ABSTRACT
In spite of the new spirit of détente and cooperation in Soviet foreign policy in the late 1920s, the perception of the West remained hostile. In July 1927, Joseph Stalin proclaimed that peaceful coexistence between the Soviet Union and the West was now a thing of the past. He based his conclusion on certain recent events – the rupture of diplomatic relations with Britain, the expulsion of the Soviet diplomatic representative from Paris, the murder of the Soviet diplomatic representative in Warsaw. These allegations were repeated in a speech to the XVth Party Congress that same autumn. This so-called ‘War Scare of 1927’ has attracted much attention, as it helped to promote Stalin’s rise to power. Most historians see it as a consequence of the internal power struggle within the ruling elite. As Adam B. Ulam has stated, it is highly unlikely that the Soviet government would have dared to launch the brutal policy of collectivization against the rural population the following year, had it earnestly believed that aggression from outside was imminent. Nor do the military archives from the period contain any evidence of genuine invasion fears. On the contrary, the notion of a general war during the next few years was regularly dismissed.1
