From Locarno to Munich

There was fundamental disagreement between British government officials and diplomats on the question of the security of Western Europe. On the other hand, there was consensus in the Foreign Office that the Eastern European satellite system of France added apprehension and increased liability. Consequently, by 1925 Czechoslovakia barely figured at all in British designs for European security. By the mid-1920s Beneš’s position at home and abroad was equally insecure. By the time of Locarno, Czechoslovakia had few influential friends in British government circles and especially in the foreign service. By the time of the Nazi takeover in Germany, Beneš was convinced that Czechoslovakia was only a pawn in the game of European diplomacy, dependent for its existence on the moves of the more important pieces. The British attitude to the Czechs remained cold and careful, even after Prague’s surrender and the formation of the government in exile in London.