Russia so dominated the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics that it would be fair to describe the latter as a Russian empire. Extending from Smolensk in the west to the Bering Straits in the east, Russia is a vast country with tremendous natural resources. These were being heavily exploited in 1941 to support the armies attempting to repel the Germans from western Russia.
Russia was the traditional enemy of Japan. The two nations had clashed in 1905 over control of Port Arthur, located at the tip of the Kwantung Peninsula, and over railroad concessions in resource-rich Manchuria. The Russians had come off worse in the fighting, particularly at sea, and Japan achieved most of her war objectives. Japan later participated in the Siberian Expedition of 1918-1922, which was prompted by the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent withdrawal of Russia from the First World War.
Japan entered into the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 with
Germany, in which the two nations pledged to cooperate against Russian
Communism. Japanese troops clashed with Russian and puppet Mongolian forces at Nomonhan in the summer of 1939, with
the Russians coming out ahead. The Russian-German non-aggression pact
of August 1939 took
the Japanese by surprise, and Japan made her own non-aggression pact
with Russia in April 1941. This cleared the way for Japan to move
against Southeast Asia.
Both Russia and Japan considered it to their advantage to maintain strict neutrality with respect to each other during most of the Pacific War, even though Germany ignored its nonagression pact and invaded Russia in June 1941. Both Japan and Russia maintained large garrisons along the Russian-Manchurian border, but these were often tapped for reserves for the active conflicts in other theaters. Considerable Lend-Lease to the Russians passed through Far East ports via Russian-flag vessels and was not interfered with by the Japanese.
The western Allies
were initially anxious for Russian intervention to prevent the Japanese
from transferring reinforcements from Manchuria. At the Yalta
conference of February 1945, Roosevelt
agreed to Stalin's demands
for the Kurile Islands, Karafuto, Port Arthur, recognition of
Russian control over Mongolia,
and Russian control of the South Manchurian Railroad in return for
Russian intervention and recognition of the Kuomintang as China's sole legitimate government. By
April this bargain was looking poorer and poorer to the Americans, and Hastings (2007)
has alleged that Russian diplomats
played the Japanese to prevent a surrender
before Russian could transfer enough troops to the Far East to carry
out their intervention. However, Smith (1985) has concluded that Truman was still anxious
enough for Russian intervention at the time of the Potsdam Conference (TERMINAL) that he did not press
Stalin on the issue of Poland.
Russia denounced its non-aggression pact with Japan in August of 1945 and launched a swift and crushing offensive into Manchuria. At the same time, Russian troops seized the Kuriles and Karafuto and entered northern Korea. All but northern Korea remain under Russian control today.
By 1941 there were 30
divisions and 2800 aircraft in the
Soviet Far East holding the
attention of
considerable Japanese forces. These were occasionally tapped for
reserves for the life-and-death struggle in the west, but the Russians
rapidly built up these forces again following the surrender of Germany
in April 1945.
By August 1945 there were 80 divisions, 3700 tanks, and 500 aircraft massed on the Manchurian border. Hayashi (1959) says the Japanese identified the following units
| Soviet Forces Far East (Vasilevsky) | ||
| |
Trans-Baikal Front (Malinovsky:
West Manchuria and Inner Mongolia ) |
4
infantry divisions 2 tank divisions 3 tank brigades 1 cavalry brigade |
| First Far East Front (Meretskov: East Manchuria and North Korea ) | 10 infantry divisions 1 tank corps 1 tank division 2 tank brigades. |
|
| Second Far East Front (Purkayev: Northern Manchuria ) | 4 infantry
divisions 1 tank brigade. |
|
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2008, 2010 by Kent G. Budge. Index
