Gabor Batonyi Britain and Central Europe, 1918-1933

Annotation

This book emphasizes the key role played by Britain in restoring peace and stability in central Europe after the First World War. It focuses on the endeavours of British diplomats in the 1920s to promote political integration and economic co-operation in the Danubia region. The work traces the gradual shift in British attitudes towards the small central European states, from one of active engagement to disinterest and even hostility. Three case studies of British foreign policy in Vienna, Budapest, and Prague support the novel thesis that British involvement in central European affairs was terminated as a result of Austrian, Hungarian, and Czechoslovakian unwillingness to co-operate, and not simply because of economic and political pressures from Germany.