Soviet-Czechoslovak Negotiations on Signing of the Trade Agreement in 1933–1935

Abstract

This article deals with the final stage of Soviet-Czechoslovak negotiations to conclude a trade agreement that took place between 1933 and 1935. It should be noted that in both Soviet and modern Russian literature, issues related to contacts between the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia in the economic field are mentioned only fragmentarily. At the same time, the history of the consultations which were led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic and diplomatic and commercial representatives in Prague has been reflected in the works of Czech historians Z. Sládek, Z. Konečný, and F. Mainuš. As a result of this research, the diaries of Soviet ambassadors A. Ya. Arosev and S. S. Alexandrovskij and their reports to Moscow, which are held in the funds of the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Federation (“M. M. Litvinov’s secretariat” and “N. N. Krestinsky’s secretariat”), became the object of the research. The reports of the Trade mission of Soviet Union in Prague, as well as the preliminary projects of the agreement developed by Soviet and Czechoslovak diplomats (which are held in the fund “Ministry of Foreign Commerce of USSR” of the Russian State Archive of Economics), were also used. The study shows that the aspiration of both parties to settle mutual relations in this sphere was prompted by both economic and political motives. The signing of the agreement, which took place on 25 March 1935, allowed major contentious issues in trade between the two countries to be regulated. This event, along with the conclusion of an agreement on mutual assistance, marked the beginning of the new phase in the history of Soviet-Czechoslovak relations in the interwar period.