Czechoslovak politicians in Soviet diplomatic reports and the issue of establishing official relations between Czechoslovakia and Russia / USSR (early 1920s)

Abstract

The article analyzes the reports of Soviet representatives to the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs about the views and policies of Czechoslovak state and political figures regarding Russia (the USSR) in the 1920s. Trying to achieve official recognition of Soviet Russia, and then the USSR, the heads of the Soviet mission in the Czechoslovak Republic S. I. Gillerson, P. N. Mostovenko, K. K. Yurenev, V. A. Antonov-Ovseenko, A. Ya. Arosev reported to G. V. Chicherin and M. M. Litvinov about the positions of the president, ministers, heads of political parties, diplomats of Czechoslovak Republic on this issue. At the same time, they often gave detailed characteristics of Czechoslovak figures, pointed out the internal factors and external reasons that prevented the ratification of the temporary Soviet-Czechoslovak agreement of 1922 and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In addition, in these reports were recorded changes in the positions of individual politicians towards Russia depending on external circumstances. The documents of the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation and published materials on the history of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations, used by the author, help to understand better the problematic nature of the relations between the two countries.