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Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the Soviet view on Japan during World War II, based on recently declassified archival documents. It focuses on the Soviet diplomats, working in war-time Japan, analyzing their contacts and talks with the Japanese elite, political assessments and estimates of war perspectives.

Paper long abstract:

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, most of the world's nations became involved in the global war between the two military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. However, the Soviet-Japanese diplomatic relations during World War II were fundamentally different from those between any other of "great powers". Being in opposite camps, only Moscow and Tokyo were not at war with each other. The USSR remained to be one of the few and most important diplomatic channels for Japan until the Soviet offensive in Manchuria in August 1945. Therefore, the state and dynamics of Soviet-Japanese relations in 1941-1945 are of particular interest for understanding many aspects of Japan's history in war times, as well as for the history of the World War II in general.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the position of the USSR toward Japan in 1941-1945 from the point of view of Soviet diplomats, working mostly in Japan and partly in China/Manchuria. The paper is based on recently declassified documents from the Foreign Ministry archives. Namely, the notes of Soviet representatives regarding the meetings and talks with Japanese politicians, diplomats, economic circles etc.; the diaries of Soviet diplomats; analytical notes on Japan’s domestic political, economic and other issues; reviews of the Japanese press, and other documents of profound importance and value. A special attention deserves the materials regarding the position of Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke on the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact of 1941; the Soviet diplomats' assessments of Japan's entry into the war with the United States (late 1941/beginning of 1942); the attempts of Japanese elite to obtain Soviet mediation at the final stage of the war (the summer of 1945) and so on.

The comprehensive analysis of these materials allows us to take a new look at the internal political situation and foreign policy of Japan during World War II.