Russia. Voennyĭ agent (Japan)

Office of the Russian military attaché in Japan.

From the description of Voennyĭ agent records, 1906-1921. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 754868128

Historical Note

This record group was previously accessioned at the Hoover Institution as the M. P. Podtiagin collection. It consists of the records of the Russian Military Attaché in Japan from 1906 to 1921, plus the files of a number of military offices and organizations subordinate to the Military Attaché. The latter include the Supervisor for the Inspection of Quartermaster Stores in Japan, the Senior Tester and Technical Consultant of the Artillery Committee of the Chief Ordnance Administration, the Chairman of the Commission for the Inspection of Artillery Supplies Ordered in Japan, the Far Eastern Military Supply Commission, and the Director of Artillery Inspection. These agencies were created to facilitate the purchase and shipment of military supplies from Japan during the period 1914-1921. Upon their dissolution, the records and funds of these agencies were turned over to the Military Attaché.

The office of the Military Attaché in Japan served essentially two purposes. From 1906 to 1914, the Military Attaché sent regular reports to the General Staff Headquarters of the Imperial Russian Army on various characteristics of the Japanese Army (size, organization, troop dispositions, weapons, the military budget, etc.) and on the political situation in Japan. After the outbreak of World War I, the chief duty of the Military Attaché appears to have been the negotiation of contracts with various Japanese firms for the purchase of military supplies (clothing, medical supplies, weapons, raw materials, foodstuffs, etc.), as well as overall direction of inspection and shipment procedures for these goods. The office remained intact after the Russian Revolution in 1917 and continued to serve as a conduit for supplies, first for the Provisional Government, and latter--from 1918 to 1921--for the All-Russian Government at Omsk.

The office of the Military Attaché in Japan was occupied by Major-General V. K. Samoiloff from 1906 to 1915, Colonel N. Morel from 1915 to 1916, Colonel V. Iakhontoff from 1916 to 1918, and Major-General M. P. Podtiagin, the former Senior Tester and Technical Consultant of the Artillery Committee, from 1919 to 1921.

From the guide to the Russia. Voennyi agent (Japan) records, 1906-1921, (Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace)