posts in the government: Minister
of Defence (October, 1954 to April, 1955), Foreign Secretary (April,
1955 to December, 1955) and Chancellor of the Exchequer (December,
1955 to January 1957).
When Anthony Eden resigned in 1957, Macmillan
became Britain's new prime minister. He successfully won the 1959
General Election and at first the government enjoyed an economic
boom and stable prices. In foreign affairs, Macmillan strengthen Anglo-American
collaboration and made attempts to join the European Economic Community.
Macmillan's tradition as a social reformer was reflected in his "wind
of change" speech at Cape Town in 1960 where he acknowledged
the inevitability of African independence. The introduction of the
system of life peerages to the House of Lords
and the creation of the National Economic Development Council in 1961
were other examples of unlikely Conservative
measures. In October, 1963, ill-health forced Macmillan to resign
from office.
After his retirement, Macmillan wrote Winds
of Change (1966), The Blast of
War (1967), Tides of Fortune
(1969), Riding the Storm (1971)
and At the End of the Day (1972).
Granted the title Earl of Stockton, Harold Macmillan died in 1986.
(1)
Harold
Macmillan, speech in the House
of Commons (31st July 1961)
Therefore, after long and
earnest consideration, Her Majesty's Government have come to the conclusion
that it would be right for Britain to make a formal application under
Article 237 of the Treaty for negotiations with a view to joining
the Community if satisfactory arrangements can be made to meet the
special needs of the United Kingdom, of the Commonwealth and of the
European Free Trade Association.
If, as I earnestly hope,
our offer to enter into negotiations with the European Economic Community
is accepted, we shall spare no efforts to reach a satisfactory agreement.
These negotiations must inevitably be of a detailed and technical
character, covering a very large number of the most delicate and difficult
matters. They may, therefore, be protracted and there can, of course,
be no guarantee of success. When any negotiations are brought to a
conclusion then it will be the duty of the Government to recommend
to the House what course we should pursue.
History
of the European Union: Integration Process and European Citizenship
