Fun fact: USSR dragged its tail until WW2 almost ended before entering war against Japan.
Term “Great Patriotic War” that Russians use to describe WW2 doesn’t just exclude pre-1941 events, but also war in Pacific.
And Soviets were the opposite of helping in Pacific front - denying requests to use their airfields, detaining pilots doing emergency landings in there etc. etc.
Stalin even wrote to Roosevelt that USSR is not obligated to help allies in Pacific because USSR isn’t at war with Japan. 🌝
I don’t really get the point of this comment… I’m no fan of the USSR, but am I supposed to be mad at them about this? They weren’t at war with Japan. They were a little busy defending their homeland, and I don’t believe Japan ever directly attacked them (someone will probably prove me wrong about this).
Ah, come on, people “busy defending their homeland” still had plenty of time to invade Iran, and grab all the Baltics in “liberation efforts” (and no, Baltics weren’t part of Axis like, for example, Romania or Hungary).
But anyway - losing that many people is an absolutely valid point for why not to send forces, but my comment was about refusal to cooperate with allies at all - not lending airfields, detaining allied pilots doing emergency landings (they were detained until war ended too).
Soviets did eventually march in Japan, to grab some land for themselves (not that I condemn it, Japan was part of big bad after all), but before that for some time question wasn’t even about them directly joining the war as about letting allies use Soviet logistic hubs to launch offensives from far east, circumventing Pacific theater.
The Soviets had promised at Yalta to enter the war in the Pacific within 3 months of the war ending in Europe. And they did launch an attack on Manchuria at 3 months to the day. Hardly feet dragging.
In fact, them being about to launch the attack, was one of the deciding factors on Truman dropping the nukes on Japan. He wanted to prevent the Soviets fron capturing territory that they would be reluctant to give up in the end. And he also knew that the USSR entering the war in the pacific would be what really pushed Japan to surrender. He didn’t want to lose the opportunity to show off the new toys to scare the Soviets.
So not doing something until being forced into a commitment and then waiting until the last possible moment to Honor that commitment is somehow not feet dragging to you?
“Curse those lazy Soviets for not immediately starting a two front war after losing 11 million people to the Nazis. Respecting the agreements made at the Yalta conference regarding an invasion of Japan, to the letter, was ACTUALLY mendacious.”
You realize that after losing 11 million people in a enduring and cataclysmic war, it may take some time to prepare for a war on the totally opposite front?
I dont even know why I’m engaging with this whitewashing. This isn’t even what the OP is about.
The fact of the matter is that Japan has not handled the outcome of WWII well at all. Namely the Nanjing Massacre.
Fun fact: USSR dragged its tail until WW2 almost ended before entering war against Japan.
Term “Great Patriotic War” that Russians use to describe WW2 doesn’t just exclude pre-1941 events, but also war in Pacific.
And Soviets were the opposite of helping in Pacific front - denying requests to use their airfields, detaining pilots doing emergency landings in there etc. etc.
Stalin even wrote to Roosevelt that USSR is not obligated to help allies in Pacific because USSR isn’t at war with Japan. 🌝
I don’t really get the point of this comment… I’m no fan of the USSR, but am I supposed to be mad at them about this? They weren’t at war with Japan. They were a little busy defending their homeland, and I don’t believe Japan ever directly attacked them (someone will probably prove me wrong about this).
Yeah the soviet’s had enough going on without opening up a second front.
Ah, come on, people “busy defending their homeland” still had plenty of time to invade Iran, and grab all the Baltics in “liberation efforts” (and no, Baltics weren’t part of Axis like, for example, Romania or Hungary).
But anyway - losing that many people is an absolutely valid point for why not to send forces, but my comment was about refusal to cooperate with allies at all - not lending airfields, detaining allied pilots doing emergency landings (they were detained until war ended too).
Soviets did eventually march in Japan, to grab some land for themselves (not that I condemn it, Japan was part of big bad after all), but before that for some time question wasn’t even about them directly joining the war as about letting allies use Soviet logistic hubs to launch offensives from far east, circumventing Pacific theater.
I actually thought this is common knowledge. But looks like it isn’t everywhere.
The Soviets had promised at Yalta to enter the war in the Pacific within 3 months of the war ending in Europe. And they did launch an attack on Manchuria at 3 months to the day. Hardly feet dragging.
In fact, them being about to launch the attack, was one of the deciding factors on Truman dropping the nukes on Japan. He wanted to prevent the Soviets fron capturing territory that they would be reluctant to give up in the end. And he also knew that the USSR entering the war in the pacific would be what really pushed Japan to surrender. He didn’t want to lose the opportunity to show off the new toys to scare the Soviets.
So not doing something until being forced into a commitment and then waiting until the last possible moment to Honor that commitment is somehow not feet dragging to you?
I think he dropped an /s somewhere.
Um… no
“Curse those lazy Soviets for not immediately starting a two front war after losing 11 million people to the Nazis. Respecting the agreements made at the Yalta conference regarding an invasion of Japan, to the letter, was ACTUALLY mendacious.”
You realize that after losing 11 million people in a enduring and cataclysmic war, it may take some time to prepare for a war on the totally opposite front?
I dont even know why I’m engaging with this whitewashing. This isn’t even what the OP is about.
The fact of the matter is that Japan has not handled the outcome of WWII well at all. Namely the Nanjing Massacre.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanjing_Massacre_denial
Right so, they dragged their feet on it.