In the modern era, when humanity has accumulated a gigantic arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, the question of opportunities and ways to prevent (and then completely eliminate the threat of) a new world war is particularly urgent. This explains the constant interest that the problem of the origin of the Second World War arouses. It is obvious that the study of the policy of the great Powers in the pre-war months has both scientific and political significance in this regard. The monograph of Candidate of Historical Sciences A.D. Chikvaidze is devoted to a detailed analysis of the European policy of the British government in the spring and summer of 1939.
The book makes extensive use of documents from the British Cabinet and the Foreign Office, declassified in 1969. Their careful analysis (together with the use of extensive research literature) allowed the author to draw a number of important conclusions about the policy of the British cabinet on the eve of World War II, and to more fully characterize the specific course of events in this crucial period of history for the fate of the world.
What is the new contribution that A.D. Chikvaidze was able to make to the understanding of the motives and coverage of the practical actions of N. Chamberlain's cabinet on the eve of World War II? How does the reviewed work enrich the existing ideas in Soviet science about the essence of the British government's policy of appeasement of fascist aggressors, which was embodied in the shameful Munich Agreement and the subsequent breakdown of negotiations with the USSR?
Using new documents, the author was able to reveal the essence of the anti-Soviet course pursued by the British and French governments. The deal in Munich, notes A.D. Chikvaidze, "was concluded not by political blind men, but by figures with quite clear goals and aspirations" (p. 98). The crowning achievement of these aspirations was the "channeling" of fascist aggression towards the USSR, and for this purpose the ...
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