Russo-Japanese War after 1945. Soviet-Japanese War (1945)
Soviet- Japanese war(1945)- the war between the USSR and Mongolia, on the one hand, and Japan and Manchukuo, on the other, which took place from August 8 to September 2, 1945 on the territory of Manchuria, Korea, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands; component World War II. It was caused by the USSR's allied obligations to its partners in the anti-Hitler coalition - the USA and Great Britain, which had been at war with Japan since December 1941 - as well as the desire of the Soviet leader I.V. Stalin to improve the strategic position of the USSR in the Far East at the expense of Japan. It ended with the defeat of Japanese troops and the general surrender of Japan to its opponents in World War II.
In February 1945, at the Crimean Conference of the heads of the leading countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, the USSR committed to enter the war with Japan two to three months after the end of the war with Germany in Europe. After the surrender of Germany during May - July 1945, large forces of Soviet troops were transferred from Europe to the Far East and Mongolia, sharply strengthening the group previously deployed there. On April 5, the USSR denounced the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact concluded in April 1941, and on August 8, 1945 declared war on Japan.
The Soviet war plan envisaged a strategic offensive operation in Manchuria (part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo) with the aim of defeating the forces deployed there. Kwantung Army the Japanese and the troops of Manchukuo, the offensive operation on Southern Sakhalin and operations to capture the Kuril Islands and a number of ports of Japan-owned Korea. The idea of the Manchurian strategic offensive operation provided for striking in converging directions by forces of three fronts - Transbaikal from Transbaikalia and Mongolia, 2nd Far Eastern from the Amur region and 1st Far Eastern from Primorye - dissecting the Japanese group and leaving Soviet troops in central regions Manchuria.
The troops of the Transbaikal Front (Marshal of the Soviet Union R.Ya. Malinovsky) captured the Hailar fortified area, and with the main forces overcame the Greater Khingan ridge and reached the Manchurian Plain. The Soviet-Mongolian group, operating on the right wing of the front, launched an offensive on Kalgan (Zhangjiakou) and Dolonnor, cutting off the Kwantung Army (General O. Yamada) from the Japanese troops operating in Northern China.
Troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front (Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov), advancing towards the Transbaikal Front, broke through the fortified areas of the Japanese on the borders of Primorye and Manchuria and repelled a Japanese counterattack in the Mudanjiang area. The group operating on the left wing of the front entered Korean territory, and the Pacific Fleet landed troops that occupied the North Korean ports of Yuki, Racine and Seishin.
The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front (Army General M.A. Purkaev), operating together with the Amur military flotilla in an auxiliary strategic direction, crossed the Amur and Ussuri, broke through the fortified areas of the Japanese, crossed the Lesser Khingan ridge and advanced to Qiqihar and Harbin.
On August 14, the Japanese leadership decided to capitulate, but the troops of the Kwantung Army were given the order to surrender only on August 17, and they began to capitulate only on the 20th. Since not everyone obeyed the order, hostilities continued.
Now not only the Transbaikal Front, but also the 1st Far Eastern Front, having overcome the East Manchurian Mountains, reached the Manchurian Plain with its main forces. His troops launched an attack on Harbin and Jilin (Jilin), and the main forces of the Transbaikal Front troops launched an attack on Mukden (Shenyang), Changchun and Port Arthur (Lüshun). On August 18 - 19, Soviet airborne assaults captured the largest centers of Manchuria - Harbin, Girin, Changchun and Mukden, and on August 22 - the Port Arthur naval base and the port of Dairen (Dalniy).
The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, with the support of the Pacific Fleet, which landed a number of amphibious assault forces, occupied southern part Sakhalin Islands, and August 18 - September 1 - Kuril Islands. Troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front occupied the northern half of Korea.
On September 2, 1945, the act of surrender of Japan was signed - formally ending hostilities. However, individual clashes with Japanese units who did not want to capitulate continued until September 10.
A peace treaty between the USSR and Japan, which would formally end the war, was never signed. On December 12, 1956, the Soviet-Japanese declaration came into force, declaring the state of war between the two countries ended.
The actual result of the war was the return to the USSR of southern Sakhalin, seized by Japan from Russia in 1905, the annexation of the Kuril Islands, which had belonged to Japan since 1875, and the renewal by the Soviet Union of lease rights to the Kwantung Peninsula with Port Arthur and Dalniy (ceded by Russia to Japan in 1905 .).
Preparing for war
The threat of war between the USSR and Japan existed since the second half of the 1930s. In 1938 there were clashes at Lake Khasan, in 1939 there was a battle at Khalin Gol on the border of Mongolia and Manchukuo. In 1940, the Soviet Far Eastern Front was created, which indicated a real threat of war.
