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‘A Fearful Concatenation of Circumstances’: the Anglo–Soviet Rapprochement, 1934–61

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 September 2008

Michael Jabara Carley
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Extract

On 17 January 1936 Winston S. Churchill, the back-bench bête noire of the Conservative Party, wrote to his wife Clemmie from Marrakesh, where he was on holiday, about the frightful international situation. Japan had ruptured the conference on naval aramaments, and Nazi Germany was rearming at break-neck speed. The ‘two predatory military dictatorships’, it seemed to Churchill, were now working together. ‘No wonder’, he said, ‘the Russian bear is quaking for his skin and seeking protectors among the capitalist powers he deserted in the war and sought to destroy at the close of it. What – to quote a famous phrase – “What a fearful concatenation of circumstances”.’2

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Articles
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Contemporary European History , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 1996 , pp. 29 - 69
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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References

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37 Corbin, no. 881, 16 Aug. 1934, Ministère des Affaires étrangères, France (thereafter MAE), Europe, 1918–1940, Z-Grande-Bretagne/294, 53–7.

38 Harold Patteson, British consul, Geneva, from Eden, no. 59 saving, 19 Sept. 1934, N5455/2/38, PRO FO 371 18300; and Patteson, from Eden, no. 60 saving, 27 Sept. 1934, N5602/2/38, PRO FO 371 18301.

39 William Bullitt, US ambassador in Moscow, no. 304, strictly confidential and secret, 15 Sept. 1934, 800.51 W89USSR/124, NA RG 59 (1930–39), box 4610.

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46 Minute by Mounsey, 31 Dec. 1934, Ibid.

47 Minute by Collier, 28 Dec. 1934, Ibid.; and Vansittart to Collier, 31 Dec. 1934, Ibid.

48 Simon to Chilston, no. 613, confidential, 27 Dec. 1934, N7155/16/38, PRO FO 371 18306.

49 Minute by Vansittart, 9 Feb. 1935, C1076/55/18, PRO FO 371 18825.

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54 Minute by Vansittart, 20 Feb. 1935, C1339/55/18, PRO FO 371 18826; and Vansittart to Chilston, private, 21 Feb. 1935, Ibid.

55 Maiskii to Litvinov, 13 Feb. 1935, DVP, xviii. 99–101; and Litvinov to Maiskii, 17 Feb. 1935, ibid., 112.

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58 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 21 Feb. 1935, DVP, xviii. 122–4; and Simon to Chilston, no. 98, 20 Feb. 1935, Documents on British Foreign Policy (thereafter DBFP), 2nd ser., 21 vols (London: HMSO, 1947–), xii. 542–3.

59 Orme Garton Sargent, Assistant Permanent Under-Secretary, to Sir Eric Phipps, British ambassador in Berlin, 7 March 1935, DBFP, xii. 616–18.

60 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 13 March 1935 (two cables), DVP, xviii. 172–3, 625.

61 Minute by Vansittart, 19 March 1935, N524/17/38, PRO FO 371 19450.

62 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 22 March 1935, DVP, xviii. 199–200.

63 Vansittart to Phipps, 5 March 1935, DBFP, xii. 605–6.

64 ‘Record of a conversation … with … Vansittart’, Maiskii, 6 June 1935, DVP, xviii. 385–7.

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69 ‘Record of an Anglo-Soviet conversation held at the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, Moscow, on March 28, 1935, at 3 p.m.’, DBFP, xii. 771–84; Chilston, no. 46, 28 March 1935, C2608/55/18, PRO FO 371 18832; and ‘Record of a conversation of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs with the Lord Privy Seal of Great Britain Eden’, 28 March 1935, DVP, xviii. 228–39.

70 ‘Record of an Anglo-Soviet Conversation … on March 29 at 11.30 a.m.’, DBFP, xii. 784–91; ‘Record of a conversation with Eden’, 29 March 1935, DVP, xviii. 240–5; and Bateman’s interesting minute and draft answer to a Parliamentary Question, 19 April 1932, N2418/22/38, PRO FO 371 16319.

