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Soviet invasion of Manchuria (1945)

Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation
Part of the Soviet–Japanese War of World War II
Soviet invasion of Manchuria (1945).gif
Soviet gains in North East Asia, August 1945
Date 9–20 August 1945
Location Manchuria/Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia/Mengjiang, and north of Korea
Result

Decisive Soviet and Mongolian victory;

  • Contribution to Japanese surrender
  • Liberation of Manchuria, Inner Mongolia and northern Korea, and collapse of Japanese puppet states there
Territorial
changes
Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are returned to China.
Belligerents
Allies:
 Soviet Union
 Mongolian People's Republic (Outer Mongolia)
Axis:
 Japan
 Manchukuo
 Mengjiang
(Inner Mongolia)
Commanders and leaders
Soviet Union Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Empire of Japan Otozō Yamada (POW)
Manchukuo Zhang Jinghui (POW)
Units involved
Strength
Soviet Union:
1,577,725 troops
27,086 artillery pieces
1,152 rocket launchers
5,556 tanks and self-propelled guns
3,721 aircraft
Mongolia:
16,000 troops
Japan:
713,729 troops
5,360 artillery
1,155 tanks
1,800 aircraft
1,215 armored vehicles
Manchukuo:
170,000 troops
Mengjiang:
44,000 troops
Casualties and losses
Soviet Union:
11,033 killed
24,125 wounded
300+ tanks destroyed
Mongolia:
72 killed
125 wounded

Japan:
21,389 killed
20,000 wounded
unknown troops captured
Much equipment captured
Manchukuo:
Most troops deserted beforehand
Mengjiang:
Most troops deserted beforehand


Soviet claim: 83,737 killed

Decisive Soviet and Mongolian victory;

Japan:
21,389 killed
20,000 wounded
unknown troops captured
Much equipment captured
Manchukuo:
Most troops deserted beforehand
Mengjiang:
Most troops deserted beforehand

The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, also known as the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation (Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, lit. Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastupatelnaya Operaciya) or simply the Manchurian Operation (Маньчжурская операция), began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. It was the last campaign of the Second World War, and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace. Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia) and northern Korea. The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender unconditionally, as it made apparent the Soviet Union would no longer be willing to act as a third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on conditional terms.

Since 1983, the operation has sometimes been called Operation August Storm (mainly in the United States), after U.S. Army historian David Glantz used this title for a paper on the subject.

As agreed with the Allies at the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union entered World War II's Pacific Theater within three months of the end of the war in Europe. The invasion began on 9 August 1945, exactly three months after the German surrender on May 8 (9 May, 0:43 Moscow time).


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