But the aggravation of the situation on the western borders forced the USSR to seek a compromise in relations with Japan. The latter, in turn, sought to strengthen its borders with the USSR. The result of the coincidence of interests of the two countries is the non-aggression pact signed on April 13, 1941, according to Article 2 of which: “If one of the parties to the treaty becomes the object of hostilities with one or more third countries, the other party will maintain neutrality throughout conflict."
In 1941, the countries of Hitler's coalition, except Japan, declared war on the USSR, and in the same year Japan attacked the United States, marking the beginning of the Pacific War.
In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, Stalin pledged to the allies to declare war on Japan 2-3 months after the end of hostilities in Europe. At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies issued a general declaration demanding the unconditional surrender of Japan. In the same summer, Japan tried to conduct separate negotiations with the USSR, but to no avail.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR unilaterally withdrew from the Soviet-Japanese non-aggression pact and declared war on the Empire of Japan.
Progress of the war
The commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops during the invasion of Manchuria was Marshal of the Soviet Union O.M. Vasilevsky. There were 3 fronts: Trans-Baikal, First Far Eastern and Second Far Eastern Front (commanders R.Ya. Malinovsky, K.P. Meretskov and M.O. Purkaev), with a total number of 1.5 million people. They were opposed by the Kwantung Army under the command of General Yamada Otozo.
As stated in the "History of the Great Patriotic War": "In the units and formations of the Kwantung Army there were absolutely no machine guns, anti-tank rifles, rocket artillery, small-caliber and large-caliber artillery (infantry divisions and brigades of artillery regiments and divisions in most cases had 75-mm guns)."
Despite the efforts of the Japanese to concentrate as many troops as possible on the islands of the empire itself, as well as in China to the south of Manchuria, the Japanese command also paid attention to the Manchurian direction.
That is why, from the nine infantry divisions that remained in Manchuria at the end of 1944, the Japanese deployed an additional 24 divisions and 10 brigades until August 1945.
True, to organize new divisions and brigades, the Japanese were able to use only untrained young conscripts, who made up more than half of the personnel of the Kwantung Army. Also, in the newly created Japanese divisions and brigades in Manchuria, in addition to the small number of combat personnel, there was often no artillery.
The most significant forces of the Kwantung Army - up to ten divisions - were stationed in the east of Manchuria, which bordered on Soviet Primorye, where the First Far Eastern Front was stationed, consisting of 31 infantry divisions, a cavalry division, a mechanized corps and 11 tank brigades.
In the north of Manchuria, the Japanese concentrated one infantry division and two brigades - while they were opposed by the 2nd Far Eastern Front consisting of 11 infantry divisions, 4 infantry and 9 tank brigades.
In western Manchuria, the Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and one brigade - against 33 Soviet divisions, including two tank, two mechanized corps, a tank corps and six tank brigades.
In central and southern Manchuria, the Japanese had several more divisions and brigades, as well as two tank brigades and all combat aircraft.
It should be noted that the tanks and aircraft of the Japanese army in 1945, according to the criteria of that time, were obsolete. They roughly corresponded to Soviet tanks and aircraft of 1939. This also applies to Japanese anti-tank guns, which had a caliber of 37 and 47 mm - that is, capable of fighting only light Soviet tanks.
Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, the fortified areas of the Japanese were bypassed by mobile units and blocked by infantry.
The 6th Guards Tank Army of General Kravchenko was advancing from Mongolia to the center of Manchuria. On August 11, army equipment stopped due to lack of fuel, but the experience of German tank units was used - delivering fuel to tanks by transport aircraft. As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Changchun.
The First Far Eastern Front at this time broke the Japanese defenses in eastern Manchuria, occupying largest city in this region - Mudanjian.
In a number of areas, Soviet troops had to overcome stubborn enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, the Japanese defense in the Mudanjiang area was held with particular ferocity. There were cases of stubborn resistance by Japanese troops in the lines of the Transbaikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also launched numerous counterattacks.
August 17, 1945 in Mukden Soviet troops captured the Manchukuo Emperor Pu I (the last Emperor of China)
On August 14, the Japanese command requested an armistice. But hostilities on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later, the Kwantung Army received an order from the command to surrender, which came into force on August 20.
On August 18, a landing was launched on the northernmost of the Kuril Islands. On the same day, the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East gave the order to occupy the Japanese island of Hokkaido with the forces of two infantry divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and was then postponed until the orders of Headquarters.
Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea, capturing Seoul. The main fighting on the continent continued for another 12 days, until August 20. But individual battles continued until September 10, which became the day of the complete surrender of the Kwantung Army. The fighting on the islands completely ended on September 1.
The article describes the causes of the Soviet-Japanese armed conflict, the preparation of the parties for war, and the course of hostilities. Characteristics given international relations before the start of World War II in the east.
Introduction
Active hostilities in the Far East and in the Pacific Ocean were a consequence of the contradictions that arose in the pre-war years between the USSR, Great Britain, the USA and China, on the one hand, and Japan, on the other. The Japanese government sought to seize new territories, rich natural resources, and the establishment of political hegemony in the Far East.
Since still with late XIX century, Japan fought many wars, as a result of which it acquired new colonies. It included the Kuril Islands, southern Sakhalin, Korea, and Manchuria. In 1927, General Giichi Tanaka became the country's prime minister, whose government continued its aggressive policy. In the early 1930s, Japan increased the size of its army and created a powerful navy that was one of the strongest in the world.
In 1940, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe developed a new foreign policy doctrine. The Japanese government planned to create a colossal empire stretching from Transbaikalia to Australia. Western countries pursued a dual policy towards Japan: on the one hand, they sought to limit the ambitions of the Japanese government, but on the other hand, they did not in any way interfere with the intervention of northern China. To implement its plans, the Japanese government entered into an alliance with Germany and Italy.
Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union in the pre-war period deteriorated noticeably. In 1935, the Kwantung Army entered the border areas of Mongolia. Mongolia hastily concluded an agreement with the USSR, and Red Army units were introduced into its territory. In 1938, Japanese troops crossed the state border of the USSR in the area of Lake Khasan, but the invasion attempt was successfully repulsed by Soviet troops. Japanese sabotage groups were also repeatedly dropped into Soviet territory. The confrontation escalated further in 1939, when Japan went to war against Mongolia. The USSR, observing the agreement with the Mongolian Republic, intervened in the conflict.
After these events, Japan's policy towards the USSR changed: the Japanese government was afraid of a clash with a strong western neighbor and decided to temporarily abandon the seizure of territories in the north. Nevertheless, for Japan, the USSR was actually the main enemy in the Far East.
Non-Aggression Treaty with Japan
In the spring of 1941, the USSR concluded a non-aggression pact with Japan. In the event of an armed conflict between one of the states and any third countries, the second power undertakes to maintain neutrality. But the Japanese Foreign Minister made it clear to the German ambassador in Moscow that the concluded neutrality pact would not prevent Japan from fulfilling the conditions Tripartite Pact during the war with the USSR.
Before the outbreak of World War II in the east, Japan negotiated with American leaders, seeking recognition of the annexation of Chinese territories and the conclusion of new trade agreements. The ruling elite of Japan could not decide against whom to strike in a future war. Some politicians considered it necessary to support Germany, while others called for an attack on the Pacific colonies of Great Britain and the USA.
Already in 1941, it became obvious that Japan's actions would depend on the situation on the Soviet-German front. The Japanese government planned to attack the USSR from the east if Germany and Italy were successful, after capturing by German troops Moscow. Also great value had the fact that the country needed raw materials for its industry. The Japanese were interested in capturing areas rich in oil, tin, zinc, nickel and rubber. Therefore, on July 2, 1941, at the imperial conference, a decision was made to start a war against the USA and Great Britain. But The Japanese government did not completely abandon plans to attack the USSR until Battle of Kursk when it became obvious that Germany would not win the Second World War. Along with this factor, the active military operations of the allies in the Pacific Ocean forced Japan to repeatedly postpone and then completely abandon its aggressive intentions towards the USSR.
The situation in the Far East during the Second World War
Despite the fact that hostilities in the Far East never began, the USSR was forced throughout the war to maintain a large military group in this region, the size of which was different periods varied. Until 1945, the Kwantung Army was located on the border, which included up to 1 million military personnel. The local population also prepared for defense: men were mobilized into the army, women and teenagers studied air defense methods. Fortifications were built around strategically important objects.
The Japanese leadership believed that the Germans would be able to capture Moscow before the end of 1941. In this regard, it was planned to launch an attack on the Soviet Union in the winter. On December 3, the Japanese command gave the order to the troops located in China to prepare for transfer to the northern direction. The Japanese were planning to invade the USSR in the Ussuri region and then launch an offensive in the north. For implementation approved plan it was necessary to strengthen the Kwantung Army. Troops freed after fighting in the Pacific Ocean were sent to the Northern Front.
