Meddling in Middle Europe
Britain and the 'Lands Between' 1919-1925
Miklós Lojkó is a Senior Lecturer
in Modern British History at the School of English and
American Studies of Eötvös Loránd University,
Hungary.
This work addresses the much-ignored history of British
policy towards Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland following
the creation of nation states in Central Europe at the
end of the First World War. Lojkó convincingly
argues that the absence of trust in the new political
settlement and the discrediting of the traditional channels
of diplomacy resulted in British influence in the region,
being exerted mainly in the form of commercial and financial
undertakings. While not always successful, the emergence
of this new policy affected the development of diplomatic
ties with these new nations.Yet no lasting diplomatic
leverage resulted from this British involvement, and
the absence of such influence proved fatal in the late
1930's when the new system of nations was disintegrating
under the pressure of escalating violence.
Contents
Introduction; Part I Britain and Hungary: Partnership
of Convenience Chapter 1 Politics and Diplomacy:
Limited Commitments Chapter 2 The British Role
in the Financial Reconstruction of Hungary After the
First World War
Part II Britain and Czechoslovakia: Friendship
to Estrangement Chapter 3 Politics and Diplomacy:
The 'Pivot' of Central Europe Chapter 4 Britain,
Czechoslovakia and the Politics of Finance Part III
British Policy Towards Poland: Diplomats and Bankers
Against Heavy Odds Chapter 5 Britain and the
Birth Throes of an Old State Chapter 6 Britain
and Poland: Financial Diplomacy with Barriers Conclusion;
Bibliography; Index
"It is well known that the victorious peacemakers
of Paris left numerous issues unresolved in 1919. This
substantive study by Miklós Lojkó offers
a case in point.
Lojkó mined British public and private archival
collections to paint an elegant portrait of consummate
British diplomacy in the first half of the 1920s.
The chapters on financial diplomacy are diplomatic history
at its best. Exceedingly well written, they make elaborate
schemes of international and public finance understandable
to the layman. This is a book that ought to be a prized
possession of every research library." - American
Historical Review
2005
387 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-37-0 cloth $55.00 / €44.95 / £40.00
ISBN 978-963-7326-23-3 paperback $27.95 / €24.95 / £22.99
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