762.94/72
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 20.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s instructions No. 945, dated February 18, 1936, and 958, dated February 24, 1936,25 both transmitting copies of despatches and reports in regard to an alleged military agreement between Germany and Japan, obviously supposed to be directed against the Soviet Union.
Although the spokesman of the Japanese Foreign Office on January 17, 1936, asserted that the reports of a German-Japanese military alliance were “entirely false”, the Embassy has been endeavoring to ascertain what, if anything, lay behind the persistent rumors of some sort of German-Japanese alliance. The First Secretary of the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo recently informed a member of the staff of this Embassy that the Soviet Embassy had received information that an agreement did in fact exist between Germany and Japan, but that it was entirely a military agreement, concluded between military officers of both governments. The Foreign Offices of the two governments, according to the Soviet First Secretary, were not involved in the conclusion of the agreement and may not even be aware of its existence. He did not, however, know the terms of the alleged agreement, except that they were directed at the Soviet Union.
In a recent conversation between a member of the staff of this Embassy and the German Military Attaché in Tokyo, the subject of the alleged military agreement between Germany and Japan was brought up. Although he was not asked directly whether or not such an agreement existed, the Military Attaché implied that no concrete agreement had been concluded and that the only agreement which Germany would consider would be some sort of consultative pact, to become operative should it appear desirable or necessary at some future time to attack Soviet Russia from both the east and the west.26
Respectfully yours,
- Neither printed, but see despatch No. 2617, January 22, from the Ambassador in Germany, p. 19, and report of January 30, by the Military Attaché in Germany, p. 31.↩
- For correspondence concerning the German-Japanese accord of November 25, 1936, against the Communist International, see vol. i, pp. 390 ff.↩