Meddling in Middle Europe
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.
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