In what year did the Soviet-Japanese War take place? Soviet-Japanese War: fighting in the Far East

The promise had to be kept

Everything in Russia more people deny the validity of the Neutrality Pact between the USSR and Japan (1941) and justify the military actions of the Soviet Union against Japan after the end of World War II, which gave rise to the problem of the “northern territories” and the tragedy of the Siberian prisoners of war. Retired KGB Colonel Alexei Kirichenko, who revealed the truth about the problem of Soviet arrests, emphasized in an interview with our newspaper that this point of view is erroneous.

Ryosuke Endo: On April 5, 1945, the USSR informed Japan that it would not renew the Neutrality Pact. Because of this, many argue that war against Japan is not a problem.

Alexey Kirichenko: USSR Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov told Japanese Ambassador Naotake Sato that he did not intend to renew the pact. However, the experienced ambassador got Molotov to recognize that it was valid until April 25, 1946. Then Stalin “corrected” this agreement and attacked Japan, but the agreement between the foreign ministers should not have been violated.
Asahi Shimbun 08/23/2016

He went through Siberian camps

Mainichi Shimbun 08/15/2016
— Recently, one Japanese specialist cited the words of the Japanese military, voiced in 1941, as well as the theory of the movement to the north of Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka. This specialist argues that Japan did not intend to comply with the neutrality pact.

— Thoughts about war are the work of the military. There were people in the Navy and Army who opposed the war with the USSR. Matsuoka's views did not coincide with those of the government. In July of the same year it was changed. It doesn't matter who had what plans.

- Some also claim that Soviet Far Eastern forces deterred Japan from attacking.

— In fact, in the fall of 1941, Japan transferred part of the Kwantung Army to south direction, quickly concentrating there military power. In September, the USSR understood that Japan would not be able to start a war with such a composition. At the end of October, Stalin held a meeting with Far Eastern military leaders and the leadership of the Communist Party, during which it was decided to transfer Far Eastern units to the west (to fight the Nazis). They were confident that Japan would not attack. On November 7, 1941, Far Eastern forces took part in a parade on Red Square and headed west to participate in the war. Thanks to this, an attack on Moscow was avoided. In the period from 1941 to 1943, the well-trained and armed 42nd Division was completely transferred from the Far East to the west.

— From Manchuria, forays into the territory of the USSR were often made. Some believe that they were a manifestation of Japanese intentions to attack the USSR.

— After the conflict on the Khalkhin Gol River (1939), Japan carefully ensured not to violate Soviet borders. The fact is that at the height of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan could not conduct fighting in two directions. At the same time, the Kwantung Army arrested Soviet deserters and intelligence officers, so it seems to me that the border violations were most likely on the part of the USSR.

— How did the USSR decide to attack Japan?

— I believe that in the first half of the war, the Neutrality Pact was extremely beneficial to both the USSR and Japan. However, after Battle of Stalingrad(1942 - 1943) The USSR realized its own strength and began preparing for war with Japan. The Defense Committee decided to build a railway from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Sovetskaya Gavan in preparation for an attack on Japan. Construction was completed a few days before the scheduled date of August 1, 1945.

— Also, many argue that the Second World War ended not thanks to the atomic bombing, but precisely thanks to the actions of the USSR. Thus they justify the attack on Japan.

— If you analyze the situation in Manchuria, it becomes clear that there were only 380 aircraft with a one-way fuel supply. By mid-August, most of them had returned to Japan. The Soviet side had more than five thousand aircraft, but there were practically no air battles. There were also very few tanks in Manchuria. The reality is that Japan was completely weakened.

— Why don’t you hide your point of view, which differs from the official version?

— I began to study Japan as an enemy of the USSR. Nevertheless, having become thoroughly familiar with Japanese reality, I realized that the USSR and then Russia made many mistakes. These mistakes affected the current Russian-Japanese relations. Of course, Japan — far from an angel. I believe there is value in avoiding tragedies and difficulties in the future.

Soviet attack on Japan: August 9, 1945 Soviet troops attacked Japan, violating the Neutrality Pact. They invaded Manchuria and Sakhalin. The USSR continued to fight after Japan signed the Potsdam Agreement and the end of the war was declared on August 15. Soviet troops captured the four northern islands on September 5, although Japan signed a surrender on September 2. The USSR interned about 600 thousand unarmed Japanese soldiers. More than 60 thousand people became victims of Siberian imprisonment.

