Reinterpreting the Soviet Policy toward Japan before and after the Mukden Incident

Abstract

Following the outbreak of the Mukden Incident, the Japanese Army, who provoked the incident, Fengtian warlord clique Zhang Zuolin and the Nanjing authorities all paid close attention to the diplomatic stance of Moscow regarding this incident. Although faced with the serious situation of the possibility of the Chinese Eastern Railway being threatened by the Japanese Army, the Soviet Union still adopted a “non-intervention policy,” sitting by and watching the whole of Northeast China occupied by the Japanese Army. After 1932, the Soviet Union even took the first opportunity to recognize the “Manchukuo” and began negotiations with Japan about the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway. The series of diplomatic decisions made by Stalin and the Soviet authorities were related to the gradually formed diplomatic model of the Soviet Union apart from the overall international background. In addition, they were also influenced by such historical details as lack of intelligence and failure to correctly judge the future.