However, the Japanese government's hopes for a quick German victory were not realized. The failure of the blitzkrieg tactics and the defeat of the Wehrmacht armies near Moscow indicated that the Soviet Union was a fairly strong adversary whose power should not be underestimated.
The threat of Japanese invasion intensified in the fall of 1942. Troops Nazi Germany attacked the Caucasus and Volga. The Soviet command hastily transferred 14 rifle divisions and more than 1.5 thousand guns to the front. Far East. Just at this time, Japan was not actively fighting in the Pacific. However, the Commander-in-Chief's Headquarters foresaw the possibility of a Japanese attack. The Far Eastern troops were replenished from local reserves. This fact became known to Japanese intelligence. The Japanese government again delayed entry into the war.
The Japanese attacked merchant ships in international waters, preventing the delivery of goods to Far Eastern ports, repeatedly violated state borders, committed sabotage on Soviet territory, and sent propaganda literature across the border. Japanese intelligence collected information about the movements of Soviet troops and transmitted them to Wehrmacht headquarters. Among the reasons for the USSR's entry into the Japanese War in 1945 were not only obligations to its allies, but also concern for the security of its borders.
Already in the second half of 1943, when the turning point in the Second World War ended, it became clear that after Italy, which had already emerged from the war, Germany and Japan would also be defeated. The Soviet command, foreseeing a future war in the Far East, from that time on almost never used Far Eastern troops on the Western Front. Gradually these units of the Red Army were replenished military equipment and manpower. In August 1943, the Primorsky Group of Forces was created as part of the Far Eastern Front, which indicated preparations for a future war.
At the Yalta Conference, held in February 1945, the Soviet Union confirmed that the agreement between Moscow and the allies on participation in the war with Japan remained in force. The Red Army was supposed to begin military operations against Japan no later than 3 months after the end of the war in Europe. In return, J.V. Stalin demanded territorial concessions for the USSR: the transfer to Russia of the Kuril Islands and part of the island of Sakhalin assigned to Japan as a result of the 1905 war, the lease of the Chinese port of Port Arthur (on modern maps- Lushun). The Dalniy commercial port was supposed to become an open port with the interests of the USSR primarily respected.
By this time, the Armed Forces of the United States and Great Britain had inflicted a number of defeats on Japan. However, her resistance was not broken. The demand of the USA, China and Great Britain for unconditional surrender, presented on July 26, was rejected by Japan. This decision was not unreasonable. The USA and Great Britain did not have sufficient forces to conduct an amphibious operation in the Far East. According to the plans of American and British leaders, the final defeat of Japan was envisaged no earlier than 1946. The Soviet Union, by entering the war with Japan, significantly brought the end of World War II closer.
Strengths and plans of the parties
The Soviet-Japanese War or the Manchurian Operation began on August 9, 1945. The Red Army was faced with the task of defeating Japanese troops in China and North Korea.
Back in May 1945, the USSR began transferring troops to the Far East. 3 fronts were formed: 1st and 2nd Far Eastern and Transbaikal. The Soviet Union used border troops, the Amur military flotilla and ships of the Pacific Fleet in the offensive.
The Kwantung Army included 11 infantry and 2 tank brigades, more than 30 infantry divisions, cavalry and mechanized units, a suicide brigade, and the Sungari River Flotilla. The most significant forces were stationed in the eastern regions of Manchuria, bordering Soviet Primorye. IN western regions The Japanese deployed 6 infantry divisions and 1 brigade. The number of enemy soldiers exceeded 1 million, but more than half of the fighters were conscripts younger ages and of limited use. Many Japanese units were understaffed. Also, the newly created units lacked weapons, ammunition, artillery, etc. military equipment. Japanese units and formations used outdated tanks and aircraft.
The troops of Manchukuo, the army of Inner Mongolia and the Suiyuan Army Group fought on the side of Japan. In the border areas, the enemy built 17 fortified areas. The command of the Kwantung Army was carried out by General Otsuzo Yamada.
The plan of the Soviet command provided for the delivery of two main strikes by the forces of the 1st Far Eastern and Transbaikal Fronts, as a result of which the main enemy forces in the center of Manchuria would be captured in a pincer movement, divided into parts and destroyed. The troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front, consisting of 11 rifle divisions, 4 rifle and 9 tank brigades, in cooperation with the Amur Military Flotilla, were supposed to strike in the direction of Harbin. Then the Red Army was supposed to occupy large populated areas - Shenyang, Harbin, Changchun. The fighting took place over an area of more than 2.5 thousand km. according to the area map.
