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Japan–Soviet Union relations

  • Invasion of the Kuril IslandsThe decision to invade the Kuril Islands emerged from a sudden shift in Soviet military strategy during August 1945. Planners initially targeted Hokkaido…
  • Soviet invasion of South SakhalinIn 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth divided Sakhalin Island along the 50th parallel north. The Russian Empire kept control of the northern half while the…
  • Surrender of JapanBy July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy had ceased to be an effective fighting force. Only six aircraft carriers, four cruisers, and one battleship remained…
  • Soviet–Japanese Neutrality PactOn the 13th of April 1941, the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan signed a non-aggression pact in Moscow. This agreement arrived two years after the…
  • Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956On the 19th of October 1956, Japan and the Soviet Union signed a Joint Declaration in Moscow. This document ended the state of war that had persisted since…
  • Anti-Comintern PactOn the 25th of November 1936, two men signed a document in Berlin that would reshape the geopolitical landscape of the coming decade.
  • Soviet invasion of ManchuriaAt 5 p.m. Moscow time on the 8th of August 1945, Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov informed Japanese ambassador Naotake Satō that the Soviet Union…
  • Soviet–Japanese WarAt the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Joseph Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan once Germany was defeated.
  • Hokushin-ronField Marshal Prince Yamagata Aritomo traced the lines of a defensive strategy against Russia in February 1907. This Imperial National Defence guideline…
  • Japanese Instrument of SurrenderGeneral Douglas MacArthur's staff, headed by Colonel LeGrande A. Diller, faced a daunting task in war-torn Manila during 1945.
  • KantokuenIn 1904, the Russo-Japanese War ended with Japan defeating Russia and securing influence in East Asia. This conflict planted deep seeds of hostility toward…
  • Battles of Khalkhin GolThe river Khalkhin Gol cuts through a disputed strip of land where the borders of Manchukuo and Mongolia meet. In 1939, this remote area became the stage for…
  • Kuril Islands disputeOn the 7th of February 1855, representatives from the Russian Empire and Tokugawa Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda in Edo.
  • Treaty of San FranciscoForty-nine nations gathered inside the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco on the 8th of September 1951. The room held delegates from Argentina to…
  • Richard SorgeRichard Gustavovich Sorge was born on the 4th of October 1895 in the settlement of Sabunchi, a suburb of Baku. His father worked as a German mining engineer…