Japan–Soviet Union relations
Relations between the Soviet Union 'and Japan' between the Communist takeover in 1917 and the collapse of Communism in 1991 tended to be hostile. Japan had sent troops to counter the Bolshevik presence in Russia's Far East during the Russian Civil War, and both countries had been in opposite camps during World War II and the Cold War. In addition, territorial conflicts over the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin were a constant source of tension. These, with a number of smaller conflicts, prevented both countries from signing a peace treaty after World War II, and even today matters remain unresolved.
Strains in Japan–Soviet Union relations have deep historical roots, going back to the competition of the Japanese and Russian empires for dominance in Northeast Asia.
The Soviet government refused to sign the 1951 peace treaty and the state of war between the Soviet Union and Japan technically existed until 1956, when it was ended by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956. A formal peace treaty between the Soviet Union and Japan still has not been signed.
The main stumbling block to improving relations between the Soviet Union and Japan in the post-war period has been the territorial dispute over the Kurils, which are known as the Northern Territories in Japan.
Russian Civil War and recognition (1917–1925)
The poor relations between the Soviet Union and Japan from the 1920s until the late 1940s originated in Japan's victory over imperial Russia, the predecessor state of the Soviet Union, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. During the Russian Civil War, Japan occupied Vladivostok from 1918 until 1922, using as many as 70,000 troops. The Imperial Japanese Army also penetrated as far west as Lake Baikal and Buryatia, occupying the city of Chita in Transbaikal until October 1920.Japan formally recognized the Soviet Union in January 1925 with the Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention. They agreed that the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth remained in force, while other agreements and treaties between the two countries should be re-examined. By concluding this agreement, Japan formally recognized the Soviet Union. Ratifications were exchanged in Beijing on February 26, 1925. The agreement was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on May 20, 1925.
1917–1925: Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands
After Russia was defeated in 1905, Japan took control of southern Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. In 1920, The Bolsheviks took over northern Sakhalin, but within months the Japanese captured it and began to exploit its oil, coal, and other resources. Under international pressure, the northern district of Sakhalin was transferred to the Soviet Union in 1925, but the Japanese retained a concession there. In 1945 the Soviets seized all of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.1925–1930: Quiet cooperation
The early years following the establishment of diplomatic relation were characterized by calm, which was mainly the result of the partial restraint in the expansionist policies of the Japanese Empire prior to 1931, as well as the Soviet need to maintain trade and the temporary deterioration in Sino-Soviet relations around the period of the Sino-Soviet war in 1929.Already in 1925, immediately following the establishment of relations, the Japanese government withdrew its forces from the northern part of Sakhalin, captured by the Japanese army during the Siberian intervention.
An important step during this period was the conclusion on January 23, 1928, of a Soviet-Japanese Fishery agreement, which permitted Japanese nationals to fish in the waters of the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Soviet coastline. Ratifications were exchanged in Tokyo on May 23, 1928. The agreement was registered in League of Nations Treaty Series on September 5, 1928.
The USSR had approached Japan several times with proposals for a non-aggression pact, but Japan viewed these proposals unfavorably and prioritized the conclusion of treaties of commerce and resolution of outstanding economic issues. Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi deferred an early Soviet proposal of non-aggression pact, emphasizing that Japan’s priority was commerce and resolving economic issues.
1930–1945: Deteriorating relations and war
Beginning in 1930 amid deteriorating relations with Poland, Joseph Stalin became concerned about the possibility of a two-front war with Poland and Japan. In particular, he feared that Japan would encourage nomads in Soviet Central Asia to rebel against the Soviet Union's forced sedentarization policies. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories. Soviet-Japanese relations sharply deteriorated after 1936. This stemmed from the conclusion of the Anti-Comintern Pact between Japan and Nazi Germany in November 1936, which was designed as a defense against international communism.In 1931–1932, The Soviet Union revived another proposal for Japan as its military frontier in Manchuria threatened Soviet interests. Ambassador Yoshizawa Kenkichi received suggestions from Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov to negotiate a nonaggression pact. Japanese officials like Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi and Minister of War Araki Sadao considered the proposal premature studied it cautiously, considering the proposal premature and largely skeptical.