Start of hostilities
Simultaneously with the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops, aviation bombed areas of large troop concentrations, strategically significant objects and communications centers. Pacific Fleet ships attacked Japanese naval bases in North Korea. The offensive was led by the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East, A. M. Vasilevsky.
As a result of the military operations of the troops of the Trans-Baikal Front, which, having crossed the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Mountains on the first day of the offensive, advanced 50 km, significant groups of enemy troops were defeated. The offensive became difficult natural conditions terrain. There was not enough fuel for the tanks, but the Red Army units used the experience of the Germans - the supply of fuel by transport aircraft was organized. On August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army reached the approaches to the capital of Manchuria. Soviet troops isolated the Kwantung Army from Japanese units in Northern China and occupied important administrative centers.
The Soviet group of troops, advancing from Primorye, broke through the strip of border fortifications. In the Mudanjiang area, the Japanese launched a series of counterattacks, which were repulsed. Soviet units occupied Girin and Harbin, and, with the assistance of the Pacific Fleet, liberated the coast, capturing strategically significant ports.
Then the Red Army liberated North Korea, and from mid-August the fighting took place on Chinese territory. On August 14, the Japanese command initiated negotiations on surrender. On August 19, enemy troops began to surrender en masse. However, hostilities during World War II continued until early September.
Simultaneously with the defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, Soviet troops carried out the South Sakhalin offensive operation and landed troops on the Kuril Islands. During the operation in the Kuril Islands on August 18-23, Soviet troops, with the support of ships of the Peter and Paul Naval Base, captured the island of Samusyu and occupied all the islands of the Kuril ridge by September 1.
Results
Due to the defeat of the Kwantung Army on the continent, Japan could no longer continue the war. The enemy lost important economic regions in Manchuria and Korea. The Americans carried out atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and captured the island of Okinawa. On September 2, the act of surrender was signed.
The USSR included territories lost Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century: South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. In 1956, the USSR restored relations with Japan and agreed to the transfer of Habomai Islands and Shikotan Islands to Japan, subject to the conclusion of a Peace Treaty between the countries. But Japan has not come to terms with its territorial losses and negotiations on the ownership of the disputed regions are still ongoing.
For military merits, more than 200 units received the titles “Amur”, “Ussuri”, “Khingan”, “Harbin”, etc. 92 military personnel became Heroes of the Soviet Union.
As a result of the operation, the losses of the warring countries were:
- from the USSR - about 36.5 thousand military personnel,
- on the Japanese side - more than 1 million soldiers and officers.
Also, during the battles, all the ships of the Sungari flotilla were sunk - more than 50 ships.
Medal "For Victory over Japan"
Ilya Kramnik, military observer for RIA Novosti.
The war between the USSR and Japan in 1945, which became the last major campaign of the Second World War, lasted less than a month - from August 9 to September 2, 1945, but this month became key in the history of the Far East and the entire Asia-Pacific region, ending and, conversely, initiating many historical processes lasting decades.
Background
The prerequisites for the Soviet-Japanese War arose exactly on the day when the Russian-Japanese War ended - on the day the Portsmouth Peace was signed on September 5, 1905. Russia's territorial losses were insignificant - the Liaodong Peninsula leased from China and the southern part of Sakhalin Island. Much more significant was the loss of influence in the world as a whole and in the Far East, in particular caused by the unsuccessful war on land and the death of most of the fleet at sea. The feeling of national humiliation was also very strong.
Japan became the dominant Far Eastern power; it exploited marine resources practically uncontrollably, including in Russian territorial waters, where it carried out predatory fishing, crab fishing, sea animals, etc.
This situation intensified during the revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War, when Japan actually occupied the Russian Far East for several years, and left the region with great reluctance under pressure from the United States and Great Britain, who feared the excessive strengthening of yesterday’s ally in the First World War.
At the same time, there was a process of strengthening Japan's position in China, which was also weakened and fragmented. The reverse process that began in the 1920s - the strengthening of the USSR, which was recovering from military and revolutionary upheavals - quite quickly led to the development of relations between Tokyo and Moscow that could easily be described as a “Cold War”. The Far East has long become an arena of military confrontation and local conflicts. By the end of the 1930s, tensions reached a peak, and this period was marked by the two largest clashes of this period between the USSR and Japan - the conflict on Lake Khasan in 1938 and on the Khalkhin Gol River in 1939.
Fragile neutrality
Having suffered quite serious losses and having become convinced of the power of the Red Army, Japan chose on April 13, 1941 to conclude a neutrality pact with the USSR and give itself a free hand for the war in the Pacific Ocean.
