ABSTRACT
The re-establishment of internal trade involved other consequences and, first and foremost, necessitated the use of money and, as a result, the stabilisation of the currency; it required the suppression of inflation and a balanced budget. The negotiations, which were temporarily interrupted by the reopening of hostilities, ended in the signing of a trade agreement which implied on the part of Great Britain the recognition de facto of the Soviet Government. Mr. Hodgson went as English agent to Moscow and Mr. Lloyd George attempted at the Cannes Conference to gain general support for his move. Since the Cannes Conference had contemplated the establishment of a European plan of economic reconstruction, the Russian problem, for this reason alone, was brought up for discussion, as it was bound to be, by the very nations who had hitherto refused to recognise the Soviet regime.
