In Switzerland, the publication of a multi - volume collection of documents of the country's foreign policy in the period from the second half of the XIX century to the end of the Second World War - "Swiss Diplomatic documents"was undertaken. The publication of this very extensive publication (it consists of 15 volumes with a volume of more than 900 pages) is a significant event in the scientific life of Switzerland, because for the first time in the history of this country, a large number of documents from the state archives are collected, systematized and, most importantly, made public. After all, according to the existing rules in Switzerland, archival documents are classified for a long time, up to 50 years, and exceptions to this rule are made extremely rarely. One of the reasons that led to the publication of the peer-reviewed work was the fact that Switzerland lagged behind many other Western countries, where major collections of documents on the history of diplomacy were published in the post-war period.

Given the large amount of work involved in selecting and preparing each volume for publication, the publisher expects to produce one volume per year. Volume 1 (volumes are not published in order) of the collection is supposed to include documents of the foreign policy of the Swiss Confederation in the period 1848-1866. Volume 2 will be devoted to 1866-1872, Volume 3-1872 - 1890., 4 - 1890 - 1904 years, 5 - 1904 - 1914 years, 6 - 1914 - 1918 years, 7 - 1918 - 1920 Volume 8 is assigned to the period 1920-1924., 9 - 1925 - 1929 years, 10 - 1930 - 1933 years, 11 - 1933 - 1936 years, 12 - 1936 - 1939 years, 13 - 1939 - 1941 years, 14 - 1941 - 1943 years, 15 - 1943 - 1945 by years. An explanation of the division of the publication into these chronological periods is not given. But we can assume that such milestones in the history of Europe and the world are taken into account here, which have left their mark on the history and politics of a small Alpine republic to one degree or another. Thus, volume 6 covers the period from the beginning of the First World War to the capitulation of Germany, and volume 7 covers the period of the Versailles Conference, the post-war reconstruction of Europe, which was discussed at a number of other international conferences. Volume 9 falls during the period of temporary stabilization of capitalism, and Volume 10-during the global economic crisis. The chronological framework of volume 13 is the Second World War up to the time of the German attack on the USSR. Tellingly, volume 15, also devoted to World War II diplomacy, begins not with 1944-the Allied landings in Normandy, but with 1943. This, presumably, is reflected in the sober view of the compilers that it was the defeat of the Hitlerite hordes on the eastern front - at Stalingrad and on the Kursk Bulge-that was the turning point in the entire Second World War, the true beginning of its final stage. This circumstance is also worth paying attention to because in another major work published in 1982-1983 - "A New History of Switzerland and the Swiss" 1-despite long-standing attempts to belittle the contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory over fascism, it is objectively noted that the events of 1943 on the Soviet - German front were a turning point not only for warring parties, but also for neutral Switzerland.

1 See our review: New and Recent History, 1984, No. 6.

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The publication of "Swiss Diplomatic Documents" is undertaken under the patronage of the General Swiss Historical Society and is funded by the National Foundation for Scientific Research. The collection is published directly by the Bernese publishing house Benteli, which specializes in major scientific works. The historical faculties of the Universities of Bern, Basel, Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Fribourg and Neuchatel are responsible for selecting documents in archives, preparing them for publication, and compiling scientific reference materials. The authors work under the supervision of the National Commission for the Publication of Swiss Diplomatic Documents, which is specially created for this case, and which includes the country's leading historians-J.-S. Biodet, J.-K. Favet, A. Steelin, R. Ruffier, W. Hofer, and others. The chairman of the commission is a well-known Swiss scientist, a major expert on the history of international relations, J. Framon, and his deputy is the director of the Federal Archive, O. Goyer. For the formation of each volume, an editorial board is specially created consisting of specialists on this historical period or those key issues that are covered by the scope of this volume.

The publication relies on a wide range of sources. This is the archive of the Federal Chancellery (minutes of meetings of the Federal Council - the Swiss Government and both houses of parliament), the archive of the political department (among the materials of this archive is the fund of the "Russian-Swiss bureau" with the letter E 2015, concerning relations between the two countries), the archive of the Department of Justice and Police, archives of the departments of and customs, other government agencies, as well as the personal archives of some members of the government, among them J. R. R. Tolkien. Mott, who headed the political department for about 20 years, head of the Economics Department E. Schultess, and others. Official publications of the League of Nations, the International Court of Justice, etc. are also used.

