Could russia have defeated japan in ww2 without americas help?

Answer 1

Most of the people who answered this question failed to realize that the Soviets in 1938 fought the Japanese leading to the Battle of Khalkhin Gol on the Manchurian/China border in 1939. The Soviet general Georgy Zhukov actually used a variation of blitzkrieg tactics in defeating the Japanese Army.

In August 1945 Operation August Storm completely overwhelmed Japanese land forces that were for the most part untouched in convential battle.

Could the Soviets have defeated Japan - yes but only on the China/Manchuria battlefront. It had neither the amphibious or naval support to defeat the Japanese Navy in an island hopping campaign like the US did.

Answer 2

The USSR probably couldn't have defeated Germany or Japan without American help. Although the Soviets pushed back the Nazis, they would have had a much more difficult time stopping the Germans if it hadn't been for American and British pressure against Germany. Without the constant strategic bombing and other theaters of war, Germany probably would have conquered Russia - at least the main populated parts. The USSR held back a tremendous number of troops that they could have used against Germany because they were afraid Japan was going to attempt to invade. It was literally at the last minutes - when the Nazi's were only a matter of miles away from Moscow - that they were sure the Japanese weren't going to attack the USSR and were able to push back the Germans with their troops. It wasn't until Germany had fallen and the United States had already dropped one atomic bomb on Japan that the USSR even declared war on Japan. They declared war on August 8, 1945 and played a big part in Japan's decision to surrender. If the Soviet Union hadn't been attacked by Germany and Japan hadn't been at war with the United States, it's unlikely that the Soviet Union would have been able to defeat Japan on their own. The Japanese had the most powerful navy in the world, and the Soviet Union would likely have never been able to defeat Japan. On the other hand, Japan probably would never have been able to defeat the Soviet Union either. If you are interested in seeing how Japan and Russia would match up, the 1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War was a war fought between Russia (pre-communist) and Japan. The Japanese soundly defeated the Russian Navy, and most of the losses the Japanese suffered were because of outdated infantry tactics. By WW2, Japan had developed far better tactics. Edit - Although Russia and Japan are close to each other and Russia has far more soldiers, Japan is an island and has a very strong navy. It's unlikely that the Soviet Union would be able to land any significantly sized invasion force on the Japanese Mainlands, and it's extremely unlikely that they would be able to hold any land they did take against the fanatical Japanese. Amphibious invasions are very difficult - American amphibious invasions against Iwo Jima and Okinawa were extremely costly, and the American forces had naval and air superiority - something that the Soviets would probably not be able to get.

Answer 3

Japan had already defeated Russia in the 1920s. The defeat of the USSR in the Pacific is part of what fueled Japan's intentions to build an empire and led them to believe they were invincible. Part of the idea behind the attack on Pearl Harbor was to do the same thing they did to the USSR in the Pacific, despite Yamamoto's warnings.

If Russia did not have to fight Germany, then probably, but they could not have fought both without help.

Russia did take a huge share of fighting the Germans, but they also required supplies from the Allies to do it, so while they did hold off Germany enough to allow the rest of the Allies to attack Africa and Western Europe, they needed logistical help.

Answer 4

News flash. Russia didn't defeat Japan. They didn't even declare war on Japan till slightly before the end of WWII. The US, Great Britain, Australia, India, Burma & the Chinese did the vast majority of the fighting in the Pacific. Russia signed a non-aggression pact with Japan at the beginning of the war and didn't enter the Pacific war till early 1945.

Answer 5

It's an interesting question, but there are too many ifs involved. If the U.S. had never entered the war against Japan, would they have built up their fleet to the level it was in defeating the Japanese navy, and how would the Soviets defeat Japan with nothing to match the Japanese fleet? They may have been able to defeat Japan in a land war, under normal circumstances. If Japan resorted to using the resources of Unit 731 against them, then it might have turned out badly for the Soviets. If the Japanese never resorted to using biological warfare, then the Soviet forces could have moved them out of China, but then what would they do about the Japanese fleet?

Answer 6

I would assume that the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality and denunciation of 1941 solidified the USSRs defeat of Japan in East Asia. Any USSR efforts in 1945 against Japan would only to FUTHER that defeat of Japan into the Pacific Ocean.

Answer 7

Russia's power was land based, while Japan's was air and sea. The problem though is neither could mount a decent offensive over such a great distance so it would be a stalemate. Japan could invade a portion of Russia though, but Japan's impressive navy covering a much smaller land mass would make it impossible for Russia.

Answer 8

Even after the US and Allies had beaten the crap out of Japan, The Japanese still had a million soldiers for home defence and had been told to fight to the last man - no surrender. They believed the Russians would intercede and convince America not to invade; and it took Russia's declaration of war AND two atomic bombs to force a surrender. Russia could never have achieved that alone.

Answer 9

Russia had a non aggression pact with Japan. The only reason they declared war on Japan was because they wanted in on the Manhattan project

Answer 10

Japan was defeated by massive naval and air power mixed in with some tedious bloody amphibious campaigns.

Amphibious operations of course are dependent on massive naval and air power.

Therefore, overwhelming naval and air power is what defeated Japan.

Based on that I do not think that the Soviet Union and its armed forces was set up to defeat Japan.

They had almost no navy, and no major strategic bombing force and building those forces would have taken years with the lack of industry in Russia.