The Attitude of the Czechoslovak Press toward the Preparation of the Runciman Mission to Czechoslovakia (July – August 1938)

Introduction. The paper analyses the first articles in the Czechoslovak periodical press devoted to the Runciman Mission, one of Britain’s attempts to resolve the Sudeten German conflict by diplomatic means. In Soviet and Russian historiography, the Runciman Mission has, as a rule, not been examined separately from the broader policy of appeasement, whereas in foreignlanguage historiography there are virtually no specialized studies analyzing the British initiative through the prism of public opinion. Materials and Methods. The study is based on a content analysis of the official press of the major political parties of the First Republic: the Sudeten German, Agrarian, Communist, Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party, and National Socialist parties. Independent newspapers representing different regions were also examined: Lidové noviny as one of the largest independent newspapers in Czechoslovakia, Reichenberger Zeitung from the Sudeten region, and Slovenský hlas from Slovakia. Analysis. The study establishes that Czechoslovak periodicals primarily focused on assessing the personality of W. Runciman, articulated various expectations regarding Great Britain, and evaluated the decision to dispatch the mission to Czechoslovakia in different ways, often subjecting it to criticism. The Runciman Mission was interpreted as a symbol of possible international arbitration, which intensified attention to the mediator’s personal qualities and to the presumed position of Great Britain. At the same time, a tendency towards the politicization of the very fact of the mission’s arrival was observed, and this was equally characteristic of both Czech-language and foreign-language press. Results. The findings indicate a pronounced correlation between the party affiliation of the newspapers, their stance towards the government, and the nature of their rhetoric. A comparative analysis of Czech-, German-, and Slovak-language press made it possible to identify differences in the interpretation of the British diplomatic initiative not only in a party-political but also in a regional context. 

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