Although the Japanese army resisted tenaciously, the fall of two atomic bombs made Japanese high-level officials realize that their defeat was inevitable.
Emperor Hirohito and his cabinet began to plan how to surrender. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs negotiated with Britain, the United States and other countries, and basically confirmed that Japan would surrender to China, Britain and the United States in August 1945. However, at the end of this war, the Soviet Union suddenly declared war on Japan and mobilized150,000 Red Army to enter northeast China, Korea and other places, which dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese Kwantung Army.
Why did the Soviet Union seize the war's tail and hit Reservoir Dogs when the Japanese were about to surrender? At that time, the Soviet Red Army marched all the way, pointing at Japan, but why did it suddenly stop? This should start with the complicated international situation at that time.
On the European battlefield, after a short period of depression, the Allies quickly fought back and won battles frequently, quickly annihilating the effective forces of the German Nazi army, and the failure of Germany and Italy was inevitable. On the other side of the world in Asia, the anti-fascist war is not so smooth.
Due to the gap in overall strength, China is in a stalemate with the Japanese invaders. Although the United States sent a large number of fleets and troops to fight against the Japanese, the Japanese still struggled, shouting "100 million pieces of jade" and shopping with the US military in various extreme ways.
In the landing war in Japan, the US military lost a large number of warships and soldiers. If the storm continues, more American soldiers will die in Japan. Moreover, once the Japanese Kwantung Army entrenched in Manchuria is reinforced, the situation of the US military will be particularly dangerous.
The shrewd President Roosevelt certainly didn't want to see this happen. Although the secret Manhattan project of the United States is coming to an end, it is still unknown whether the atomic bomb can come out successfully. Although Britain is in step with the United States, the strength of the British army is only in the Near East, and Japan is beyond its reach.
In this situation, Roosevelt looked forward to the Soviet-Japanese war, so that the powerful Soviet Red Army could share the pressure of the Japanese battlefield. So the Yalta Agreement was born.
Since Japan and the Soviet Union signed a Soviet-Japanese neutrality agreement before, although the Soviet Union was in an allied country, it was in no hurry to declare war on Japan. Stalin knew that the United States urgently needed the help of the Soviet Red Army, so he used it as a threat to pull the British and American heads of state to the negotiating table in Yalta, Crimea.
Stalin promised to declare war on Japan within three months after he captured Berlin, but his condition was that the Soviet Union recovered the land lost in the Russo-Japanese War, as well as Sakhalin Island and Kuril Islands. In addition, the Soviet Union also asked Britain and the United States to recognize Mongolia's independence and the Soviet Union's ownership of Lushun Port, Dalian Port and the Middle East Railway.
The agreement signed in Yalta ignored China's sovereignty, which seriously damaged China's territorial integrity and affected the interests of Britain and the United States in China.
Stalin thought Roosevelt and Churchill would strongly oppose it, but Britain and the United States had a very urgent desire to end the war. They almost accepted it without bargaining.
Roosevelt also made his own demands. He demanded that the United States occupy the whole territory of Japan on the grounds that American troops suffered heavy casualties in the war against Japan. Stalin also agreed.
This agreement has a far-reaching influence on later generations, and it has constructed the basic world order after the war. However, all three parties who signed this agreement have ulterior motives. Stalin tried to turn northeast China into a Soviet military base, Roosevelt wanted to turn Japan into an American eagle dog in the Far East, and Churchill dreamed of increasing Britain's voice in Europe.
Since all three have ulterior motives, this agreement will naturally be fulfilled.
The Yalta Agreement was finalized in February 1945. In May, the Soviet Red Army planted a red flag over Berlin, but in August, the Soviet Union was still unwilling to declare war on Japan.
There are three main reasons for the Soviet Union's hesitation:
First, the Soviet Union has not yet gained a foothold in postwar Europe, and it needs time to maximize the interests of the Soviet Union; Secondly, the Soviet Union consumed huge manpower and material resources in the Soviet-German war, and it has not recovered yet. The last and most important reason is that the Soviet Union and the United States seem to be in harmony and both secretly want to cause trouble to each other.
The Soviet Union deliberately delayed the time of declaring war on Japan in order to let Japan and the United States die for a while and let Americans suffer more.
The Soviet Union did not send troops, and Britain and the United States were in a hurry. The Japanese used Japan's complex terrain to design various traps and bunkers. The casualties of American soldiers are increasing, and a large number of warships and materials are wasted on the Japanese battlefield. Roosevelt telegraphed many times asking Stalin to declare war on Japan immediately, but Stalin prevaricated with various reasons for recuperation.
At this time, the Manhattan project finally succeeded. The United States harvested a large number of German nuclear physics scientists, and with their help, it quickly developed the atomic bomb.
Americans have great confidence in this new type of weapons of mass destruction, and they took the lead in training Japanese hands. The two atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, bloomed huge mushroom clouds, instantly pushing the situation in the Asian battlefield to an end.
The whole world knows that the end of World War II is not far away, and Japan will soon surrender.
At this moment, the Soviet Union could not sit still. Once Japan surrenders, it will not declare war or send troops. Isn't that a violation of the Yalta agreement? Once the United States occupied the whole of Japan, didn't its chips disappear immediately? Can the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island be taken back?
Stalin decisively ordered a declaration of war against Japan, and the 6.5438+0.5 million Red Army immediately attacked. 1On August 9th, 945, the Red Army of the Soviet Union stepped on the last day of the three-month period stipulated by the Yalta Conference, launched the famous August storm and began to attack the Japanese Kwantung Army.
