Soviet-Japanese Border Wars

The Soviet–Japanese Border Wars were a series of border conflicts between the Soviet Union and Japan between 1938 and 1945.

After the occupation of Manchukuo and Korea, Japan turned its military interests to Soviet territories. Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria. Athough the Japanese did well at the Battle of Lake Khasan (July 29, 1938 – August 11, 1938), they were soundly defeated at the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (May 11, 1939 – September 16, 1939), forcing the Japanese to seek an armistice with the Soviets, forming the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact.

The treaty was signed in Moscow on April 13, 1941, and at a later date, the treaty was expanded to include a declaration regarding Mongolia and Manchuria. The Soviet Union pledged to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of Manchukuo, while Japan did the same for the Mongolian People's Republic.

On August 8, 1945 the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria, keeping their promise to the other Allies at the Yalta Conference to enter the war with Japan three months after the end of World War II in Europe.

Soviet–Japanese Border Wars in Days of Infamy
After the US Marines successfully landed in Hawaii in 1943, Minoru Genda thought back to the Soviet–Japanese Border Wars after he saw the M4 Sherman tanks that the Americans had brought with them. Realizing that the Japanese had nothing to mach them with, he bitterly reminisced about how the Soviet Union had painfully proved that Japanese tanks didn't match up well against those of the other great powers. He bitterly had to accept that Japan lagged behind the world in Tank development.