Alexey Kirichenko - former colonel KGB. Employee of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Born in Belarus in 1936. In 1964 he graduated from the KGB Higher School and worked in the second department in the Japanese direction. In the 80s, he became an employee of the institute and began studying the issue of Japanese prisoners of war. I tried to get to the bottom of the Russian-Japanese problems. Among the works — "Unknown moments of 200 years of Japanese-Russian relations."

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

On August 9, 1945, the Manchurian Operation (Battle of Manchuria) began. This was a strategic offensive operation of the 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, and liquidating Japan's largest military base and military-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 repel the Japanese attack war 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.

26 July Soviet Union, the United States and China demanded that Tokyo sign an 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 Southern Sakhalin and 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 had no military significance. These attacks killed 114 thousand people. First nuclear bomb the city of Hiroshima was overthrown. 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 a terrible action 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 Trans-Baikal Front had to break into central regions 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 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. Particularly dangerous were suicide sabotage groups who tried to destroy Soviet officers at the cost of their lives, or blow themselves up in a group of soldiers or near armored vehicles and trucks. Only on August 19 did Japanese troops stop resisting and begin to lay down their arms.

Japanese soldiers hand over their weapons to a Soviet officer.

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.

Following 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, 16 defendants 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, authorities were created and military units were formed. As a result, Northeast China became the base of the Chinese Communist Party, and it played decisive role in the communist victory over the Kuomintang and the Chiang Kai-shek 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. The Vietnam Liberation Army, 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.

In August–September 1945, the Far Eastern Front in its entirety took part in the military campaign of the Soviet Armed Forces to defeat the most powerful group of Japanese ground forces in Manchuria, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

Prerequisites and preparation for war

The surrender of Nazi Germany sharply worsened the military-political situation of Hitler's eastern partner. In addition, the USA and England had superiority in forces at sea, and reached the closest approaches to the Japanese metropolis. And yet, Japan was not going to lay down its arms and rejected the ultimatum of the United States, England and China to surrender.

Meeting the persistent proposals of the American-British side, the Soviet delegation agreed to enter the war against militaristic Japan after the defeat of Nazi Germany was completed. At the Crimean Conference of the Three Allied Powers in February 1945, the date for the USSR's entry into the war was clarified - three months after the surrender of Nazi Germany. After which preparations began for a military campaign in the Far East.

To fulfill the strategic plan, the Soviet Supreme High Command deployed three fronts: Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern. The Pacific Fleet, the Red Banner Amur Military Flotilla, border troops and air defense troops. Over three months, the number of personnel of the entire group increased from 1,185 thousand to 1,747 thousand people. The arriving troops were armed with over 600 rocket launchers, 900 heavy and medium tanks and self-propelled guns.

The group of Japanese and puppet troops consisted of three fronts, a separate army, part of the forces of the 5th Front, as well as several separate regiments, a military river flotilla and two air armies. Its basis was the Kwantung Army, which consisted of 24 infantry divisions, 9 mixed brigades, 2 tank brigades and a suicide brigade. The total number of enemy troops exceeded 1 million people, they were armed with 1215 tanks, 6640 guns and mortars, 26 ships and 1907 combat aircraft.

The State Defense Committee created the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East for the strategic management of military operations. Marshal of the Soviet Union A. M. Vasilevsky was appointed commander-in-chief, Lieutenant General I. V. Shikin was appointed member of the Military Council, and Colonel General S. P. Ivanov was appointed chief of staff.

On August 8, 1945, the Soviet government published a Statement stating that as of August 9, the Soviet Union would consider itself at war with Japan.

Start of the war

On the night of August 9, all units and formations received a Statement from the Soviet Government, appeals from the military councils of the fronts and armies, and combat orders to go on the offensive.

The military campaign included the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Offensive Operation and the Kuril Landing Operation.

Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation - Main component war - was carried out by the forces of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Military Flotilla. The plan, described as a "strategic pincer", was simple in concept but grandiose in scope. It was planned to encircle the enemy over a total area of ​​1.5 million square kilometers.

Aviation carried out strikes on military installations, troop concentration areas, communication centers and communications of the enemy in the border zone. The Pacific Fleet cut communications connecting Korea and Manchuria with Japan. The troops of the Transbaikal Front overcame the waterless desert-steppe regions and the Greater Khingan mountain range and defeated the enemy in the Kalgan, Solunsky and Hailar directions and on August 18–19 reached the approaches to the most important industrial and administrative centers of Manchuria.

