By Buyandelger Davaajantsan and Mendee Jargalsaikhan
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a clash between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan in 1939 on the Mongolian-Manchurian frontier, remains a largely overlooked chapter in the annals of World War II history. This battle, often overshadowed by the European and Pacific theaters, was a pivotal juncture that shaped the war’s trajectory in Asia.
Underscoring this battle were the tensions and friction between the Soviet sphere of influence and the expanding Imperial Japanese sphere of influence in Northeast Asia. The Soviet Union, nearly three decades after the Russian Revolution, had consolidated its position and made significant strides toward industrialization. Imperial Japan, after a series of victories over the Qing, Russian Empire, and the Republic of China, colonized Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, and in 1931 established the Manchukuo state in Northeastern China, were deciding whether they wanted to expand into the Pacific or further into continental Asia. The Kwantung Army of Japan, occupying force of Manchukuo, advocated for expansion into Asia, while the Navy advocated for of expanding into Southeast Asia and Western Pacific.
Seeing these developments, Soviet Union pressured to sign the Protocol of Mutual Assistance with Mongolia in 1936. This pact would allow the signatories to provide support, including material and military assistance, in case any one of them were threatened or militarily invaded by another nation, giving each other the right to deploy military forces to each other’s territories.
For the Mongolian People Republic it was a delicate time. The country had recently experienced counterrevolutionary movements and other social upheavals. These movements disagreed with the direction, toward which the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party was driving the country. In particularly, with the seizure of private property and the efforts to undermine Buddhist institutions. These disagreements culminated in an armed uprising in 1932 in the four most populated provinces of MPR in the Northwest of Mongollia. Further, in September 1937, Choibalsan (later Marshal Choibalsan) under a close ‘consultation’ from Moscow, carried out a societal purge that lasted until early 1939, which exterminated an entire social class and eliminated the old guard of the revolution, as well as the top brass of the military in Mongolia.
Later in the same year, after recurring border skirmishes at the Mongolian-Manchurian and Soviet-Manchurian borders, Soviet Union joined by MPR and Imperial Japan joined by Manchukuo engaged in a months-long intense and fierce fighting, where over one-hundred thousand soldiers, thousands of tanks and aircraft from both sides were deployed. At the end Soviet Union and MPR through overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment, emerged victorious. The defeated Empire of Japan signed an armistice to end the conflict.
The armistice later grew into the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. This defeat substantially shrunk Kwantung Army’s influence within the Japanese government and emboldened the proponents of Southeast Asian and Western Pacific expansion. In October 1941, Admiral Hideki Tojo, a strong advocate of a preventive strike on the United States, was appointed prime minister of Japan, and carried out a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, a day which would live in infamy, pulled the United States into World War II.
When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact, and their plans for a preventive war on the United States stopped the Japanese from intervening in the Soviet-German war. Had the Japanese resolved to intervene from the east, it is certain that we would remember the World War II differently. In the European theater of war, the Allied war effort hinged on opening a second front against the Nazi Germany. A two front war meant the Germans would have been forced to divide their military, stretching it thin across both fronts. Such was the case in World War I and so was it the case in World War II. Had the Japanese intervened in the Soviet-German War, Soviet Union would have been forced stretch the Soviet military across two fronts – Soviet far eastern units would have stayed to defend against a Japanese invasion, failing to lift the sieges of Moscow and Leningrad. Stretched too thin, the Red Army would have failed to drive out the German forces out of Stalingrad, and push them out of Soviet Union, Eastern Europe. Capturing Berlin would have been a distant mirage.
For Mongolia the victory over Japan and Manchukuo at Khalkhin Gol was also victory at home. First and foremost, it prevented Japanese control over Mongolia, which may have brought upon the Mongolian people similar brutalities suffered by other East Asian peoples. For the government in Mongolia, the recent civil conflict and purges left the country in fear of the them. The Battle of Khalkhin Gol gave the Mongolian people a foreign invader to unify against, and the government an opportunity to muster support. It allowed the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party to justify one of the primary charges they used for the political purges – accusation of being a Japanese spy and conspiring against the state with a foreign power. The battle and the victory solidified the legitimacy of the MPRP in the eyes of the Mongolian people. It painted Choibalsan as a capable leader and proved that the development path chosen by the MPRP is indeed the correct path by demonstrating that MPR is capable of defending the fledgling nation and fighting off a powerful foreign invader, albeit with massive Soviet assistance. Mongolia’s involvement in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, support given to the Soviet Union in their fight against the Germans convinced Stalin to demand Mongolia’s de facto independence as one of his preconditions to tear up the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact at the Yalta Conference in 1945, after the defeat of Wehrmacht and Hitler in Europe.
Beyond immediate these immediate outcomes, the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, together with Mongolian involvement in the Soviet attack on the territories held by the Empire of Japan in China had longer lasting impacts on Mongolia. With relation to Japan, over 12 thousand Japanese POWs were transferred to Mongolia in 1945, whose labor was used for construction in Mongolia for over two years and were repatriated. Recently declassified archival documents in Russia also indicate that the Japanese POWs were involved in the construction of the Mongolian railway in early 1950s. This railway goes through Mongolia connecting Russia and China, and provides a vital lifeline for the Mongolian economy.
The remains of the deceased POWs were repatriated in 1990s and a memorial was placed on the site. This move served as a gesture of goodwill and a strong basis for building closer relations with Japan. However, it was still necessary for Mongolia to become a democracy to seek closer relations with Japan. While MPR and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1972, Mongolia still conducted its foreign policy with ideological considerations and consultations with Moscow. After Mongolia’s democratic revolution, and adoption of the 1992 Constitution, Mongolia sought new partners through the, so called, Third Neighbor Policy. Japan was among the first Asian nations to answer this call. The process of replacing memories of war and enmity with formal relations and gradual friendship certainly required effort, and it was relatively easy for Mongolia to build partnership with Japan compared to most other East Asian nations, who grapple with deeply rooted historical grievances caused by the war.
The tens of thousands of soldiers deployed by the Soviet Union came from throughout the entire union. In other words, thousands of non-Russian soldiers also laid their lives at Khalkhin Gol defending Mongolia side by side with Mongolian and Russian soldiers. As such, there is a deep connection with all 15 post-Soviet republics and Mongolia. The commemoration of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, though it appears it is a commemoration between Mongolia and the Russian Federation, it commemorates all the nations, who were represented by their soldiers fallen and surviving.
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, often overlooked in the broader narrative of World War II, holds a deep significance for the involved nations, particularly Mongolia. The victory at Khalkhin Gol not only safeguarded Mongolia’s sovereignty but also solidified the legitimacy of its ruling regime at a time of internal strife. For Japan, this defeat redirected its expansionist ambitions away from Siberia, setting the stage for the Pacific War. And for the Soviet Union it prevented a two-front war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and, at the same time, solidified its geo-strategic hold in Northeast Asia. The battle’s legacy continues to be commemorated, marking a pivotal moment in the geopolitical landscape of East Asia.
