Great Britain, the Little Entente and the Genoa Conference of 1922

This article examines the British policy towards the Little Entente alliance comprised of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania in connexion with the preparation and proceedings of the Genoa Conference of 1922. In doing so the paper challenges the usual perception of the Little Entente’s attitude towards the conference as completely pro-French and thus obstructive, and suggests that British policy-makers to a large extent misinterpreted the inclinations and intentions of the three smaller powers and failed to pursue a more positive and effective policy. The reasons for this failure are to be found in the mixture of prejudiced views regarding the alliance and misperceptions of Lloyd George