China crisis: isolationist mood of the USA periodical press
The article is devoted to the problem of forming approaches and assessments of the Chinese crisis of 1931 in the US press. The complexity of the perception of the Sino-Japanese war was reflected in the press, which tried to form an understanding of the new process in which America was involved. In the course of the difficult search for the optimal path and view of the Chinese crisis, several polar points of view were formulated in the American press. Thus, the study of the attitude of the American press and the positions of the most prominent journalists is of interest for analyzing how the United States after the Chinese crisis gradually realized the country's place in the new system of international relations. In addition, the press shows how the United States planned to build interaction with warring States in the Pacific. The article is based on materials from both the Democratic and Republican press in the United States. For the American press 1931 the question of the "Chinese crisis" turned out to be very relevant, although the first reaction to it was in classic isolationist tones. Since September 1931, journalists and editors have been actively discussing the prospects for the development of the conflict in Asia, the chances of victory for Japan or China, and Japan's political and economic interests in Asia. American military and political figures expected an imminent conflict between China and the Japanese Empire (or, alternatively, Japan and the USSR; China and the USSR). However, in 1931, influential isolationist newspapers created an image not of "China-the victim" but of a local confrontation between three dictators over Manchuria, which was portrayed as an independent territory.