71 ‘Record of a conversation of I. V. Stalin and V. M. Molotov with the Lord Privy Seal of Great Britain Eden’, 29 March 1935, DVP, xviii. 246–51; and Chilston, nos 48–9, 30 March 1935, DBFP, xii. 766–9.

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75 ‘The Proposed Eastern Pact’, Sargent, 28 Jan. 1935, C962/55/18, PRO FO 371 18825.

76 Minute by Vansittart, 28 Jan. 1935, Ibid.

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78 Memo signed by Collier, Wigram, and Orde, 12 Feb. 1935, N927/135/38, PRO FO 371 19460.

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81 ‘International Position of the Soviet Union in Relation to France, Germany and Japan’, 21 Feb. 1935, DBFP, xii. 559–63, or N880/135/38, PRO FO 371 19460.

82 Minute by Sargent, 19 Feb. 1935, C1339/55/18, PRO FO 371 18826.

83 ‘Memorandum by Mr. Sargent’, 7 Feb. 1935, DBFP, xii. 501–2; and Sargent's minute, 1 April 1935, C2656/55/18, PRO FO 371 18833.

84 Minutes by Sargent, 27 Feb. 1935, and Collier, 28 Feb. 1935, C1558/55/18, PRO FO 371 18827.

85 Minute by Sargent, 22 March 1935, N1313/53/38, PRO FO 371 19456.

86 Phipps to Sargent, 4 April 1935, C2892/55/18, PRO FO 371 18834; and Sargent's minute, 12 April 1935, Ibid.

87 Minutes by Sargent, 1 April 1935, Vansittart, 1 April 1935, C2656/55/18, PRO FO 371 18833; and Wigram, 3 April 1935, C2794/55/18, Ibid.

88 ‘Eastern Pact’, Sargent, 18 April 1935, C3333/55/18, PRO FO 371 18837; Simon to Sir George R. Clerk, British ambassador in Paris, no. 108, 18 April 1935, Ibid.; Clerk, no. 78 saving, 19 April 1935, DBFP, xii. 191–2; Litvinov to Maiskii, 25 April 1935, DVP, xviii. 299; Maiskii to Narkomindel, 26 April 1935, ibid., 301–2; and Simon to Noel Charles, British chargé d'affaires in Moscow, no. 227, 2 May 1935, 03251/55/18, PRO FO 371 18838.

89 Litvinov to Maiskii, 29 April 1935, DVP, xviii. 305–6.

90 ‘Record of a conversation … with … Vansittart’, Maiskii, 1 May 1935, DVP, xviii. 307–8; and Charles Corbin, French ambassador in London, no. 549–51, 2 May 1935, Documents diplomatiques français, 1st ser. (thereafter DDF), 13 vols (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1964–84), x. 452–3. Cf. Clerk, no. 80, 27 April 1935, DBFP, xiii. 212–14.

91 Corbin, nos 573–7, 4 May 1935, DDF, x. 475–6.

92 Minute by Sargent, 4 May 1935, C3613/55/18, PRO FO 371 18838.

93 Memorandum by Vansittart, 28 May 1935, N2761/998/38, PRO FO 371 19467.

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97 Memorandum by Hoare, 12 June 1935, N3187/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451; and minute by Hoare, 14 June 1935, C4564/55/18, PRO FO 371 18845.

98 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 13 June 1935, DVP, xviii. 393–4.

99 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 15 June 1935, ibid., 397–8; cf. Maiskii, , Vospominaniia, 300–2.Google Scholar

100 Report of meeting between Maiskii and Ashton-Gwatkin, 3 July 1935, N3423/135/38, PRO FO 371 19460.

101 Chilston, no. 533, 6 Dec. 1935, N6304/135/38, PRO FO 371 19460.

102 J. L. Dodds to Chilston, 16 Aug. 1935, N3888/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451.

103 Minutes by Vansittart, 17 May 1935, C3943/55/18, PRO FO 371 18840; 15 June 1935, C4564/55/18, PRO FO 371 18845; 5 July 1935, C5178/55/18, PRO FO 371 18847; and 9 Nov. 1935, C7647/55/18, PRO FO 371 18851.

104 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 17 July 1935, DVP, xviii. 457–8; and Maiskii to Narkomindel, 20 July 1935, ibid., 461–2.

105 Record of a conversation between Arthur G. Marshall, Becos Traders, and Leonard Browett, Board of Trade, by R. Kelf-Cohen, Board of Trade, 1 June 1934, N3506/16/38, PRO FO 371 18304; and Sir Frederick Leith-Ross, Treasury, to F. H. Nixon, Export Credit Guarantee Department, 1 Feb. 1935, PRO Treasury (thereafter PRO T) 160 791/F7438/10.

106 Minute by Vansittart, 21 Jan. 1935, N281/1/38, PRO FO 371 19447; and Simon to Neville Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 18 May 1935, Ibid.

107 See various papers in N1883/1/38, 12 April 1935, and N2711/1/38, 28 May 1935, PRO FO 371 19447; Leith-Ross to Sir Horace Wilson, Treasury, and to Runciman, 9 May 1935, PRO T160 749/F14202/1; and minute by Collier, 27 June 1935, N3253/1/38, PRO FO 371 19448.

108 Memo by Ashton-Gwatkin, 4 July 1935, N3422/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451; minute by Collier, 29 July 1935, N3844/17/38, Ibid.; ‘Note of Conversation on 29th July, 1935’, Leith-Ross, N3870/17/38, Ibid.; ‘Russia’, Leith-Ross, 30 July 1935, Ibid.; ‘Interview with Mr. Rosengolz, People's Commissar for Foreign Trade, on August 5th, 1935’, Ashton-Gwatkin, N4113/17/38, Ibid.; and ‘Russia’, by Waley [?], nd [but early Aug. 1935], PRO T160 749/F14202/1.

109 Minute by Dodds, 31 July 1935, N3844/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451; and ‘Sir Frederick Phillips’, by Waley, 30 July 1935, PRO T160 749/F14202/1.

110 Donald Fergusson, private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, [?] to Waley, personal, 8 July 1935, PRO T160 749/F14202/1.

111 Minute by Sir Frederick Phillips, Treasury, 26 Nov. 1935 on ‘Russia’, by Waley, 26 Nov. 1935, PRO T160 749/F14202/2.

112 Minutes by Vansittart, 31 July 1935, and Hoare, 4 Aug. 1935, N3844/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451.

113 Chilston, no. 352E., 13 Aug. 1935, N4113/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451.

114 Minutes by Dodds, 3 Sept. 1935, also 21 Aug. 1935, C6091/55/18, PRO FO 371 18850; and minute by Hoare, 4 Sept. 1935, N3844/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451.

115 Minutes by Collier, 10 and 25 Sept. 1935, N3870/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451, and 15 Oct. 1935, N5273/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

116 ‘Note of interview with Mr. Litvinoff at Geneva, September 1935’, Ernest Remnant, 24 Oct. 1935, N5566/1/38, PRO FO 371 19448.

117 Record of conversation between Ashton-Gwatkin and Maiskii, 8 Nov. 1935, N5808/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

118 Minutes by Sargent, 16 Nov. 1935, Vansittart, 18 Nov. 1935, Hoare, 20 Nov. 1935, and Eden, 21 Nov. 1935; also Collier to R. Hankey, private secretary to Eden, 23 Nov. 1935, and Hankey's minute, 26 Nov. 1935, N5566/1/38, PRO FO 371 19448.

119 Memorandum by Vansittart, 18 Nov. 1935, N5966/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452; and note by Eden, 20 Nov. 1935, Ibid.

120 Memorandum by Eden, 21 Nov. 1935, N6030/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

121 Minutes by Dodds to Oliphant and by Hoare, 28 Aug. and 1 Sept. 1935, N4283/17/38, PRO FO 371 19451.

122 ‘Secretary of State’, Vansittart, 16 Oct. 1935; minutes by Stanhope, 18 Oct. 1935, and by Hoare, 17 Oct. 1935, N5491/998/38, PRO FO 371 19467, and minute by Hoare, 18 Sept. 1935, and correspondence and other minutes, N4463/998/38, Ibid.

123 ‘Proposed Broadcasts by the British Broadcasting Corporation’, CP 29 (36), secret, Eden, 7 Feb. 1936, Cabinet conclusions no. 6 (36), 12 Feb. 1936, and Cabinet conclusions no. 8 (36), 19 Feb. 1936, PRO FO 371 20344.

124 Collier to Hankey, 23 Nov. 1935, N5566/1/38, PRO FO 371 19448; and memorandum by Collier, 21 Oct. 1935, N5542/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

125 Memorandum by Collier, 7 Nov. 1935, N5743/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452; Collier to Waley and Leonard Browett, Board of Trade, very secret, 17 Dec. 1935, N6340/76/38 green, PRO FO 371 19460; cf. Carley, , ‘Five Kopecks for Five Kopecks: Franco-Soviet Trade Negotiations, 1928–1939’, Cahiers du monde russe el soviétique, Vol. 33, no. 1 (1992), 23–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Roberts, Geoffrey, ‘A Soviet Bid for Coexistence with Nazi Germany, 1935–1937: The Kandelaki Affair’, International History Review, Vol. 16, no. 3 (1994), 466–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

126 Nixon to Waley, enclosing untitled memorandum, 17 Oct. 1935, PRO T160 791/F7438/10; ‘Russia’, Waley, 10 Oct. 1935, Ibid.; memorandum by Hoare, 28 Nov. 1935, N6160/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452; and Hoare to Runciman, 4 Dec. 1935, Ibid.

127 ‘Sir R. Hopkins [second secretary, Treasury]’, Waley, 5 Dec. 1935, including Phillips’ minute, nd, PRO T160 749/F14202/2; and Chamberlain's minute, 25 Dec. 1935, on ‘Mr. Rowan, Russia’, Waley, 25 Dec. 1935, Ibid.

128 Minutes by Vansittart, 21 Dec. 1935, N6484/17/38; and Collier, 28 Dec. 1935, N6698/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

129 Vansittart to W. B. Brown, Board of Trade, 4 Jan. 1936, N6698/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452; and Collier to Waley, 23 Dec. 1935, N6484/17/38, Ibid.

130 Chilston, no. 533, 6 Dec. 1935, N6304/135/38, PRO FO 371 19460; and parliamentary question, 18 Dec. 1935, N6601/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452.

131 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 9 Dec. 1935, DVP, xviii. 585–6.

132 Manchester, William, The Caged Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill, 1932–1940 (thereafter Manchester, Caged Lion) (London: Cardinal, 1989), 164.Google Scholar

133 Maiskii to Eden, 23 Dec. 1935, N6698/17/38, PRO FO 371 19452; and Eden to Maiskii, 24 Dec. 1935, Ibid.

134 Rose, Norman, Vansittart: Study of a Diplomat (London: Heinemann, 1978), 183Google Scholar; and Eden, , Dictators, 271.Google Scholar

135 Manchester, , Caged Lion, 166.Google Scholar

136 Minute by Collier, 19 Dec. 1935, N6255/7/38, PRO FO 371 19450; minutes by Sargent, 17 Jan. 1936, and Vansittart, 17 Jan. 1936, N6642/76/38, PRO FO 371 19460; and Sargent to Vansittart, 17 Jan. 1936, Ibid.

137 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 6 Jan. 1936, DVP, xix. 13–14; and Eden to Chilston, no. 11, 6 Jan. 1936, N120/20/38, PRO FO 371 20338.

138 Minute by Vansittart, 7 Jan. 1936, N120/20/38, PRO FO 371 20338; and memorandum by Collier, 7 Jan. 1936, N125/20/38, Ibid.

139 Sargent to Vansittart, 9 Jan. 1936, N425/20/38, Ibid.

140 Minute by Collier, 25 Nov. 1936, N5715/187/38, PRO FO 371 20347.

141 Minutes by Eden, 15 Jan. 1936, and 10 Jan. 1936, N479/20/38, PRO FO 371 20338.

142 Minutes by Stanhope and Cranborne, 14 Jan. 1936, Ibid.

143 Minutes by Vansittart, 9 Jan. 1936, and 15 Jan. 1936, Ibid.

144 Memorandum by Collier, 23 Jan. 1936, N425/20/38, Ibid.

145 Minutes by Stanhope, nd, and 14 Jan. 1936, N425/20/38, Ibid.

146 Eden to Chilston, no. 56, 30 Jan. 1936, N622/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339.

147 Colin A. Edmond, British consul, Geneva, from Eden, no. 8 LN, 21 Jan. 1936, C452/92/62, PRO FO 371 19879; and minutes by Sargent, 23 Jan. 1936, and Collier, 29 Jan. 1936, Ibid.

148 Minute by Vansittart, 1 Feb. 1936, N515/187/38, PRO FO 371 20346.

149 ‘Notes of meeting held in the Secretary of State's room at the Foreign Office on February 3rd, 1936’, C979/4/18, PRO FO 371 19885; minutes by Wigram, 4 Feb. 1936, and Eden, 10 Feb. 1936, C835/4/18, PRO FO 371 19884; and Phipps, no. 29 saving, 15 Feb. 1936, and minutes, N923/187/38, PRO FO 371 20346.

150 Collier to Chilston, secret, 5 Feb. 1936, N803/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339; and minutes by Collier, 10 Feb. 1936 and Sargent, 21 Feb. 1936, N756/187/38, PRO FO 371 20346; and Collier to Oliphant, 24 Feb. 1936, Ibid.

151 ‘Record of a conversation … with … [Duff] Cooper’, Maiskii, 5 Feb. 1936, DVP, xix. 62–4; ‘Record of a conversation … with … Eden’, Maiskii, 11 Feb. 1936, ibid., 73–80; and Eden to Chilston, no. 76, 11 Feb. 1936, N833/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339.

152 ‘Record of a conversation … with … Collier’, Maiskii, 13 Feb. 1936, DVP, xix. 86–8; minute by Collier, 14 Feb. 1936, N833/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339; and Collier to Browett, Board of Trade, 14 Feb. 1936, N856/20/38, Ibid.

153 Minute by Sargent, 2 Jan. 1936, C1/1/17, PRO FO 371 19855.

154 Minutes by Eden, 29 March 1936, N1840/1298/38, PRO FO 371 20352; Sargent, 2 March 1936, C1081/4/18, PRO FO 371 19886; report by Colonel E. O. Skaife, British military attaché in Moscow, 20 Jan. 1936, 26pp., N752/287/38, PRO FO 371 20348; and Neilson, ‘Pursued’, 210–12.

155 Minutes by Sargent and Vansittart, 1 Feb. 1936, and by Eden, 3 Feb. 1936, C573/92/62, PRO FO 371 19879; ‘S. of S.’, Sargent, 19 Feb. 1936, N833/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339; and Oliphant's minute, 20 Feb. 1936, Ibid.

156 Chilston, no. 96, 10 Feb. 1936, N880/20/38, PRO FO 371 20339; and minutes by Collier, 19 Feb. 1936 and Eden, 28 Feb. 1936, Ibid.

157 Eden to Phipps, private, 28 Feb. 1936, N1693/20/38, Ibid.

158 ‘Soviet Union, Annual Report, 1935’, Chilston, 31 Jan. 1936, N871/871/38, PRO FO 371 20352.

159 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 8 March, 1936, DVP, xix. 128–9; Litvinov to Maiskii, 9 March 1936, ibid., 130; Maiskii to Litvinov, 10 March 1936, ibid., 134; and untitled record of conversation with Maiskii by Cranborne, 10 March 1936, C1716/4/18, PRO FO 371 19890.

160 Nicolson, H., Diaries and Letters, 1930–1939 (thereafter Nicolson, Diaries) (New York: Atheneum, 1966), 248–54.Google Scholar

161 ‘Record of a conversation…with…Runciman’, Maiskii, 2 April 1936, DVP, xix. 207–11.

162 Gilbert, , Prophet, 723.Google Scholar

163 ‘Record of a conversation…with…Churchill’, Maiskii, 3 April 1936, DVP, xix. 211–17.

164 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 28 April 1936, DVP, xix. 248–50; Eden to D. MacKillop, British chargé d'affaires in Moscow, no. 247, 28 April 1936, C3231/4/18, PRO FO 371 19904; Phipps, no. 129 saving, 27 May 1936, DBFP, xvi. 457; minute by Sargent, 12 Aug. 1936, ibid., xvii. 90–1; and Cowling, , Impact, 161.Google Scholar

165 ‘Record of a conversation…with…Vansittart’, Maiskii, 13 May 1936, DVP, xix. 264–6; and, eg minutes by Vansittart, 26 March 1936, C2390/4/18, PRO FO 371 19898; 15 April 1936, C2487/4/18, Ibid.; and 17 May 1936, C3677/4/18, PRO FO 371 19905.

166 Minutes by Collier, 29 May 1936, N2828/307/38, PRO FO 371 20349, and 11 July 1936, N3215/20/38, PRO FO 371 20340.

167 Minutes by Collier, 13 May 1936, Vansittart, 18 May 1936, and Eden, 21 May 1936, N2514/16/38, PRO FO 371 20338.

168 Nicolson, , Diaries, 270Google Scholar; Jones, Thomas, A Diary with Letters, 1931–1950 (London: Oxford University Press, 1954), 231Google Scholar; and minute by Sargent, 12 Aug. 1936, cited in n. 164 above.

169 Memorandum by Vansittart, 17 Sept. 1936, DBFP, xvii. 269–71.

170 Maiskii to Narkomindel, 1 Nov. 1936, DVP, xix. 531–2; Maiskii to Churchill, 10 Nov. 1936, and Churchill to Maiskii, 14 Nov. 1936, Gilbert, Martin, Churchill, vol. 5, pt 3 (London: Heinemann, 1982), 396–8, 409.Google Scholar

171 Chilston, no. 637, 20 Nov. 1936, N5715/187/38, PRO FO 371 20347; and minute by Collier, 19 Feb. 1936, N911/187/38, PRO FO 371 20346.

172 Minutes by G. P. Labouchere, 24 Nov. 1936, Collier, 25 Nov. 1936, and Vansittart, 28 Nov. 1936, N5722/307/38, PRO FO 371 20349.

173 Post, , Dilemmas, 255.Google Scholar

174 Nicolson, , Diaries, 273Google Scholar, quoting Tory MP Henry Channon; Lamb, , The Drift to War, 1922–1930 (London: Bloomsbury, 1991), 192Google Scholar; Post, , Dilemmas, 106–7Google Scholar; and Cowling, , Impact, 147.Google Scholar

175 Minute by Sargent, 15 Oct. 1936, C7262/92/62, PRO FO 371 19880.

176 See eg Lord Halifax, Foreign Secretary, to Sir M. Peterson, British representative in Spain, no. 800, 5 Oct, 1939, C15821/15/18, PRO FO 371 22985; ‘First Month of the War’, Leeper, 4 Oct. 1939, C16151/15/18, Ibid.; untitled memorandum, secret, FO, 19 Oct. 1939, C16324/15/18, Ibid.; and minute by Sargent, 11 Oct. 1939, C16573/15/18, Ibid.

177 Minute by Gladwyn Jebb, 16 March 1936, C1558/4/18, PRO FO 371 19888.

178 Eg minute by R. L. Speaight, 9 Jan. 1935, N135/135/38 green, PRO FO 371 19460.

179 Corbin, no. 320, 21 May 1936, MAÉ Z-Grande-Bretagne/294, 67–73; and Corbin, no. 478, 22 July 1936, ibid., 74–8.