A historical review of the dispute over the four northern islands of Russia and Japan

The expansion of Russia was repelled by Kangxi, and the spearhead turned to the northern islands of Japan.

/kloc-in the 7th century, tsarist Russia extended its territory to the Pacific coast, pointing to China, Korea and Japan in East Asia. The southward expansion of Russia met with the Kangxi dynasty of the Qing empire, which was in full swing at this time. After the two defeats of jaxa, 1689 signed the Sino-Russian Nebuchadnezzar Chu Treaty with China, which temporarily curbed the southward movement of tsarist Russia. Subsequently, Russia turned its attention to North Korea and Japan.

1In the 1940s, shortly after the Tokugawa shogunate issued the policy of "locking up the country", Russia conducted a series of so-called "exploration" activities in the Pacific Northwest.

1697, Atlasov, the Cossack leader and Russian Yakutsk official, brought people into kamchatka peninsula to collect fur tax from local residents. 1699, Atlasov found a Japanese businessman named Denby in the tribe of kamchatka peninsula. The businessman sailed to Edo (present-day Tokyo) on 1696 and drifted to kamchatka peninsula due to the storm. The Russians asked Denby in detail about Japan's geography, mineral resources, political system and armaments. When Tsar Peter I learned of this, he summoned Denby. 1702 In April, Peter I issued an order: Denby should learn Russian well, then teach Russians to learn Japanese, train specialized translators for Russian work in Japan, and further get his hands on Japan.

On the order of Peter the Great, the Russian government opened a Japanese school in Petersburg on June 1705. 1753, the Russian government moved the Japanese school in Petersburg to Irkutsk, an important stronghold in the Far East. This Japanese school has been running for more than 100 years from its establishment to its closure in18/6. Although its achievements in running schools were not remarkable, Russia's influence had extended to the northern territory of Japan during this period.

From 17 1 1 to 17 13, the Russian government sent people to "explore" the Kuril Islands and submitted a report on the geographical situation and residents of the Kuril Islands to the czar government.

1October 2nd,1719,65438+Peter the Great issued an imperial edict and sent a large number of "geological survey experts and scholars" to conduct an in-depth "investigation" of kamchatka peninsula and its adjacent waters and islands. Peter the Great instructed the "expedition members" in the secret order: We must carefully survey the entire Kuril Islands and find the navigation channel to Japan. 172 1 year, the Russian "expedition" led by "geologist" Evremov made an investigation on 14 islands such as Shezi Gudan Island in the Thousand Islands. After surveying the six islands in the northern part of the Kuril Islands, they forcibly incorporated the island residents into Russian nationality and forcibly incorporated the northern part of the Kuril Islands into Russian territory.

1728, 14 In July, the czar government sent navy colonel Bering to lead a group of people to "explore" in the North Pacific Ocean and discovered the Bering Strait between Eurasia and North America. Russian troops also used this voyage to invade Japan's offshore waters.

1738, the Russian government sent Navy Lieutenant Colonel Spanberg to lead a fleet to Japan for "exploration". On July 15 of the same year, Spanberg's "expedition" went south along the archipelago and visited 29 islands in the Kuril Islands, one of which was named in Russian, including Sedan Island, one of the "four northern islands".

From 1775 to 1780, Russian colonialists constantly harassed the Kuril Islands and tried their best to turn it into their own colony. They erected crosses all over the Kuril Islands as a symbol of occupation. At the same time, the Russian government also organized large-scale immigration and extended its influence to the South Kuril Islands, which triggered the "northern territory problem of Japan".

1794, the Russian government sent 38 exiles and 20 hunters to live and establish settlements on Telford Island. When the Tokugawa shogunate learned of this incident, it ordered Kahee, a wealthy businessman with official background, to set up 17 fishing ground on Choy Catching Island in 199, and sent shogunate officials to the island to set up an administrative organization. Since 180 1, the shogunate sent 100 troops from the south and Tsugaru to land on the island, and in the same year sent officials to Telford Island to advise Russian immigrants not to trade, and set up the brand of "Forever Big Japan Island". 1803, the Tokugawa shogunate issued a ban to prohibit Hokkaido people from going to the Kuril Islands, thus cutting off the material sources of Russian immigrants. The shogunate's "drastic measures" soon took effect, and the Russians were forced to withdraw from Telford Island the following year.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 0/9th century, Russia constantly provoked and created troubles in northern Japan. 18 1 1 year, a Russian "survey team" was captured by Japan. Russia immediately sent people to Japan to beg for release, and at the same time expressed its willingness to sign a peace treaty with Japan and demarcate the border. The Tokugawa shogunate immediately proposed that Japan and Russia each take Korea Island and Shinji Island as the boundary, and the island between the two islands is the neutral zone. The following year, the Tokugawa shogunate sent officials to Triding Island to wait for Russia's reply. Unexpectedly, because of fear, the Russians just arrived in Chuan Dao by boat, put their stationery in a box and fled back.

