Hsinking (Changchun), Manchukuo • February 18, 1932 The Meiji Restoration of Imperial rule in Japan in 1868 resulted in the downfall of that country’s powerful military commanders, the shoguns, and the Japanese samurai warrior class. Partly as a concession to the samurai, the Japanese government embarked on an aggressive foreign policy in Manchuria in Northeastern China…
Moscow, Soviet Union • August 8, 1945 On this date the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, the last Axis hold-out after the Soviets and their Western Allies had vanquished Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had long urged Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin to join…
Tokyo, Japan • June 30, 1941 On September 19, 1931, soldiers of the Kwantung Army (eventually the largest, most prestigious branch of the Imperial Japanese Army) invaded Manchuria in Northeast China from their Chinese base at Port Arthur (known as Ryojun in Japanese; present-day Dalian or Lüshun Port) and established a puppet state they called…