Page 321 - The Chief Culprit
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A Model War
e victory of socialism in one country does not at one stroke eliminate all wars in
general. On the contrary, it presupposes wars.
—V I. L, THE MILITARY PROGRAM OF
THE PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION
A
Soviet historian’s account of Japanese-German relations in World War II went as
follows: “ e German leaders had especially strong expectations from their Japanese
allies. ey really wanted Japan to be the first to start military action against the
USSR. . . . But the Japanese leaders evaded talks with Germany. Only in March 1941 did the
Japanese minister of foreign affairs, Iosuke Matsuoka, arrive in Berlin. . . . Matsuoka refused
to determine the deadline for Japanese action against the USSR, which led to a strong clash
between him and Hitler.”
1
e shortest route between Berlin and Tokyo lay straight through Moscow, and on
his return trip from Berlin, the Japanese minister of foreign affairs, Matsuoka, stopped briefly
in Moscow. Here, on April 13, 1941, he signed a pact of neutrality between the Soviet Union
and Japan. Both countries pledged to “maintain peaceful and friendly relations and mutually
respect each other’s territorial integrity and independence. . . . In the event that one of the
sides becomes the victim of military actions from one or several other nations, the other side
of the pact will observe neutrality for the duration of the entire conflict.”
2
e neutrality pact between the USSR and Japan was a remarkable achievement for
Stalin’s diplomats and a crushing blow to Hitler’s plans. Japan was Germany’s ally, but it
refused to fight against the Soviet Union. Moreover, Japan signed a pact with the Soviet
Union instead. “When Matsuoka informed Ribbentrop about the high probability of a
Soviet-Japanese pact, the head of German diplomacy stated that one would be wise not to in-
volve oneself too intimately with the Soviet Union, but watch the events in the region.” e
3
Japanese government, however, had its own opinion on the matter. On April 14, the day after
the signing of the Soviet-Japanese pact, Goebbels wrote in his diary that the agreement caused
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