Authors

Discussion

My paper examines the significance of the 'German factor' in

Czechoslovak wartime foreign policy. While previous research has shifted

focus away from Germany as the primary geopolitical concern,

concentrating instead on various aspects of Czechoslovakia's wartime

efforts such as President Beneš's leadership, the recognition of the

Czechoslovak Government in exile by Western Powers, this study aims to

reestablish Germany's importance in Czechoslovak diplomacy. Previous

investigations of the 'German factor' have predominantly centered on

Czech-German coexistence in the Czech lands and the post- the Second

World War expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia. However, this

paper adopts a different approach by examining the German factor from

the perspective of Czechoslovak geopolitics. It aspires to demonstrate

that Czechoslovak wartime diplomacy was neither pro-Western nor pro-

Soviet, but rather pro-Czechoslovak and anti-German. The Czechoslovak

alignment with the Soviet Union was a non-sentimental, pragmatic

decision based on this approach.