Say a word about poor Japanese
What is war with Japan for us? Yes, Pearl Harbor, Midway, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and a separate Hiroshima for the Kwantung Army performed by the Soviet Army. Meanwhile, very, very much left behind the scenes. Yes, sometimes knowledge of Mr. S. Ishii and his “731 Squad” skips. Everything in general.
What story? Iceberg. And under the water is hidden very dofiga, which I will try to demonstrate to you. Go.
It all started back in the distant 1894 year, when Japan decided to bend China. The reason was the desire to give Korea independence from China, and more specifically, to prevent foreign, especially European, control over Korea, and if absolutely accurate, taking it under control - that was the main goal of Japanese foreign policy.
China lost the war in its style - quickly and foolishly. The Japanese hung the Chinese on land and at sea. Then, with the mediation of the former US Secretary of State John Foster, who served as an adviser to the Qing Dynasty (ohoho, pay attention !!!), the Shimonoseki treaty was concluded in 1895 year.
The treaty consisted of 11 articles, according to which China recognized the independence of Korea, which created favorable opportunities for Japanese expansion in Korea; transferred to Japan forever the island of Taiwan, Penghu Islands and the Liaodong Peninsula; paid contributions to 200 million Liang; opened a number of ports for trade; provided the Japanese with the right to build industrial enterprises in China and import industrial equipment there. The last point, by virtue of the principle of the most favored, included in the treaties of China with other powers, opened up broad opportunities for the economic penetration of foreign capital into China (well, you understand what kind of capital).
The conditions imposed by Japan on China led to the so-called "triple intervention" of Russia, Germany and France - the powers that by that time had extensive contacts with China and therefore perceived the signed agreement as detrimental to their interests. 23 April 1895 Russia, Germany and France appealed to the Japanese government to deny the annexation of the Liaodong Peninsula, which could lead to Japanese control of Port Arthur, while Nicholas II, supported by the Western allies, had its own views on -Arthur as an ice-free port for Russia.
The Japanese from the Liaodong Peninsula had to be abandoned. The threefold intervention led to its transfer to the 1898 year in Russia for rental use. The realization that Russia actually took away the Lyaodunsky Peninsula captured during the war from Japan led to a new wave of militarization of Japan, this time directed against Russia. And this is despite the fact that Japan received from Russia for the Kwantung Peninsula huge compensation of about 400 million rubles in silver. Trifle, of course, if on a global scale ...
In general, if you look economically, you can sympathize with Japan. In general, it is not clear how they lived there, in fact, without minerals, gas, oil and other things. Yes, and managed to live well and complicate the lives of neighbors. But it was definitely necessary to develop, and therefore they rushed to the continent with all their might. And the appetite, as we know, comes precisely during the meal.
In 1903, the dispute over Russian forest concessions in Korea and the continuing Russian occupation of Manchuria led to a sharp aggravation of Russian-Japanese relations. Japan sought its full domination in Korea and demanded that Russia clean Manchuria, to which Russia could not go for any reasons.
Sudden, without official declaration of war, Japanese attack fleet On the night of January 27, 1904, the Russian squadron on the outer raid of Port Arthur led to the destruction of several of the strongest ships of the Russian squadron and ensured the unhindered landing of Japanese troops in Korea in February 1904. In May 1904, using the inaction of the Russian command, the Japanese landed their troops on the Kwantung Peninsula and cut the railway connection between Port Arthur and Russia. The siege of Port Arthur was launched by Japanese troops by the beginning of August 1904, and on December 20, 1904 the garrison of the fortress was forced to surrender. The remains of the Russian squadron in Port Arthur were sunk by Japanese siege artillery or blown up by their own crew.
In February 1905, the Japanese forced the Russian army to retreat in the general battle of Mukden, and 14-15 in May 1905, in the Tsushima battle, defeated the Russian squadron deployed to the Far East from the Baltic.
The war ended with the Portsmouth Peace, which was signed by 23 on August 1905, and recorded a concession by Russia to Japan of southern Sakhalin and its rental rights to the Liaodong Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway.
The requirements posed by Japan were as follows:
- Recognition of the freedom of action of Japan in Korea.
