Foreign Consulates in Odesa (1920s - 1930s)

On January 4, 1926, the Japanese consulate in Odesa was officially opened Lensen G.A. Japanese Recognition of the U.S.S.R.: Soviet-Japanese Relations, 1921-1930. Sophia University, 1970. P. 207; Японское консульство в Одессе // Пролетарий (Харьков). 1925. 31 декабря (№ 298). С. 2.. The consulate was temporarily located in the «Londonskiy» hotel, although the NKVD proposed to place the Japanese consulate in building № 21 on the Gogol Street for the convenience of surveillance, where the Turkish consulate was also located. Later, the consulate moved to a three-story building on Feldman Boulevard (currently 1 Prymorskyi Boulevard), where it occupied the entire second floor. The consular district covered the territory of the Ukrainian SSR and the Crimean ASSR Матяш І. Іноземні представництва в Радянській Україні (1919-1991). С. 253..

Sasaki Seigo was appointed the head of the Japanese consulate, who performed the functions assigned to him until 1927, after which he was transferred as a consul to Fr. Sakhalin. Sasaki Seigo was familiar with Odesa and the features of this city, as he held the position of the Japanese consulate's secretary during 1907-1909. In the fall of 1925, he came to the city to inspect the state of the port and familiarized himself with the economic development of Odesa and the region. In an interview for the «Izvestia» newspaper, the Japanese noted that he considers the current state of Soviet-Japanese relations extremely good. Seigo Sasaki emphasized the significant prospects of economic relations between the countries, because the USSR expressed interest in the export trade's development, and Japan actively imported oil, wood, iron ore, etc. As for the USSR, the diplomat noted the possibility of exporting caustic soda, flax, hemp, salt, tobacco and other things to Japan Павленко С.С. Сасакі: спогади про Одесу та консульська служба. С. 41-47..

The primary task of the Japanese consulate head was the trade relations' development with the USSR and the establishment of a steamship connection between the ports of Osaka and Odesa. For this purpose, a thorough analytical study of the region was carried out. The Japanese were interested in information about political life, industry (they were quite seriously interested in the issue of oil), financial status, the role of Soviet officials, specialists and other workers in the industry of the UkrSSR and the USSR, the number of employees in the Department of Ukrainian Industry of National Policy, the economic state of Ukraine, anti-Soviet sentiment in Odesa, the attention of the Central Government to the armament of the UkrSSR, the role of private capital in the USSR, the state of grain procurement in Ukraine, noting the terribleness of this whole process, etc Вовчук Л. Радянські спецслужби vs японської дипломатії. С. 11.. The counter-intelligence department of the GPU noted in its reports that not a single notable event from the life of Odesa remained unnoticed by the consulate employees. They actively collected information about the region and often went beyond the consular district and sent their reports to the Japanese Embassy in Moscow and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Павленко С. Діяльність консульства Японії в Одесі під керівництвом Шімаду Шігуру. Частина ІІ. С. 30..

Consul Shimada Shigeru, who arrived in Odesa on February 19, 1927, in an interview with the Odesa newspaper «Izvestia», noted that Japan was interested in purchasing salt, oil, medicinal herbs, etc. in the USSR's southern regions (USSR and the eastern Black Sea region). And his first task as consul was to study these issues, possible directions of development of Soviet-Japanese economic relations. The second priority for the official was to establish a regular sea connection between Japan and the USSR's Black Sea ports Павленко С. Діяльність консульства Японії в Одесі під керівництвом Шімаду Шігуру. Частина І... С. 18..

The consulate also carried out Japanese cultural promotion in the UkrSSR. Thus, in the period 1927-1929, three cultural projects directly related to Japan were implemented on the territory of the USSR. These were exhibitions of children's books (1) and movies (2) and tours of the Kabuki theater (3). The consulate was not involved in the organization of these projects and mostly played the role of an observer or a passive participant.

An exhibition of Japanese children's books arrived in Odesa in April 1929, and was opened on July 17. The venue of the exhibition in Odesa was the State Art Museum. In the fall of 1929, a slightly different Japanese cultural product was presented in Odesa - cinema. The exhibition, in addition to cinema, included the display of Japanese advertising posters for films, photographs and magazines. In Odesa, the exhibition was opened on November 16 in the premises of the Frunze State Cinema. Positive relations have developed between the consulate and the Odesa branch of the All-Ukrainian Scientific Association of Oriental Studies (VUNAS) Павленко С. Діяльність консульства Японії в Одесі під керівництвом Шімаду Шігуру. Частина ІІ... С. 32..