At this time, the Soviet army had rested for three months, while the Japanese Kwantung Army entrenched in Manchuria was lifeless. Because the kwantung army heard the news that Japan was bombed by atomic bombs, it had long known that the allied Germany had surrendered and Japan was isolated.
The steel torrent of the Soviet Red Army ruthlessly ran over the sun flag. Although the Manchurian Kwantung Army is an elite Japanese army, it is almost helpless. The Red Army successfully occupied Manchuria.
In places like Kuril Islands in Sakhalin Island, the Red Army's advance was not so smooth. Emperor Hirohito issued a surrender edict on August 15, ordering all Japanese troops to surrender unconditionally. However, fanatical Japanese militarists could not accept the fact that Japan was defeated. There are still many Japanese soldiers who stubbornly resist, do not listen to the imperial edict of the emperor, and want to die for their country.
The army of the Soviet Red Army has strong combat capability. Although there were Japanese troops in Manchuria who refused to surrender, they were quickly wiped out. In Sakhalin and other places, the Soviet army is going to land on the beach, which is the weakness of the Soviet army. The Soviet Union made great efforts to occupy Sakhalin Island and Kuril Islands.
The current Russian President Vladimir Putin once said, "Russia has a large territory, but not an inch is redundant."
Putin's words typically represent the land complex of Slavs. For Slavs, land is life. Take as much as you can, and as little as you can.
Stalin spared no effort to expand the territory of the Soviet Union. In the Yalta Agreement, Stalin turned his back on the international ideal of * * * productism and openly violated China's sovereignty in the northeast, in an attempt to bring the northeast back to the period of Russia. This is obviously unacceptable to the people of China.
During the August storm, Stalin wanted to add another piece to the Soviet Union. Stalin instructed General Alexander Vasilevsky, commander of the Far East Army, that the Red Army soldiers should not only liberate Sakhalin Island and Kuril Islands adjacent to Manchuria, but also seize the northern part of Hokkaido. On August 16, Stalin made representations to Truman, demanding the area north of Liu Meng-Kushiro Road in Hokkaido.
Stalin's reason is that during the whole World War II, the Japanese occupied the Far East of the Soviet Union, and now Japan has been defeated. If the Soviet Union does not occupy some Japanese mainland, it will be unacceptable to the Soviet people.
Stalin ordered the Red Army to prepare to enter Hokkaido after occupying the Kuril Islands. The United States listened to Stalin's request and of course refused.
President Roosevelt died of illness, and his successor Truman strongly opposed Stalin. He not only called the Soviet Union's request absurd, but also demanded that one of the Kuril Islands be used as a military base for the US military. Truman knew that Japan could not be the second Germany.
When Berlin was captured, the Soviet Red Army arrived at the gates of Berlin before the American army and surrounded Berlin. The red army could have surrounded it, and the Germans would have surrendered in Kaesong after running out of water and food. However, the Soviet Union and Germany have blood feuds. Previously, the Germans burned and looted in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union also burned and looted along the way when it counterattacked. The Germans would rather wait to surrender to the Americans than to the Soviets.
The Soviet Red Army had no choice but to attack the city by force, and finally laid Berlin before Britain and the United States at the cost of 300,000 people, thus dividing Germany into a part of Germany. If the Soviet Union acquiesced in taking Hokkaido, the Soviet Union would definitely use Hokkaido as a fulcrum to send more troops and then demand more Japanese territory. Truman would never allow this to happen.
The United States and the Soviet Union, which were originally brothers on the surface, finally showed their fangs, and the Red Army and the American army were at daggers drawn, as if to meet in Hokkaido. But this time, Stalin gave in. He condemned Truman's unreasonable request for a military base and instructed the frontline troops to give up taking Hokkaido.
Stalin made concessions for a reason. First of all, as mentioned above, the Soviet Red Army has a strong land combat capability, but the Red Navy's combat capability is really insufficient. Sakhalin island and other places are beyond our power. If we rashly go to war with the American troops in Hokkaido, the outcome will naturally be self-defeating. Moreover, the Red Army can occupy Sakhalin Island and other places, or rely on the training guidance of the US Navy and the assistance of transport ships. Without the help of the us military, the red navy's beach landing is doomed to failure.
Secondly, Hokkaido is too far from the Soviet Union. Even if it is torn with the us military, it is difficult to keep the results. Better stop here.
Third, the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki greatly shocked the world, and Stalin realized that the military strength of the US military was extraordinary. If there is a conflict with the US military, if Truman orders the Soviet Union to send two atomic bombs, the consequences will be unimaginable. The nuclear threat of the United States is Stalin's concern.
Finally, the Soviet Union's demand for the occupation of Hokkaido was not supported by public opinion in the international community. The United States paid a painful price for occupying Japan in the Pacific War, and the Soviet Union first signed a mutually neutral treaty with Japan, and did not make much effort to surrender to Japan after the Yalta Agreement.
Since it didn't take much effort and blood in the Soviet Union, why did you occupy Japan? Stalin could only watch MacArthur as an "emperor" at large in Japan.
It can be said that the Soviet Union could have occupied Japan, because after the Yalta Agreement and before the success of the Manhattan Project, the United States was stuck in the Japanese battlefield, while the Soviet Union held the initiative in the East Asian battlefield.
At that time, the pro-Soviet left-wing forces in Japan and the army were growing. If the Soviet Union takes the opportunity to eat the Kwantung Army and then sends left-wing Japanese back to Japan for propaganda and agitation, it will certainly gain the upper hand in Japan's surrender negotiations and gain actual control over all or part of Japan. But Stalin's cleverness was surpassed by cleverness, and he failed to seize the opportunity. As a result, he lost Japan for nothing