Soviet Diplomacy in 1938-1939-From the Munich Agreement to the Soviet-German Pact
The Eve of the Second World War : International Relations in Summer, 1939
1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 55-70,L8
Details
1982 Volume 1982 Issue 72 Pages 55-70,L8
On Soviet diplomacy during the .period from the Munich agreement (September 1938) to the Soviet-German non-aggression pact (August 1939), many scholars have been debating two themes: when the Soviet Union changed its policy in regard to Nazi Germany and how the “Nomonhan Affair” (“Khalkin-Gol Incident”) influenced the decision-making of Soviet foreign policy.
On the former we recognize Stalin's address at the XVIII Party Congress (March 1939) as the turning point of Soviet diplomacy and give special attention to the Munich agreement which brought about this very important change in Soviet policy regarding Nazi Germany. On the latter we presume from the documents which were sent by Richard Zorge, Soviet militaly intelligence agent from Tokyo to Moscow, that Soviet-Japanese relations, especially the “Nomonhan Affair”, definitely influenced the decision-making of Soviet foreign policy.
In conclussion the Soviet-German pact is evaluated as a very skillful and clever maneuver from the point of view of “Power Politics”, but removed morality from Soviet socialist diplomacy.