The authors point out that they do not set out to publish all documents on Swiss foreign policy issues without exception. The materials included in the collection, they write in the introduction, "should illustrate the main directions and features of Swiss foreign policy", show "the role of Switzerland in international politics, its attitude to a particular event or problem of international life", and, thus, do not pretend to be exhaustive in covering absolutely all issues. 2 .

The documents published in the collection are given in the original language, which reflects the fact that all three languages - French, German, and Italian-spoken by the Swiss population are considered state languages. . All documents are placed in chronological order, and each of them is assigned an ordinal number by the compilers in this volume. In addition, the numbers of funds and files on the Swiss State archives are provided. It indicates whether the drafters had at their disposal the original document or only a copy of it, reproduces the document labels: "confidential", "secret", "urgent", etc.The dates of the document and the place where it was compiled are given. Each document is given under the title-address (for example: Charge d'affaires a.i. of Switzerland in China E. Lardy - to the Federal Political Department). In some cases, the title of the document itself is given (for example: On compensation agreements with Hungary). If the document was not signed, but the author is known, his name is given in the footnotes. The same notes also contain references to other documents of the volume or to other publications, detailed notes to the documents, the posts and positions of the persons mentioned in the document, and the further fate of a political act or diplomatic demarche (satisfaction of a demand, rejection of a protest, conclusion of an international agreement as a result of negotiations, etc.). It is important to note that most documents are published in full. If there are abbreviations, then

2 From the same type of introduction to all volumes. Cit. by: Documents diplomatiques suisses (hereinafter - DDS). Vol. 6, pp. VII-VIII.

3 There is a fourth language, Romansh, but it is not a state language.

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this is stipulated. In some cases, a brief summary of sections of the document that have been excluded from publication is provided to make it easier to understand.

So far, four volumes of Swiss Diplomatic Documents have been published4 . All of them belong to the XX century. One of these volumes covers the period from June 28, 1914, the Sarajevo assassination that led to the outbreak of World War I, to November 11, 1918, the surrender of Kaiser Germany, and the end of the war. Of interest are the reports of Swiss envoys in Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, and St. Petersburg about the feverish diplomatic preparations for the opening of hostilities, the discussion of whether Russia would defend Serbia, the progress of mobilization in France, the rampant chauvinism there, and so on. Immediately after the outbreak of hostilities, the Swiss Confederation brought to the attention of the powers that signed the Act of 1815 d. on the "perpetual neutrality of Switzerland", as well as of all other countries, and on the intention to maintain full neutrality in the outbreak of war (vol. 6, p. 32). However, at the same time, the Federal Council held a general mobilization, bringing the size of the army to 250 people. Border fortifications were quickly built, and all mountain passes were mined.

For almost five years, Switzerland has been at the center of a raging war in Europe, with no loss of life or destruction. Its policy of neutrality played a decisive role in this, and Swiss historians (E. Bonjour, R. Ruffier, V. Martin, P. Durrenmatt, etc.) are, of course, right. But after all, Germany did not take into account the neutrality of Belgium, and it is unlikely that the Swiss army - no matter how well it was armed and how well it was entrenched in the Alpine passes and tunnels (and some Swiss historians emphasize this very much) - could have prevented the occupation of the country or at least the passage of the army of one of There are 5 belligerents . Obviously, those who believe that the countries of the Triple Alliance, like the Entente, did not touch little Switzerland for other reasons are right. First, the invasion of it after the German breakthrough in Flanders was not caused by military necessity. Secondly, the presence of a neutral country among a solid line of fronts suited both of the belligerents, since it opened up opportunities for trade relations bypassing the blockade and for political contacts. Indeed, the capitalist circles of Switzerland, closely connected with international capital, made full use of the military situation in Europe, making huge profits from military supplies to both the Swiss army and both belligerents.