- The withdrawal of Russian troops from Manchuria.
- The transfer of Japan Lyaodunskogo Peninsula and the South Manchurian Railway (YuMZHD).
- Payment by Russia of military costs.
- Transfer of Japanese Russian ships interned by Japan.
- Accession of Sakhalin to Japan (occupied by Japanese troops on the eve of the opening of the conference in Portsmouth).
- Restriction of the Russian naval forces in the Far East.
- Giving Japan the right to fish along the Russian coast.
In general, the appetite just go. But, thank God, Russia had its own weapon this time. His name was Sergei Witte. This man managed to negate all the achievements of the Japanese, for which he bowed and eternal memory. For definitely, it could have been worse if someone else appeared in his place.
At the insistence of the Russian side, the protocol of the conference recorded the obligation of Japan not to carry out actions without coordination with the Korean government affecting the sovereignty of Korea. It was also possible to impose a condition on Japan on the simultaneous and parallel withdrawal from Manchuria of the armed forces of the two countries.
In connection with the problem, the South-Caucasian Railway agreed to cede to Japan only that part of the road that was in the Japanese occupation zone, and only with the consent of the Chinese government.
Russia rejected Japan’s demands on Sakhalin, internees, restriction of Russian naval forces in the Far East and on indemnity. Consent was granted only for compensation to Japan for the maintenance of prisoners of war. In connection with the firm position of the Russian delegation, which declared at the first meeting that “there are neither winners nor losers at the conference”, the conference was on the verge of failure. Before the prospect of continuing the war, Japan trembled and 18 August 1905 rejected the requirement to restrict naval forces, issue internees and pay contributions with the condition of assigning southern Sakhalin and paying 1,2 billion yen for returning northern Sakhalin to Russia. The Russian side was ready to give up on Sakhalin, but refused to pay a fee for the return of its northern part. There was pressure from Russia on the American side to force it to accept the conditions of Japan, but Witte was firm in defending the Russian position. Not having achieved concessions from Russia, Roosevelt strongly advised the Japanese side not to continue the war because of the indemnity. Ultimately, the Japanese government decided to make a world without indemnity, leaving Japan with the southern part of Sakhalin. Japan also had to guarantee the freedom of navigation in the La Pérouse Strait and make a commitment not to strengthen South Sakhalin.
The signing of the treaty was perceived by the Japanese public as humiliation and caused riots in Tokyo.
But in the first world Japan compensated for the incurred "losses".
As soon as the war began, China immediately declared its neutrality. However, the Japanese immediately drew a so-called list of twenty-one requirements. ”
"Requirements" were divided into five groups. The first of these included the recognition by China of all agreements that could be concluded between Germany and Japan regarding Shandong. Provision was also made for the transfer to Japan of the rights to build railways there and the opening of major cities and ports for Japan.
The second group of requirements concerned southern Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. Japan demanded transfer of Lüshun (Port Arthur, Ryojun), Dalian (Dalniy, Dayren), South Manchurian, Andong-Mukden and Jilin-Chanchun railways for 99 years for rent, giving the Japanese the right to acquire and lease land, freedom of residence and movement as well as mining rights and trade and industry.
The third group offered to turn the Khanepi Industrial Plant into a mixed Japanese-Chinese enterprise, which combined mines and steel mills in Hanyang, Dye and Pingxiang.
The fourth group prohibited China from alienating and leasing the harbor, bay and islands along the Chinese coast.
Finally, the fifth group included inviting the Japanese as political, financial and military advisers to the central government of China, recognizing land ownership in China for Japanese temples, hospitals and schools, creating Japanese-Chinese military factories with scientific and technical assistance from Japan, providing Japan’s rights to build railways in Chinese territory, consult with Japan on the construction of railways, mines and ports in Fujian province, provide the Japanese rights of religious propaganda in China.
In short, with the fifth group went bust and China howled in a bad voice, asking for help from anyone. Whatever turned out to be ... right, USA. Sensing the threat of an “open door policy in China”, US Secretary of State William Bryan handed 13 March 1915 a “Brian note” in which, although he recognized Japan’s “special interests” in Manchuria, Mongolia and Shandong, he expressed concern about the attack on China’s sovereignty . British diplomacy also expressed dissatisfaction with Japan’s rude actions toward China.