This pact was necessary and Soviet Union. At that time, it became obvious that the “naval lobby,” which was pushing the southern direction of the war, was playing an increasingly important role in Japanese policy. The army's position, on the other hand, was weakened by disappointing defeats. The likelihood of war with Japan was not assessed very highly, while the conflict with Germany was getting closer every day.
For Germany itself, Japan’s partner in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which saw Japan as its main ally and future partner in the New World Order, the agreement between Moscow and Tokyo was a serious slap in the face, and caused complications in relations between Berlin and Tokyo. Tokyo, however, pointed out to the Germans that there was a similar neutrality pact between Moscow and Berlin.
The two main aggressors of World War II could not agree, and each led his own main war- Germany against the USSR in Europe, Japan - against the USA and Great Britain in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, Germany declared war on the United States on the day of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, but Japan did not declare war on the USSR, as the Germans hoped for.
However, relations between the USSR and Japan could hardly be called good - Japan constantly violated the signed pact, detaining Soviet ships at sea, periodically allowing attacks on Soviet military and civilian ships, violating the border on land, etc.
It was obvious that for neither side the signed document was valuable for any long period of time, and war was only a matter of time. However, since 1942, the situation gradually began to change: the turning point in the war forced Japan to abandon long-term plans for a war against the USSR, and at the same time, the Soviet Union began to more and more carefully consider plans for the return of territories lost during the Russo-Japanese War.
By 1945, when the situation became critical, Japan tried to begin negotiations with Western allies, using the USSR as an intermediary, but this did not bring success.
During the Yalta Conference, the USSR announced a commitment to start a war against Japan within 2-3 months after the end of the war against Germany. The intervention of the USSR was seen by the allies as necessary: the defeat of Japan required the defeat of its ground forces, which for the most part had not yet been affected by the war, and the allies feared that a landing on the Japanese islands would cost them great casualties.
Japan, with the neutrality of the USSR, could count on the continuation of the war and the reinforcement of the forces of the metropolis at the expense of resources and troops stationed in Manchuria and Korea, communications with which continued, despite all attempts to interrupt it.
The declaration of war by the Soviet Union finally destroyed these hopes. On August 9, 1945, speaking at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for War Direction, Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki stated:
“The entry of the Soviet Union into the war this morning puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war further.”
It should be noted that nuclear bombing in this case became only an additional reason for an early exit from the war, but not main reason. Suffice it to say that the massive bombing of Tokyo in the spring of 1945, which resulted in approximately the same number of casualties as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, did not lead Japan to thoughts of surrender. And only the entry of the USSR into the war against the backdrop of nuclear bombings forced the leadership of the Empire to admit the pointlessness of continuing the war.
"August Storm"
The war itself, which in the West was nicknamed the “August Storm,” was swift. Having extensive experience in combat against the Germans, Soviet troops broke through the Japanese defenses with a series of quick and decisive strikes and began an offensive deep into Manchuria. Tank units successfully advanced in seemingly unsuitable conditions - through the sands of the Gobi and the Khingan ridges, but the military machine, fine-tuned over four years of war with the most formidable enemy, practically did not fail.
As a result, by August 17, the 6th Guards Tank Army had advanced several hundred kilometers - and about one hundred and fifty kilometers remained to the capital of Manchuria, the city of Xinjing. By this time, the First Far Eastern Front had broken the Japanese resistance in the east of Manchuria, occupying the largest city in that region - Mudanjiang. In a number of areas deep in the defense, Soviet troops had to overcome fierce enemy resistance. In the zone of the 5th Army, it was exerted with particular force in the Mudanjiang region. There were cases of stubborn enemy resistance in the zones of the Transbaikal and 2nd Far Eastern fronts. The Japanese army also launched repeated counterattacks. On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo, Pu Yi (formerly the last Emperor of China).
On August 14, the Japanese command made a proposal to conclude a truce. But virtually military operations on the Japanese side did not stop. Only three days later the Kwantung Army received an order from its command to surrender, which began on August 20. But it did not reach everyone right away, and in some places the Japanese acted contrary to orders.
On August 18, the Kuril landing operation was launched, during which Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands. On the same day, August 18, the commander-in-chief of Soviet troops in the Far East, Marshal Vasilevsky, gave the order to occupy the Japanese island of Hokkaido with the forces of two rifle divisions. This landing was not carried out due to the delay in the advance of Soviet troops in South Sakhalin, and was then postponed until instructions from Headquarters.