The documents collected in volume 6 give an idea of the persistence with which the Swiss ruling circles defended the interests of large financial and industrial capital, which sought "freedom of trade", in other words, the ability, despite the pressure of the Entente, to provide its industrial potential for fulfilling military orders of the central powers 6 and bypassing the Entente blockade give Germany access to world markets. The twists and turns of the diplomatic struggle for "free trade" can be seen, in particular, from the correspondence between Bern and London regarding the import of grain, rice, metal and industrial raw materials to Switzerland (doc. 80, 81, 87), which, as the Entente feared, were re-exported to Germany and Austria-Hungary (doc. 39, 46, 48, 140). The controversy was so great that Swiss diplomats even considered enlisting the support of the United States in this dispute (doc 140, 291); when the United States itself entered the war, Washington also began to look askance at Switzerland's "free trade" with Germany (doc 304, 308, 312, 341).. In the middle of 1918, the United States, France, and England even decided to add 42 companies to the Entente's "black list".-

4 Documents diplomatiques suisses. Diplomatische Dokumente der Schweiz. Documenti diplomatici svizzeri. 1848 - 1945. Benteli Verlag. Bern. Vol. 6. 1914 - 1918, 902 p., 1981; vol. 7 - 1. 1918 - 1919. 964 p., 1979; vol. 7 - 2. 1919 - 1920, 924 p., 1984; vol. 9. 1925 - 1929. 966 p., 1980; vol. 10. 1930 - 1933, 966 p., 1982.

5 The fact that Bern could not fully rely on its declared neutrality is shown at least by the report of the Swiss envoy in Rome dated August 5, 1914, about conversations with the adviser of the German embassy and the French ambassador (vol.6, p. 33).

6 These countries were extremely interested in doing so "to increase their military efforts," notes volume compiler J. Framon (vol. 6, p. XIII).

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in Switzerland, for active ties-bypassing the blockade - with the central Powers. Although all this confrontation may seem to concern Switzerland, it actually reflects a struggle in the global theater of economic warfare.

The documents published in volume 6, in particular, help to understand the mechanics of the so - called Hoffmann-Grimm initiative. The head of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, A. Hoffmann, decided at his own risk to find out the intentions of the Provisional Government regarding the conclusion of peace and informally invited one of the leaders of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party, R. Grimm, who was on his way to Petrograd, at the same time to probe Kerensky's opinion on the possibility of concluding peace on the Eastern Front. Hoffmann allowed Grimm to use the channels of diplomatic correspondence of the Swiss mission in Petrograd and sent him instructions himself. One of them, in which it was said that Berlin was ready to agree to a "cease-fire" and to conclude an "honorable peace" and even to "finance the restoration of Russia" (vol. 6, doc. 301, 303, 313, 316, 318, 322), it was intercepted and published in the Swedish press - apparently, not without the participation of Kerensky, who was heading for a " war to the bitter end." This caused a major political scandal. The Entente accused the Swiss government of "Jesuitism", violation of neutrality, actions in favor of Germany. Under these circumstances, all members of the Federal Council turned their backs on Hoffmann, and he had no choice but to resign on June 18, 1917.

The researcher will find in the documents of volume 6 facts useful for studying the inter-imperialist struggle, official and secret diplomacy during the First World War, in particular the diplomacy of neutral countries, which in some cases - as mentioned above in connection with the Hoffmann Initiative-also came to the forefront of the world diplomatic scene. As already noted, Swiss diplomats in foreign posts were usually well informed - this applies to those who represented Bern in Paris, London, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Petrograd (however, the Swiss envoy in Washington P. Ritter did not always correctly grasp the changing course of American diplomacy, for which he was actually recalled)7 and in non-belligerent countries-Stockholm, Madrid, The Hague, etc. Here it is worth adding that Swiss diplomats-envoys and consuls-in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Japan, China, Egypt, drew confidential information not only from official circles, during conversations with their colleagues, at social events, etc., but also from Swiss residents who live permanently. in these countries. These Swiss citizens, who, as is very typical of Swiss emigrants, do not break their close ties with their homeland (although for some it is even the homeland not of themselves, but of their fathers), usually occupy a high position in society, especially in financial and economic circles. And again, due to the fact that they come from a permanently neutral (and, which is also important, does not seek colonial conquest) country, these Swiss people enjoy more confidence in local politicians and prominent citizens than, for example, people from England, France, and Holland .8
In summary, a comparison of the reports of Swiss diplomatic representatives currently published in peer-reviewed compilations with the documents that have already been put into scientific circulation in various countries [9] can obviously shed additional light on world politics in the period 1914-1918.