Throughout the 1930s, the consuls' attention was focused on the terrible food situation in the UkrSSR and the endless repression of the GPU against the wealthy sections of the rural population. The reports characterized the state of heavy industry, agriculture and transport. Here, the results of the first five-year period in the UkrSSR were summarized and official statistical data on this were given. In addition, great attention was paid to the collection of information on the development of school education in the USSR, teaching methods at school, especially in railway construction schools, the process of Ukrainization in the UkrSSR.

In order to better understand the situation in the region and beyond, Japanese representatives made several trips to the country. However, all this was perceived by the Soviet special services as the collection of intelligence data and the development of a spy network for the Japanese government's benefit Вовчук Л. Радянські спецслужби vs японської дипломатії. С. 11-13..

As S. Pavlenko rightly points out, the Japanese consulate's peculiarity was that «its main function was not to ensure the interests of the diaspora or the development of economic ties, but to collect information about the region and study the possibilities of intensifying bilateral trade relations» Павленко С.С. Сасакі: спогади про Одесу та консульська служба. С. 47..

As in the case of the German consulate, the formal reason for closing the Japanese consular office in Odesa was the reduction in the number of Japanese representations in the USSR, which at that time numbered 8, and only 6 Soviet representations in Japan. Therefore, on August 19, 1937, the NKZS directed the embassy Japan a note on the closure of two consulates in accordance with the principle of an equal number of representations. On September 15, Moscow decided to close the consulates in Novosibirsk and Odesa Вовчук Л. Радянські спецслужби vs японської дипломатії. С. 22..

Table 4. Diplomatic Corps of the Japanese Consulate in Odesa (1926-1937)

Consulate General of Spain (1936-1939)

The last consulate of Spain started functioning in Odesa. Only at the end of July 1933 was an agreement reached to establish Spanish-Soviet diplomatic relations, but the exchange of ambassadors did not take place at that time. Only when the government of the Popular Front came to power in Spain, the Spaniards offered the Soviet side to exchange ambassadors. However, attempts to normalize relations between the countries were made as early as 1925. However, the Spaniards primarily emphasized the conclusion of an economic agreement, which the USSR did not agree. On July 18, 1836, the mutiny of General Franco took place, and the civil war began in Spain. Despite this, diplomatic cooperation between the countries continued.

In October 1936, the Consulate General of the USSR was founded in Barcelona, respectively, the Consulate General of Spain in Odesa. Professional diplomat Valeriano Picazzo Casanueva became the head of the newly created consular institution. He was born on May 9, 1889 in Madrid. He received a legal education. For some time he worked in the Ministry of Finance. He was Director-General of Public Litigation, Secretary of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and State Solicitor in Madrid.

In the future, he actively connected his life with the legislative power. Thus, in 1933, Valeriano Casanueva as a candidate from the Spanish Social Democratic Political Party (PSOE) took part in the general elections of Salamanca, he was elected deputy only in 1936, gaining 46,492 votes (out of a total of 153,797 votes). He was also a member of the commissions of the treasury, the accounting chamber, from April 8, 1936 to October 1, 1938; he belonged to the Cortes Permanent Deputation as a deputy. In September 1936, V. Casanueva was appointed deputy state secretary, and soon after that - consul general of Spain in Odesa, whose functions he performed until 1939 Congreso de los Deputados. URL: https://cutt.ly/i4tHo0A.. In 1937, he was also a representative of the Spanish consulate in China Ruiz-Castillo C.G. Los fondos de las representaciones diplomaticas y consulares de Espana en China conservados en el Archivo General de la Administracion: su contexto // Cuadernos de Historia Contemporanea. 2009. № 31. P. 232.. At the end of the Spanish Civil War, V. Canasueva was exiled to France, where he died in Toulouse on September 20, 1941 Congreso de los Deputados. URL: https://cutt.ly/i4tHo0A..

On March 5, 1939, the People's Front government was overthrown, and the «National Defense Junta» came to power. Pedroso, the Spanish ambassador to the USSR, said that he could not consider himself a representative of the government that was formed in Madrid after the coup. Therefore, only the Spanish consul in Odesa, V. Casanueva, was to remain in the USSR. However, Spanish-Soviet diplomatic relations were terminated. As a result, in 1939, the Spanish Consulate General in Odesa also ceased to exist.

Conclusions

With the creation of Soviet Ukraine, Odesa continued to remain a strategically important city for both European and Asian countries, which, having restored diplomatic and consular relations with the USSR, opened their consulates here. During the 1920s and 1930s, the repatriation missions of Poland, Albania, and Turkey operated in the city first (during 1922-1925), and later the consular offices of three European countries - Germany, Italy, Spain, and two Asian countries - Turkey and Japan. The diplomatic staff of foreign consular institutions consisted exclusively of representatives of the countries they represented and were career diplomats. In turn, among the representatives of the administrative and technical staff were citizens of these countries and of Soviet Ukraine, and the service staff consisted of local residents.

