Original sentence: Chamberlain was reluctant to seek a military alliance with the Soviet Union; he distrusted Joseph Stalin ideologically and felt that there was little to gain, given the recent massive purges in the Red Army
Edited sentence: As stated, Chamberlain was reluctant to seek a military alliance with the Soviet Union; he distrusted Joseph Stalin ideologically and felt that there was little to gain, given the recent massive purges in the Red Army.At this time, Chamberlain wrote to his sister:"I must agree with Beck, for I regard the Soviet Union as a very unreliable friend with very little capacity for active assistance, but with an enormous irrative power on others.Britain was not carrying out the military negotiations with wholly pure intentions.Chamberlain commissioned a report on the strength of the Soviet Army, but disregarded the part of the report which said the greatest danger was an agreement between the Soviet Union and Germany.Chamberlain neglected to carry out the negotiations with the Soviet Union in good faith, certain that Poland, not the Soviet Union would be Britain's salvation.He was still unenthusiastic about having an alliance with the Soviets.However, Chamberlain claimed that "It would have little additional security.In April 1939, Litvinov offered France and Britain a full military alliance.It would arouse the suspicion of our friends and aggravate the hostility of our enemies".The 'friends' that Chamberlain alluded to were: France, of whom capitulated to the German onslaught but failed to abide by the 'No Peace Agreement', Poland, whose army was defeated in three weeks and Romania, who in due course allied herself to Germany.The Foreign Office confirmed to the US Chargé d'affaires on 8 August 1939 that 'the military mission, which had now left for Moscow, had been told to make every effort to prolong discussions until 1 October 1939'.The historian, John Holroyd-Doveton believes that Stalin was aware of this.The historian, John Holroyd-Doveton cites this decision as a catastrophic error on the part of Chamberlain.Unhappily, we have to strive against the almost hysterical passion of the opposition, egged on by Lloyd George, who has a pathetic belief that Russia is the key to our salvation"