p In view of the negative position of the Nazi Reich and Poland, the Soviet government decided to press for the conclusion of the Eastern Pact without them, that is, with tho countries willing to participate in it.

p The French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou kept up his active stand in favour of the conclusion of the pact. It was not for nothing that he was one of the European statesmen the Nazi secret services decided to “remove”. The assassination of Barthou was entrusted to the Assistant German Military Attache in Paris Speidel. A detailed plan for the assassination, codenamed "Teuton Sword”, was worked out. The killing of Barthou in Marseilles on October 9, 1934, was a serious blow at the plans for concluding the Eastern Pact.

p Laval, who became the French Foreign Minister, made some fundamental changes in the country’s foreign policy since he considered an understanding with Germany to be 69 his main concern. Even at the Barthou funeral, Laval told the Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Eduard Benes that there was no point in being in a hurry to develop a closer relationship with the USSR since it was more important to reach agreement with Germany.^^146^^ The French Minister declared that "of all the French political leaders he, Laval, had done most for a rapprochement with the Germans,” and that he was "ready to reach agreement with Germany”.^^147^^

p All that meant an end to the process of consolidation of Soviet-French relations which had been going on until then. Taking into account the prevailing mood in France, Laval kept saying that he would carry on Barthou’s policy, while working underhand towards “freezing” relations between the USSR and France. It was not for nothing that the French Foreign Minister should have been christened the "balancing Laval".

p The most important task before Soviet diplomacy at the time was to forestall a German-French deal which meant, above all, that the Nazis would be getting a free hand in the East in return for Germany’s pledge not to attack France. The Soviet People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs proceeded from the assumption that, should the Eastern Pact be concluded, it would be, apart from everything else, a certain guarantee against an anti-Soviet collusion between France and Germany. Since there was no reason to expect the Pact to be signed soon, it was decided to offer to the French government to sign an accord about a "reciprocal commitment of the USSR and France to conclude no political agreements with Germany without prior mutual notification as well as about informing each other about all political negotiations with Germany".^^148^^

The Soviet government succeeded in having a SovietFrench protocol signed on December 5, 1934, whereby both governments pledged themselves not to enter into any negotiations about any agreements that could damage the preparations for, and the conclusion of, the Eastern Pact. A few days later Czechoslovakia acceded to the Soviet-French protocol.