The Soviets, the Munich Crisis, and the Coming of World War II

Description

The Munich crisis is everywhere acknowledged as the prelude leading to World War II, and the subject has been thoroughly studied from the vantage of the available British, French and German documents. What has never been seriously studied in the Western literature is the whole spectrum of East European documentation, that is presented here for the first time. The Romanians were at one time prepared to admit the transfer of the Red Army across their territory. The Red Army, mobilized on a massive scale, was informed that its destination was Czechoslovakia. The Polish consul in Moldavia was reporting the entrance of the Red Army into the country. Meantime, Moscow seems to have focused especially on the Polish rail network. All of these findings are new, and they contribute to a considerable shift in the conventional wisdom on the subject.

"...indispensable reading." American Historical Review "This is a thoroughly researched, persuasively argued work that materially advances our knowledge of the origins of World War II. It contributes not only to the study of Soviet foreign policy but to the understanding of Romanian diplomacy as well. Furthermore, it develops these central themes in the context of German, British, French, Romanian, Czech, Polish, and Hungarian policy. This is the way international history should be written." Teddy J. Uldricks, Slavic Review "Hugh Ragsdale's work has the advantage of expanding research to include the Eastern European scenario, thanks in particular to documentation from Romania." Journal of Modern History Silvio Pons, Universita degli studi di Roma, Tor Vergata