The Soviets, the Munich Crisis, and the Coming of World War II

by Hugh Ragsdale

Overview

Hugh Ragsdale's analysis of East European documentation sheds new light on the Munich Crisis. If Hitler had been stopped at Munich, World War II, as we know it, could not have happened. The Crisis has been thoroughly studied in British, French, and German documents, and, consequently, we have learned that the weakness in the Western position at Munich consisted of the Anglo-French opinion that the Soviet commitment to its allies—France and Czechoslovakia—was utterly unreliable. Ragsdale's findings will contribute to a "considerable shift" of opinion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521099189
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/08/2009
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

List of maps; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Foreword; Preface. A test case of collective security; Introduction. The nature of the problem; Part I. Background of the Munich Crisis: 1. The shaky foundations of collective security: Moscow, Paris, London; 2. Soviet-Romanian relations I: 1934–8; 3. Soviet-Romanian relations II: Summer 1938; Part II. Foreground: Climax of the Crisis: 4. East awaiting West; 5. The Red Army mobilises; 6. Denouement; Part III. Conclusion: 7. What the Red Army actually did; 8. What the Red Army might feasibly have done; 9. Epilogue; 10. Assessment of Soviet intentions; Appendix 1. Pertinent paragraphs of the League of Nations Covenant; Appendix 2. Franco-Soviet and Czechoslovak pacts: excerpts; Selected source materials and literature; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...indispensable reading." American Historical Review

"This is a thoroughly researched, persuasively argued work that materially advances our knowledge of the origins of World War II. It contributes not only to the study of Soviet foreign policy but to the understanding of Romanian diplomacy as well. Furthermore, it develops these central themes in the context of German, British, French, Romanian, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian policy. This is the way international history should be written."
Teddy J. Uldricks, Slavic Review

"Hugh Ragsdale's work has the advantage of expanding research to include the Eastern European scenario, thanks in particular to documentation from Romania." Journal of Modern History Silvio Pons, Universita degli studi di Roma, Tor Vergata

From the Publisher