The Second did not have time to die down World War, and the allies were already hatching plans to start a new large-scale conflict. They, like Germany once did in 1941, intended to inflict sudden blow across Russia.

Polish question

By April 1945 Soviet army completely took control of the territories of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and partly Czechoslovakia. Moreover, the USSR had already managed to create a new communist government in Poland, which seriously worried its Western allies. The US and UK continued to defend the legitimacy of the Polish government in exile.

Back in February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, it would seem that a compromise was reached, which involved the reorganization of the pro-communist leadership of Poland on a “broader democratic basis.” In reality it turned out differently. The term "reorganization" was interpreted differently by the USSR and its allies. The West hoped for the creation of a virtually new government of Poland, while Stalin only wanted a decorative “dilution” of the previous leadership with several non-communist figures.

For Churchill, Poland was the key to Eastern Europe, and he did not want to give it under the full control of the Sotsky Union. In a letter to British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden, the British Prime Minister expressed the idea that the “Polish impasse” can only be resolved by refusing to withdraw American troops in Germany to the line demarcating the occupation zones agreed upon in Yalta. At least until the Polish issue is resolved.

Growing threat

Churchill mused: “If Poland were to be completely absorbed, buried deep in Russian-occupied territories, then the whole of eastern Europe would be under Soviet influence.” The British politician was also concerned about the prospects for Soviet control of Turkey and the Straits, and he was no less concerned about the nature of the Soviet occupation of Germany.

“If these issues are not resolved before the withdrawal of American armies from Europe and before the Western world winds down its war machines,” the prime minister reasoned, “it will be impossible to count on a satisfactory resolution of the problems, and the prospects for preventing World War III will be very weak.”

Churchill was extremely concerned that “Soviet Russia had become a mortal threat to free world" He considered the only way to prevent its rapid advance to be the creation of a new front, which was supposed to go as far to the east as possible. At the same time, Churchill did not rule out the expansion of the scale of confrontation in the event of an alliance between the USSR and Japan.

Adventurous plans

At the very beginning of April, Churchill ordered the chiefs of staff to urgently prepare a plan (offensive and defensive) in the event of a military conflict between Great Britain and the United States on the one hand and Soviet Union- with another. May 22 operation plan under code name“Unthinkable” was ready.

According to the plan, the military campaign against the USSR at the first stage was to be of a land nature. The best springboard for an attack on Russia was named the north-east of Europe, namely the territories north of the Zwickau-Chemnitz-Dresden-Görlitz line. The other part of the front had to focus on defense. July 1, 1945 - according to strategists - the most suitable date to begin the operation.

In addition to England and the USA, Churchill intended to use the Armed Forces of Canada and France, as well as the troops of the emigrant government of Poland. What’s most interesting is that the British prime minister’s plans were to attract 15 German divisions assembled from prisoners of war.

However, the Allied General Staff noted that in offensive operations It will be possible to use only 47 Anglo-American divisions, including 14 armored divisions. They also believed that from the USSR they would be opposed by forces comparable to 170 allied divisions, of which 30 divisions were armored.

However, many understood that in the spring and summer of 1945 the situation was not at all favorable for carrying out such an adventurous operation. The Red Army was on the rise and had a very strong position in Europe. advantageous positions. Moreover, Japan was still strong. Finally, no one could guarantee approval of a military conflict with the USSR both in the British Isles and in America.

There was one more important circumstance. The US government was extremely interested in helping the USSR in the war with Japan. Across the ocean, they looked to the East with hope, expecting that Moscow was about to declare war on militaristic Japan. However, this circumstance did not bother the brave warriors. American General George Patton confidently declared that “he and his troops will reach the Volga and Stalingrad.”

From heaven to earth

Churchill sent the plan for Operation Unthinkable to Britain's highest headquarters body, the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The British Prime Minister received the staff verdict on June 8.

The expert report noted that the Anglo-Americans had 103 divisions in Europe against Soviet forces, equivalent to 264 allied divisions. In the air, 8,798 allied aircraft will oppose 11,742 USSR aircraft. Anglo-American troops could only have obvious superiority at sea.

The conclusions of the British headquarters were as follows: when starting a conflict with the Russians, it is necessary to be prepared for a long and expensive all-out war; numerical superiority Soviet troops on land makes the possibility of achieving limited and rapid success extremely doubtful.