1762, after the female czar Catherine II ascended the throne, she inherited the mantle of Peter the Great and personally directed Russia's "exploration plan" for Japan. This year, kirill, who has always appeared as a "scholar studying Japanese issues", submitted an elaborate "exploration plan" to Catherine II. According to the plan, Catherine II issued a specific instruction of 1 1 to the Governor of Siberia, and appointed guards kirill and Captain Adam to go to Japan with a personal letter from the Governor of Siberia and a gift worth 2,000 rubles. 1792 10, Adam and his party arrived in Genji, Hokkaido, Japan, and asked the Tokugawa shogunate to open a port for trade. After nearly a year of negotiations, the Japanese rejected the request of the Russian mission.

1 1 years later, the Russian government sent ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary Rezanov to Japan to demand trade. Rezanov stayed in Japan for more than half a year, but he still didn't open the door to Japan. 1in April, 805, Rezanov angrily left Japan and decided to retaliate against Japan.

At the behest of Rezanov, two Russian naval officers led two armed ships to invade the North Sea of Japan. 122 October, 1806, 10, attacked Jiuchungudan tax office in Matsumae, Japan, and seized guards, 600 bags of rice, tableware, bedding and other materials. When he left, he left a brass sign, which said Sakhalin Island will be Russian territory in the future. Subsequently, the Russians attacked the island in the same way.

Four years later, the Russian government's Admiralty sent a naval colonel Vasily to lead a survey team to break into the islands such as Guohou Island by boat, and was captured by the Japanese army after landing.

About 40 years later, there was no official contact between Japan and Russia, but Russia never gave up spying on the northern territory of Japan.

65438+ In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration. In the army reorganization plan, Japan took China and Russia as imaginary enemies and expanded its armaments. 1894, Japan launched the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, forcing the Qing government to sign the "treaty of shimonoseki" which humiliated the country. On the same day the treaty of shimonoseki was signed, the Russian government, Germany and France jointly demanded that Japan give up its occupation of Liaodong Peninsula. Japan was forced to yield because it exhausted its military strength in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and Russia also took this opportunity to expand its influence to northeast China and North Korea. Although the Japanese government took the opportunity to extort 30 million taels of silver from China, it was always ashamed of it and waited for an opportunity to retaliate against Russia.

1On the night of February 8, 904, the Japanese fleet launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Incheon Port and Lushunkou, and the Russo-Japanese War broke out. In this war, the two sides mobilized more than 600,000 troops, and the Japanese army wiped out the Russian troops in the Far East, the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Baltic Fleet from a distance at the cost of more than 70,000 casualties. This war completely changed the political map of the Far East since the Opium War. As the dominant force in Asia at that time, Japan was recognized by the European and American powers, and the failure of this war triggered a long-term political crisis in Russia, and the "1905 Revolution" broke out.

After the establishment of the Soviet-Russian regime, Japan joined the Allies to intervene in the landing of troops in the Far East, and immediately got its hands on the long-planned Mongolian region. On February 1945, 1 1, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union reached a secret agreement in Yalta, Crimea, the Soviet Union. In order to make the Soviet Union send troops to Japan as soon as possible, the United States and Britain agreed to take care of the interests of the Soviet Union when dividing the sphere of influence in the Far East at the expense of China after the war. According to this secret agreement, the Soviet Union occupied Dalian and other ports for a long time after the war. 1In August, 945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, sent troops to the northeast of China and the Korean Peninsula, wiped out millions of Japanese "Kwantung Army" as the general reserve, and prepared to land on Hokkaido Island (Hokkaido is also north of the 38th parallel) in order to recognize the plan put forward by the Americans to divide the surrender area of the Korean Peninsula.

