ESTONIAN ACADEMY
PUBLISHERS
eesti teaduste
akadeemia kirjastus
PUBLISHED
SINCE 1997
 
Acta cover
Acta Historica Tallinnensia
ISSN 1736-7476 (Electronic)
ISSN 1406-2925 (Print)
Impact Factor (2022): 0.3
FACTS CLARIFIED?: THE INTERWAR ESTONIAN-GERMAN-JAPANESE INTELLIGENCE COOPERATION; pp. 90–105
PDF | 10.3176/hist.2019.1.05

Author
Shingo MASUNAGA
Abstract

This article takes up the joint Estonian-Japanese intelligence operation against the Soviet Union in the late 1930s and attempts to recreate a full picture of the operation through never-used primary sources in the Estonian National Archives. Between 1938 and 1940, the Japanese Army organized operations to infiltrate the émigré agents into the Soviet territory near Pskov, in cooperation with the Estonian intelligence service. 

 
References

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2. Tajima, N. Stratagem of the Japanese Army against the Soviet Union. Yoshikawa Kobunkan, Tokyo, 2017, 47. 

3. For the details of the CER conflict between Japan and the Soviet Union, please refer to the following article: Masunaga, S. The interwar Japanese intelligence activities in the Baltic States: 1918–1940. – Acta Historica Tallinnensia, 2018, 24, 89–90. 

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5. Hatano, S., Tobe, R., Matsumoto, T., Shoji, J., Kawashima, S. Definitive Edition: The Second Sino-Japanese War. Shinchosha, Tokyo, 2018, 25. 

6. Ibid., 28. 

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15, 2, 314–315. 

8. Komatsubara used to be a military observer in Tallinn residence between 1919 and 1921. 

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11. Kuromiya, H., Mamoulia, G. Eurasian Triangle: Russia, the Caucasus and Japan, 1904–1945, 137. 

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13. Tajima, N. Stratagem of the Japanese Army against the Soviet Union, 98. 

14. Ibid., 99. 

15. Between 1919 and 1922, several officers of the Japanese Army such as Captain Michitaro Komatsubara and Major Toshiro Obata were dispatched to Estonia for the observation of the Soviet military and political conditions. 

16. Shimanuki, T. Memorial Writings for Tadamasa Shimanuki. (Shimanuki Tadamasa 33-Ki Tsuito Bunshu.) Taikosha, Saitama, 1988, 111. 

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18. Sibīrijas Cīņa, 17 October 1934. 

19. Feldmanis, I., Stranga, A. The Destiny of the Baltic Entente: 1934–1940. Latvian Institute of International Affairs, Riga, 1994, 31. 

20. Ulkoministeriön Arkisto (Finnish Foreign Ministry Archive), 5-C15. Telegram No. 11, sent on 18 March 1935. 

21. JACAR. 23. Latvia, Ref. B14090839400.
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23. JACAR. Exchange of Firearms and Ammunitions with Estonia, Ref. C01006736600.
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(access date and time: 27 February 2019 15:40 PM); Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Pro- secution of Axis Criminality. Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression. Vol. 1, 1946, 842. 

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28. Ibid., 27. 

29. Herbert (Henn) Puusepp (1891–1941). http://prosopos.esm.ee/index.aspx?type=1&id=23513 (ac- cess date and time: 31 January 2019 18:25 PM). According to the database of the Estonian War Museum, Puusepp was arrested by the Soviet authority on 22 August 1940. 

30. Eesti Riigiarhiiv (ERA), Tartu, ERAF-138sm-1-58, 14. 

31. Onodera, Y. On the Shore of the Baltic Sea, 55–56. 

32. ERA, Tartu, ERAF-138sm-1-56, 75. 

33. ERA, Tartu, ERAF-138sm-1-12, 46. 

34. Ibid., 46. 

35. Onodera, Y. On the Shore of the Baltic Sea, 55–56. 

36. Okabe, N. Disappeared Yalta Telegram. Shinchosha, Tokyo, 2012, 111. 

37. Tanaka, K. The Nomonhan War: Mongolia and Manchukuo. Iwamani Shoten, Tokyo, 2009, 183. 

38. Ibid., 183. 

39. Hata, H. Light and Shade of the War History of Nomonhan. PHP Institute, Tokyo, 2014, 332. 

40. ERA, 495-11-28, 360. 

41. Ibid., 393. 

42. Ibid., 378. 

43. Archives of the National Institute for Defence Studies (NIDS). Photo Albums of Colonel Takeharu Shimanuki during the Interwar Period. Vol. 4. (Shimanuki Takeharu Rikugun Taisa Senzen Album.) Reference: Chuo-Zenpan-Shashin, 37, 38. 

44. Tajima, N. Stratagem of the Japanese Army against the Soviet Union, 102. 

45. Ibid., 116. 

46. Tajima, N. The origins of the Berlin-Tokyo axis reconsidered: From the Anti-Comintern Pact to the plan to assassinate Stalin. – Seijyo Hougaku, 2002, 69, 19. 

47. Doi Akio Den Kankokai. Biography of Lieutenant General Akio Doi: Life of a Military Officer of Patriotism. Hara Shobo, Tokyo, 1980, 102. 

48. Latvijas Valsts Vēstures Arhīvs, Rīga (LVVA) 2574-2-7231, 3–4. 

49. ERA, 495-11-28, 1587. Takatsuki left Estonia through the border checkpoint in Valga on 31 October 1938. 

50. Hayashi, S. How we conducted intelligence activities against the Soviet Union. (N.B.: written date is unknown.) NIDS. Reference Number: Chuo-GunjigyoseiSonota – 151. 

51. Sugita, I. War Strategy without Information, 93; Suzuki, K. Hiroshi Oshima: Ambassador to Ger- many. Fuyo Shobo, Tokyo, 1979, 94–95. 

52. ERA, Tartu, ERAF-138sm-1-56, 72. 

53. ERA, Tallinn, 495-11-22, 1885. 

54. ERA, Tallinn, 495-11-29, 722. 

55. Kawabe, T. From Ichigayadai to Ichigayadai: Memoir of the Last Vice Chief of the General Staff. 

Jiji Press Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 1962, 210. 

56. Asahi Shimbun, 1 December 1940, Morning Edition, 1.

 
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