Since its establishment, foreign consular representatives have contributed to the development of trade, economic, cultural and scientific relations of their countries with the UkrSSR. Important spheres of consulates' activity were protection of the interests of citizens of their countries, organization of material assistance for them and their departure promotion to their homeland. In the process of gathering information about the socio-political situation in the UkrSSR, the consuls recorded the unfolding of the Holodomor, pointing out its culprits, noted the negative consequences of collectivization and industrialization, etc.

But, despite the constantly emphasized friendship in relations between the USSR and the countries listed above, their consulates and employees found themselves under the Soviet special services close supervision, which considered any consulates representatives' actions as espionage. In order to be fully effective, the special services recruited representatives from both consulate employees and persons who were in contact with the consul. And after the consulates were closed, they began the process of «cleaning» them. In 1937-1938, the USSR's relations with Italy, Germany, Turkey, Japan, and Spain became strained, which led to the closure of the consular network in Odesa.

References

1. Bazhan, O. (2016). Pohliad z Odesy. Suspilno-politychne ta ekonomichne zhyttia na Pivdni Ukrainy u pershii polovyni 1930-kh rokiv ochyma nimetskykh dyplomativ [View from Odesa. Social and political life in the Ukrainian SSR in the mid-1930s through the eyes of German diplomats]. Pivdennyi Zakhid. Odesyka. Istoryko-kraieznavchyi naukovyi almanakh, 20, 179-199 [in Ukrainian].

2. Bilokon, S. (N.d.). Nimetske konsulstvo [German Consulate]. Osobystyi sait S. Bilokonya. Retrieved from http://www.s-bilokin.name/Personalia/Ernst/Culture/GermanConsulat.html [in Ukrainian].

3. Bruski, J.J. (2010). Miqdzy prometeizmem a Realpolitik: IIRzeczpospolita wobec Ukrainy Sowieckiej 19211926 [Between Prometheism and Realpolitik: The Second Polish Republic and Soviet Ukraine, 1921-1926]. Krakow [in Polish].

4. Dornfeld, Mattias & Seewald, Enrico (2017). Deutschland-Ukraine. Hundert Jahre diplomatische Beziehungen [Germany - Ukraine. Hundred years of diplomatic relations]. Berlin [in German].

5. Dubrovina, O. (2015). Nazionalismo, religione e cultura in Ucraina secondo la diplomazia e la propaganda fascista [Nationalism, religion and culture in the Ukraine according to Italiandiplomatic officials and fascist propaganda]. Paper for Conference: Ukraine and Russia: events and images. Modena Historical Institute. Retrieved from https://www.comune.modena.it/istitutostorico/fdownload.php?file=ODQ0LnBkZg== [in Italian].

6. Kalmanovskaia, L.N. (1996). Vystavka `Neizvestnye i zabytye portretisty XVIII-XIX vekov' iz fondov Odesskogo khudozhestvennogo muzeia. Katalog [The exhibition 'Unknown and killed portrait painters of the 18th - 19th centuries' from the funds of the Odesa Art Museum. Catalogue]. Odesa: RIO oblastnogo upravleniya po pechati [in Russian].

7. Keipert, M. & Grupp, P. (2005-2012). Biographisches Handbuch des deutschen Auswartigen Dienstes, 1871-1945. Herausgegeben vom Auswartigen Amt, Historischer Dienst. Band 1-5. F. Schoningh. Paderborn [in German].

8. Lensen, G.A. (1970). Japanese Recognition of the U.S.S.R.: Soviet-Japanese Relations, 1921-1930. Sophia University [in English].

9. Matiash, I. (2020). Inozemni predstavnytstva v Radianskii Ukraini (1919-1991): protystoiannia i spivpratsia [Foreign missions in Radian Ukraine (1919-1991): opposition and cooperation]. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].

10. Matiash, I. (2022). Ukrainskyi dyplomatychnyi arkhiv yak dzherelo doslidzhennia diialnosti Konsulstva Yaponii v Odesi v mizhvoiennyi period [Ukrainian diplomatic archive as a source of research on the activities of the Japanese consulate in Odesa in the interwar period]. Mizhnarodni zviazky Ukrainy: naukovi poshuky i znakhidky, 31, 202-228. DOI: 10.15407/mzu2022.31.202 [in Ukrainian].

11. Pavlenko, S. (2021). Konsul 'pid pylnym okom': Tanaka Bunitsiro v Odesi [Consul 'under the watchful eye': Bunichiro Tanaka in Odesa]. Shidnij svit, 1, 18-34. DOI: 10.15407/orientw2021.01.018 [in Ukrainian].

12. Pavlenko, S. (2021). S. Sasaki: spohady pro Odesu ta konsulska sluzhba [S. Sasaki: memories of Odesa and consular service]. Shidnij svit, 3, 39-54. DOI: 10.15407/orientw2021.03.039 [in Ukrainian].