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union K. A. Meretskov broke through the enemy’s border fortified areas, repelled strong counterattacks in the Mudanjiang area, and then liberated the territory of North Korea. Troops of the 2nd Far Eastern Front under the command of Army General M.A. Purkaev crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers, broke through the long-term enemy defenses in the Sakhalyan region, and crossed the M. Khingan mountain range. Soviet troops entered the Central Manchurian Plain, divided the Japanese troops into isolated groups and completed a maneuver to encircle them. On August 19, Japanese troops almost everywhere began to surrender.

Kuril landing operation

The successful military operations of Soviet troops in Manchuria and South Sakhalin created the conditions for the liberation of the Kuril Islands. And in the period from August 18 to September 1, the Kuril landing operation was carried out, which began with a landing on the island. I make noise. On August 23, the island's garrison, despite its superiority in forces and means, capitulated. On August 22–28, Soviet troops landed on other islands in the northern part of the ridge to about. Urup inclusive. From August 23 to September 1, the islands of the southern part of the ridge were occupied.

Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation

The South Sakhalin operation of Soviet troops on August 11–25 to liberate South Sakhalin was carried out by troops of the 56th Rifle Corps of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front.

By the end of August 18, Soviet troops captured all the heavily fortified strongholds in the border zone, defended by troops of the 88th Japanese Infantry Division, units of the border gendarmerie and reservist detachments. As a result of the operation, 18,320 Japanese soldiers and officers surrendered.

The act of unconditional surrender of Japan was signed on September 2, 1945 on board the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay by Foreign Minister Shigemitsu, Chief of the Japanese General Staff Umezu and Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.

As a result, the million-strong Kwantung Army was completely defeated, which led to the end of the Second World War of 1939–1945. According to Soviet data, its losses in killed amounted to 84 thousand people, about 600 thousand were captured. The losses of the Red Army amounted to 12 thousand people.

Soviet- Japanese war had enormous political and military significance. The Soviet Union, having entered the war with the Japanese Empire and making a significant contribution to its defeat, accelerated the end of the Second World War. Historians have repeatedly stated that without the USSR entering the war, it would have continued for at least another year and would have cost an additional several million human lives.

As a result of the war, by decision of the Crimean Conference of 1945 (Yalta Conference), the USSR returned to its composition the territories lost Russian Empire in 1905, following the results of the Portsmouth Peace, Southern Sakhalin, as well as the main group of the Kuril Islands ceded to Japan in 1875.

Material prepared by:

Alekseev Sergey, gr. 733

Borisov Andrey, gr. 735

Kuroyedov Alexey, gr. 735

70 years ago, on August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The fighting led to the victory of the Red Army over the Kwantung Army and the cleansing of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands from enemy troops. An end was put to the Second World War and the military confrontation between the two countries, which lasted almost half a century.

Reasons for war

On the afternoon of August 8, the Japanese ambassador in Moscow was presented with a document declaring war. It stated that the Soviet army would begin hostilities the next day. Due to the time difference between the capital of the USSR and the Far East, the Japanese had only one hour before the enemy offensive.

The Soviet Union fulfilled the allied obligations that Stalin assumed before the leaders of the United States and Great Britain at the Yalta Conference, and then confirmed at the Potsdam Conference: exactly three months after the victory over Nazi Germany Soviet Russia will enter the war against Imperial Japan.

There were also deeper reasons for the war. For decades, both countries were geopolitical rivals in the Far East, the dispute between them was not over by 1945. During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. and the Japanese intervention of Primorye in the years Civil War in 1918-1922, in the 30s two local but fierce conflicts followed: the battles on Lake Khasan in 1938 and the Khalkhin-Gol conflict in 1939. And that's not counting the numerous minor border conflicts involving shootings.

Unfriendly neighbor

In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, creating the puppet state of Manchukuo, headed by the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi. The buffer formation, located between the USSR, China, and Mongolia, followed entirely in line with Japanese policy. In particular, it supported the conflict at Khalkhin Gol with troops in 1939.

The appearance of such an unfriendly neighbor did not at all contribute to the improvement of Soviet-Japanese relations. This “dwarf” ceased to exist only at the end of August 1945, after the defeat of the Japanese troops. After the war, the territory became part of the PRC.

