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[THE SOVIET UNION IN HOPES OF DEEPENING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH THE GREAT BRITAIN] Anglo-sovetskiy dogovor i S.S.S.R [i.e. Anglo-Soviet Treaty and the USSR]

Kamenev L.B.

Leningrad: Gos. izd. 1924. Item #1449

38, [1] pp. In original publisher’s wrappers. Upper inner corner of front cover lost, some soiling, tear of outer edge throughout copy, otherwise very good.

Scarce. First edition.
Text of the speech delivered by the prominent Soviet politician Lev Kamenev (1883-1936) at a party gathering in Leningrad (1924) and dedicated to the Anglo-Soviet treaty of 1924.
During Vladimir Lenin’s final illness in 1923 - 1924, Lev Kamenev served the role of the acting leader of the USSR, forming a triumvirate with Grigory Zinoviev and Joseph Stalin. The latter subsequently turned against his former allies and ousted Kamenev from the Soviet leadership. Lev was arrested in 1935 and made a chief defendant in the 1936 Trial of the Sixteen (a series of show trials against Trotskysts), which marked the start of the Great Purge. Kamenev was found guilty during the show trial and executed in August 1936.After his death, the Soviet authorities launched a massive anti-campaign against the politician: Kamenev’s works, as well as writings mentioning his name, were removed from circulation and vigorously destroyed. This book represents a rare survival of the time.
Following the October Revolution of 1917, Great Britain, together with other European countries, severed all ties with the new Soviet government. It was not until 1924 that the newly-elected government of Great Britain headed by Ramsey MacDonald decided to establish diplomatic relations with the USSR and recognized the Soviet state.
From April 14 to August 12, 1924, London hosted an Anglo-Soviet conference in the course of which the two countries developed general political and trade agreements. According to the former, Great Britain provided the USSR with a loan on the condition that the Soviet government partially satisfies the claims of British subjects on the pre-war debts of the tsarist regime and the parties conduct negotiations on war debts and counter-claims of the USSR. The trade agreement recognized the Soviet monopoly of foreign trade and considered the mutual application of the principle of most favored nation. Both treaties, signed on August 8, 1924, were supposed to come into force after their ratification by the legislative bodies of the USSR and England.
This speech by Lev Kamenev was delivered on September 6, 1924, at a party gathering in Leningrad. The meeting took place just a couple of months before the newly-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Stanley Baldwin, refused to ratify the treaties in the light of the massive anti-Soviet campaign (the USSR was accused of trying to organize a revolution in England).
In the speech, the author touches upon a variety of topics related to Anglo-Soviet relations and provides a unique insight into the specifics of the agreement as seen through the eyes of the Soviet politician. Kamenev underlines the importance of the treaty and the fact thatthe strongest European country expresses its full confidence in the Bolsheviks.Interestingly, in spite of the agreement, the author draws Ramsey Macdonald in the light of an enemy who agrees to provide the USSR with the loan because of the financial profit (percentage from the loan) and the fear of an uprising on the part of the opponents. According to Kamenev, the United Kingdom, together with the United States and France, seeks to undermine Soviet rule by orchestrating the August Uprising in Georgia (aimed at restoring the independence of Georgia), intervening in China, and proposing the Dawes Plan to oppress German proletariat. The author denies the absolute necessity of the loan for the USSR; yet, he underlines its important role in the development of the Soviet Union, which should be directed at pushing back an alleged bourgeois alliance.
Overall, an interesting document of the time when the USSR was awaiting ratification of the Anglo-Soviet treaties.

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $750.00