Could it have been avoided?
It is somewhat argued that the Treaty of Rapallo could have been avoided, but it would have meant that Britain and probably also France and Poland would have had to form an alliance with either Soviet Russia or Germany. Although the Treaty of Rapallo completely changed the situation in Europe after World War One and pulled Germany out of being abused by other countries and gave Soviets much needed partner in trade, collaborating with either of the countries would have went against the general mindset of west Europe countries – siding with Germany would be unimaginable as they were considered to be the losers of the World War One and other countries felt they were more powerful than Germany and wanted to show it to Germans, but siding with Russians would have meant forming relationships with a communistic government and for the general society of capitalists it was not an option. And even if one of these partnerships would have been made, it would not have necessarily made things better. Even though after finding out that Rathenau was going to be meeting with Chicherin George Lloyd unsuccessfully tried to meet with Rathenau, I would say that with the thinking and emotions that existed after the World War One, neither of the rest of European countries would have wanted or seriously considered to cooperate with Germany and Russia before they found out about the German – Russian meeting in Rapallo and therefore the treaty of Rapallo could not have been avoided.
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