The USSR declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945. See in archival footage how this armed conflict took place, as a result of which Japan surrendered and the Second World War ended.

In addition, in 1937, a full-scale war began between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan, which some Eastern historians consider as part of World War II. In this conflict, the USSR sympathized with the Chinese, primarily the local communists, and actively helped with weapons, ammunition, planes, and tanks. And, of course, qualified specialists.

Keep powder dry

In 1937-1940, there were more than 5 thousand USSR citizens in China, including over 300 military advisers, the most famous of whom was the future commander of the 62nd Army (which defended Stalingrad) Vasily Chuikov. Soviet citizens not only trained the Chinese, but also actively fought themselves, such as volunteer pilots who fought in the Middle Kingdom on fighters and bombers.

Were no secret to Soviet intelligence and the plans of the Japanese General Staff: if the opportunity arises, having captured the territory of Mongolia, develop an offensive deep into the USSR. Theoretically, it was possible to cut the Trans-Siberian Railway with a powerful blow in the Baikal area and, reaching Irkutsk, cut off the Far East from the rest of the country.

All these factors forced the USSR to keep its powder dry, deploying the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army to the Far Eastern Front on July 1, 1940, which included several armies, the Pacific Fleet and the Amur Flotilla. In 1945, on the basis of this operational-strategic formation, the 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts were created, which took part in the defeat of the Kwantung Army.

Two Japanese dragon heads

However, neither in 1940 nor in the next year war happened. Moreover, on April 13, 1941, two seemingly irreconcilable countries entered into a non-aggression pact.

When the Great Patriotic War began, the Germans in vain expected active action in the Soviet Far East from their strategic ally. Even at the height of the fateful battle for Moscow for the USSR, the situation on the Far Eastern Front made it possible to transfer divisions from there to defend the capital.

Why didn't Japan attack the USSR? There are several reasons for this. It must be said that the country of Emperor Hirohito resembled a dragon with two heads, one of which was an army, the other a fleet. These powerful forces actively influenced the adoption political decisions cabinet of ministers.

Even the mentality of both was different. The Japanese naval sailors considered themselves true gentlemen (many of them spoke English) compared to “the thick-witted brute who commanded the Japanese army,” as one admiral put it. It is not surprising that these two groups had very different views on the nature of the future war, as well as the choice of the main enemy.

Generals vs Admirals

Army generals believed that Japan's main enemy was the Soviet Union. But by 1941, the Land of the Rising Sun was convinced that the combat effectiveness of the Red Army and its Air Force was at a very low level. high level. Japanese soldiers and officers "touched" the Far Eastern Army twice - (from the east at Lake Khasan, from the west at Khalkhin Gol) and each time received a powerful rebuff.

The naval admirals, who remembered that in the Russo-Japanese War, impressive victories were achieved not so much on land as at sea, believed that they must first deal with another enemy, which was emerging more and more clearly on the horizon - the United States.

America was concerned about Japanese aggression in South-East Asia, which she considered as an area of ​​her strategic interests. In addition, the powerful Japanese fleet, which claimed to be the master of the Pacific Ocean, caused American concern. As a result, President Roosevelt declared economic war on the samurai, freezing Japanese assets and cutting off oil supply routes. The latter was like death for Japan.

Japanese "slap" in response to German

Hit on southern enemy was much more necessary and, most importantly, more promising than the northern one and therefore, in the end, the “admiral’s” version won. As you know, it led to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the seizure of European colonies, naval battles on the ocean expanses and fierce battles on the islands. In the conditions of a difficult war for Japan with the United States, the opening of a second front against the Soviet Union would extremely complicate the position of the island empire, forcing it to scatter its forces and making the chances of victory even more illusory.

In addition, by concluding a non-aggression pact with the USSR, the Japanese repaid the Germans. The “Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact” in August 1939 was a shock for the strategic ally of the Third Reich, waging war with the USSR at Khalkhin Gol, as a result of which the cabinet of ministers headed by pro-German Prime Minister Kiichiro Hiranuma resigned. Neither before nor after has the government of this country taken such drastic steps because of the signing of an agreement between two other states.

The German "slap" was so strong that Japan did not follow the example of Hitler, who, with the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, declared his country at war with the United States.

There is no doubt that the non-aggression pact of April 13, 1941 is a brilliant victory of Soviet diplomacy, which prevented a war on two strategic directions and, as a result, made it possible to beat opponents in turn.

