Unbalanced Coordination

In December 1943, Czechoslovakia became the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to conclude a treaty of alliance and postwar cooperation with the Soviet Union. The signature of this treaty was a voluntary decision taken by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London despite considerable British reservations. The main aim was to secure Czechoslovakia from a repeat of what happened in 1938 with the Nazi German threat and the willingness of the Western powers to accommodate Germany at the Munich showdown. Czechoslovak leaders also wanted to establish a treaty that would oblige the Soviet Union to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of Czechoslovakia. Based on research in the archives of five countries, this article shows how mechanisms of repeated Czechoslovak submission to Soviet “wishes” were already taking shape during the war. Czechoslovakia played a significant role in Soviet geopolitical plans and helped Soviet partners achieve their goals vis-à-vis other allies. Unlike most of the literature on Soviet–Czechoslovak wartime relations, the analysis here presents the exiled Czechoslovak government as an active partner and sincere supporter of Soviet foreign policy aims rather than a victim of a great-power deal at its expense

Economic history · Economic system · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Sociology · World War II · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Law