Why no Soviet Intervention in Manchuria in 1931/32?
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Why no Soviet Intervention in Manchuria in 1931/32?
I'm curious: why didn't the Soviet Union take advantage of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria to try to peel off a buffer zone or otherwise intervene to its advantage in Manchuria? Given the Soviet intervention in Manchuria in 1929, it appears that (a) the Soviets likely had military assets in the region capable of operating across the border, and (b) the Soviets didn't particularly care about Chinese territorial integrity. I realize that the Soviets probably didn't want to go to war with Japan at that point in time, but the Japanese advance into Manchuria was slow enough that it seems like the Soviets could have grabbed a 50 or 100 Km-wide buffer zone in the western/north-western parts of the territory and declared that this was to "preserve security," "protect Soviet citizens and resources," etc. without having to affirmatively be confrontational with the Japanese. Western accounts of the Japanese invasion rely overwhelmingly on Japanese and Chinese sources, and thus miss the Soviet perspective.
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Re: Why no Soviet Intervention in Manchuria in 1931/32?
Soviets had no troops for such a venture.