Edvard Beneš and “The Stripe of Recognition of the USSR”. Conversation of ROSTA Correspondent R. O. Jakobson with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia on November 7, 1924

Abstract

In the article, based on archival materials, the author examines the attitude of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic Edvard Beneš towards the issue of recognition of the USSR in 1924. During this year, the Soviet Union was recognized de jure by eleven states, including Great Britain, France, Italy and China. This international process was called “the stripe of recognition of the USSR”. Czechoslovakia refrained from de jure recognition of the USSR, despite the fact that E. Beneš had repeatedly stated that Prague would immediately follow recognition by the great European powers. The article focuses on the analysis of Beneš’ conversation with the head of the press bureau of the Soviet plenipotentiary and correspondent of the Russian Telegraph Agency in Prague R. O. Jakobson, which took place on November 7, 1924. During the conversation, the Czechoslovak minister explained to Jakobson why Prague was not ready to recognize the USSR de jure. Taking into account the experience of European states that recognized the USSR by that time, Beneš believed that if Czechoslovakia followed their example, the activities of the Comintern would inevitably cause a deterioration in Czechoslovak-Soviet relations. This, in turn, would lead to undermining the positions of the political forces on which he and the country’s ruling elite were based. Under the conditions of the time, Beneš proposed limiting the connection between the countries to the development of cultural ties between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.

Received: 01.07.2024.
Revised: 25.07.2024.
Accepted: 24.09.2024.

Citation
Stankov N. N. Edvard Beneš and “The Stripe of Recognition of the USSR”. Conversation of ROSTA Correspondent R. O. Jakobson with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia on November 7, 1924 // Slavic Almanac. 2024. No 3–4. P. 22–35 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073- 5731.2024.3-4.02