THE ROLE OF CHRISTIAN RAKOVSKY IN DEVELOPING OF SOVIET POLICY TOWARD FRANCE (DECEMBER 1923 - AUTUMN 1924)
Abstract
Ch. Rakovsky’s activity in relation to the Third Republic is still poorly studied. The removal of the “Secret” tag and the opening of access to previously closed archival materials allowed us to analyze the role of this Soviet political and diplomatic figure in the context of the Franco-Soviet relations. The article states the importance of France in the foreign policy of the USSR. It revealed that the first suggestions Ch. Rakovsky began to actively express in December 1923, in the same period, he was appointed to lead “French affairs”, which he did until the autumn of 1924, when successfully passed the informal Franco-Soviet negotiations on the resumption of diplomatic relations. There are two main types of strategies proposed and, if possible, implemented by Ch. Rakovsky: on the one hand, determination and rigidity (economic and political pressure on Paris from the outside: recall of the trade mission of the USSR, demonstrative rapprochement with Britain and the possibility of restoring a wider Russian-English-German alliance, etc.), on the other hand - diplomacy and tactfulness (desire to establish a connection and enlist the support of a number of French politicians, without interfering directly in the internal affairs of the Third Republic, providing only advice to their allies). It can be concluded that Ch. Rakovsky, officially serving as the plenipotentiary of the USSR in London, played a fairly large role in the development and implementation of Moscow’s policy regarding Paris, and thanks to the active and decisive actions of Ch. Rakovsky, the Third Republic recognized the Soviet Union.
Downloads
References
Chernyavskiy, G. I. 2014. Zhiznennyy put Khristiana Rakovskogo. Yevropeizm i bolshevizm: neokonchennaya duel [The life path of Christian Rakovsky. Europeanism and Bolshevism: unfinished duel]. Moscow: ZAO Izdatelstvo Tsentrpoligraf. 557 s. (In Russian)
Conte, F. 1975. Christian Rakovski (1873-1941). Essai de biographie politique [Christian Rakovsky (1873-1941). Political biography essay.]. Paris: diffusion H. Champion, 898 р. (In French)
Garin, V. B. 2010. Slovo i delo: istoriya sovetskoy diplomatii (1917−1991) [Word and deed: the history of Soviet diplomacy (1917-1991)]. Rostov-on-Don: Feniks. 442 s. (In Russian)
Golovko, V. A. et al., 1994. Mezhdu Moskvoy i Zapadom: Diplomaticheskaya deyatelnost Kh. G. Rakovskogo [Between Moscow and the West: the diplomatic activity of Ch. G. Rakovsky.]. Kharkiv: Oko. 383 s. (In Russian)
Panayotov, F. 2003. Zhivotat i smartta na Krastyu Rakovski [The Life and Death of Krastyu Rakovsky]. Sofia: Izdatelstvo “Zahariy Stoyanov“. 555 s. (In Bulgarian)
RGAE a. Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv ekonomiki [Russian State Archive of Economics], f. 413, op. 2, d. 1775. (In Russian)
RGAE b. Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv ekonomiki [Russian State Archive of Economics], f. 413, op. 2, d. 1816. (In Russian)
RGASPI a. Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv sotsialno-politicheskoy istorii [Russian State Archive of Social and Political History], f. 159, op. 2, d. 45. (In Russian)
RGASPI b. Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv sotsialno-politicheskoy istorii [Russian State Archive of Social and Political History], f. 159, op. 2, d. 46. (In Russian)
RGASPI c. Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv sotsialno-politicheskoy istorii [Russian State Archive of Social and Political History], f. 359, op. 1, d. 8. (In Russian)
Shishkin, V. A. 1991. Tsena priznaniya. SSSR i strany Zapada v poiskakh kompromissa (1924-1929 gg.) [Price of recognition. The USSR and the countries of the West in search of a compromise (1924-1929).]. St. Petersburg: Nauka. 437 s. (In Russian)
Zagladin, N. V. 1990. Istoriya uspekhov i neudach sovetskoy diplomatii [The history of successes and failures of Soviet diplomacy]. Moskva: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya. 229 s. (In Russian)