Soviet troops occupied the southern part of Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Manchuria and part of Korea. The main fighting on the continent lasted 12 days, until August 20. However, individual battles continued until September 10, which became the day the complete surrender and capture of the Kwantung Army ended. The fighting on the islands completely ended on September 5.
The Japanese surrender was signed on September 2, 1945, aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely destroyed. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were captured. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.
As a result of the war, the USSR actually returned to its territory the territories lost by Russia earlier (southern Sakhalin and, temporarily, Kwantung with Port Arthur and Dalny, later transferred to China), as well as the Kuril Islands, the ownership of the southern part of which is still disputed by Japan.
According to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Japan renounced any claims to Sakhalin (Karafuto) and the Kuril Islands (Chishima Retto). But the agreement did not determine the ownership of the islands and the USSR did not sign it.
Negotiations on the southern part of the Kuril Islands are still ongoing, and there are no prospects for a quick resolution of the issue.
On August 9, 1945, the Manchurian Operation (Battle of Manchuria) began. It was strategic offensive Soviet troops, which was carried out with the aim of defeating the Japanese Kwantung Army (its existence was a threat to the Soviet Far East and Siberia), liberating the Chinese northeastern and northern provinces (Manchuria and Inner Mongolia), the Liaodong and Korean Peninsulas, eliminating the largest military bridgehead and military -Japan's economic base in Asia. By carrying out this operation, Moscow fulfilled the agreements with its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. The operation ended with the defeat of the Kwantung Army, the surrender of the Japanese Empire, and marked the end of World War II (Japan's act of surrender was signed on September 2, 1945).
Fourth War with Japan
Throughout 1941-1945. The Red Empire was forced to keep at least 40 divisions on its eastern borders. Even during the most brutal battles and critical situations of 1941-1942. In the Far East there was a powerful Soviet group, in full readiness to repel the blow of the Japanese military machine. The existence of this group of troops became the main factor that restrained the onset of Japanese aggression against the USSR. Tokyo chose the southern direction for its expansionist plans. However, as long as the second source of war and aggression – imperial Japan – continued to exist in the Asia-Pacific region, Moscow could not consider security on its eastern borders guaranteed. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the “revenge” factor. Stalin consistently pursued a global policy aimed at restoring Russia's position in the world, and defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. damaged our positions in the region. It was necessary to return the lost territories, the naval base in Port Arthur and restore its positions in the Pacific region.
The defeat of Nazi Germany and the unconditional surrender of its armed forces in May 1945, as well as the successes of Western coalition forces in the Pacific theater of operations, forced the Japanese government to begin preparations for defense.
On July 26, the Soviet Union, the United States and China demanded that Tokyo sign unconditional surrender. This demand was rejected. On August 8, Moscow announced that from the next day it would consider itself in a state of war with the Japanese Empire. By that time, the Soviet high command deployed troops transferred from Europe to the border with Manchuria (where the puppet state of Manchukuo existed). Soviet army was supposed to defeat Japan's main strike force in the region - the Kwantung Army - and liberate Manchuria and Korea from the occupiers. The destruction of the Kwantung Army and the loss of the northeastern provinces of China and the Korean Peninsula were supposed to have a decisive impact on accelerating the surrender of Japan and hasten the defeat of Japanese forces in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
By the beginning of the offensive of the Soviet troops, the total number of Japanese forces located in Northern China, Korea, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands amounted to 1.2 million people, about 1.2 thousand tanks, 6.2 thousand guns and mortars and up to 1.9 thousand aircraft. In addition, Japanese troops and the forces of their allies - the Manchukuo Army and the Mengjiang Army - relied on 17 fortified areas. The Kwantung Army was commanded by General Otozo Yamada. To destroy the Japanese army in May-June 1941, the Soviet command additionally transferred 27 rifle divisions, 7 separate rifle and tank brigades, 1 tank and 2 mechanized corps to the 40 divisions that existed in the Far East. As a result of these measures, the combat strength of the Soviet army in the Far East almost doubled, amounting to more than 1.5 million bayonets, over 5.5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 26 thousand guns and mortars, and about 3.8 thousand aircraft. In addition, more than 500 ships and vessels of the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla took part in the hostilities against the Japanese army.
By the decision of the GKO, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops in the Far East, which included three front-line formations - Transbaikal (under the command of Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky), 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts (commanded by Marshal Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov and Army General Maxim Alekseevich Purkaev) , Marshal Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky was appointed. The fighting on the Eastern Front began on August 9, 1945 with a simultaneous attack by troops from all three Soviet fronts.
