Soviet–Japanese border conflicts
Soviet–Japanese border conflicts | |||||||
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Part of the interwar period (until 1939) and World War II | |||||||
Japanese light tanks during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Soviet Union Mongolia |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Michitaro Komatsubara | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Total: 33,000 casualties (including 27,000 combat casualties) 32,0001,000 Material losses: 350 tanks destroyed 140 armoured cars destroyed 211 aircraft destroyed |
Total: 30,000 casualties (including 25,000 combat casualties and 5,000 non-combat casualties) 27,0003,000 Material losses: 43 tanks destroyed several tankettes destroyed 162 aircraft destroyed |
The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts,
The
The Soviet–Japanese border conflicts heavily contributed to the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941.
Names of the war and Prelude from 1904–1932
The name Soviet-Japanese Border Conflicts or Soviet-Japanese Border Wars possibly came from
Minor clashes between the Russians and Japanese
1935 Incidents
In early 1935 around January or February, the first shooting
In June 1935, the Japanese and Soviets directly exchanged fire for the first time when an 11-man Japanese patrol west of Lake Khanka was attacked by 6 Soviet horsemen, supposedly inside Manchukuo territory. In the ensuing firefight, one Soviet soldier was killed, and two horses were captured. While the Japanese asked the Soviets for a joint investigation of the issue, the Soviets rejected the request.
In October 1935, 9 Japanese and 32 Manchukuoan border guards were engaged in setting up a post, about 20 kilometers north of
On 19 December 1935, a Manchukuoan army unit engaging in a
1936 border incidents
In February 1936, Lieutenant-Colonel Sugimoto Yasuo was ordered to form a detachment from the 14th Cavalry Regiment and, in the words of Lieutenant-General Kasai Heijuro, "out the
In March 1936, the
Later in March 1936, there was another border clash, this time between the Japanese and the Soviets. Reports of border violations led the Japanese Korean Army to send ten men by truck to investigate, but this party itself was ambushed by 20 Soviet NKVD soldiers deployed at a point 300 meters inside the territory claimed by the Japanese. After incurring several casualties, the Japanese patrol withdrew, and brought up 100 men within hours as reinforcements, who then drove off the Soviets. However, fighting erupted later in the day when the NKVD also brought reinforcements. By nightfall, the fighting had stopped and both sides had pulled back. The Soviets agreed to return the bodies of two Japanese soldiers who died in the fighting, which was seen as encouraging by the Japanese government.[10]
In early April 1936, three Japanese soldiers were killed near Suifenho, in one of many minor and barely documented affrays. However, this incident was notable in that the Soviets again returned the bodies of the dead servicemen.
1937
Kanchazu Island incident
In June 1937, the
Soviet involvement in China 1937-1941 during the 2nd Sino-Japanese War
In July 1937, the Japanese invaded
Battle of Lake Khasan 1938-1939
The Battle of Lake Khasan (July 29, 1938 – August 11, 1938), also known as the "Changkufeng Incident" (
Major conflicts of 1939
The conflict between the Soviet Union and Japan in 1939 is referred to by some historians as the "Forgotten Soviet-Japanese War."[14][15] It had a lasting and significant impact on Japanese strategic decisions in World War II.
Battles of Khalkhin Gol
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, sometimes spelled Halhin Gol or Khalkin Gol after the
- The initial Japanese attack in July (July 2–25), intended to wipe out the materially and numerically superior Soviets. The Soviets suffered very heavy losses compared to the Japanese and minor gains were made by the Japanese, but stubborn resistance and an armored counter-blow stalled the Japanese attack. It drifted into a stalemate with skirmishing.
- The failed Soviet probing attacks in early August (August 7/8 and August 20) which were thrown back with no gains and considerable casualties. In the intermediate period between these three phases, the Soviets built up their forces, while the Japanese were forbidden from doing so for fear of escalating the conflict.