Bringing Germany to the side of the allies was also considered unpromising: “War fatigue will become the dominant factor influencing the position of the civilian population of Germany. The reluctance to cooperate with Western allies may be strengthened by Russian propaganda coming from the Russian occupation zone,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff noted.

Military experts unanimously agreed that as the military conflict progressed, the superiority of the USSR could increase enormously and this would cast great doubt on the ultimate success of the operation.

It should be noted that Churchill seriously considered the defensive version of Operation Unthinkable. “It is necessary to come up with a clear plan for how we can defend our island, taking into account that France and the Netherlands will not be able to withstand Russian superiority at sea,” the prime minister wrote with concern. In his notes in the margins of the plan, Churchill indicated the purely hypothetical possibility that this might happen. He hoped that things would not come to a military conflict.

Nobody canceled the Third World War

The epic of Operation Unthinkable ended in July 1945, when it chief ideologist Winston Churchill, having been defeated in the elections, resigned. However, this did not relieve the tension. The new Labor government led by Clement Attlee continued to develop plans for war with the USSR, involving the USA and Canada for these purposes.

In September 1945, near the US coast, a meeting between American General Dwight Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery took place on a yacht. The parties came to the conclusion that if the Red Army launched an offensive in Europe, the Western allies would not be able to stop it.

According to Edinburgh University professor John Erickson, the Soviet Union was well aware of the alleged military operation. This is the only way the historian explains the order from Moscow to strengthen the defense, regroup its forces and study in detail the deployment of the Western Allies' troops, which was received by Marshal Zhukov in June 1941.

The plan for Operation Unthinkable was sent to the British archives. But later other plans for war against the USSR arose, which were developed at the NATO level. Soviet military strategy took this into account. Thus, the country’s defense plan for 1947 set the task of ensuring the integrity of the borders in the west and east, established by international treaties after the Second World War, and being ready to repel possible enemy aggression. In connection with the increase in the military presence of the North Atlantic Alliance in Europe, a gradual increase in the size of the Soviet Armed Forces began - the countries were steadily drawn into the arms race.

Fourth period of the war (August 1945-September 1945)

On August 8, 1945, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR officially joined the Potsdam Declaration of the USA, Great Britain and China and declared war on Japan. By this time, Japan was already drained of blood and its ability to continue the war was minimal.

Soviet troops, taking advantage of the quantitative and qualitative superiority of troops, launched a decisive offensive in Northeast China and quickly crushed the Japanese defenses. (See: Soviet-Japanese War).

At the same time, a struggle developed between the Chinese nationalists and communists for political influence. On August 10, the commander-in-chief of the CPC troops, Zhu De, gave the order for the communist troops to go on the offensive against the Japanese along the entire front, and on August 11, Chiang Kai-shek gave a similar order for all Chinese troops to go on the offensive, but it was specifically stipulated that the communists should not take part in this. -I and 8th armies. Despite this, the communists went on the offensive. Both communists and nationalists were now primarily concerned with establishing their power in the country after the victory over Japan, which was rapidly losing to its allies. At the same time, the USSR secretly supported primarily the communists, and the USA - the nationalists.

The entry of the USSR into the war and Atomic bombings Hiroshima and Nagasaki accelerated the final defeat and defeat of Japan.

On August 14, when it became clear that the Kwantung Army had suffered a crushing defeat, the Japanese Emperor announced Japan's surrender.

On August 14-15, a ceasefire was declared. But despite this decision, individual Japanese units continued desperate resistance throughout the entire theater of operations until September 7-8, 1945.

On September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay, on board the American battleship Missouri, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, the USSR, France and Japan signed the act of surrender of the Japanese armed forces. On September 9, 1945, He Yingqin, representing both the government of the Republic of China and the Allied Command in Southeast Asia, accepted the surrender from the commander of Japanese forces in China, General Okamura Yasuji. Thus ended the Second World War in Asia.

In the 1930s, the USSR systematically pursued a course of political support for China as a victim of Japanese aggression. Thanks to close contacts with the Communist Party of China and the difficult situation in which Chiang Kai-shek was placed by the rapid military actions of Japanese troops, the USSR became an active diplomatic force in rallying the forces of the Kuomintang government and the Communist Party of China.

