If Krasin had a motto when he arrived in London in late May 1920, doubtless it was ‘Everything for the Trade Agreement!’ But though the Anglo-Soviet negotiations dominated his attention until an agreement was signed in March 1921, Soviet endeavours to agree commercial contracts did continue. Railway business took much of this effort, these ten months seeing not only Lomonosov's appointment, Solomon's Estonian contract and the commencement of work by Nohab, but also discussions with Austrian, Czech, Italian and other firms together with numerous fruitless meetings with trading companies about American decapods. The most important projects were negotiations with British and German engineering companies held by Krasin and Lomonosov respectively, plus the formation of a unique Soviet foreign trade organisation – the Russian Railway Mission Abroad – specifically for managing railway contracts. It is with Krasin's railway discussions in Britain and Lomonosov's first German negotiations that this chapter is concerned.

The British connection

Accounts of Krasin's negotiations with Lloyd George's government have tended to assume that the British were tempted into signing the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement by Krasin's promises of large expenditure. Was this really the case, and if so, how? Probably by far the largest prospective contract concerned railway locomotives, and its history casts new light on the origins of the trade agreement.