ABSTRACT
The Soviet leadership, including even Maxim Litvinov, also harbored few illusions about the true value of the French alliance. Litvinov realized that the French alliance had only a “psychological” importance in that it might cause Hitler to “think ten times” before resorting to aggression. Litvinov’s evaluation of the Rhineland crisis was right on the mark. Had France acted militarily with Soviet diplomatic support, it is virtually certain that London would have been forced to stand with Paris. In June 1937, domestic terror and foreign policy came together and destroyed the last remnants of hope that Litvinov could possibly have held for collective security with the west. The Litvinovs lost their Moscow apartment for about a year in 1939 and 1940 but were allowed to retain the use of a comfortable dacha just outside the city. Litvinov arose each morning at the same time and was driven by his chauffeur to the Lenin Library.
