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Three Corners' Bluff: Pre-War Europe's Most Dangerous Game

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Pre-war Europe’s Most Dangerous Game

Emily Falconer
Major: History
Advisor: Professor William Fowler

The U.K.

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

The year 1938 was a turning point for international relations in pre-war Europe. While the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics were previously able to keep their aggressive German enemy at bay, 1938 marked a dramatic shift in foreign policy for all three nations. For Germany, under the command of Adolf Hitler, it marked the start of his hostile expansion into British or Soviet territory. For “allies” the UK and the USSR, respectively led by Sir Neville Chamberlain and Josef Stalin, it forced each of them to make cut-throat decisions in regards to their long-time alliance, and to come to agreeable terms with their common enemy, Adolf Hitler. In 1938, the world was unclear; anything could happen, and all was fair game. Only one outcome was imminent: Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich were ready for war. The only question was: Who would he fight first?

Sir Neville Henderson

British Ambassador to Germany

“[Henderson] Had almost become Hitler’s ambassador to us, rather than our ambassador to Hitler.”

On one hand, the UK and the USSR were steadfast allies, committed to defeating fascism in Europe at all costs, and in thorough agreement to defend one another should one find themselves attacked by Germany. On the other hand, both the UK and the USSR feared each other just as much, if not more, than they feared Hitler’s Germany. The three nations sat on a three-cornered scale with Germany as the tipping point. From Chamberlain’s perspective, Hitler’s eastward expansion could result in one of two things for the UK:

“The personal representative of the prime minister’s policy in Berlin, rather than that of the entire Foreign Office.”

1. Hitler could defeat the Soviet Union, but be too weakened by war to aptly defeat the British, essentially assuring British victory. 2. Stalin could defeat Hitler, taking Germany off the map, and leaving behind a weak and lessthreatening Soviet Union.
As early as November 5th, 1937, Hitler had planned out his two eventualities for war. Both were two front wars against the UK, France, and the USSR Case Red: Main theater in the west
For Stalin, the same was true in regards to the possibility of Hitler expanding westward first. It is thereby

very unsurprising that both nations went to extreme measures to ensure that Germany provoke the

opposite end of the continent first. From 1938 until the outbreak of World War Two, both the UK and the USSR used a combination of policy, military, and intelligence to ensure that they could avoid the impending war for as long as possible.

Case Green: Main theater in the east

Anthony Eden

British Foreign Secretary

Anthony Eden was Chamberlain’s main source of opposition within the Foreign Office. He served as Foreign Secretary of the U.K. under Neville Chamberlain from 1935 until February 1938, when he ultimately resigned due to his conflicting views about the Prime Minister’s policy towards Germany.

The U.S.S.R

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain

“Our Secret Service doesn’t spend all of its time looking out the window.”
“England? England will not lift one finger for Austria. No, you can’t expect any help from England.”

The Cambridge Five

Stalin’s Chief Spy Ring in Britain

Peace in Our Time?

“I have come away with the conviction that Britain shall never conclude a serious military pact with the Russians. The Prime Minister’s Chancellery openly admits that they had always reckoned that we could just break any pact. These were actual words spoken by Secretary Horace Wilson.”
“The stupidest thing that has ever been done.” – Sir Winston Churchill

The Munich Pact was signed by Chamberlain and Hitler on 29 September 1938.

To Chamberlain, the Munich Pact marked an end to the threat of another world war. To Hitler, on the other hand, the Munich Pact was a mere piece of paper. While he did indeed claim the Sudetenland two days later, he most certainly did not stop there. On 3 October 1938, just two days after he ceded the Sudetenland, Hitler conquered Prague and incorporated all of Czechoslovakia into the Reich. Roughly a year later, he did the same in Poland. The Munich Pact went from a significant triumph to a complete failure in a matter of days.
Stalin created an intricate network of espionage that was unparalleled in any other country. For over two decades, Stalin’s chief spy ring known as the Cambridge Five had infiltrated the British government at multiple levels and in many different departments. Because of this, Stalin had access to top secret information that was often kept secret from even some of the most senior members of British government. Throughout the whole pre-war period, Chamberlain repeatedly assured Stalin that a three-power alliance between Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union would be the probably course of action in the event of a world war.
Both Chamberlain and Stalin were absolutely determined to avoid war at all costs. Because of this, each of them tried desperately to push their “ally” into war with Hitler, who had openly admitted several times that he was ready for battle. However, it was a victory which only one man was able to enjoy, and the prize went to Josef Stalin. Faber, 12. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed on 23 August 1939, the very day which was set for the settlement of AngloGerman spheres of influence. While Hitler would eventually break this pact just as he had broken the Munich Pact, the signing of Molotov-Ribbentrop represented the complete failure of the policy of appeasement and of Chamberlain’s secret goals for the Munich Conference.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about how the mighty head of the British Empire goes begging to Hitler!”

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