In August 1937, a non-aggression pact was signed between China and the USSR, and the Nanjing government turned to the latter with a request for material assistance.

China's almost complete loss of opportunities for permanent relations with outside world assigned the province of Xinjiang paramount importance as one of the most important land connections of the country with the USSR and Europe. Therefore, in 1937, the Chinese government turned to the USSR with a request for assistance in creating the Sary-Ozek - Urumqi - Lanzhou highway for the delivery of weapons, aircraft, ammunition, etc. to China from the USSR. The Soviet government agreed.

From 1937 to 1941, the USSR regularly supplied weapons, ammunition, etc. to China by sea and through the province of Xinjiang, while the second route was a priority due to the naval blockade of the Chinese coast. The USSR concluded several loan agreements and contracts with China for the supply of Soviet weapons. On June 16, 1939, the Soviet-Chinese trade agreement was signed, concerning the trading activities of both states. In 1937-1940, over 300 Soviet military advisers worked in China. In total, over 5 thousand Soviet citizens worked there during these years, including A. Vlasov. Among them were volunteer pilots, teachers and instructors, aircraft and tank assembly workers, aviation specialists, road and bridge specialists, transport workers, doctors and, finally, military advisers.

By the beginning of 1939, thanks to the efforts of military specialists from the USSR, losses in the Chinese army dropped sharply. If in the first years of the war the Chinese losses in killed and wounded were 800 thousand people (5:1 to the losses of the Japanese), then in the second year they were equal to the Japanese (300 thousand).

On September 1, 1940, the first stage of a new aircraft assembly plant built by Soviet specialists was launched in Urumqi.

In total, during the period 1937-1941, the USSR supplied China with: 1285 aircraft (of which 777 fighters, 408 bombers, 100 training aircraft), 1600 guns of various calibers, 82 medium tanks, heavy machine guns and manual - 14 thousand, cars and tractors - 1850.

The Chinese Air Force had about 100 aircraft. Japan had a tenfold superiority in aviation. One of the largest Japanese air bases was located in Taiwan, near Taipei.

By the beginning of 1938, a batch of new SB bombers arrived from the USSR to China as part of Operation Zet. Chief military adviser for the Air Force, brigade commander P.V. Rychagov and air attaché P.F. Zhigarev (the future commander-in-chief of the USSR Air Force) developed a bold operation. 12 SB bombers under the command of Colonel F.P. were to take part in it. Polynina. The raid took place on February 23, 1938. The target was successfully hit, and all bombers returned to base.

Later, a group of twelve SBs under the command of T.T. Khryukin sank the Japanese aircraft carrier Yamato-maru.

The German attack on the Soviet Union and the deployment of allied military operations in the Pacific theater led to a deterioration in Soviet-Chinese relations, since the Chinese leadership did not believe in the victory of the USSR over Germany and, on the other hand, reoriented its policy towards rapprochement with the West. In 1942-1943 economic ties between both states have weakened sharply.

In March 1942, the USSR was forced to begin recalling its military advisers due to anti-Soviet sentiment in the Chinese provinces.

In May 1943, the Soviet government was forced, after declaring a strong protest in connection with the atrocities of the Xinjiang Kuomintang authorities, to close all trade organizations and recall its sales representatives and specialists.

From December 1937, a series of events, such as the attack on the American gunboat Panay and the Nanjing massacre, turned public opinion The USA, France and Great Britain against Japan and aroused certain fears regarding Japanese expansion. This prompted the governments of these countries to begin providing the Kuomintang with loans for military needs. In addition, Australia did not allow a Japanese company to acquire an iron ore mine on its territory, and also banned the export of iron ore in 1938. Japan responded by invading Indochina in 1940, cutting off the Sino-Vietnamese border. railway, through which he imported weapons, fuel, and 10,000 tons of materials from the Western allies every month.

In mid-1941, the US government funded the creation of the American Volunteer Group, led by Claire Lee Chennault, to replace Soviet aircraft and volunteers who had left China. Successful fighting This group caused a wide public outcry against the backdrop of the difficult situation on other fronts, and the combat experience acquired by the pilots came in handy in all theaters of military operations.

