| Native Name: | |
| Conventional Long Name: | Soviet occupation of Manchuria |
| Common Name: | Soviet occupation of Manchuria |
| Status: | Occupied territory |
| Status Text: | Soviet occupation |
| Empire: | Soviet Union |
| Government Type: | Military occupation |
| Year Start: | 1945 |
| Year End: | 1946 |
| Flag Type: | Flag of the Soviet Union (1936–1955) |
| Event Start: | Soviet troops invaded Manchuria |
| Date Start: | 9 August |
| Event End: | Withdrawal of all Soviet troops in Manchuria |
| Date End: | 3 May |
| P1: | Manchukuo |
| Flag P1: | Flag of Manchukuo.svg |
| P2: | Mengjiang |
| Flag P2: | Flag of the Mengjiang.svg |
| P3: | Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China |
| Flag P3: | Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction).svg |
| P4: | Kwantung Leased Territory |
| S1: | Republic of China (1912–1949)Republic of China |
| Flag S1: | Flag of the Republic of China.svg |
| S2: | Communist-controlled China (1927–1949)Communist-controlled China |
| Flag S2: | Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (Pre-1996).svg |
| S3: | Inner Mongolian People's Republic |
| S4: | East Inner Mongolian Autonomous Government |
| Flag S4: | Flag of Inner-Mongolian Autonomous Government.svg |
| S5: | Soviet occupation of Lüshun base |
| Flag S5: | Flag of the Soviet Union (1936-1955).svg |
| Image Map Caption: | Soviet gains in North East Asia, August 1945 |
| Capital: | Shenyang (Command Station) |
| Common Languages: | Chinese (Northeastern Mandarin) Japanese Russian |
| Currency: | yuan |
| Title Representative: | Soviet commander |
| Representative1: | Rodion Malinovsky |
| Year Representative1: | 1946 |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Today: | China Russia |
The Soviet occupation of Manchuria took place after the Red Army invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in August 1945; the occupation would continue until Soviet forces withdrew in May 1946.
See main article: Yalta Agreement, Soviet–Japanese War and Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance. On 11 February 1945, the Big Three (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin) signed the Yalta Agreement. Yalta obligated the Soviet Union to enter the war against Japan within three months after Germany's surrender, in exchange for territorial concessions and Soviet influence in post-war Manchuria.
Stalin would order the invasion of Manchukuo on 9 August 1945, according to conditions of Tehran Conference and inaugurated in one of the largest campaigns in the Second World War. The massive Red Army steamrolled into Manchuria, brushing aside scattered Japanese resistance, and occupied Mengjiang (Inner Mongolia), southern Sakhalin, and the northern half of the Korean peninsula as well. The rapid defeat of the Kwantung Army in Manchuria, along with the recent atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans, contributed significantly to the Japanese surrender on the 15th.[1] [2] [3] [4]
The invasion, along with the surrender, prompted the Kuomintang to jockey for position vis-a-vis the Chinese Communists in mainland China. The Kuomintang signed the Treaty of Friendship and Alliance with the Soviet Union on 14 August 1945, which affirmed Chinese sovereignty over Manchuria in exchange for Chinese recognition of the Soviet-aligned Mongolian People's Republic. The Soviets began withdrawing from Manchuria within three weeks of Japan's surrender, although they would delay the process several times. The resumption of the Chinese Civil War in early 1946 prompted the Red Army to finish the withdrawal,[5] but not before secretly turning much of Manchuria over to the Chinese Communists in March in violation of the Agreement.[6]
The combined impact of the Soviet invasion and the atomic bombings left Japan little room for maneuver. On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's unconditional surrender to his people in a scratchy radio recording, marking the end of World War II [7] .