introduction:
The outbreak of World War II has made many more countries in the world!
For example, on the Korean Peninsula in Northeast Asia, the existence of a 38° line separates South Korea and North Korea.
For example, North Vietnam and South Vietnam in Southeast Asia are also divided into two countries below 17° north latitude.
For example, the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany in Central Europe became two countries after being occupied by two great powers.
The fate of these three separate north-south countries is also different.
After the long Vietnam War, because of the strategic dilemma of the Americans, as well as the pressure of the northern powers, and the aggressiveness of the Soviet Union, Vietnam became a country under the strategic contraction of the United States, and behind the Saigon incident was a rout of the United States!
North Korea and South Korea maintained the status quo until today after the thunderous attack of the volunteer army, while Germany ushered in the reunification of Germany after the drastic changes in Eastern Europe and the strategic contraction of the Soviet Union.
The birth of this half of the country stems from geostrategic needs and is also the prelude and aftermath of the US-Soviet hegemony.
So why didn't Japan divide into North and South Japan? Is there no point or is there something else hidden?
Let's keep watching!
(The aftermath of the great power game)
One: The unjust occupiers will eventually perish.
In fact, looking at Japan's pre-war and post-war power structure, Japan was divided into north and south Japan after World War II.
Japan's territory during World War II was much larger than it is now.
At that time, the entire Korean Peninsula, the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Chiba Islands were Japanese territory, and even the northeast and Taiwan were illegally occupied by Japan. At the height of World War II, Japan's sphere of influence in the Far East and Pacific Ocean was roughly as shown below.
(Sphere of influence at the height of Japan)
From this map, we can know that the Japanese sphere of influence at that time blocked almost all the Soviet Union's sea outlets in the Far East.
This was tantamount to cutting off the Soviet Red Sea Fleet's access to the high seas, because wherever it went, it had to pass through Japanese territorial waters.
From this point of view, the Soviet Union had a reason to attack Japan.
Because committing to the sea was a national policy of the Soviet Union for hundreds of years, the Soviet Union could not have the Far East sea port without attacking Japan and redividing its interests in the Far East without war operations.
Based on this, there were also appeals to our interests at that time, and only then did the Soviet Union send troops to the northeast to sweep through the military operations of the Kwantung Army.
The reason is none other than him.
First of all: polar bears have a bad temper, how can they endure such a stubborn situation, and how can they be willing not to unload eight pieces of Japan.
Second: the German theater entered the final stage, which gave the Soviet Union the possibility of shifting the objectives of the war.
Finally: the Soviet Union, which had suffered a heavy blow in the war, was in dire need of the stimulus of the war dividend, or else the loss would have been too great.
Thus, at the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Soviet Union put forward its own demands for interests in the face of Britain and the United States, which had asked for him. This demand is actually very simple, to assign all Japanese spheres of influence and territory north of the 38° north latitude to the Soviet occupation zone or sphere of influence, and as for other areas, it can be occupied by Britain and the United States. (Remarks: The government of the Republic of China did not participate in this meeting)
(Attlee, Truman, and Stalin at the Potsdam Conference)
The Americans who were leading the talks at that time were very dissatisfied when they saw that the Soviets had such a big appetite!
However, the United States, which is content with others, is constrained by the need to fight against Japan, and the current situation that the atomic bomb has not yet been solved, still pinched its nose and agreed to the Soviet Union's demands, and easily betrayed China's interests.
After betraying our interests, in order to express compensation, the United States decided to co-opt the Republic of China government to participate in the post-war occupation of Japan, and designated the Japanese Shikoku Island as the occupation zone of the Republic of China.
In addition to expressing compensation, there is a deep strategic intent!
Maintaining friendly relations with the Republic of China government is one of the two, turning the Republic of China government into its own small partner is the second, and the ultimate goal is still to use the Republic of China government to turn the Republic of China into a front position to curb soviet expansion.
In addition to this territorial division according to the 38° north latitude line, many of Japan's islands and overseas territories have also been divided up by agreement.
According to the agreement, Taiwan and the Nansha Islands belonged to the jurisdiction and territory of the Republic of China, and the northeast of China was handed over to the Government of the Republic of China after the Soviet Union had eliminated Japanese power.
According to the division of this agreement, the most advantageous is undoubtedly the Soviets, the most disadvantaged is undoubtedly China, which has finally won the victory after fourteen years of resistance, but still has not completely recovered its territory; as for the Americans, they have suffered a lot of casualties in the bloody war in the Pacific for more than three years, but they have only gained half of Korea and half of Japan, and it is estimated that they are also very unhappy.
The so-called injustice is protest, and if there is unhappiness, there is change, so the United States has changed.
(Unhappy Truman)
Second: The United States has changed under the blessing of strength.
At that time, the Soviet Union was not ready to attack the Japanese Kwantung Army, and an agreement allowed the Soviet Union to reap war dividends, of course, the Americans were not happy, you can reap the war dividends without paying, which is unfair.
Based on this mentality, the Americans decided to revise or tear up the agreement not long after the Potsdam Conference!
The core appeal point of this revised content is that the United States is not willing to share with the Soviet Union on the four main islands of Japan, in short, the United States does not want the Soviet Union to enter the four main islands of Japan.