Plan "Kantokuen"

However, many in Tokyo have not given up hopes of a strike against Russia. For example, after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka, who had recently signed a mutual neutrality treaty in Moscow, passionately convinced Hirohito of the need to strike at the Soviets.

The military did not abandon their plans either, linking the start of the war with the severe weakening of the Red Army. Japan's most powerful land force, the Kwantung Army, deployed on the Manchurian border and in Korea, waiting for the right moment to carry out Operation Kantokuen.

It was to be carried out in the event of the fall of Moscow. According to the plan, the Kwantung troops were supposed to capture Khabarovsk, Northern Sakhalin, Kamchatka and reach Lake Baikal. To support ground forces, the 5th Fleet was allocated, which was based on the northern tip of Honshu, the largest of the Japanese islands. Japanese militarism and its collapseIn the 30s of the twentieth century, Japan was looking for a solution internal problems on the paths of external expansion. And subsequently it became practically a vassal state, subordinate to the United States. However, today neo-militaristic sentiments are again gaining strength in Japan.

Despite the transience of the fighting, it was by no means a walk in the park for the Red Army. Back in 1940, after the fighting at Khalkhin Gol, Georgy Zhukov described the Japanese soldier as well trained, especially for defensive close combat. According to him, "Jr. command staff prepared very well and fights with fanatical tenacity." But Japanese officers, according to the Soviet commander, are poorly prepared and tend to act according to a template.

The opposing forces numbered approximately one and a half million people on each side. However, superiority in armored vehicles, aviation and artillery was on the Soviet side. An important factor was that many Red Army formations were staffed by experienced front-line soldiers who were transferred to the east after the end of the war with Germany.

The combat operations of the united Soviet group in the Far East were commanded by one of the best Soviet marshals, Alexander Vasilevsky. After powerful attacks by the Transbaikal Front under the command of Marshal Malinovsky, the 1st Far Eastern Front under Marshal Meretskov and the 2nd Far Eastern Front under the command of General Purkaev, together with the Mongolian troops of Marshal Choibalsan, the Kwantung Army was defeated by the end of August 1945.

And after it, militaristic Japan ceased to exist.

On August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union, fulfilling its agreements with its allies in the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II, entered the war against Japan. This war matured throughout the Great Patriotic War and was inevitable, in particular, because only one victory over Germany did not provide a complete guarantee of the security of the USSR. Its Far Eastern borders continued to be threatened by the almost million-strong Kwantung group of the Japanese army. All this and a number of other circumstances allow us to state that the Soviet-Japanese war, representing independent part The Second World War was at the same time a logical continuation of the Great Patriotic War Soviet people for their independence, security and sovereignty of the USSR.

The surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945 marked the end of the war in Europe. But in the Far East and Pacific Ocean Japan continued to fight against the USA, Great Britain and other allies of the USSR in the Asia-Pacific region. According to allies, despite the US atomic weapons, the war in the East could have dragged on for another year and a half to two years and would have claimed the lives of at least 1.5 million soldiers and officers of their armies, as well as 10 million Japanese.

The Soviet Union could not consider its security ensured in the Far East, where the Soviet government during 1941 - 1945. was forced to keep about 30% combat personnel its troops and naval forces, while the fire of war was burning there and Japan continued to pursue a policy of expansion. In this situation, on April 5, 1945, the USSR announced the denunciation of the Neutrality Pact with Japan, i.e., its intention to terminate it unilaterally with all the ensuing consequences. However, the Japanese government did not heed this serious warning and continued to support Germany until the end of the war in Europe, and then rejected the Potsdam Declaration of the Allies, published on July 26, 1945, which contained a demand for the unconditional surrender of Japan. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet government announced that the USSR would enter the war with Japan the next day.

Entry of Soviet troops into Harbin. September 1945

Plans and strengths of the parties

The political goal of the Soviet Union's military campaign in the Far East was to eliminate the last hotbed of World War II as quickly as possible, eliminate the constant threat of an attack by Japanese invaders on the USSR, together with the allies, expel them from countries occupied by Japan, and help restore world peace. The speedy end of the war saved humanity, including the Japanese people, from further millions of victims and suffering, and contributed to the development of the national liberation movement in Asian countries.

