WARS AND REGIONAL CONFLICTS IN SOVIET INTELLIGENCE REPORTS OF 1938

Introduction. The objective of the research is to show that the activity of Soviet secret service on presenting intelligence information to USSR policymakers in the interwar period contributed to strengthening security of the Soviet Union and influenced the shaping of its foreign policy. Methods and materials. Taking into consideration the type of empiric material we chose the historic genetic method as a scientific method of the research, as it gives an opportunity to reveal the cause-effect link between the episodes and to study subjective and objective factors of historical events. The research is based on sources kept in the Central State Navy Archive and the Saint Petersburg Central State Archive of Historical-Political Documents. Analysis and results. This part deals with the documents sent to the USSR from zones of regional conflicts in Spain and China in the 1930s and after the beginning of the crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1938. It is noteworthy that the sources of the Soviet intelligence agency were close to Chiang Kaishek and his wife Soong May-ling, and got access to the reports of American attache to the U.S. State Department. Conclusion. The authors state that the diversified information sent by the Soviet intelligence agency revealed wrong views of Soviet political leaders on the character of the future war, showing that potential allies were not willing to get rid of their interests to receive military and economic aid from the USSR.