To put pressure on the Japanese and the army in China, the US, UK and the Netherlands established an embargo on oil and/or steel trade with Japan. The loss of oil imports made it impossible for Japan to continue the war in China. This pushed Japan to forcefully resolve the supply issue, which was marked by the attack of the Imperial Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

In the pre-war period, Germany and China cooperated closely in the economic and military spheres. Germany helped China modernize its industry and army in exchange for supplies of Chinese raw materials. More than half of German exports of military equipment and materials during the German rearmament period in the 1930s went to China. However, the 30 new Chinese divisions that were planned to be equipped and trained with German help were never created due to Adolf Hitler's refusal to further support China in 1938; these plans were never implemented. This decision was largely due to the reorientation of German policy towards concluding an alliance with Japan. German policy especially shifted towards cooperation with Japan after the signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact.

The issue of the USSR entering the war with Japan was decided at a conference in Yalta on February 11, 1945 by special agreement. It provided that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan on the side of the Allied powers 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany and the end of the war in Europe. Japan rejected the July 26, 1945 demand from the United States, Great Britain, and China to lay down their arms and unconditionally surrender.

By order of the Supreme High Command, back in August 1945, preparations began for a military operation to land an amphibious assault force in the port of Dalian (Dalny) and liberate Lushun (Port Arthur) together with units of the 6th Guards Tank Army from the Japanese occupiers on the Liaodong Peninsula of Northern China. The 117th Air Regiment of the Pacific Fleet Air Force, which was training in Sukhodol Bay near Vladivostok, was preparing for the operation.

Marshal of the Soviet Union O.M. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Soviet troops for the invasion of Manchuria. Vasilevsky. A group consisting of 3 fronts was involved (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.

On August 9, troops of the Transbaikal, 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Fronts, in cooperation with the Pacific Navy and the Amur River Flotilla, began military operations against Japanese troops on a front of more than 4 thousand kilometers.

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 south of Manchuria, the Japanese command also paid great attention and the Manchurian direction. That is why, in addition to 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.

Taking into account the experience of the war with the Germans, Soviet troops bypassed the fortified areas of the Japanese with mobile units and blocked them with 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 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 The 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.

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 effect on August 20.

On August 17, 1945, in Mukden, Soviet troops captured the Emperor of Manchukuo - last emperor China Pu Y.

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. However, 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 southern part 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 Japanese surrender was signed on September 2, 1945 on board the American battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. From the Soviet Union, the act was signed by Lieutenant General K.M. Derevianko.

Participants in the signing of the act of surrender of Japan: Hsu Yun-chan (China), B. Fraser (Great Britain), K.N. Derevianko (USSR), T. Blamey (Australia), L.M. Cosgrave (Canada), J. Leclerc (France).

As a result of the war, the territories of Southern Sakhalin, temporarily Kwantung with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalian, as well as the Kuril Islands, were transferred to the USSR.

On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender. The Second World War has ended. But until now, the war itself and its consequences remain the object of heated debate. At the same time, enormous efforts are being made in the West to distort and belittle the role of the USSR in this global confrontation in every possible way.

If we take the final chord of the war - the final defeat of Japan, then the following theses are most often put forward:

- Japan honestly observed the non-aggression pact with the USSR, and Stalin treacherously violated it.

The Soviet government itself imposed its intervention in the war with Japan. Our Western allies did not need it, but they yielded to Moscow's wishes, based on friendly relations.

What finished off Japan was not the USSR's entry into the war, but the use of nuclear weapons by the United States. So the Soviet Union fought with an army that had essentially surrendered.

It is worth looking into these issues in more detail.

1.

First: Japan's relationship with the Soviet Union.

In fact, until the mid-1930s, the main threat to our country came from Japan. Japan participated in anti-Soviet intervention during the years civil war. She then occupied and until 1925 refused to return Northern Sakhalin.

Throughout these and subsequent years, the Japanese military developed plans for war with the Soviet Union. The lack of a common land border was a hindrance.

When Japan occupied Manchuria, the northeastern province of China, in 1931, such a border appeared, and soon the Kwantung Army was formed on its territory, the number of which reached 300 thousand people by the mid-1930s (remember, at that time the number of the entire Red Army the army did not exceed 700 thousand people).

