The Soviet Union and the quest for economic and political security in Europe, 1920-1934

The period immediately following the first World War and up to the final German aggression (when the idea of peace was discarded) was one of alternating hope and despair. Beginning with Wilson and his League there was a constant groping for a stability that would produce a "lasting peace;" and if there were many failures (as there were) it was not because of the often lack of often sincere effort. This search for stability assumed many forms, but the most dramatic and obvious were the efforts to check armaments, the futile struggles to find an economic equilibrium, and the attempts to establish bilateral or multilateral political alliances. This paper is primarily concerned with the role of the Soviet Union in this universal quest for economic and political security.