ABSTRACT
Maxim Litvinov was genuinely, if grudgingly, respected in the west, and this respect surely served to lessen hostility toward the Soviet Union in Paris, London, and Washington. Litvinov, the diplomat, sought to reintegrate the Soviet Union in its new socialist, or Stalinist, form into the world community as a nation-state, downplaying the global revolutionary rhetoric of his masters. After the end of World War II, Litvinov refused to sit back and simply ignore the disasters that were happening in Soviet foreign policy, which he attributed squarely to Stalin. In the 1930s, Litvinov waged a personal battle against the advocates of Rapallo. Defeat in any intraparty dispute often meant death, and one is struck by the serenity and tenacity with which Litvinov fought the perilous fight. Viewing Litvinov’s career in a broad perspective, it is clear that he had definite ideas about the content of Soviet foreign policy and international relations.
