Shortly before Churchill’s visit, de Gaulle had asked Bogomolov for an invitation to visit the Soviet Union. For de Gaulle, this was the chance for a spectacular entry into the world of international diplomacy. There were also more practical objectives. De Gaulle wanted to probe whether the Soviet Union might be more ready to back French objectives in the Rhineland than the British and Americans. He set off for the Soviet Union on 24 November. Because of the intense fighting on the eastern front, the Soviet government had proposed that he travel to Moscow by train from Baku. He therefore had
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