In China, the Yuan Shikai government’s day of acceptance of the Japanese ultimatum was called the “National Shame Day” by patriots. China entered the First World War on the side of the Entente, hoping that in this case after the war the great powers would decide on the elimination of the territorial seizures of Japan. When it became known that at the conference in Versailles all the demands of the Chinese delegation were rejected, a powerful nationwide struggle unfolded in China, which went down in history as the May 4 Movement. But, alas, China was in flight.
Having dealt with China, the Japanese threw themselves into rapture with gusto. Moreover, they grabbed the possession of former friends of German companions. in August - September 1914, the Japanese landing forces seized the islands of Yap, Marshall, Karolinska and Mariana. After the capture of Jaluit on the Marshall Islands, the squadron of Admiral Tamina 12 October appeared in the beautiful harbor of Truka in the Caroline Islands. Rear Admiral Tatsuo Matsumura squadron 1 of October captured the port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain belonging to Germany. At the end of 1914, the 4 of the Japanese ship stood in Suwa harbor in Fiji, and the 6 were based on Truk. By the beginning of November 1914, the only territory in the Pacific Ocean controlled by Germany was the port-fortress of Qingdao. True, not for long, because by the end of the next year the Japanese who had entered the rage also captured him.
In general, the 1914-1918 world war allowed the Japanese empire to justify its title: from a regional power, it became, if not a world power, then at least become a powerful dominant in Asia and the Pacific. By the end of 1918, Japanese troops, in addition to the former German possessions on Shandong and in the Pacific, occupied part of the territory of China proper, part of North Manchuria, and part of Eastern Siberia. However, not everything was so smooth, consolidation in Asian Russia and China was far from being completed. Certain consequences of the war were new relations with yesterday’s allies, primarily with Great Britain and the USA. Mutual hostility and hostility led to the rupture of the Anglo-Japanese alliance in 1921 (immediately after the end of joint actions in Russia). For the US, Japan never ceased to be a potential enemy. This led to the rapprochement of Japan and Germany. The consequences and results of new, post-war realities are well known to all.
As a result, they fought, fought, but received nothing special. More precisely, they got it, but not as much as they wanted. Especially since the Japanese were kicked out of Siberia. Politics further demanded a return to the already passed. That is, to China.
In general, the relationship between the two countries could not be called peaceful. Starting from 1929, minor conflicts and provocations constantly occurred, and in March 1931, having organized a provocation on the Manchurian railway, the Japanese began hostilities and by the end of the year successfully seized Manchuria and created the puppet state of Manzhou-Go.
In 1932, Japan safely and without much straining actually snapped off Shanghai at its disposal.
In 1937, the second phase of the seizure of China began. The Japanese acted on the established scenario of provocations. The Lugouqiao 7.07.1937 incident of the year marked the official start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The result of the incident was the abandonment by Chinese troops in late July - early August of Beijing and Tianjin, northern China remained completely defenseless against the Japanese mechanized units, which fully occupied it by the end of the year.
8 August - The Second Shanghai Battle unfolded on November 8, during which numerous Japanese landings as part of the 3 Expeditionary Corps Matsui with intensive support from the sea and the air managed to seize the city of Shanghai, despite the strong resistance of the Chinese; A puppet pro-Japanese government was formed in Shanghai.
In November - December 1937, the Japanese army launched an offensive on Nanjing along the Yangtze River, without encountering strong resistance. December 12, 1937 Japanese aviation made an unprovoked raid on the British and American ships stationed near Nanjing. As a result, the gunboat Panay was sunk. However, diplomatic measures of the conflict were avoided. On December 13, Nanjing fell, the government was evacuated to the city of Hankou.
During the 5 days, the Japanese army staged a massacre of civilians in the city, killing more than 200 thousands of people. The first call, so to speak.
As a result of the battles for Nanjing, the Chinese army lost everything Tanks, artillery, aviation and navy. On December 14, 1937, the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, controlled by the Japanese, was proclaimed in Beijing.