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US Air Force dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, although they did not have important military significance. These attacks killed 114 thousand people. The first nuclear bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. It suffered terrible destruction, and out of 306 thousand inhabitants, more than 90 thousand died. In addition, tens of thousands of Japanese died later due to wounds, burns, and radiation exposure. The West carried out this attack not only with the aim of demoralizing the Japanese military-political leadership, but also to demonstrate to the Soviet Union. The USA wanted to show the terrible effect of weapons with the help of which they wanted to blackmail the whole world.
The main forces of the Transbaikal Front under the command of Malinovsky struck from the direction of Transbaikalia from the territory of the Mongolian People's Republic (Mongolia was our ally) in the general direction of Changchun and Mukden. The troops of the Transbaikal Front had to break through to the central regions of Northeast China, overcome the waterless steppe, and then pass the Khingan mountains. Troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front under the command of Meretskov advanced from Primorye in the direction of Girin. This front was supposed to connect with the main group of the Transbaikal Front in the shortest direction. The 2nd Far Eastern Front, led by Purkaev, launched an offensive from the Amur region. His troops had the task of pinning down the enemy forces opposing him with strikes in a number of directions, thereby assisting units of the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern Fronts (they were supposed to encircle the main forces of the Kwantung Army). Air force strikes and amphibious landings from ships of the Pacific Fleet were supposed to support the actions of strike groups of ground forces.
Thus, Japanese and allied troops were attacked on land, from sea and air along the entire huge 5,000-strong section of the border with Manchuria and to the coast of North Korea. By the end of August 14, 1945, the Transbaikal and 1st Far Eastern fronts had advanced 150-500 km deep into northeastern China and reached the main military-political and industrial centers of Manchuria. On the same day, in the face of imminent military defeat, the Japanese government signed a surrender. But the Japanese troops continued to offer fierce resistance, because, despite the decision of the Japanese emperor to surrender, the order to the command of the Kwantung Army to stop hostilities was never given. Particular danger was posed by sabotage groups of suicide bombers who tried to destroy at the cost of their lives Soviet officers, blow yourself up in a group of soldiers or near armored vehicles or trucks. Only on August 19 did Japanese troops stop resisting and begin to lay down their arms.
At the same time, an operation was underway to liberate the Korean Peninsula, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (they fought until September 1). By the end of August 1945, Soviet troops completed the disarmament of the Kwantung Army and the forces of the vassal state of Manchukuo, as well as the liberation of Northeast China, the Liaodong Peninsula and North Korea to the 38th parallel. On September 2, the Empire of Japan unconditionally surrendered. This event took place on board the American ship Missouri, in the waters of Tokyo Bay.
Based on the results of the fourth Russo-Japanese War Japan returned South Sakhalin to the USSR. The Kuril Islands also went to the Soviet Union. Japan itself was occupied by American troops, who continue to be based in this state to this day. From May 3, 1946 to November 12, 1948, the Tokyo Trial took place. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convicted the main Japanese war criminals (28 people in total). The international tribunal sentenced 7 people to death penalty, 16 defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, the rest received 7 years in prison.
Lieutenant General K.N. Derevianko, on behalf of the USSR, signs the Instrument of Surrender of Japan on board the American battleship Missouri.
The defeat of Japan led to the disappearance of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the restoration of Chinese power in Manchuria, and the liberation of the Korean people. Helped the USSR and the Chinese communists. Units of the 8th Chinese People's Liberation Army entered Manchuria. The Soviet army handed over the weapons of the defeated Kwantung Army to the Chinese. In Manchuria, under the leadership of the communists, government bodies were created and military units were formed. As a result, Northeast China became the base of the Chinese Communist Party, and it played a decisive role in the Communist victory over the Kuomintang and Chiang Kai-shek's regime.
Additionally, news of Japan's defeat and surrender led to the August Revolution in Vietnam, which broke out at the call of the Communist Party and the Viet Minh League. The liberation uprising was led by the National Committee for the Liberation of Vietnam under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh. Liberation Army Vietnam, whose numbers increased more than 10 times in a few days, disarmed Japanese units, dispersed the occupation administration and established new authorities. On August 24, 1945, Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai abdicated the throne. Supreme power in the country passed to the National Liberation Committee, which began to carry out the functions of the Provisional Government. On September 2, 1945, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh proclaimed the “Declaration of Independence of Vietnam.”
The defeat of the Japanese Empire sparked a powerful anti-colonial movement in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, on August 17, 1945, the independence preparation committee headed by Sukarno declared the independence of Indonesia. Ahmed Sukarno became the first president of the new independent state. Huge India was also moving towards independence, where the leaders of the people were Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, released from prison.
Soviet marines in Port Arthur.