A collection of documents related to the February bourgeois-democratic Revolution in Russia and the Great October Socialist Revolution is of great interest. As early as in their dispatches of December 19 and 24, 1916.

7 Ruffieux R. La Suisse d?entre-deux-guerres. Lausanne. 1974, p. 46.

8 This source of information is still important today. In addition, the Neue Zurcher Zeitung, Journal de Geneve and other newspapers 'extensive coverage and analysis of political and economic issues in Asia and Latin America is due to their correspondents' connections with the Swiss "diaspora".

9 The example of Switzerland (as well as other countries) shows the enormous interest aroused by the publication of secret treaties of tsarist Russia in 1918. They are referenced by prominent Swiss historians.

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(January 1 and 6, 1917, new style) the Swiss envoy in Petrogdad, E. Odier, drew attention to the "internal political situation saturated with thunderstorms", especially after the assassination of G. Rasputin10 . And the Swiss envoy in Paris conveys the contents of his conversation .with one of the leaders of French foreign policy, J. Cambon, who believed that "the Russian imperial court is increasingly reminiscent of the court of Louis XVI on the eve of the French Revolution", and predicts that "this revolution will be child's play compared to what will inevitably happen in Russia" 11, Unlike Cambon, who was constantly in Petrograd Audie as early as mid-January 1917. He did not believe (doc. 258) in the possibility of overthrowing the autocracy, and everything that was happening in Russia at that time was reduced to conflicts between individual court groups, between the tsarist Council of Ministers and the majority of the Duma, he believed that the political situation "did not threaten anything special", and did not attach much importance to the discontent of the masses (with which, as he believed that "the Cossacks, just waiting for the opportunity to use whips," would be able to cope.) And it is completely irresponsible for a man in a position like Audier to say that "the workers do not complain about their financial situation" and that " the Russian people idolize their tsar."

It is noteworthy that the Federal Council very quickly recognized the Provisional Government de facto (according to Swiss foreign policy practice, de jure recognition is not required if the integrity of the state is not violated). On March 19 (present day), he received a notification from the Russian envoy in Bern about the fall of the monarchy, and on March 22, the Federal Council determined its position. Unfortunately, the Swiss ruling circles acted quite differently in relation to the first government of Soviet Russia, and it is they who are responsible for the extremely unfavorable development of Soviet-Swiss relations from the very beginning.

Audie, who has finally realized that drastic changes have taken place in Russia, sends a dispatch on March 24 about his conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government P. N. Milyukov. The latter declared that Nicholas II had been taken into custody "in his own interests, in order to protect him from possible excesses" and that the Provisional Government was experiencing great difficulties "because of the existence of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies " (vol. 6, p. 524). Other reports of Odier (doc. 305, 309, 317) give an idea of the deep crisis of the Provisional Government and the growing strength of the Soviets, the Bolshevik Party headed by V. I. Lenin, For example, the Minister of War A. I. Guchkov, in the heat of revelation, directly complained to Odier on April 29 (art. it is in the hands of the workers 'and soldiers 'committee" (doc. 309). Another document, dated September 10, 1917, shows the attitude of representatives of the Entente countries in Petrograd towards the revolt of Kornilov, who tried to establish a counter-revolutionary dictatorship.

A new chapter - even if it is not singled out in the collection of documents as such-relates to the emergence of the first workers 'and peasants' state in the history of the world. This group of documents, which is very valuable for researchers, opens with a detailed six - page report by Audier on the October armed Uprising in Petrograd. The author chronologically-hour by hour-reports on the" last convulsions " of the Provisional Government, its appeal to the military units stationed at the front and the appeals of the Military Revolutionary Committee, Kerensky's flight "in an American car to Gatchina", the transition of the Petrograd garrison to the Bolshevik side, the creation of the Soviet government and its first decrees, the formation of the Soviet Government, and the the new government in Petrograd and Moscow (ibid., doc. 355 of October 28-November 2, 1917). It should be noted that the Swiss envoy is not at all impartial and "neutral" in describing and characterizing soba-

10 Audier reports (doc. 249) the details of Rasputin's "ascent", shows his influence on the life of the court, greed, vulgarity, lustfulness of the "elder" - from this report it is clear that Rasputinism was not a secret for the Petrograd diplomatic corps.

11 Doc. 253. These remarkable statements of Cambon were made on January 3 (16), 1917, i.e., almost two months before the February Revolution.

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This clear class line of Odier's left a negative mark on the very first pages of relations between Switzerland and Soviet Russia.

The working masses of Switzerland, the left and democratic circles welcomed the collapse of the tsarist autocracy and the emergence of a revolutionary Russia. "The gigantic wave generated by the 10 days that 'shook the world'," recalls K. Farner, a prominent figure in the Swiss Labor Party, " also swept through Switzerland, stirring up even the most stagnant minds... In Switzerland, a rapid and profound process of radicalization of the working masses was taking place, the equal of which the Swiss working class has not yet known."12 The news of the Bolshevik victory aroused great enthusiasm among thousands of Zurich workers (this industrial city was at that time the main center of the country's workers ' and revolutionary movement). On November 15, a solemn meeting was held in the Zurich People's House (where V. I. Lenin had spoken eight months earlier) on the occasion of the victory of October and the adoption of the Decree on Peace by the Second Congress of Soviets. On November 17, a rally of solidarity with revolutionary Russia was held in Zurich 13 . The Swiss bourgeoisie immediately attacked the October Revolution, and a torrent of malicious and slanderous attacks poured from the pages of right-wing newspapers. The ruling circles unproven declared that the Swiss socialists "receive orders from abroad", and the Swiss philistine was intimidated by "the danger of a Bolshevik coup". This line was also extended to interstate relations.

On November 10 (23), 1917, the Soviet Government asked a group of neutral countries, including Switzerland, to bring to the attention of the belligerent states the proposal of Soviet Russia to conclude peace without annexations and indemnities. With this appeal, the Council of People's Commissars emphasized the importance it attached to a small, neutral country in the search for ways to end the world War. In the same year, Soviet Russia proposed that the Federal Council work out a new trade treaty to replace the now-defunct Russian-Swiss Convention of 1872. [14 ] In 1918, the mission of Soviet Russia headed by Ya. A. Berzin was established in Bern. Thus, the new government in Russia took concrete friendly steps. Official Bern reacted negatively to these actions. The book by the Swiss bourgeois historian A. E. Senna 15 was first published in 1974. The anti-Soviet position of the Swiss authorities was veiled by showing how Bern piled up all sorts of obstacles to the mission's activities, interfered with the normal functioning of the Soviet diplomatic courier service, carried out police surveillance of Berzin and his employees, and, most importantly, stubbornly refused to fully recognize the official diplomatic status of this mission.

The diplomatic documents currently being published clearly illustrate this unfriendly policy, which eventually turned sharply hostile after the murder of V. V. Vorovsky in Lausanne in 1923. Swiss diplomats in their posts abroad called on Bern to "keep out representatives of the Bolshevik government", because their "real task is to carry out a revolution in Switzerland" (ibid., p. 685). The head of the Swiss political Department himself, Fr. Calonder, in his instructions to the envoys, described the "horrors of the Bolshevik regime" and assured that Bern would maintain only "minimal relations" with it, and then only because there were Swiss colonies in a number of Russian cities (ibid., p. 687).16 The Swiss envoy to Petrograd, Odier, initiated a collective demarche by representatives of seven neutral countries

12 K. Farner The working Class of Switzerland before and after the Great October Socialist Revolution, Moscow, 1958, p. 17.

13 Domnich M. Ya. The rise of the working-class movement in Switzerland in 1917-1918 - Voprosy istorii, 1957, No. 7, pp. 39-40.

14 Documents of Foreign Policy of the USSR, vol. VI, Moscow, 1962, pp. 286, 343-344.

15 Senn A. Diplomacy and Revolution. The Soviet Mission in Switzerland, 1918. Lnd. 1974.

16 Swiss capital was relatively well represented in pre-revolutionary Russia, especially in St. Petersburg, where the Swiss owned two chocolate and confectionery factories, watch shops, and so on.

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to protect the "movable and immovable property" of the citizens of these countries, which was subject to nationalization (ibid., pp. 707-708). For the Swiss diplomat, this concern was far more important than the promotion of the above-mentioned initiative of Soviet Russia to stop the world slaughter! In September 1918, Switzerland allowed itself to interfere directly in the internal affairs of Soviet Russia by making a demarche together with the Entente and Germany on the measures taken by the Soviet government to combat counter-revolution (ibid., doc .445).17
As we have already said, difficult and humiliating conditions were created for the Soviet mission that arrived in Switzerland in May 1918. The bourgeois press waged an unbridled campaign against the Soviet mission and those Swiss who communicated with it. Soviet diplomats showed great self-control, self-control, and at the same time perseverance and integrity in order to defend the dignity and interests of the country they represented under these conditions. Berzin was required to give his word that the mission "will not engage in political propaganda "(ibid., doc. 425). The Swiss President emphatically received Berzin according to a special protocol, because the Swiss authorities did not want to take into account the official nature of the Soviet mission, did not want to recognize the Soviet government (ibid., p. 745). Moreover, official Bern, which advertised "the independence of its judgments," was clearly waiting for Soviet Russia to be recognized first by the leading Entente countries (ibid., p. 746). The Political department pointedly included the diplomatic corps in the list... representatives of the Provisional Government, which had not existed for six months, refused to hand over to Berzin the diplomatic archives located in the building of the former tsarist mission (ibid.).

In the autumn of 1918, the wave of the working-class movement rose particularly high in Switzerland, with numerous strikes. The reactionary forces of Switzerland have found nothing better to say than that this is the result of the actions of "agents of Moscow". The Soviet mission was accused of subsidizing the workers ' and revolutionary movement without any evidence whatsoever .18 And when a general strike was declared on November 11, involving hundreds of thousands of workers, the Federal Council announced the closure of the Soviet mission and sent (under the escort of mounted dragoons!) its employees are from the country. This effectively severed diplomatic relations between the two countries for 28 years. But even after such an absolutely unacceptable action in international practice, the Soviet government made efforts to normalize relations with Switzerland. However, they met with stubborn opposition from the Federal Council (ibid., doc. 5, 75, 93, 440, and doc. 31, 47, 154). In this connection, it can be noted that, while showing such a hostile attitude towards Soviet Russia, Bern at the same time favored the Ukrainian Rada and the authorities of bourgeois-Menshevik Georgia (ibid., doc.54).

Many materials presented in the Swiss Diplomatic Documents provide additional data for studying the political struggle around the Versailles division of Europe and the creation of the League of Nations. Since Geneva was chosen as the seat of the Secretariat of the League of Nations and the meetings of its Council and Assembly, it was an extra reason for Swiss diplomats in various capitals of the world to be interested in the hidden processes, political intrigues surrounding the Peace Conference of 1919, Anglo-French disagreements regarding the military, territorial and economic aspects of the Treaty of Versailles, Italy and, last but not least, the Entente's secret plans for Soviet Russia and the former parts of the Russian Empire - Poland, Finland, and the Baltic States (vol.7, part 1, doc. 25, 27, 40, 41, 112, 196, 205, 238, 313, 340 The Swiss representative at the Peace Conference, V. Rappar, sent letters to the political department about his confidential conversations with W. Wilson, Colonel E. House (who introduced Rappar to a number of confidential documents), with the Prime Minister of Italy V. Orlando, F. Nansen, and others. Finally, to study the history of Switzerland itself, there is a valuable resource available.

17 See also: Documents of Foreign Policy of the USSR, vol. 1, Moscow, 1957, pp. 472-475.

18 Neue Zurcher Zeitung, 20.X.1918, Gazette de Lausanne, 19.III.1919.

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material on the project of incorporation of the Austrian province of Vorarlberg into Switzerland, on relations with the Principality of Liechtenstein, which separated from the collapsed Austria - Hungary, as well as on the dispute with France over economic privileges for Switzerland in the adjacent Haute-Savoie-Pays de Gex region (the so-called "free zone"), on the status of Alpine territories bordering Italy mountain passes (vol. 7, part 1, doc. 11, 19, 23, 53, 236, 325, 343 et al.) and on the controversial issue of permanent neutral Switzerland joining the League of Nations (ibid., doc. 50, 79, 92, 177)19 .

The documents included in volumes 9 (1925-1929) and 10 (1930-1933) reflect to varying degrees such phenomena and events in world history as the collapse of the Versailles system, the increasingly acute manifestation of inter-imperialist contradictions, in particular between the United States and Japan, between Britain and France, on the one hand on the other hand, Italy's expansionist aspirations in the Mediterranean, Japanese aggression in China, diplomatic activity around the Locarno Agreements, the Briand - Kellogg Pact, the idea of creating the so-called European Union, the world economic crisis of 1929-1933, and fruitless attempts to withdraw from it through international economic conferences in Geneva (1930), Warsaw (1932), Stresa (1932) and London (1933), the struggle of the selfish interests of Western countries in the League of Nations. The reports of Swiss diplomats show how the muddy wave of fascism was rising in Italy and Germany (vol. 10, doc. 59, 241, 327, etc.).

The bulk of the documents are devoted to Bern's relations with the three neighboring states: Germany, France, and Italy. Tensions with France over the "free zone" have already been discussed above. Mussolini, who proclaimed "Irredentism", explicitly claimed the Swiss canton of Ticino, whose population speaks Italian (vol. 10, doc. 55, 123, 154). Germany, when Hitler came to power, began to cause Switzerland political troubles - the invasion of groups of stormtroopers in the border areas, the harsh attacks of the Goebbels press on those Swiss newspapers that condemned the Nazi outrages in Germany (ibid., doc. 336, etc.). they were impudent, and the fact that they received the support of Berlin was a well-known fact. From Vienna, reports came to Bern about the preparation of a fascist putsch in the fourth neighboring country - Austria. The researcher can also find a lot of interesting things in the dispatches of Swiss missions from other parts of the world: the Balkan countries, Japan, and China .20 A number of documents published in the collection show that the Gestapo and its Italian counterpart OVRA planted secret agents in Switzerland in order to capture German and Italian anti-fascist emigrants in their tentacles. Berlin and Rome (a recording of the conversation between the Swiss envoy and Mussolini is given) demanded that Bern "eradicate anti-fascism" (which meant the speeches of anti-fascist emigrants who found refuge in Switzerland). In this respect, the correspondence between Rome and Bern concerning the pilot J. R. R. Tolkien is characteristic. Bassanesi, who bravely dropped anti-fascist leaflets over Milan in the summer of 1930 and had an accident while trying to land in Switzerland, as well as R. Pacciardi, later a prominent Italian politician and then an emigrant .21
As already mentioned, in 1923, after the murder of V. V. Vorovsky, the Soviet government adopted a resolution on the boycott of Switzerland. This boycott was lifted in 1927 after the Swiss government satisfied a number of just demands of the USSR. However, over the following years, official Bern pursued a consistently hostile policy towards the Soviet Union.-

19 It is characteristic that now, when the question of joining the UN is being discussed in Switzerland, both supporters and opponents of this step refer to Switzerland's activities in the League of Nations in support of their arguments.

20 In particular, on the Japanese invasion of East China, the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the internal political struggle in China (the "war of generals"), the position of the Chiang Kai-shek government (for example, in relation to the Communist Party) - vol. 10, doc. 219 et al.

21 See vol. 10. On OVRA political espionage in Switzerland, see doc. 9, 145, 204, 227; the Bassanesi and Pacciardi case-doc. 30, 32, 223, 235.

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The liberal council categorically did not want to restore diplomatic relations with the USSR, and opposed all contacts, even in the field of culture .22 The Swiss delegate to the League of Nations was one of the few who opposed the admission of the Soviet Union to this organization. However, in various circles of the country, the idea was increasingly expressed that it was in the interests of Switzerland itself to fully normalize relations with one of the largest powers, which could, in particular, be its good trading partner during the economic turmoil in the capitalist world.

