The Defeat of Japan. The Last Battle of World War II

On September 2, 1945, World War II ended – the bloodiest and largest war in history. The contribution of the USSR to the victory, often underestimated in the West, was decisive, including in the final phase of the conflict in the Pacific theater of operations. True to its allied commitments, the Soviet Union crushed the Kwantung Army, the main and most combat-ready unit of the Japanese armed forces, in just two weeks. The Manchurian strategic offensive operation is one of the most successful operations in the history of military conflicts. It was the defeat of the million-strong strike group in Manchuria, rather than the inhumane atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that forced Japan to unconditional surrender, marking the end of World War II. The Soviet blitzkrieg became one of the key events in the history of 20th century China and had a tremendous impact on the modern structure of the Asia-Pacific region. The new book by one of the leading historians of the Great Patriotic War, candidate of historical sciences M.V. Kolomiyets – is a comprehensive study of the last battle of World War II. The author, relying on a wide range of sources, details the entire course of the operation – from the strategic plans of the Soviet command and the Japanese army, the breakthrough of fortified areas, and the rapid advance into Manchuria, when the armored and mechanized units of the Red Army, despite fierce resistance from the enemy, rapidly developed success, to the liberation of Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril landing operation. The publication is illustrated with numerous rare photographs.