Japanese Foreign Policy on the Eve of the Pacific War: A Soviet View by Leonid N. Kutakov, and: The Strange Neutrality by George Alexander Lensen (review)

438 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW Corbett's work,thefirstofa number ofmonographs tobeputoutbyUniversity of Miami'sCenterfor Advanced Studies, establishes a veryhighstandard for laterpublications in theseries. THOMAS M. BADER California StateUniversity, Northridge Japanese ForeignPolicyontheEve of thePacificWar: A SovietView. N.KVTA•:OV. Editedwitha Foreword byG•.oRG•. AI,•.XXNt)•.R I,•.NS•.N. Tallahassee, Fla,Diplomatic Press, •972.Pp.xiv,241 . $I5.OO. TheStrange Neutrality.G•.ogo•. a.•.x•Nt)•.gt.•.NS•.N. Tallahassee, Fla, DiplomaticPress , I972.Pp.xii,422,illus.$I5.oo. GeorgeAlexanderLensen,author,editor,and translatorof numerous workson Russo-Japanese relations, hasgivenustwo verydifferentstudies of EastAsian diplomacy duringWorldWar n. The firstis a translation of a studyby the distinguished Sovietdiplomatic historian and currentUnited Nationsundersecretary generalfor politicaland SecurityCouncilaffairs,LeonidN. Kutakov.His work, apparentlya compilationof essays writtenbetweent959 and I97O , argues that 'theformationof the German-Japanese military-political alliance,which hastened the outbreakof the Second World War, wasfacilitatedby the anti-Sovietpolicyof the United States,Great Britain, and France.'After reviewingthe familiar historyof the makingof theTripartite Pact,Kutakovargues that Britishdiplomatists hoped toextend'appeasement' toEastAsiafromanti-Soviet motives. SirRobertCraigie, Britishambassador in Tokyo,emerges asthe arch-villain.His effortsat AngloJapanese accommodation in t938-9, ForeignSecretaryHalifax's interestin enlisting Germansupportfor endingthe Sino-Japanese conflict,and American Ambassador Grew'sarguments for a non-provocative policytowardTokyoadd up,in Kutakov's account, to 'appeasement.' The remainder of thebookchroniclesthemakingof theJapanese-Soviet NeutralityPactof •945 and the Gotterdarnrnerung of those whomadeit in Tokyofouryearslater. Westernhistorians will certainlyfault Kutakov'slogicand discount his ideologicalhistoriography . Despitehisuseof Sovietarchives, theywill not find a greatdealof newevidence in thisvolume.But theywill find a differentand perhapsusefulperspective. Editor,Lensensuggests that it reflectsa 'Munich syndrome' that still influences Sovietdiplomacy. English-speaking diplomatic historians aremorelikely,however, to findmorefuelfortheongoing debate over the ideological makeupof prewarBritishand Americandiplomats. Kutakov raisesquestions about the mix of anti-fascism and anti-communism in their minds.His conclusions contradictWilliam RogerLouis' recenthigh praiseof Craigieandaddanotherfacetto thearguments of ArnoldOffnerand JohnP. Diggins. The second volumeisLensen's narrativeofwartimeJapanese-Soviet relations, based ona •962Kutakovstudyanda still-classified officialaccountin theForeign Ministryarchives atTokyo.The Japanese-Soviet NeutralityPactwasborn,tried REVIEWS 439 to grow,and died in the unstableinternationalpoliticalclimateof the early •94os.In that atmosphere Moscowcouldnot quietfearsof Japanese collaboration with Hitler, and Tokyo believedthe Russians were secretlyaiding the Americanenemy.Sovietaid to Americanairman,Sovietaid to China,Japanese restraintof Sovietshipping, and quarrelsoverbankingstrainedneutralityon both sides. Mutual suspicions alsoinsuredthe failure of Japanese attemptsto preventSoviet denunciation of thepactin I945, of efforts touseMoscow's good offices to end the war, and of hopesthat the ussRwould not enterit. Lensen concludes thenarrativewith a brief accountof the Sovietcampaignagainstthe Kwantungarmyin Manchuriaand a reviewof the allegations aboutthe pact tradedat theTokyoWar Crimestrials. While thisisthemostdetailedaccount of wartimeJapanese-Soviet relations to appearin Englishto date,it is disappointing. Lensen's narrativerests on a scandalously thin data base.Whole chapterssimplyweaveKutakov and the officialJapanese account together;oneis basedexclusively on the memoirs of a singleJapanese diplomat.Impressed by his traditionaldiplomaticsources, Lensen apparently madenoefforttolookbeyond themto therichmaterials at theJapanDefence Agency, itsmulti-volume history of thewar, or thememoirs of importantarmyleaders. Secondly, the author'sramblingreflections at the endof thestudysimplydo not emerge from the narrative.Lensenargues that Moscow's last-minute war entry wasnot purelyatavisticand that Tokyo was not unrealistic in seeking Sovietaid to end the war; yet the logicof hisbasic arguments abouttheNeutralityPactpoints toprecisely theopposite conclusions. Finally,onemisses inLensen thefresh perspective hefoundvaluable in Kutakov. This workprovides detailbut doesnot present it in a frameworkthat would affordnewinsights intothechanges that World War zzbroughtto EastAsian international politics. ROOER DINOMAN University o[Southern Cali/ornia CANADA Geschichte Kanadas:DasWetdeneinerNation. uDoSAUTTER. Stuttgart,Alfred Kr6ner Verlag, I972. Kr6nersTaschenausgabe, Band432. PP. 317, end-paper maps. DM 15. Not infrequently,foreignobservers have written with great insighton other countries; for example,Elie Hal•vy in his monumentalHistory o[ the English Peoplein theNineteenthCenturyand,of course, de Tocquevilleon Democracy in America.Canadain thisrespect hasnot beenparticularlywell served, with suchnotableexceptions asFrancisParkman,GoldwinSmith,Andr• Siegfried, and JamesBryce.Despitesome440,000immigrantsfrom Germanyin thiscentury (almostthree-quarters of themsinceI945), no author accordingto Professor Sautterhashithertoattempted'to explainthe background and detailsof ...