In May-June 1938, the Japanese regrouped, concentrating more than 200 thousands of soldiers and officers and about 400 tanks against 400 thousands of poorly armed Chinese, almost deprived of military equipment, and continued the offensive, resulting in Xuzhou (May 20) and Kaifeng (June 6) ). In these battles, the Japanese used chemical and bacteriological weapons. That is, they wanted to put on the Geneva Convention 17 June 1925 of the year, and, in fact, laid it with the parting.
At the same time, Japan organized the so-called Changkufeng incident (July 29 - August 11 1938 of the year), known to us as the battles at Lake Hassan. The pretext was the territorial claims of the puppet state of Manchukuo to the USSR. How it ended, is well known.
From 13 March to 3, 1939 launched the Nanchang operation, during which the Japanese troops in the 101 and 106 infantry division, supported by the landing of the marines and the massive use of aircraft and gunners, managed to occupy the city of Nanchang and several other cities. In late April, the Chinese launched a successful counter-attack on Nanchang, liberated the city of Hoan. However, then the Japanese troops launched a local strike in the direction of the city of Yichang. Japanese troops entered Nanchang on August 29 again.
In June, the Chinese cities of Shantou (June 1939) and Fuzhou (June 21) were taken by the naval landings.
In September, 1939 Chinese troops managed to stop the Japanese offensive in 18 km north of the city of Changsha. On October 10, they launched a successful counter-offensive against units of the 11 Army in the direction of Nanchang, which they managed to take on October 10. During the operation, the Japanese lost up to 25 thousand people and more 20 landing craft.
And at the same time there were events in the north. The fighting at Khalkhin Gol (May 11 - September 15 1939 of the year) was so named because of the Khalkhin Gol River, which flows through the battlefield; in Japan, they are known as the Nomokhan incident (due to the nearby village of Nomokhan). The cause of the conflict was a dispute about the delimitation of the border between Mongolia and Manchukuo. At the beginning of the conflict, Japanese troops managed to occupy part of the Mongolian territory, but already in August, the Japanese group was surrounded by the Red Army in the Khalkhin Gol area and defeated.
The result was the signing of 13 on April 1941 of the Soviet-Japanese treaty on neutrality, guaranteeing the USSR that Japan would not enter the war in the Soviet Far East if Germany did start a war with the USSR.
At that time, Japan controlled ¼ of the Chinese territory, mainly coastal areas of the Yellow Sea.
But on this appetite only inflamed.
Japan sought to oust the imperialist rivals - the United States, Britain and other colonial powers - from Southeast Asia, the South Sea region, and seize the sources of raw materials and food that were under their control. Japan was especially attracted by the natural resources of Southern Indochina, Malaya, Dutch India, and the Philippines. She was interested in obtaining oil, tin and rubber. Malaya and Dutch India accounted for 78 percent of world rubber production and 67 percent tin. In 1940, about 9 mln. Tons of oil was produced here. 90 percent tin and almost 75 percent rubber exported from these countries accounted for the United States.
The strengthening of the claims of the Japanese monopolies to the "abandoned" colonies of France and Holland (occupied by Germany at that time), American and British possessions in the Pacific and the whole of China caused further aggravation of the contradictions between Japan, on the one hand, and the United States and Great Britain. other.
In Washington, they did not think to weaken their positions in the Pacific, they did not want to concede to the Japanese the Dutch, French and other colonies, which the Americans themselves claimed. Therefore, the US government rejected the Japanese proposals put forward during the negotiations and testified to Tokyo’s desire to establish hegemony in China, Southeast Asia and the countries of the South Seas. Roosevelt was a very smart politician.
The next aggressive move of Japan in the south was its occupation of the southern part of Indochina. In response, the US government announced the distribution of an oil export license system to Japan from the US east coast states. But this measure did not stop the Japanese militarists. Forcing France to sign on July 23 an agreement on the use of military bases in Southern Indochina by Japanese armed forces, Japan actually occupied the area.
