Did Soviet spy Harry Dexter White conspire to cause a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour?
I have read in the books ‘Operation Snow’ by John Koster amd ‘Stalins War’ by Sean McMeekin that the Soviet Union used a mole inside Roosevelt administration (Harry Dexter White) to lobby for an oil embargo and demands for a complete withdrawal from Chinese territory including ALL OF MANCHURIA! Would the USA have made a more reasonable demand, like allowing Japan to keep Manchuria, if it was not for this Soviet spy?
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It must have been in the overall strategic interest for the US to put max pressure on Japan to prevent an attack on Russia, thus freeing Russia to deal with Germany. Sorge confirmed to Stalin that this strategy was a succes and Stalin could then move troops from the East to defend Moscow. So I think lobby, as you mentioned, is the right word. To support a strategy that is allready underway, but not vital to its developmemt or execution
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Ofcourse it was in the interest of the US to do something about Japanese expansionism, especially after Japan invaded the south of French Indochina. But Manchuria was a Japanese sfeer of influence before September 18 1931 and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria was therefore comparable to the Soviet sfeer of influence in Outer Mongolia and Xinjang, both recognized Chinese territory according to the US in 1941.
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