The military-strategic goal of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union in the war against Japan was the defeat of the Kwantung group of troops and the liberation of Northeast China (Manchuria) and North Korea from the Japanese invaders. Operations to liberate Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, which were transferred to Japan as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, as well as the occupation of the northern part Japanese island Hokkaido was made dependent on the fulfillment of this main task.

To conduct the Far Eastern campaign, three fronts were involved - Transbaikal (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union R. Ya. Malinovsky), 1st Far Eastern (commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union K.A. Meretskov) and 2nd Far Eastern (commanded by Army General M.A. Purkaev), the Pacific Fleet (commander Admiral I.S. Yumashev), the Amur Military Flotilla (commander Rear Admiral N.V. Antonov), three air defense armies, as well as units of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army (commander-in-chief Marshal X Choibalsan). Soviet and Mongolian troops and naval forces numbered more than 1.7 million people, about 30 thousand guns and mortars (without anti-aircraft artillery), 5.25 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery installations, 5.2 thousand aircraft, 93 warships of the main classes. The leadership of the troops was carried out by the Main Command of Soviet Forces in the Far East, specially created by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (Commander-in-Chief Marshal of the Soviet Union A.M. Vasilevsky).

The Kwantung group of Japanese forces included the 1st and 3rd fronts, the 4th separate and 2nd air armies and the Sungari river flotilla. On August 10, the 17th Front and the 5th Air Army stationed in Korea were quickly subordinated to it. The total number of enemy troops concentrated near the Soviet borders exceeded 1 million people. They were armed with 1,215 tanks, 6,640 guns, 1,907 aircraft, and over 30 warships and boats. In addition, on the territory of Manchuria and Korea there was a significant number of Japanese gendarmerie, police, railway and other units, as well as troops from Manchukuo and Inner Mongolia. On the border with the USSR and the Mongolia, the Japanese had 17 fortified areas with a total length of over 800 km, in which there were 4.5 thousand long-term fire installations.

The Japanese command expected that “against Soviet troops superior in strength and training,” Japanese troops in Manchuria would hold out for a year. At the first stage (about three months) it planned to provide stubborn resistance to the enemy in the border fortified areas, and then on the mountain ranges blocking the routes from Mongolia and from the USSR border to the central regions of Manchuria, where the main forces of the Japanese were concentrated. In the event of a breakthrough of this line, it was planned to occupy the defense on the line railway Tuman - Changchun - Dalian and the transition to a decisive counteroffensive.

Progress of hostilities

From the first hours of August 9, 1945, strike groups of the Soviet fronts attacked Japanese troops from land, air and sea. The fighting took place on a front with a total length of more than 5 thousand km. By command posts, enemy headquarters and communications centers were dealt a powerful air strike. As a result of this blow, communication between the headquarters and formations of the Japanese troops and their control in the very first hours of the war were disrupted, which made it easier for the Soviet troops to solve the tasks assigned to them.

The Pacific Fleet entered the open sea, cut off the sea communications used by the troops of the Kwantung Group to communicate with Japan, and with aviation and torpedo boats launched powerful attacks on Japanese naval bases in North Korea.

With the assistance of the Amur Flotilla and the Air Force, Soviet troops crossed the Amur and Ussuri rivers on a wide front and, having broken the fierce resistance of the Japanese in the fortified border areas in stubborn battles, began to develop a successful offensive into the depths of Manchuria. The armored and mechanized formations of the Trans-Baikal Front, which included divisions that had gone through the war with Nazi Germany, and cavalry formations of Mongolia, advanced especially rapidly. Lightning-fast actions by all branches of the military, air force and navy thwarted Japanese plans to use bacteriological weapons.

Already in the first five or six days of the offensive, Soviet and Mongolian troops defeated the fanatically resisting enemy in 16 fortified areas and advanced 450 km. August 12 formations of the 6th Guards tank army Colonel General A.G. Kravchenko overcame the “impregnable” Greater Khingan and wedged deep into the rear of the Kwantung group of troops, forestalling the exit of its main forces to this mountain range.

The troops of the 1st Far Eastern Front were advancing in the coastal direction. They were supported from the sea by the Pacific Fleet, which, with the help of landing troops, captured the Japanese bases and ports of Yuki, Racine, Seishin, Odejin, Gyonzan in Korea and the Port Arthur fortress, depriving the enemy of the opportunity to evacuate their troops by sea.