13. Pavlenko, S. (2022). Diialnist konsulstva Yaponii v Odesi pid kerivnytstvom Shimadu Shihuru. Chastyna I [The activity of the Japanese consulate in Odesa under the leadership of Shimada Shigeru. Part I]. Shidnij svit, 2, 16-26. DOI: 10.15407/orientw2022.02.016 [in Ukrainian].

14. Pavlenko, S. (2022). Diialnist konsulstva Yaponii v Odesi pid kerivnytstvom Shimadu Shihuru. Chastyna II [The activity of the Japanese consulate in Odesa under the leadership of Shimada Shigeru. Part II]. Shidnij svit, 3, 28-46. DOI: 10.15407/orientw2022.03.028 [in Ukrainian].

15. Pavlenko, S. (2022). Kamimura Shin'ichi: Kokhannia chy kariera? [Kamimura Shin'ichi: Love Or Career?] Skhodoznavstvo, 89, 49-72. DOI: 10.15407/skhodoznavstvo2022.89.049 [in Ukrainian].

16. Piskuriov, S.Ye. & Chernytskyi, V.B. (2009). Represii proty teatralnykh diiachiv provintsii u 30-ti roky XX st. [Repression against theater actors of the province in the 1930s]. Hileia, 24, 73-97 [in Russian].

17. Reznikov, A.B. (2014), Sovetsko-turetskie i kulturnie nauchnie svyazi v 1920-30-e gg. Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya. Istoriya, 1, 279-286 [in Russian].

18. Ruiz-Castillo, Carlos Garcia (2009). Los fondos de las representaciones diplomaticas y consulares de Espana en China conservados en el Archivo General de la Administracion: su contexto [The funds of the diplomatic and consular representations of Spain in China conserved in the General Archive of the Administration: its context]. Cuadernos de Historia Contemporanea, 31, 223-241 [in Spanish].

19. Savchenko, V. & Trygub, O. (2019). Italian Political Immigrants - Secret State Political Authority Agents from Odesa's 'Club of Foreign Sailors'. Storinky istoriyi, 48, 118-134. DOI: 10.20535/23075244.48.2019.176386 [in Ukrainian].

20. Tchernikov, I. (2003). Mustafa Kemal Ataturk ve Turkiye-Ukrayna Ilijkileri (1918-1938) [Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and Turkey-Ukraine Relations (1918-1938)]. Ataturk Araptirma Merkezi Dergisi (Ankara), 19, 306-315 [in English].

21. Vovchuk, L. (2018). Nimets'ki dyplomaty v Ukraini (1918-1938 rr.): prosopohrafichnyi portret [German diplomats in Ukraine (1918-1938): a prosopographic portrait]. In: Verstiuk, V. (Ed.). Ukrayina ta Nimechchyna: mizhderzhavni vidnosyny. Chernihiv: Sivers'kyi tsentr pisliadyplomnoi osvity, pp. 207-218 [in Ukrainian].

22. Vovchuk, L. & Kornovenko, S. (2019). Holodomor 1932-1933 rr. ochyma inozemnykh dyplomativ [The Holodomor of 1932-1933 through the Eyes of Foreign Diplomats]. Eminak, 4 (28), 71-82. DOI: 10.33782/eminak2019.4(28).343 [in Ukrainian].

23. Vovchuk, L. (2019). Ne dochekalysia italiiskoho pasporta (rodyna Anzheli u zhornakh Velykoho teroru) [Not waiting for an Italian passport (Angela's family in the mills of the Great Terror)]. In: M.I. Mykhailutsa (Ed.). Pivden Ukrainy: etnoistorychnyi, movnyi, kulturnyi ta relihiinyi vymiry. Kherson: OLDI-Plius, 7, 68-73 [in Ukrainian].

24. Vovchuk, L. (2022). Radianski spetssluzhby vs yaponskoi dyplomatii (na materialakh yaponskoho konsulstva v Odesi u mizhvoiennyi period) [Soviet special services vs of Japanese diplomacy (on the materials of the Japanese consulate in Odesa during the interwar period)]. Skhodoznavstvo, 89, 3-24. DOI: 10.15407/skhodoznavstvo2022.89.003 [in Ukrainian].

25. Vovchuk, L. (2022). Turetske konsulstvo v Odesi (1922-1938 rr.) [Turkish Consulate in Odesa (19221938)]. XXV Skhodoznavchi chytannia A. Krymskoho. Kyiv - Lviv - Torun: Liha-Pres, 151-154 [in Ukrainian].

26. Vovchuk, L. (2023). Diplomatic corps of German consulates in Soviet Ukraine (1922-1938). Przeglqd Nauk Historycznych, 1 (22) [in print] [in English].

Размещено на Allbest.ru