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Foreign policy - Coggle Diagram
Foreign policy
Langue of nation 1934-46
Why the Shift?
Hitler in power
Japan & Italy aggressive
Ideological hostility to Social Democrats abandoned
League of Nations (1934)
USSR joined
Litvinov promoted:
Collective security
International law
Franco-Soviet Pact (1935)
Mutual assistance if attacked
Weaknesses:
No automatic military response
France unwilling to act without Britain
Britain suspicious of USSR
Soviet-Czech Pact (1935)
Conditional on French support
Essentially useless
👉 Looked strong on paper, weak in practice
Nazi soviet pact August 1939
Why Stalin Signed It
Military unpreparedness (purges)
Failure of talks with Britain & France
Desire to:
Avoid immediate war
Regain lost territory
Terms
Public:
10-year non-aggression pact
Secret Protocols:
Poland divided
Baltic States assigned to USSR
Finland & Bessarabia in Soviet sphere
Impact
WWII began
USSR gained territory without war
👉 Peak example of pragmatism over ideology
Short term gains and long term fails
Why Stalin Signed It
Military unpreparedness (purges)
Failure of talks with Britain & France
Desire to:
Avoid immediate war
Regain lost territory
Terms
Public:
10-year non-aggression pact
Secret Protocols:
Poland divided
Baltic States assigned to USSR
Finland & Bessarabia in Soviet sphere
Impact
WWII began
USSR gained territory without war
👉 Peak example of pragmatism over ideology
Spanish civil war 1936-
9
Soviet Involvement
Sent:
Weapons
Advisors
Motivated by:
Stopping fascism
Testing weapons
Preventing spread of Nazi influence
Limitations
Britain & France:
Non-Intervention Agreement
Germany & Italy:
Ignored it
Open support for Franco
Consequences
Stalin realised:
Collective security was meaningless
Western powers would appease fascism
👉 This directly leads to Nazi-Soviet Pact
Collapse of trust
Munich Agreement (1938)
Britain & France gave Sudetenland to Hitler
USSR:
Excluded
Ally of Czechoslovakia
Stalin’s Conclusion:
West hoped Hitler would attack east
USSR might face Germany alone