‘“Intervention or Occupation”: The Perception of Japan in the West Siberian Press (November 1918 — December 1919)

Abstract

This article investigates perceptions of Japan’s policies as an ally of the anti-Bolshevik movement in the socio-political press of West Siberia during the Civil War. The article discusses features of the coverage of Japanese politics and uncertainty about it in the pages of various newspapers, using the anti-Bolshevik non-state press, published in Western Siberia from November 1918 to December 1919. This source has a broad potential, as it reflected an unofficial view of foreign policy issues that were an important topic for the public in Western Siberia during this period, when A. V. Kolchak was in power. These data allow us to reconstruct the perception of Japan by various non-state social movements in Western Siberia. The reasons for existing attitudes to the Japanese allies and grounds for adjusting views on foreign policy in this period are discussed, as well as responses to the actions of Japanese authorities by various social forces. Judging by publications in the press, Siberian social and political figures continued to hope for victory of the anti-Bolshevik movement at the end of 1919. This, in turn, forced the publication of similar materials in the press, seeking to justify or at least to show Japan’s policies as a whole. However, controversial coverage of the actions of the Japanese could only further disorient the reader, who was already confronting social disasters. This article may be of interest to a wide range of readers: scholars of the Russian Civil War, of international relations, of the foreign military intervention, and of the history of the periodical press.