In 1932, the head of the Department of Economics, E. Schultess, one of the prominent Swiss economists, taking into account the mood of the business community, actively supported the proposal of entrepreneurs of the machine-building industry (which was particularly acutely experiencing the world economic crisis of 1929-1933), so that the state urgently created conditions (conclusion of a compensation agreement, bank guarantee of trade and financial operations, etc.) for the export of products of this industry to the USSR. Two other members of the Federal Council (seven in all), G. Eberlin and R. Minger, were more or less inclined to do the same. However, Zh. - M. Musy, an ardent anti-communist, categorically objected to any economic contacts with the USSR, stating that this was allegedly an indirect form of restoring diplomatic relations with the USSR. J. Mott and M. Pillet-Gaul (who during the Second World War called for adaptation to Hitler's "new order" in Europe) were on Musy's side. The heated discussion continued for two days. To Musy's claims about" the most dangerous machinations of Moscow and the Third International " in Switzerland, Mynheer objected: "We will never wait for the Soviet system to disappear, and it is not in our power to change this regime. Even the great Powers are increasingly turning towards relations with the USSR. We may find ourselves isolated and then reap all the benefits of it." However, V.'s anti-Soviet line The Federal Council still prevailed. Schultess ' proposal was blocked (vol. 10, doc. 221 and adj.). Looking ahead, we can say that the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries took place only in 194623 .

Each volume of" Swiss Diplomatic Documents " has a wide range of references. A well-thought-out system of general geographical (by country) and detailed thematic tables of contents - together they take 60-70 pages. - makes it easy to navigate in the placement of materials, find the right document and practically eliminates the possibility that some topic remains out of sight. The thematic table of contents contains not only the document number, date and title, but also a summary. For example: "doc. 152, 20.9.1915. Circular of the Department of Justice and Police. Dissatisfaction with the fact that the department does not receive any police reports about the Zimmerwald conference, although such an instruction was given by the Bern Police Department."

Each volume is preceded by its own introduction, which briefly describes the historical period covered in it and the main directions of world and Swiss politics. At the end of the volume, the structure of all seven departments (ministries) is given with the names of the heads of their most important departments in the corresponding period. It also includes a list of Swiss diplomatic representatives (including consuls) in all countries of the world and foreign diplomatic representatives in Switzerland. This, in particular, gives an idea of the intensity of bilateral relations. So, we learn that tsarist Russia had its consulates in Geneva, Lausanne and Davos24 , and Switzerland-in Moscow, Kiev, Odessa, Riga,

22 The Government specifically discussed whether to send an invitation to the World Folk Art Exhibition in Bern to the Soviet Union, and expressed its opposition (vol. 10, doc. 62).

23 For more information on Soviet-Swiss relations in 1917-1946, see Dragunov G. Switzerland: History and Modernity, Moscow, 1978.

24 Many Russians have traditionally come to Geneva and Lausanne since the 19th century, and Russian students have studied at universities in these cities. In Davos, a mountain resort, Russians were treated for tuberculosis.

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Tiflis, Warsaw and Abo. There is also a geographical index and a name index. The reference section ends with a list of the main archival funds of Switzerland and the conditional initials (which changed every year)of senior employees of the Foreign Ministry. These initials" were used for sizing documents.

The lack of a complete list of documents from all the Swiss government archives, of course, makes it impossible to determine what remains outside of each volume of the collection. When researchers use the documents of the publication under consideration, a critical approach is required, based on knowledge of the foreign and domestic policies of states, international political and economic problems, and the content of the documents themselves. Especially the reports of Swiss diplomatic representatives abroad, some of whom, as we discussed above, either did not understand enough about a particular situation or presented it with prejudice in their dispatches (a vivid example of this is the reports of the envoy to Russia in 1917-1918).In the context of Soviet relations, an important source for "correcting" the relevant Swiss diplomatic documents is such sources as "Documents of the Foreign Policy of the USSR", "Foreign Policy of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War". For an understanding of the totality of Switzerland's foreign and domestic policy, the specific features of Swiss capitalism, and the Swiss labor movement, the works of V. I. Lenin are of great value. As you know, during the period of emigration, he lived in Switzerland for many years, observed and deeply knew the processes that took place in it.

Taking into account all that has been said about the degree of completeness and objectivity in the selection of documents and commentaries included in this collection, we can nevertheless assume that this first multi-volume publication in the history of Switzerland and such a fundamental one will undoubtedly attract the attention of historians, diplomatic workers, and economists. The materials collected in "Swiss Diplomatic Documents" are also of interest to those who deal with the sphere of Russian-Soviet - Swiss relations and, more broadly, European and world politics of the XIX - XX centuries.

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