William Donovan's Istanbul Gamble: How the US Secret Services Traded Ukraine Behind Its Back in 1943
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2026-53-2-348-358Keywords:
Second World War, United States, Ukraine, Separate contacts, U.S. Office of Strategic Services, William Donovan, Franz von Papen, Theodore MordeAbstract
This article presents a historical study of a covert operation carried out by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) under the leadership of William Donovan in October 1943. The study is based on declassified archival documents from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, the memoirs of Franz von Papen, and the testimonies of individuals directly involved in the events. The author analyzes the circumstances surrounding the meeting between OSS agent Theodore Morde and the German ambassador to Turkey, Franz von Papen, during which a document was handed over containing proposals for a separate peace, providing for the removal of Hitler, German dominance in continental Europe, and the transfer of Ukraine – the “breadbasket of Europe”– under German control. Using historical-systemic and retrospective methods, the author reveals the mechanism of the American “deep state’s” activities aimed at torpedoing the Tehran Conference and undermining allied relations with the USSR. The study concludes that there is continuity in the West’s anti-Soviet and anti-Russian policies, which use Ukraine as a tool for geopolitical bargaining, confirming the relevance of this research in the context of contemporary international relations.
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Список источников
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Collection FDR-FDRPSF: President's Secretary's File (Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration). Series: Subject Files. Office of Strategic Services – Reports – Donovan, William J., 1941–1943. NAID: 16620578.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). National Archive Microfilm Publication. Records of the Office of Strategic Services, 1941–1945. Microfilm Publication M1642, roll 118: Washington Director’s Administrative Files WASH-DIR-OFF-OP-266: 1334) Turkey through WASH-DIR-OFF-OP-266: 1343) UNRAA, Fed. 1943 – Sept. 1944.
Narrative account of the organization and activities of the Dogwood Project. 1944 (URL: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0000493983) (дата обращения – 11.05.2026).
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Kātz B. 1989. Foreign Intelligence: Research and Analysis in the Office of Strategic Services, 1942–1945. Cambridge, Harvard University Press. 251 p.
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Post World War II Foreign Policy Planning: State Department Records of Harley A. Notter, 1939–1945. 1987. Bethesda, Congressional Information Service. 587 p.
Rubin B.M. 1989. Istanbul intrigues: A True-Life Casablanca. New York, McGraw-Hill. 301 p.
Laudani R. (ed.) 2013. Secret Reports on Nazi Germany: the Frankfurt School Contribution to the War Effort. Princeton, Princeton University Press. 679 p.
War report: Office of Strategic Services (OSS): in 2 vols. 1949. Washington DC, U.S. Government Printing Office; Department of State Service Office.
War report of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services): in 2 vols. 1976. New York, Walker.
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