Churchill-père took the bull by the horns right away. The situation in Europe is exceptionally serious. War can break out any day now. Should Czechoslovakia resist German invasion with arms, France shall undoubtedly come to her aid. Even Britain will have to interfere, though not, perhaps, from the very beginning. The mood in the country has taken a sharply anti-German turn over the past ten days. A 180-degree shift may happen quite suddenly. Merely a couple of days before war was declared in 1914 – Churchill remembers it well – only four members of the entire Cabinet advocated the immediate support of France. On 3 August these four, including Churchill himself, were ready to resign. Then suddenly everything changed. When the earliest news arrived of German guns firing in Belgian territory, a genuine explosion occurred in the country. Yesterday’s pacifists and isolationists were now the loudest in crying, ‘War!’ The same may happen now…

But the most important thing is to prevent war. How? Churchill has such a plan. At the critical moment, when the Prague talks eventually reach a dead end and Hitler starts rattling his sabre, Britain, France and the USSR should deliver a collective diplomatic note to Germany – it must be collective, Churchill emphasized – in protest against the threat of an attack on Czechoslovakia. The exact wording of the note is not so crucial, and could even be toned down if necessary. It is the very fact of a joint move by the three powers that is crucial. A démarche of this kind, which would undoubtedly receive the moral support of Roosevelt, would scare Hitler and lay the foundations for a London–Paris–Moscow axis. Only the existence of such an axis can save humanity from fresh carnage. Churchill discussed his plan today with Halifax, who asked him to set it down on paper. Churchill did so. He is awfully glad that Halifax did not reject his proposal outright and asked him to write it out. This offers hope. It opens up possibilities. All the more so as Vansittart is regaining power and will undoubtedly support Churchill.

What do I think of his plan? What would the Soviet government make of it?

I answered that it’s not for me to speak for the Soviet government. As for me personally, I think the plan is a good one, but it has no chance of being implemented. I simply can’t believe that Chamberlain would agree to join with the USSR in standing up to Germany. Our view of what needs to be done to oppose the aggressors was set out quite fully by Comrade Litvinov in an interview of 17 March, directly following the Anschluss of Austria (immediate consultations between peace-loving powers to determine the measures to be taken against aggression). What he said is still valid today. But would Britain and France agree to such consultations? I doubt it.

Then we spoke about many other subjects. I even conveyed to him some of what I had seen and heard during the Revolution and the Civil War. Churchill showed great interest. As for him, he hurled thunderbolts at Germany and finally announced that he had found a new slogan: ‘Proletarians and freethinkers of all countries, unite against the fascist aggressors!’