With the release of the Japanese armed forces to the approaches to Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch India and the Philippines, the Roosevelt government of 25 in July of 1941 imposed an embargo on oil exports to Japan and froze all Japanese assets in the United States. So did the UK and the Netherlands. For its part, the Japanese government did the same with the assets of these countries. Here, in fact, talked ...
1 August 1941. The American ban on the export to Japan of all important strategic materials came into force. Measures of a military nature were also taken: the Filipino army transferred to the subordination of the American command, and a group of American military advisers went to China.
Assessing this as an act of aggression that could lead the country to collapse, Japan 8 December 1941 of the year attacked the British colony of Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaya. At the same time (formally, December 7, due to the difference in time zones), aircraft from the Japanese aircraft carrier compound attacked the American fleet in Pearl Harbor.
The British, Indian, Dutch and Australian armed forces were unable to resist the Japanese forces. 10 December 1941 in the South China Sea was sunk by the English battleship Prince of Wales and the cruiser Ripals, which tried to prevent the Japanese from attacking Singapore from the land. 21 December, the Thai government made an alliance with the Japanese Empire. December 25 was taken by Hong Kong, around the same time American bases on the islands of Guam and Wake fell.
In January, 1942, Japan invaded Burma, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The cities of Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Rabaul were captured. February 15 1942 Singapore fell (the Japanese attacked the impregnable fortress from the sea from the land), 130 000 people were captured. At the same time, the number of Japanese troops attacking Singapore was only about 35 thousand. Also in February, Bali and Timor fell.
In a battle in the Java Sea (February 27 and March 1 1942), the Allied naval forces suffered a crushing defeat from a Japanese escort connection: Allied 5 cruisers and allied destroyers were sunk. 5 March Allied troops surrendered on the island of Java.
British troops were driven out of the city of Rangoon on the Indo-Burmese border, which allowed the Japanese to cut lines of communication between the allies and the army of Chiang Kai-shek. US troops in the Philippines resisted until 8 in May 1942, when the remaining 60,000 Filipino and 10,000 American soldiers surrendered.
Japanese aircraft almost destroyed the Allied air forces in Southeast Asia and began to raid northern Australia. The Japanese aircraft carrier compound raided the Indian Ocean, sinking the English aircraft carrier Hermes, the 2 cruiser and the 2 destroyer.
Dear, if this is not a blitzkrieg, then I apologize. The territorial acquisitions of Japan are not something that are not comparable with the German ones, but far exceeded them. Here you can draw some kind of parallel, because what the Japanese captured in fact for 1941-42 years, they had to be taken before 1945.
So what we have. We do not even have an analogue of Germany, but an aggressor, significantly surpassing it, in aspirations, in capabilities. And who carried out the policy of seizing the territories without taking any particular heels. Examples? Excuse me
13 December 1937 rushed into Nanking, the Japanese massacred the civilian population. For about six weeks, the soldiers burned and plundered the city, destroyed its inhabitants in the most brutal ways, raped women. The number of injured civilians is estimated by the Chinese side in 300 000 dead and more than 20 000 raped women (from seven-year-old girls to old women). According to the post-war tribunals, the number of those killed was more than two hundred thousand. One of the reasons for the difference in numbers is that some researchers include in the number of victims of the Nanking massacre only those killed within the city, while others also take into account the dead in the vicinity of Nanking.
15 February 1942. The Japanese occupied the British colony of Singapore, the occupying authorities decided to identify and eliminate the “anti-Japanese elements” of the Chinese community. This definition covered the Chinese participants in the defense of the Malay Peninsula and Singapore, former employees of the British administration, and even ordinary citizens who made donations to the aid fund for China in their time. The shooting lists also included people whose fault was only that they were born in China. This operation received the name “Suk Ching” in Chinese literature (roughly translated from Chinese as “liquidation, cleansing”). All Chinese men from eighteen to fifty years old who lived in Singapore passed through special filtration points. Those who, according to the Japanese, could pose a threat, were taken by truck outside the settlements and shot with machine guns.
Soon, the operation “Operation Suk Ching” was extended to the territory of the Malay Peninsula. There, due to the lack of human resources, the Japanese authorities decided not to conduct inquiries and simply destroy the entire Chinese population. Fortunately, at the very beginning of March the operation on the peninsula was suspended, since the Japanese had to deploy troops to other sectors of the front.
