The thesis is devoted to a very actual problem nowadays – the development of British-American relations during 1933 – 1941 and, above all, the influence of Nazi Germany on their evolution.
During the study, the author pointed out the gradual change in the awareness, perception of London-Washington relations between 1933 and 1941 by British and American historians, from a view of the «special», purely mutually beneficial state of that relationship (traditional period) to a comprehensive approach due to the ambiguity of international relations World War II (modern (post-revisionist) period). The domestic historiography of the problem was also analyzed, in which sometimes there are still certain stereotypes formed by Soviet researchers, given Moscow's strict control over Ukrainian historiography of Western European and North American history in Soviet times.
The paper points out the influence of the German factor on the development of relations between the United States and Great Britain during the rise of the Nazi regime (1933 – 1937). The author traced the formation of the British position on Berlin. London began to consider the Hitler regime as a potential disaster for Europe only in 1935 because of remilitarization of the German navy, as it posed an immediate threat to the British naval supremacy in the world. This underestimation of Germany’s threat also affected the United States. The Neutrality Act adopted in 1935 forbade not only intervention in armed conflicts in Europe but also the provision of weapons to countries participating in such conflicts, primarily Great Britain and France. At the same time, the German factor was not solid in the development of British-American relations in comparison with quite strict contradictions between two countries in the economic sphere.
The author also sets out the role of the German factor in British-American relations on the eve of World War II (1937 – 1939). The European vector of the U.S. foreign policy during this period actually remained unchanged. On the other hand, the Roosevelt administration’s attention to the aggressive actions of the Hitler regime has intensified since the beginning of the Japan-China war in July 1937 because Japan was considered as potentially the most dangerous contradictor for the United States and was a partner of Berlin. Britain’s position on Germany during this period was determined by an «appeasement» policy which consisted in the attempts of N. Chamberlain’s government to come to an agreement with A. Hitler in order to satisfy all his demands without the use of military force. At the same time, the influence of German and Japanese factors in British-American relations was about the same: London attempted to made the United States an ally in the case of a large-scale war in Europe and the Far East due to the risk of Chamberlain's government being drawn into it on different continents at the same time.
In addition, the paper analyzes the influence of the German factor on the development of British-American relations in the first two years of World War II (1939 – 1941). The positions of Great Britain and the United States on Germany during that period were solidly transformed – from the «appeasement» policy pursued by London and «isolationism» of the United States to the war of both states with the Nazi regime and the formation of anti-Hitler coalition. At the same time, the neutrality of the United States in fact led to the lack of large-scale hostilities on the Western Front in the autumn of 1939 and spring of 1940 due to Britain's unfinished rearmament program and Washington's indecision to provide military assistance to London. As for the economic sphere, tensions between London and Washington had been gradually leveled. At the same time, the dollar – pound sterling rivalry, the struggle for the influence on international markets of British and American companies, according to the author, has only suspended given the priority of fighting the «axis» of aggressor states.
Regarding that, the author does not use the concept of «special relationship» to set out the cooperation between Britain and the United States before and at the beginning of World War II, because it did not provide the resolving of all contradictions between these states but became a situational consequence of their common geopolitical position – the struggle against the «Berlin-Rome-Tokyo» axis. Therefore, the relations between London and Washington developed during 1933 – 1941 can solely be put forward as mutual assistance of allies in the war with Nazi Germany.
The results of this study can be used in writing monographs, textbooks and manuals, scientific articles, speeches at scientific conferences, lectures and seminars classes on the history of international relations during 1918 – 1945.
