138 Ë The Caucasus Group and Japan
The stunned international conclave, representing almost every nation on earth, sat in silence
while the delegation, led by the dapper Yosuke Matsuoka, clad in black, walked from the hall.
The crowded galleries broke into mingled hisses and applause.
(... )
Matsuoka, usually typifying the placid oriental diplomat, was nervous before he began his
speech, and abandoned the text before he nished. He shouted from the rostrum:
“Japan will oppose any attempt at international control of Manchuria. It does not mean that we
defy you, because Manchuria belongs to us by right.”
“Read your history. We recovered Manchuria from Russia. We made it what it is today.”
He referred to Russia, as well as China, as a cause for “deep and anxious concern” for Japan.
“We look into the gloom of the future and can see no certain gleam of light before us,” Matsuoka
declared.
He reiterated that Manchuria was a matter of life and death for Japan, and that no concession
or compromise was possible, saying: “Japan has been and will always be the mainstay of peace,
order and progress in the Far East.”
In objecting to proposed international control of Manchuria, he asked, “Would the American peo-
ple agree to such control of the Panama Canal Zone; would the British permit it over Egypt?”
“The Japanese people will oppose any such attempt in Manchuria. I beg of this body to realize
the facts and see a vision of the future. I earnestly beg of you to deal with us on our terms, to give
us your con dence.”
“To deny us this appeal will be a mistake. I ask you not to adopt this report,” Matsuoka said
earnestly.⁴⁴Matsuoka’s de ance impressed some Germans. Whereas Germany’s Reichswehr (mil-
itary) and foreign ministry were sympathetic to the Chinese, the “brutal proceedings
of the Japanese in Manchuria had favorably impressed Hitler deeply,” a German diplo-
mat noted subsequently. The diplomat, Eric Kordt, further noted:
Matsuoka’s “energetic” actions in Geneva in uenced the German dictator to go to similar lengths.
Though in his book “Mein Kampf” Hitler had judged the Japanese rather unfriendly, he suddenly
discovered the “co-spirited nation of heroes.” The “Japanese Army” became his favorite theme
and soon he used to expend [sic, “expand”] on its values and force with as much vigor as igno-
rance.⁴⁵Japan’s actions impressed the émigrés, raising their hopes for confrontation with the
Soviet regime. Already in 1931–32 the Japanese military attaché in Warsaw, Hikos-
abu ̄ro Hata (1890–1959) was carring out “important work” with émigré Muslim lead-
ers. Japan’s agents implemented similar work elsewhere.⁴⁶Among these leaders were
undoubtedly those from the Caucasus. In February 1933 in Warsaw, Hata met with two
Ukrainians – Roman Smal’-Stots’kyi (1893–1969, a former diplomat of the Ukrainian
National Republic) and Volodymyr Sal’s’kyi (1885–1940, former minster of war in the
44 See http://100years.upi.com/sta_1933-02-24.html (consulted 11 November 2012).
45 Dr. Eric Kordt, “German Political History in the Far East during the Hitler Regime,” Hoover Institu-
tion Archive, E-1903, 4.
46 Kirichenko, “Kominterun to Nihon,” 109.