The death toll is unknown. According to the Singapore and British authorities, it is a question of 100 000 who were shot, although it is possible that the number in 50 000, which was heard during the post-war tribunals, is more realistic.
10 February 1945, Manila. The soldiers who broke into the building of the Red Cross Hospital staged a massacre there, not sparing doctors, nurses, the sick, and even children. The same fate befell the Spanish consulate: about fifty people were burned alive in the building of a diplomatic mission and pinned down with bayonets in the garden. Massacre and destruction occurred in the vicinity of Manila, for example, the Japanese completely destroyed the five thousandth population of the town of Kalamba, and the city was burned. Monasteries and nuns, schoolchildren and teachers were massacred in monasteries and Catholic schools.
According to the most careful estimates, the number of civilians killed during the massacre in Manila is more than 100 000 people.
Bataan death march in April 1942 year on about. Luzon seems to be a kindergarten. About 1 thousands of American soldiers and 18-19 thousands of Filipinos died there.
731 Squad — data destroyed, numbers range from 3 to 10 to thousands of people.
The 100 squad and the 516 squad also thoroughly destroyed all documentation and reports, but appreciating the “random” outbreaks of the plague, anthrax and other “charms” outbreaks, the Chinese government announced the number of 100 000 people.
The figure is controversial, not proven, because it was not before in a country with dual leadership, and even during the war. And after the war, China’s opinion was not particularly considered. But apparently in the occupied territories, the Japanese, with their paddocks in terms of racial superiority, did not treat the Chinese everywhere with soy sweets.
Summing up. To speak of the "unpreparedness" of the Japanese army for war is, to put it mildly, silly. Well, the army of a country that really did not live in peace could not be unprepared for war. And in fact, without a break, she fought over new territories. In fact, in great success. Capturing Korea, a quarter of China and almost the entire Pacific region. And we had to knock out from there the national team of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and even attract the Russians, and shy away with atomic bombs.
With regards to the mentioned Kwantung Army, it is even simpler here. You can talk a lot about her weak fighting spirit (this is after how she made all the “acquisitions” on the continent!), About obsolete tanks, bad planes, only Chinese to drive, in short, you can hang snot for a long time. But the numbers are: 1 million 320 thousand people, 1150 tanks, 1900 aircraft, 6500 guns, and even the ships were.
There is much to say that for the organization of new divisions and brigades, the Japanese could only use untrained younger draftees and partially eligible older reservists. Yes, in the summer of 1945, the 250 of thousands were called in, which were sent to reinforce the existing grouping. But the rest, forgive me, were rather warded ... They say that in the Japanese divisions and brigades newly created in Manchuria, in addition to the small number of combat personnel, there was often no artillery. But this is the problem of the Indians, who do not care about the sheriff. We also lacked a lot of things in 1941.
And the fact that our fighters were better and the equipment was better - so forgive what they wanted?
In fact, the Japanese should be grateful to us for this pogrom. For if the USSR had not violated the non-aggression pact and had not dispersed the Kwantung Army to pieces, there could have been another option. For example, the transfer of parts of this army in Japan. States did not rush to fight for these islands, because they thought that there they would be met to the fullest. And, quite naturally, they would have thrown another couple of bombs. Say no? Yes Easy! So let them say thanks.
The fact that Japan is the eternal aggressor, it seems to me, is not particularly questionable. Because even nowadays they continue to push for territory, but already, thank God, purely legally. This is me about the Kuril Islands, about the territorial dispute with the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands, about the dispute with the Republic of Korea over the ownership of the Liancourt Islands ...
One wants to live ... And to live well is even stronger.
That is the word I am talking about the poor and unprepared for war Japanese. So they fenced in full, quite rightly (well, atomic bombs in my humble opinion it was a bust, as well as phosphoric carpet bombing) and deservedly. So do not detract from the dignity of those who brought them back for permanent residence on the islands. The army was excellent, the fleet is definitely good, the planes too. And they knew how to fight, and only they did it, we will face it.
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