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Table of Contents
The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 1
  • 27 October 1937
  • 12 July
  • 18 July
  • 9 August
  • 30 October
  • 31 October
  • 1 November
  • 4 November
  • 5 November
  • 6 November
  • 7 November
  • 9 November
  • 10 November
  • 12 November
  • 15 November
  • 16 November
  • 17 November
  • 18 November
  • 23 November
  • 24 November
  • 25 November
  • 27 November
  • 28 November
  • 29 November
  • 1 December
  • 5 December
  • 6 December
  • 11 December
  • 13 December
  • 16 December
  • 17 December
  • 18 December
  • 19 December
  • 20 December
  • 24 December
  • 27 December
  • 31 December
  • 8 January
  • 9 January
  • 15 January
  • 18 January
  • 25 January
  • 26 January
  • 28 January
  • 1 February
  • 4 February
  • 6 February
  • 10 February
  • 12 February
  • 14 February
  • 15 February
  • 20 February
  • 21 February
  • 22 February
  • 28 February
  • 1 March (1)
  • 1 March (2)
  • 2 March
  • 4 March
  • 5 March
  • 6 March
  • 7 March
  • 8 March
  • 9 March
  • 11 March
  • 12 March
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  • 3 June
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  • 12 June
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  • 19 June
  • 27 June
  • 2 July
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  • 9 July
  • 7 September
  • 4 November
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  • 13 November
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  • 1 July
  • 27 July
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  • 29 July
  • 1 August
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  • 25 August
  • 12 September
  • 14 September
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  • 27 October
  • 6 November
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  • 17 November
  • 18 November
  • 24 November
  • 1 December
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  • 14 December
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  • 25 January
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  • 28 January
  • 7 February
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  • 1 September
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  • 5 September
  • 7 September
  • 8 September
  • 11 September
  • PS 1 October
  • 12 September
  • 13 September
  • 14 September
  • 15 September
  • 16 September
  • 18 September
  • 19 September
  • 20 September
  • 21 September
  • 22 September
  • 23 September
  • 24 September
  • 25 September
  • 26 September
  • 27 September
  • 28 September
  • 29 September
  • 30 September
  • 1 October
  • 6 October
  • 11 October
  • 13 October
  • 15 October
  • 17 October
  • 19 October
  • 20 October
  • 22 October
  • 25 October
  • 26 October
  • 27 October
  • 28 October
  • 30 October
  • 31 October
  • 1 November
  • 3 November
  • 9 November
  • 15 November
  • 16 November
  • 17 November
  • 25 November
  • 27 November
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  • 11 December
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© 2025
25 September
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By Liakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)

The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 1

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25 September
Sunday. The League of Nations is not working. Indeed, outside Geneva, in the great world where ominous events are unfolding, the thermometer still shows 40º. In Prague, people are getting ready to die for the freedom and independence of their country. In London, the British Cabinet was in session yesterday for many hours, while today a fresh meeting of British and French ministers is to be held on the subject of the Godesberg ultimatum.
Although several ministers, including Halifax, questioned Chamberlain’s policies, the Cabinet avoided a decision on whether to embark on war with Germany were Beneš to reject Hitler’s demands; I. Colvin, The Chamberlain Cabinet: How the meetings in 10 Downing Street, 1937–1939, led to the Second World War (London, 1971), pp. 162–5.
But here in Geneva it is Sunday: silence, calm and rest from toil, as once we sang as children.


Page 347

We all, excepting A.M., make another trip to France. M.M. wants to find some new, as yet untried restaurant somewhere in Doucier (Jura). On the way we get out of the car, stroll, talk, and make bets. M.M. asks me: ‘Well, what do you think: will there be a war or won’t there? Yesterday at Lac Léman our views diverged. I believe that the English and the French will yield again and that there won’t be a war.


Page 439

Litvinov had told Andrew Rothstein the previous evening that ‘the English would sell the Czechs down the river’; Sheinis, Litvinov, p. 291.
Yakov Zakharovich [Surits] agrees with me; Boris Efimovich [Shtein] and Vladimir Aleksandrovich [Sokolin] hold the opposite view. And what do you say?’
Shtein barges into the conversation and starts arguing that the Czechs will reject the ultimatum, the English and the French will not be able to exert pressure on them in such a situation, the Germans will attack, the Czechs will resist, the French will have to support the Czechs, and then the course of events will resemble a spontaneous avalanche. I listen to Shtein and his logic seems irrefutable. Yet a voice deep in my soul tells me: ‘Will Chamberlain and Daladier stand their ground when the time comes to say plainly: war! I doubt it.’ So, answering M.M.’s question, I say: ‘Knowing my English friends, I’m inclined to agree with you. Yet there are other factors in the current situation which have not been taken into account and which are capable of playing a great role: for instance, the Czechs’ behaviour at the moment of danger. Therefore, I can’t make a bet.’


Page 348

The restaurant in Doucier was superb. The food was heavenly. After lunch, Agniya and I asked for tea. The owner, who was attending our table himself (and why not? M.M. was immediately recognized and an atmosphere of amicable sensationalism constantly surrounded us), grimaced in horror and disbelief: ‘Tea?’ he asked again, almost dumbstruck. ‘You would like tea?’
We realized we had committed a sacrilege. The owner went on: ‘I have first-class coffee!… Wonderful coffee… You won’t find such delightful coffee anywhere else!’
We were defeated. They brought us fragrant black coffee…
Late at night, when we returned to Geneva, the news came that Czechoslovakia had rejected the Godesberg ‘memorandum’.
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Document Details
Document Title25 September
AuthorLiakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)
RecipientN/A
RepositoryN/A
ID #N/A
DescriptionN/A
Date1938 Sep 25
AOC VolumeThe Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 1
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