In order to break the American blockade of the Soviet Far East Fleet along the first island chain in the western Pacific after the war, the Soviet Union fought against Japan and occupied the South Kuril Islands, Korea, Sedan and Tooth Dance Islands for a long time. The issue of "four northern islands" has thus become a major unresolved dispute between the Soviet Union (Russia) and Japan. From Ji Tianmao to Mori Yoshiro and Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese government regards solving the problem of "four northern islands" as an important prerequisite for easing Soviet (Russian)-Japanese relations. After the end of the cold war, Russia's national strength has been greatly inferior to that of the former Soviet Union, but neither Yeltsin nor Putin will let go on this issue. Nowadays, in the eyes of outsiders, Japan-Russia relations have entered the honeymoon period because of the successful agreement to build the "Anna Line", but if this project is successfully completed one day, it will inevitably become a bargaining chip for the Japanese government to coerce Russia to solve the "northern territorial problem." The day the project starts, it may be the time when the Japanese government raises the asking price for the Russians. During World War II, the Soviet Union seized four northern islands by force according to the Yalta Agreement.

Braving the fog and suddenly attacking, the defeated Japanese army was unwilling

The so-called "four northern islands" is Japan's statement, and Russia calls it the South Kuril Islands, which refers to the four islands in the south of the Kuril Islands, namely, Choishou, Sedan, Tooth Dance and Guohou. In the late World War II, in order to repay the Soviet Union for sending troops to attack Japan, the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain stipulated in the Yalta Agreement: "The Thousand Islands must be handed over to the Soviet Union." Since then, the Soviet Union (including now Russia) has been actually controlling the above-mentioned territories. However, Japan believes that it has never given up the request to recover the "four northern islands".

The Soviets decided to take it back by force.

Kuril Islands (called "Kuril Islands" in Russia and "Four Northern Islands" in Japan) refer to the four islands of Qiushu, Sedan, Tooth Dance and Guohou where Japanese people have lived since ancient times. /kloc-In the 8th century, the northern and southern parts of the Kuril Islands belonged to Japan and Russia respectively. /kloc-In the 20th century, Russia occupied the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island (sakhalin island), including the four northern islands. 1905, due to the defeat of the Russo-Japanese War, Russia was forced to hand over the control of Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin Island to Japan through the Treaty of Portsmouth.

After Japan established itself there, it not only closed Russia's export to the Pacific Ocean, but also closed the sea passage to kamchatka peninsula and Chukchi Peninsula ports, becoming a base for attacking coastal areas and the Far East.

During the Second World War, the Japanese army strengthened its defense against the Kuril Islands, assembled 80,000 troops, and built nine airports, which can accommodate nearly 600 planes, including 23,000 Japanese troops guarding the island, and also received the support of 1 1 Chariot Wing.

1945 In February, before Japan's defeat, the Yalta Agreement between the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain on postwar Japan stipulated that the entire Kuril Islands, including Korea, Queen, Sedan and Tooth Dance Islands, were all transferred to the Soviet Union.

In order to implement the Yalta Agreement, the Soviet Union decided to take back the Kuril Islands occupied by the Japanese by force and launched the famous "gatekeeper war".

1August 945 15 night, the Soviet infantry10/division and the Pacific fleet were ordered to carry out landing operations. The key to the battle is to win the nearest Zhanshou Island to kamchatka peninsula, which has two intact naval bases, Pianbang and Kashiwabara Port. Taking this place is equivalent to controlling the entire Kuril Islands.

Landing at midnight, launching a surprise attack

In order to achieve the effect of surprise attack, the Soviet army made a difficult midnight landing. Due to the heavy fog that night, the Soviet army could not dispatch aircraft to support it, so it had to rely on shore guns and escort destroyers to cover the landing troops.

18 At 2: 35 on August, Soviet shore artillery units shelled Zhanshou Island from Lopatburg, kamchatka peninsula, 2 kilometers away from18, and the Soviet fleet headed by cruiser Kirov also smashed Katyusha rockets with a caliber of 180 mm at the Japanese army.

At the beginning of the battle, the Japanese didn't know what happened because they were shot from the sea to the back. The Japanese headquarters could not judge what troops were landing and how many people were there. It was not until they heard the cry of "Ula" in Russian on the battlefield that they realized that the Soviet army was coming.

At 4: 30, the Soviet landing fleet approached the naval base that occupied the island. The troops are prepared to seize the beachhead in a narrow section of 3 kilometers and occupy the commanding heights of Guoduanqi and 17 1 highland. The Japanese army, which tried to recover, tried desperately to prevent the Soviet follow-up troops from landing. The Japanese used the fog on the sea in an attempt to save their decline with heavy artillery fire.

The Soviet landing ship 1 was directly hit by Japanese artillery shells, and the engine room was damaged. Captain Astrobo ignored the harsh environment, where he was injured and half the sailors died. Under the cover of dense fog, he pretended that the warship exploded and lost its combat effectiveness, so as to confuse the Japanese army. Then, while the shelling weakened, he organized the remaining personnel to repair, plug the loopholes, and let the warships continue to perform their tasks again.