The main forces of the Amur flotilla operated in the Sungari and Sakhalin directions, ensuring the crossing of troops of the 15th and 2nd Red Banner Armies of the 2nd Far Eastern Front across the water lines, artillery support for their offensive and landing of troops.

The offensive developed so rapidly that the enemy was unable to hold back the onslaught of Soviet troops. Within ten days, Red Army troops, with the active support of aviation and navy, were able to dismember and actually defeat the strategic grouping of Japanese troops in Manchuria and North Korea. Since August 19, the Japanese began to surrender almost everywhere. To prevent the enemy from evacuating or destroying material values, in the period from August 18 to 27, airborne assault forces were landed in Harbin, Mukden, Changchun, Girin, Lushun, Dalian, Pyongyang, Hamhung and other cities, and army mobile forward detachments were actively operating.

On August 11, the Soviet command launched the Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation. The operation was entrusted to the troops of the 56th Rifle Corps of the 16th Army of the 2nd Far Eastern Front and the Northern Pacific Flotilla. Southern Sakhalin was defended by the reinforced 88th Japanese Infantry Division, which was part of the 5th Front with headquarters on the island of Hokkaido, relying on the powerful Koton fortified area. The fighting on Sakhalin began with the breakthrough of this fortified area. The offensive was carried out along the only dirt road connecting Northern Sakhalin with Southern Sakhalin and passing between inaccessible mountain spurs and the swampy valley of the Poronai River. On August 16, an amphibious assault was landed behind enemy lines in the port of Toro (Shakhtersk). On August 18, counter strikes by Soviet troops broke through the enemy's defenses. On August 20, an amphibious assault landed at the port of Maoka (Kholmsk), and on the morning of August 25 - at the port of Otomari (Korsakov). On the same day, Soviet troops entered the administrative center of Southern Sakhalin, Toyohara (Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), where the headquarters of the 88th Infantry Division was located. The organized resistance of the Japanese garrison on South Sakhalin, numbering about 30 thousand soldiers and officers, ceased.

Japanese prisoners of war under the supervision of a Soviet soldier. August 1945

On August 18, Soviet troops began an operation to liberate the Kuril Islands, where the 5th Japanese Front had over 50 thousand soldiers and officers, and at the same time preparing a major landing operation on Hokkaido, the need for which, however, soon disappeared. To carry out the Kuril landing operation, troops of the Kamchatka Defense Region (KOR) and ships of the Pacific Fleet were involved. The operation began with the landing of troops on the most fortified anti-landing island, Shumshu; the fighting for him became fierce and ended on August 23 with his release. By the beginning of September, the troops of the KOR and the Petropavlovsk naval base occupied the entire northern ridge of islands, including the island of Urup, and the forces of the Northern Pacific Flotilla occupied the remaining islands to the south.

The crushing blow to the Japanese Kwantung group of forces led to the largest defeat of the Japanese Armed Forces in World War II and to the most severe losses for them, exceeding 720 thousand soldiers and officers, including 84 thousand killed and wounded and more than 640 thousand prisoners . Achieved in a short time major victory It was not easy: the Armed Forces of the USSR lost 36,456 people killed, wounded and missing in the war with Japan, including 12,031 dead.

Japan, having lost the largest military-industrial base on the Asian subcontinent and the most powerful group of ground forces, was unable to continue armed struggle. This greatly shortened the end of World War II and the number of its victims. Destruction Armed forces The USSR of Japanese troops in Manchuria and Korea, as well as in South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, deprived Japan of all the bridgeheads and bases that it had been creating for many years in preparation for aggression against the USSR. The security of the Soviet Union in the East was ensured.

Soviet-Japanese War lasted less than four weeks, but in its scope, skill of operations and results it ranks among the outstanding campaigns of the Second World War. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated September 2, 1945, September 3 was declared Victory Day over Japan.

The Second World War, which lasted 6 years and 1 day, ended. 61 states took part in it, in which about 80% of the world's population lived at that time. It claimed more than 60 million human lives. The heaviest losses were suffered by the Soviet Union, which sacrificed 26.6 million human lives on the altar of a common victory over Nazism and militarism. The fires of World War II also killed 10 million Chinese, 9.4 million Germans, 6 million Jews, 4 million Poles, 2.5 million Japanese, 1.7 million Yugoslavs, 600 thousand French, 405 thousand Americans, millions of people of other nationalities .

On June 26, 1945, the United Nations was created, designed to become a guarantor of peace and security on our planet.