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The Day of Military Glory of Russia – the Day of Victory over militaristic Japan and the end of World War II (1945)
On September 3, Russia's Military Glory Day is celebrated – the Day of Victory over militaristic Japan and the end of World War II (1945).
On August 8, 1945 the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire, in accordance with the allied obligations. On August 9, the Soviet troops went on the offensive. During several operations – the Manchurian strategic, the South Sakhalin offensive and the Kuril Islands landing operations, a grouping of the Soviet Army in the Far East under the command of A. M. Vasilevsky, R. Y. Malinovsky and K. A. Meretskov defeated the general ground troops of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II – the Kwantung Army. This victory brought closer the defeat of Japan and the end of World War II. Soviet soldiers liberated the territories of the North-Eastern China (Manchuria), the Korean Peninsula, the Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin.
On September 2, at 9:02 Tokyo time (4:02 Moscow time) the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed on the deck of the American battleship Missouri. The act was signed by Foreign Minister M. Shigemitsu and General Y. Umezu on behalf of Japan, by Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers General D. MacArthur – on behalf of the Allied Powers, by Admiral C. Nimitz – on behalf of the USA, by General Hsu Yung-chang – on behalf of China, by Admiral B. Fraser – on behalf of the United Kingdom, by General K. N. Derevyanko – on behalf of the Soviet Union, as well as by representatives of Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand. Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and proclaimed the “unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers”. The biggest war in the history of humanity has ended.
Lit.: Советско-японская война 1945 // Большая российская энциклопедия [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://bigenc.ru/c/sovetsko-iaponskaia-voina-1945-2d5065/?v=9246670; Боевое содружество СССР, Великобритании и США: сборник материалов и документов. Вологда, 1942; Ванин Ю. К 60-летию освобождения Кореи // Сеульский вестник. 2005. № 97; Василевский А. М. На Дальнем Востоке // Дело всей жизни. М., 1978; Василевский А. М. Дело всей жизни. М., 1990; Великая Отечественная война 1941–1945 годов. В 12 т. Т. 5. Победный финал. Завершающие операции Великой Отечественной войны в Европе. Война с Японией. М., 2013 [Электронный ресурс]. URL: https://encyclopedia.mil.ru/files/VOV/tom5/VOV_Vol5_495-602_Chap7.pdf; Великая победа советских войск на Дальнем Востоке: (сборник статей) / Главное политическое управление Красной Армии. Хабаровск, 1945; Внотченко Л. Н. Победа на Дальнем Востоке: военно-исторический очерк о боевых действиях советских войск в августе – сентябре 1945 г. М., 1966; Ланьков А. Н. Северная Корея 1945–1948 гг.: рождение государства // Северная Корея: вчера и сегодня. М., 1995; Освобождение Кореи. М., 1976; Шабшина Ф. И. Очерки новейшей истории Кореи (1918–1945). М., 1959.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
СССР вступил в войну с Японией // День в истории. 9 августа 1945;
Anniversary of Korea liberation by Soviet Army // On this day. 15 August 1945;
Soviet-Japanese War of 1945: [digital collection];
1945: From the War to the Post-War World: [digital collection].