As for why, according to Truman afterwards:
I do not want to give the Russians any chance to act as they did in Germany and Austria.
It is clear that the americans have a clear purpose, and they do not want problems in Japan like Germany and Austria.
The Americans brazenly revised the originally negotiated agreement, and the Soviet Union was of course dissatisfied.
But then the success of the American atomic bomb test made Stalin, who knew the news through intelligence channels, a little frightened.
This thing is so powerful, I haven't done it yet, can't I do it? The answer is to endure!
Therefore, the Soviet Union agreed to the Plan re-proposed by the Americans to divide Japan and the Far East, not to appeal to the Japanese island, but the Soviet Union explicitly agreed, and secretly still made small moves.
(Atomic bomb exploded in Japan)
Three: The style of the Soviet Union is strong under pressure.
The small actions of the Soviet Union are continuous, reflected in the pace and rhythm of the attack, as well as the follow-up style!
The Soviet Invasion of Northeast China was on August 9, 1945, but this date was a bit late.
The European theater ended in early May, and just after the end of the European war, Britain and the United States repeatedly demanded that the Soviet Union attack Japan.
At that time in the United States, the atomic bomb had not yet been successful, so it was a bit anxious!
Note: At 5:30 a.m. on July 15, 1945, the world's first atomic bomb exploded in the Alamogordo Desert in New Mexico, and on July 25, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the atomic bomb was successfully tested.
The Americans are anxious, of course, the Soviets are not in a hurry, but they want to use the troops as a bargaining chip to ask for the price?
After the asking price was right, after the Potsdam Conference, the Soviets prepared for the battle without hurry, and the intention was clear, to take the greatest advantage with the least possible casualties.
However, the successful atomic bomb test of the United States and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan before the Soviet Union attacked the Kwantung Army also accelerated the pace of soviet military preparations while deterring the Soviet Union.
(Soviet invasion of northeast China)
The reason is that the atomic bomb can indeed destroy the world, and the Americans also think that there is an atomic bomb to deter them, and the Soviets will be honest.
But who was Stalin, a tough iron-fisted figure, a politician who was good at people's hearts.
He saw that even if the United States had an atomic bomb, it would still be strong in the outside world, and it would not disregard domestic public opposition and a large number of casualties, and go to war with its ally, the Soviet Union.
If you have a taboo in your heart, I will let it go!
Therefore, in the face of the threat of the AMERICAN atomic bomb, the Soviet Union launched the "Kuril Islands Campaign" before the United States, recovered the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin Islands in one go, and also occupied Japan's four northern islands in passing.
After all this, the Soviet Union was still unsatisfied, thinking about attacking Hokkaido in order to reach all the contents of the previous agreement.
To this end, Stalin specially arranged two infantry divisions, a bomber division and a fighter aviation division, with the cooperation of many small boats of the navy, to prepare for cross-sea combat, turning the occupation of Hokkaido into a fait accompli.
Unfortunately, although Stalin's calculations were fast, the Americans heard clearly about the Soviet Union's actions and accelerated their actions.
In order to contain the expansion of the Soviet Union, without tearing its face, the United States quickly marched into Hokkaido and used strong naval and air power to block the Soviet attack, Stalin's wishful thinking failed, and he also lost the opportunity to occupy the Japanese island.
Epilogue: North and South Japan still exist!
The Soviet Union's aggressiveness was met with strong resistance from the United States.
Looking at the United States' real action, Stalin, who did not have an atomic bomb at that time, was also a little insufficient. Faced with the strength of the United States, Stalin dismissed the idea of sending troops to the Japanese mainland, which was also the root cause of the Lack of Soviet troops stationed in Japan.
The Navy is not strong enough is one, the United States has an atomic bomb is the second, and the Attitude of the United States to be desperate is the third.
After these three reasons, the united states and the Soviet Union laid the pattern of dividing up the Japanese Far East's sphere of influence!
Japan, which controlled the Chiba Islands, South Sakhalin Islands, and the Korean Peninsula before World War II, illegally occupied Taiwan and northeast China, and was divided in two.
For the Soviet Union, this was the failure to achieve a strategic goal, and it did not support a regime like East Germany in Japan.
For the United States, this is the United States learning the lessons of Germany and Austria, resisting Soviet expansion with a strong navy and air force.
For China, to be honest, the issue will become more complicated without the subsequent rise of new China.
For Japan, this is a big rout based on ambition, a second-rate power may be able to take advantage of the opportunity to get away with it, but the limited geography and the aftermath of the great power game are enough for Japan to recognize the reality.
Finally, although the Soviet Union did not enter the Japanese island in the end, his hard top in the last month before the end of the war still allowed the Soviet Union to gain huge benefits!
The Far East's outlet to the sea is one of them, the four northern islands disputed by Russia and Japan today are the second, and the rewriting of the Far East offensive and defensive posture is the third.
The Soviet Union did not suffer losses, and it could even be said that with its weak strength, it took advantage of the interests of the Far East after the war.
From this point of view, Stalin was undoubtedly shrewd and cunning, and his rank was much higher than that of his opponent Truman.