The last phase of Czechoslovakia’s independence in 1938: Latvian diplomatic documents about the Polish factor

• Authors: Ēriks Jėkabsons , Luboš Švec
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The documents presented contain conversations between Latvian diplomats and Polish representatives, the Czechoslovak envoy Jaroslav Slávik, and various diplomats in Warsaw during the intensification of Nazi Germany’s hostile campaign against Czechoslovakia in 1938. The documents come from the Latvian State Historical Archives and the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford. Five reports from the Latvian legation in Warsaw, sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia in Riga between the beginning of May and the end of October 1938, provide insight into the Polish position towards Czechoslovakia and its territorial claims. The final report, covering a conversation with Foreign Minister Józef Beck from the end of October, includes, among other things, an expression of support for the Polish action by the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vilhelms Munters. The sixth document contains a report by the Latvian envoy Mārtiņš Nukša, accredited to Prague, concerning conversations with Czechoslovak diplomats and the Soviet envoy Sergei Alexandrovsky on the state of Czechoslovak– Polish relations and the issue of Transcarpathian Ukraine at the beginning of December 1938.

Keywords

EN

Latvian diplomacy; reports of Latvian diplomats from Warsaw and Prague, 1938; Polish policy towards Czechoslovakia; Munich Crisis 1938

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)
• Year: 2025
• Volume: 111
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 213-235
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Ēriks Jėkabsons

• Slovanský přehled, redakce, Historický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic

author

Luboš Švec

• Slovanský přehled, redakce, Historický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Prosecká 76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic