Main Directions of Soviet-British Relations in the 1920s

The article examines the main directions of Soviet-British relations during a short period of international tension's relaxation in the mid-1920s. Drawing on a significant amount of archival materials, including those of the MI-5, published diplomatic documents, speeches of political leaders, their diaries and personal correspondence, as well as on contemporary press commentaries, the author identifies three key vectors of Moscow's policy towards Great Britain as the main geopolitical opponent of the Soviet Union. These included the policy of provoking revolutionary actions by British workers, the gradual return to the system of normalized interstate relations, as well as the resuscitation of the imperial strategy, which was based on the principles of preserving the "balance of power" and "spheres of influence" of the leading actors at both the global and regional levels. As the study reveals, the author's conclusions are in good accord with the existing scholarship both in Russia and abroad.