- The successful Soviet counteroffensive in late August at Nomonhan with a fully built-up force that encircled the remains of the 23rd Division and by August 31 had destroyed all Japanese forces on the Soviet side of the river.[14]
In this engagement the Soviets and Mongolians defeated the Japanese, and expelled them from Mongolia. The Soviet Union and Japan agreed to a cease-fire on 15 September, which took effect the following day. Free from a threat in the
Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact of 1941-1945
After the Japanese defeat at Khalkhin Gol, Japan and the Soviet Union signed the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact on 13 April 1941, which was similar to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the Germans and the Soviet Union of August 1939.[16][17][18] Later in 1941, Japan considered breaking the pact when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa but they made the crucial decision to keep it and to continue to press into Southeast Asia instead after the Japanese Attacked on Pearl Harbor . This was said to be largely due to the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. The defeat there caused Japan not to join forces with Germany against the Soviet Union, even though Japan and Germany were part of the Tripartite Pact. On April 5, 1945, the Soviet Union unilaterally denounced the neutrality pact, noting that it would not renew the treaty when it expired on April 13, 1946. Four months later, prior to the expiration of the neutrality pact and between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, completely surprising the Japanese. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria was launched in 1945 one hour after the declaration of war on Japan .
Portrayal in media/movies
The fighting early in World War II between Japan and the Soviet Union plays a key part in the South Korean film My Way, in which Japanese soldiers (including Koreans in Japanese service) fight and are captured by the Soviets and forced to fight for them.
In the Japanese novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami the story frequently involves analepsis of the Japanese involvement in North China during the 1931-1948 period including the Soviet–Japanese border conflicts. Two side characters in the novel Lieutenant Mamiya and Mr Honda who served in the Kwantung army were severely mentally and physically affected by a (fictional) failed raid into the Mongolian People's Republic and the following battle of the Battles of Khalkhin Gol. The novel explains these events in detail, particularly the failed raid, and it arguably plays a very important role in the larger story.[19]
See also
- Chinese Eastern Railway and the South Manchuria Railway
- Kantokuen
- Mongolia in World War II
- Russo-Japanese War
- Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)
- Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang
- Soviet–Japanese War
- Sino-Soviet border conflict
References
- ^ (romanized: Russian: Советско-Японские Пограничные Конфликты/Mongolian : Зовлолт-Японы Хилийн Морголдоонууд/Japanese: 日ソ国境戦争/Korean: 소련-일본국경분쟁
- ^ Coox, pp. 93–94
- ^ Coox, p. 93
- ^ Coox, p. 149
- ^ Charles Otterstedt, Kwantung Army and the Nomonhan Incident: Its Impact on National security
- ^ Coox, p, 149-150
- ^ a b Coox, p. 94
- ^ a b Coox, p. 152
- ^ Coox, pp. 156–157
- ^ Coox, p. 95
- ^ a b Coox, p. 109
- ^ Coox, p. 120
- ^ General-Lieutenant G.F.KRIVOSHEYEV (1993). "SOVIET ARMED FORCES LOSSES IN WARS, COMBAT OPERATIONS MILITARY CONFLICTS" (PDF). MOSCOW MILITARY PUBLISHING HOUSE. pp. 68–69. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
- ^ a b c The Forgotten Soviet-Japanese War of 1939: From May to September 1939, the USSR and Japan fought an undeclared war involving over 100,000 troops. It may have altered world history. By Stuart D. Goldman, August 28, 2012.
- ^ Khalkhin-Gol: The Forgotten War. by Amnon Sella, Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 18, No. 4, Military History (Oct., 1983), pp. 651-687 (37 pages) Published By: Sage Publications, Inc.
- ^ "Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact April 13, 1941: Declaration Regarding Mongolia". Yale Law School. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
In conformity with the spirit of the Pact on neutrality concluded on April 13, 1941, between the U.S.S.R. and Japan, the Government of the U.S.S.R. and the Government of Japan, in the interest of insuring peaceful and friendly relations between the two countries, solemnly declare that the U.S.S.R. pledges to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of Manchoukuo and Japan pledges to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Mongolian People's Republic.
- ^ Japan Strikes North: How the Battle of Khalkhin Gol Transformed WWII, By Joseph Micallef, 27 Aug 2019.
- ^ War in the East: How Khalkhin-Gol changed the course of WWII MAY 07 2013, by RAKESH KRISHNAN SIMHA.
- ^ Sellers, Bridget, "Down the Well: Embedded Narratives and Japanese War Memory in Haruki Murakami" (2017). Chancellor's Honors Program Projects. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_chanhonoproj/2103
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8047-1835-6.
- Walg, A. J. (March–April 1997). "Wings over the Steppe: Aerial Warfare in Mongolia 1930–1945, Part Three". ISSN 0143-5450.