Československo-francouzské vztahy na počátku studené války: Francouzské diplomatické zastoupení v Československu v letech 1948–1956

The diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and France saw a dramatic decline after February 1948. The involvement of several French diplomats in the preparation of escape of J. Sramek and F. Hala impaired the mutual relations of both countries already in spring 1948. The people's democratic Czechoslovakia, whose foreign policy was now controlled from Moscow, systematically reduced the diplomatic representation of capitalist states in its territory. In 1951, after a secret police intervention, the French consulate in Bratislava was closed, and in a couple of weeks only the embassy in either country's capital remained, dealing with the most urgent matters only. The main focus of mutual relations moved over to the unofficial level of contacts between the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and the Communist Party of France. Starting from 1954, Czechoslovakia restored the official contacts with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the rapprochement efforts culminated with a 1956 agreement on exchange of parliament delegations. Further development of mutual relations, however, was interrupted by the events taking place in Hungary and Egypt in autumn 1956. As a result, the relations just restored declined and reached the freezing point again.