Studying the 1938 Munich Treaty in Modern Russia: Observations by a Historiographer

The Munich Treaty of 1938 has been of great interest to both Russian and foreign scholarship since its conclusion and up to the present time. The interest of researchers to this scientific problem can be explained by the fact that it has not only historical, but also great political importance. The circumstances of the treaty and its place in world politics on the eve of World War II are the object of fierce ideological struggle. For more than 80 years of study of the Munich Treaty a vast amount of historical literature has been accumulated, which is periodically analyzed in the historiographical literature. The article is devoted to the analysis of the historiographical literature, devoted to the analysis of the study of the Munich treaty of 1938 in the Russian historical science. Modern historiographers distinguish two periods in the study of the problem: The Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The analysis of the historiographical literature shows that while the authors' opinions largely coincide in assessing the Soviet period, there are significant differences in the assessment of the contribution of historians to the study of the Munich Treaty in the years of «perestroika», as well as in the post-Soviet period. This applies not only to the assessment of individual works of Russian scholars, but also to the directions in the development of post-Soviet science and stages in its development. Since the historiographic tradition in the study of the Munich Treaty has not ceased until now, the article analyzes the peculiarities of the literature, which was published on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Munich Treaty.

Munich Treaty of 1938, Russian historiographical tradition, the discourse of modern historiographers, traditional and liberal approaches, «Munich Agreement», «Munich collusion»