There was a dispute between Manchukuo and the People’s Republic of Mongolia over the border between the two countries. On May 12, 1939, armed conflict erupted near the village of Nomonhan. The conflict later escalated into a larger confrontation as a result of increased Japanese military support for the Manchurian Army and greater Soviet military support for the Mongolian Army. This conflict came to be known as the Nomonhan Incident. |
- Document 1 is a telegram sent from the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army to the Vice Chief of the General Staff Office and the Vice Minister of the Army to inform them of the clash between Manchurian and Mongolian forces on the border of the two countries on May 12.
- Document 2 is a document related to media censorship of the Nomonhan Incident in the midst of the escalating confrontation. The telegram (see the second to fourth images) sent from the Vice Minister of the Army to the Chief of Staff of the Chosen Army and the Chief of Staff of the Kwantung Army on June 5, 1939, reveals that following the outbreak of the Nomonhan Incident, the General Headquarters of the Kwantung Army centralized control of media reports. The only reports of the incident it permitted were those based on censored information or the information it released.
- Document 3 is issue No. 139 of Shuho, which was published on June 14, 1939. It contains a map about the Nomonhan Incident (see the twelfth and thirteenth images) that was drawn up based on information from the Japanese Army’s announcement.
- Document 4 is issue No. 73 of Shashin Shuho, which was published on July 12, 1939. It provides the first media report about the military confrontation near Nomonhan.
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