At the landing site, * * * party member rushed ahead. When a warship was shot, caught fire and was about to explode, party member Yermachev, captain of the 373rd Infantry Regiment, picked up the league flag and shouted, "I have a league flag. Come with me! Forward, boys! " He was the first to jump into the cold water and swim to the shore, followed by other officers and men.

In the chaos, the Soviet army paid a huge price, but a lucky shell of the Soviet escort ship hit the lighthouse in Kunduz, causing a fire. The fire provided a good direction for the landing fleet to sail to the shore in the dense fog. At about 5 o'clock in the morning, the Soviet landing soldiers finally established two strong bridgeheads in the harbor with difficulty.

Soviet soldiers blocked the shooting hole with their bodies.

With the dawn of the sky, both the Soviet Union and Japan began to understand their respective battlefields. Less than 3 kilometers from Fiona Fang, whoever can move forward means killing his opponent.

From 6 o'clock in the morning, the Japanese army used the heavy artillery fire as a cover and used the wing (regiment) level charge to try to drive the Soviet army into the sea. The Japanese understand that once the Soviets stand here, their resistance will be meaningless.

In the trenches dug temporarily by Soviet engineers, both sides used bayonets, shovels and gun butts, because most Soviet soldiers were tall and powerful, and both white-edged fighting and wrestling prevailed.

In the afternoon 14, the Japanese army put into use the last reserve team-11Chariot Wing, 18 tanks from17/Highland for the final struggle. After the tank formation dispersed, with the roar of the approaching position, Soviet soldiers could clearly distinguish the dragon pattern on the tank.

When the tank approached only 200 yards, all kinds of Soviet weapons fired together, anti-tank gunmen aimed at the tank, and infantry attacked Japanese infantry with submachine guns and machine guns, trying to separate enemy infantry from the tank. Because the shooting was accurate and effective, six Japanese tanks caught fire in less than two minutes, but other tanks soon came to the Soviet Union. In the leading Tanqueray, Japanese commander Ikeda is half exposed outside the turret, holding an unfurled sun flag. Major Shutov shot twice with a submachine gun, and Ikeda was killed on the spot. In an instant, Sergeant Costi Lev used a cluster Grenade to make the tank burn like a candle.

At 18, under the cover of naval guns, Soviet landing soldiers began to attack 17 1 highland. The Japanese army used bunkers to stop shooting, while the Soviet landing soldiers were in the open space and could not get close to the Japanese bunker dozens of meters away. Party member Vilcov is a navy sergeant and producer. He relies on stones to move to the enemy's bunker. He threw a Grenade into the shooting hole, the bunker was dumb for a while, and then he came back to life. Vilcov jumped up and pounced on the bunker, completely ignoring his multiple injuries and blocking the shooting hole with his body. After two hours of fierce fighting, the red flag finally fluttered over the highlands.

The defeat of the Japanese army is unwilling.

/kloc-in August of 0/9, the Japanese army learned that Emperor Hirohito had decreed a truce on the one hand, but was still actively preparing for the war on the other. The Japanese even reopened two brigades ready to retreat in an attempt to oppress the Soviet army. However, the Soviet army was not restricted by the armistice and continued to develop in depth and occupy the island. It was not until 18: 00 that Lieutenant General Dijabu, commander of the Japanese Thousand Islands garrison, accepted unconditional surrender on the spot. At this time, the Japanese army has killed or injured 10 18 people.

On August 23rd, Lieutenant General Dubuga came to Zhanshou Island and signed an armistice agreement with the Soviet Union. He is not only the chief executive of the local Japanese army, but also the major shareholder of the local monopoly enterprise. In the past, he could use his men to make a fortune during the fishing season, but now, he has lost this income forever. He tentatively asked Major General Graetsch, the commander of the Soviet army, how many Soviet troops participated in the landing operations, and Graetsch deliberately exaggerated the figures several times. However, Dijabu's face was filled with indescribable disappointment. He said, "If I had known there were only so many sailors, I would have drowned them first and then surrendered." Later, Di painfully claimed that August 23rd of 1945 was the "Mafia Day" in his life.

At that time, the situation was very favorable to the Soviet Union: the Japanese troops in southern Sakhalin Island and northern Kuril Islands had surrendered. In the early morning of August 28th, Soviet troops landed on the island, and 1.35 million Japanese troops surrendered without fighting. Then, in September of 1 year, they occupied the two islands of Guohou and Sedan, and the Japanese army did not resist. The final action to capture Tooth Dance Island ended on September 5th. As the Japanese army did not resist, there were no casualties on both sides.