The Soviet government had to quickly create a counterbalance to the Japanese threat, forming special army units in the Far East, creating a fleet and an industrial base.

In July 1937, Japan went to war against China while maintaining tensions with the USSR. The border was constantly violated, armed provocations were staged; in 1937 alone there were 69 of them. The matter was not limited to provocations. In the summer of 1938, there was a large-scale clash between the Japanese and the Red Army near Lake Khasan. One of the goals is to test the strength of the Soviet Union and force Moscow to refuse to provide assistance to China.

The attempt was not very successful. After the defeat in the east of Manchuria, the Japanese launched a sortie in the west. In the spring and summer of 1939, fighting broke out on the territory of Mongolia in the area of ​​the Khalkhin Gol River. The conflict ended in crushing defeat Japanese army.

In addition, the signing of a neutrality pact between the USSR and Germany was an unpleasant surprise for Tokyo (by this time Japan and Germany were considered allies and the Japanese, as they assumed, could count on the support of their Western partner in the confrontation with the USSR).

From that time on, the Japanese stopped relying on allies and decided to proceed solely from their own interests.

True, at first glance, nothing has changed in Japan's relations with Germany and Italy. In September 1940, the Tripartite Pact was signed between these countries, aimed primarily against the USSR. However, in April 1941, knowing about the impending German attack on the USSR, Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR in Moscow.

Did Japan really intend to stay out of the German-Soviet conflict? Not at all.

As documents show, the Japanese government at that stage only sought to preserve freedom of hands for itself and start a war with the USSR only when it would be beneficial to Japan itself.

Japanese War Minister Tojo openly stated: “Despite the pact, we will actively carry out military preparations against the USSR... Now the situation is such that states do not hesitate to violate agreements.”

After the start of the German-Soviet war, Japanese activities intensified. Plans for an attack on the USSR were being detailed, and the strength of the Kwantung Army was increasing. In July 1941, it was increased to 850 thousand people; battle formations of six armies and a separate group of troops were deployed in Manchuria.

And yet the Japanese did not dare to start a war with the USSR. They remembered Khalkhin Gol too well and considered the Soviet troops remaining in the Far East to be too strong an enemy. Moreover, the expected immediate collapse of the USSR did not happen.

That is why on August 9, 1941, the Supreme Command of the Japanese Army decided, while maintaining readiness to attack the USSR in the event of its possible collapse, to concentrate on operations in China and prepare for an offensive in a southern direction. The failures of Europe's war against Germany made their legacy in Asia a tempting and easy prize for Japan.

This is what happened later. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked American and British bases, moved south and soon occupied Indochina, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, reaching the borders of India and Australia and even landing troops on the Aleutian Islands.

And yet the Soviet government could not calm down. The Japanese did everything to maintain tension on our borders. The situation in the Far East is perfectly characterized by the formula “rear - front”.

There were no formal hostilities, but during the Great Patriotic War Patriotic War The Japanese violated the land border 779 times, and Japanese planes invaded Soviet airspace 433 times.

Japan did everything possible to prevent navigation in Soviet territorial and neutral waters. From December 1, 1941 to April 120, 1945, Japanese warships stopped (sometimes with weapons) and inspected Soviet merchant and fishing vessels about 200 times. Some of them were detained for a long time, and 18 ships were sunk.

The total damage to Soviet shipping during this time amounted to about 700 million rubles. As a result, Japan helped Germany as best it could, pinning down significant Red Army forces in the Far East at a time when they were so needed on the Soviet-German front. In this case, was the decision of the Soviet government to declare war on its long-standing and treacherous eastern neighbor justified?

2.

To determine when and how this decision was made, let's move on to the second problem: what forced the USSR to enter the war against Japan and what role our allies played in this.

US President F. Roosevelt appealed to Stalin to help in the war with Japan the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, i.e. December 8, 1941. Considering that these days there was a difficult counter-offensive of the Red Army near Moscow, such an appeal was, to put it mildly, somewhat untimely.

Having finally agreed with Stalin that in this moment The USSR cannot afford the luxury of opening a second front in the Far East; Roosevelt, in subsequent years, repeatedly tried to involve the Soviet Union in hostilities against Japan, using tricks or tricks.

So, for example, Stalin was asked, if he could not start a full-scale war, then at least (!) to provide the Americans in the Soviet Far East with territory for the location of US Air Force bases, from which American bombers could carry out raids on Japan, as if no president The United States and its advisers did not understand that such a step would mean de facto participation of the USSR in the war against Japan with far-reaching consequences.

For the first time, Stalin officially announced the possible participation of the USSR in the war against Japan at the Tehran Conference at the end of 1943, when the outcome of the war with Germany was, in fact, a foregone conclusion. He then promised that he would do this after the final defeat of Germany. Stalin's promise was received with joy by the USSR's Western partners.

Subsequently, Stalin skillfully used the every possible desire of the Americans and the British to drag the USSR into the war with Japan. After all, the war is on Pacific Ocean It was difficult for our allies. Despite the increasing military-technical superiority of the United States, the Americans suffered huge losses in direct contact with the Japanese army.

The capture of individual islands with isolated garrisons cost a number of killed and wounded almost equal to the losses during the landing operation in Normandy.

The capture of Iwo Jima, an island 7 kilometers long with a garrison of 21 thousand soldiers and officers, cost the Americans 7 thousand killed and more than 19 thousand wounded. In Okinawa american army lost 7,600 people killed, 32 thousand wounded and 26 thousand received “other injuries,” mainly psychological disorders.

The American fleet also suffered losses - more than 3 thousand killed, 6 thousand wounded, 29 ships sunk, 120 damaged. Moreover, the Japanese began to actively use their new secret weapon- kamikaze suicide bombers. And ahead lay the Japanese islands with a fanatical population and a large army.

By the beginning of 1945, Japan had an army of 7 million people, armed with 10 thousand aircraft and about 500 warships. The United States and Great Britain had 1.8 million troops and 5 thousand combat aircraft in this theater of operations. Japanese troops were scattered across different countries, but they were enough to defend their country.

The American command was seriously concerned about the possible transfer of Japanese troops to the metropolis from Manchuria and China.

Under these conditions, the USSR's entry into the war was vital. Otherwise, as American experts believed, the war could drag on for at least another 1.5-2 years after the end of the war in Europe, i.e. until the end of 1946, or even until 1948, and cost the United States and Great Britain at least another 1.5 million lives.

The question of the USSR's entry into the war with Japan was finally resolved at the Yalta Conference of the Big Three leaders from February 4 to 12, 1945.

For Roosevelt, this problem was perhaps the most important, and he was ready to do anything to solve it. Even on the eve of the conference, Stalin put forward the main demands: the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, as well as the restoration of Russian rights to the Chinese Eastern Railway, Port Arthur and Dalny, and confirmation of the independent status of Outer Mongolia (Mongolian People's Republic), whose independence was not recognized by China. Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to the USSR's demands.

On February 11, an agreement between the three great powers was signed at the Livadia Palace on issues Far East, where the conditions put forward by the Soviet Union were recorded. In turn, Stalin committed to launch military operations in Manchuria 3-4 months after the surrender of Germany.

It is sometimes stated that the USSR entered the war with Japan solely out of a desire to acquire new lands. But the USSR could have gotten what it wanted without participating in the war.

In September 1944, the Japanese Foreign Ministry developed a draft of concessions that could be offered to the Soviet government, subject to its neutrality in the war with Japan and acting as a mediator in Japan's negotiations with the United States and Great Britain.

The list consisted of 11 points, including the concession of Southern Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, the Chinese Eastern Railway and recognition of the Soviet sphere of interests in Manchuria.

How can we explain Stalin's decision to reject the generous offers of the Japanese and enter the war?

Firstly, Moscow understood that agreement with Tokyo could be perceived by our allies as a violation of existing agreements, which could significantly complicate subsequent relations with the United States and Great Britain. And the USSR, drained of blood by the war, needed normal ties with its allies in the post-war period.

Secondly, such a decision would lead to the complete exclusion of the USSR from the post-war political process in East Asia, and primarily in China. Participation in the defeat of the Kwantung Army created real favorable opportunities for the USSR in the region.

Third, Japan had to be punished for its actions in past years - for Port Arthur and Tsushima, for the intervention, for Khasan and Khalkhin Gol.

The USSR's entry into the war with Japan was not a treacherous attack. The Soviet government honestly warned the Japanese about its plans. On April 5, 1945, it officially announced the denunciation of the 1941 neutrality pact.

Subsequently, the Soviet Union fully fulfilled its obligation to its allies. The Red Army began fighting in Manchuria on August 9, 1945, exactly three months after Germany surrendered.

3.

And the third question: what forced Japan to capitulate - the US atomic bomb or the USSR's entry into the war.

One of the favorite theses of American historiography is that it was the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that saved millions of American lives and made it possible to force Japan to capitulate in the shortest possible time.

Indeed, the successful test of the atomic bomb marked the entry of the world into a qualitatively new era, gave the United States powerful leverage over both allies and enemies and gave rise to real euphoria for President G. Truman.

It is known how dramatically he changed his attitude towards Stalin during the Potsdam Conference, when he received news from Washington of the first nuclear explosion. After all, the new superweapon gave him, in his own words, “a club for these guys” (meaning the possibility of more decisive actions towards Stalin and the Soviet Union).

And yet, I think, it is still not worth exaggerating the significance of this event at that time. By August 1945, two atomic bombs exploded over Japanese cities constituted the entire US nuclear potential, which was clearly not enough for a complete victory over Japan.

That is why the United States remained interested in the USSR’s participation in the war with Japan. It is no coincidence that in Potsdam Stalin managed to achieve almost all his goals.

And it is known how G. Truman reacted to the news about the start of the Soviet offensive in Manchuria. It was his shortest press conference in all his years in the White House.

He came out to reporters and said: “I have only one statement. I can't hold a full press conference today; but this statement is so important that I think I simply must communicate it to you. Russia declared war on Japan. This is all!" After which he took his leave, and reporters rushed to their phones.

Yes, two atomic bombs turned out to be monstrous weapons. Their use led to enormous loss of life. Two Japanese cities were destroyed at the same time.

But was such a death something unusual for Japan? Not at all.

By the summer of 1945, the Americans had already wiped out most Japanese cities with their air raids. The carpet bombing of Tokyo in March 1945 destroyed more than a quarter of a million buildings. In total, 83 thousand people died, another 41 thousand were seriously injured.

This is no less than the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. And yet the Japanese were not intimidated. So the death of two more cities, which also remained unknown to the population of the country, did not make much of an impression on the country. The Japanese leadership did not react to this news in any way.

But the entry of the Soviet Union into the war came as a shock to him. It was now that it became finally clear that continuation of the war was impossible.

There is a well-known statement by Japanese Prime Minister K. Suzuki, made on August 9 at an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council for the Leadership of the Country: “The entry of the Soviet Union into the war puts us completely in a hopeless situation and makes it impossible to continue the war.”

Of course, we can assume that only the entry of the USSR into the war became the decisive factor. Initially, there were still illusions about the possibility of continuing resistance. But the lightning-fast development of events, the brilliant offensive of the Soviet troops, and the collapse of the defense of the Kwantung Army confirmed the inevitability of collapse. The war was completely lost.

On August 14, Emperor Hirohito signed a rescript of surrender, which was announced the next day on Japanese radio. The Second World War is over.

List of used literature

Beevor E. The Second World War. M., KoLibri, Azbuka-Atticus, 2014.
History of the Second World War 1939-1945. T. 11. Defeat of militaristic Japan. The end of World War II. M., 1980.
Koshkin A.A. Japanese front of Marshal Stalin. Russia and Japan: the century-long shadow of Tsushima. M., OLMA-PRESS, 2004.
World wars of the twentieth century. Book 3. World War II. Historical sketch. M., Nauka, 2001
Score of the Second World War. Thunderstorm in the East. M., Veche, 2010.
Tehran - Yalta - Potsdam. Collection of documents. M., International relationships, 1970.
Shishov A.V. Russia and Japan. History of military conflicts. M., Veche, 2001.
I fought samurai. From Khalkhin Gol to Port Arthur. M., Yauza, Eksmo, 2005.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Harry S. Truman. 1945. Washington, 1961.
Truman Harry S. Memoirs by Harry S. Truman. Vol. 1. Year of Decisions. N.Y., 1955.