p Soviet diplomacy was doing all it could to create a collective front to safeguard peace against aggression. It believed that peace in Europe could still be preserved by joint efforts of all the nations keen on preventing German aggression. Unfortunately, those efforts by the Soviet government were not crowned with success because of the policies of Britain and France.

p The USSR remained, in point of fact, in international isolation in which it had found itself in the autumn of 1938 as a result of the Munich deal of Britain and France with German and Italian aggressors. Moreover, the Soviet Union had to take into account the fact that in the event of a German attack, it could be attacked also by certain of its western neighbours, as well as by Japan. So the Soviet state found itself face to face with a threat of war on two fronts. Besides, there was a danger of an anti-Soviet collusion of the entire imperialist camp.

The most important task before the Soviet diplomacy was to forestall such a war. Since general peace and security could not be assured through the fault of Britain, France, the United States and some other countries, Soviet diplomacy had to do everything possible to limit the spread of German aggression and to keep the USSR as long as possible from being involved in war. It had to take steps to prevent the Soviet Union finding itself in a state of war in the West and in the East at once under extremely disadvantageous international conditions.