The first major Soviet-Japanese border incident, the Battle of Lake Khasan, happened in Primorye, not far from Vladivostok. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria, escalating into an undeclared border war which was decided in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, which took place at the Mongolian-Manchurian border. The Soviet Union won decisively, and deterred Japan from any further aggression during World War II.
File:Matsuoka signs the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact-1.jpg|thumb|220px|Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka signing the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact
In 1941, two years after the border war, Japan and the Soviet Union signed a neutrality pact. Later in 1941, Japan would consider breaking the pact when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, but they did not, largely due to the defeat at Battle of Khalkhin Gol, even though Japan and Nazi Germany were part of the Tripartite Pact.
At Yalta in February 1945, Stalin promised Roosevelt that the USSR would enter the war against Japan 90 days after the defeat of Germany, which took place in May. It met that timetable by shifting large forces across Siberia. In April 1945, Moscow annulled the neutrality pact. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria began on August 8, 1945, after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The Soviet Union planned an invasion of Hokkaido, but it was never carried out because of opposition from the United States.
Richard Sorge: Invaluable spy
was a German journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during World War II and worked undercover as a German journalist in both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. His codename was "Ramsay". A number of famous personalities considered him one of the most accomplished spies.Sorge is most famous for his service in Japan in 1940 and 1941, when he provided information about Hitler's plan to attack the Soviet Union in 1941. Then, in mid-September 1941, he informed the Soviets that Japan would not attack the Soviet Union in the near future. A month later, Sorge was arrested in Japan for espionage. He was tortured, forced to confess, tried and hanged in November 1944. Stalin declined to intervene on his behalf with the Japanese. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1964.
1946–1960: Restoration of relations
Due to the invasion, 56 islands of the Kuril chain, as well as the southern half of Sakhalin, were in 1946 incorporated into the Soviet Union. The USSR created a South-Sakhalin Province in the Khabarovsk Region of the Soviet Union. This annexation was never recognized by Japan and prevented the conclusion of a Soviet-Japanese World War II peace treaty and the establishment of closer relations between the two states. The Soviet Union refused to return these territories claiming that it feared that such a return would encourage China to push their own territorial claims against the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union used the islands as part of an antisubmarine warfare network guarding the mouth of the Sea of Okhotsk.During the first half of the 1950s, other unsettled problems included Japanese fishing rights in the Sea of Okhotsk and off the coast of the Soviet maritime provinces and repatriation of Japanese prisoners of war, who were still being held in the Soviet Union. Negotiation of these issues broke down early in 1956 because of tension over territorial claims.
Negotiations resumed, however, and the Soviet Union and Japan signed a Joint Declaration on October 19, 1956, providing for the restoration of diplomatic relations and ending the war. The two parties also agreed to continue negotiations for a peace treaty, including territorial issues. In addition, the Soviet Union pledged to support Japan for UN membership and waive all World War II reparations claims. The Joint Declaration was accompanied by a trade protocol that granted reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment and provided for the development of trade.
Japan derived few apparent gains from the normalization of diplomatic relations. The second half of the 1950s saw an increase in cultural exchanges. Soviet propaganda, however, had little success in Japan, where it encountered a longstanding antipathy stemming from the Russo-Japanese rivalry in Korea, Manchuria, and China proper in the late nineteenth century, from the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–5; and from the Soviet declaration of war on Japan in the last days of World War II, in accordance with the Yalta agreement.
The Soviet Union sought to induce Japan to abandon its territorial claims by alternating threats and persuasion. As early as 1956, it hinted at the possibility of considering the return of the Habomai Islands and Shikotan if Japan abandoned its alliance with the United States. In 1960, the Soviet government warned Japan against signing the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security with the United States, and after the treaty was signed, declared that it would not hand over the Habomai Islands and Shikotan under any circumstances unless Japan abrogated the treaty forthwith. In 1964, the Soviet Union offered to return these islands if the United States ended its military presence on Okinawa and the main islands of Japan.