Opening the Door Wider, Amid Rumours and Chaos

Abstract

If the first year or so after the Armistice saw the German military, and then the Soviet government, come to the realization that perhaps their best interests lay in developing a closer relationship with each other vis-à-vis the western Allied powers, then the following year saw ever-more concrete steps taken towards turning the mutual interest into a working relationship. The process was by no means assured, and there were many false steps and hesitations. But the overall political climate of Europe, and the continued isolation of both states from the rest of the international community, ensured that the initial inclinations of the post-war year would be acted upon.