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Essay Subject: History of foreign & military relations between Japan & Soviet Union since World War II. Additional material on relations between the nations since the Soviet collapse & the rise of the new Russia.... More...

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Paper Abstract: History of foreign & military relations between Japan & Soviet Union since World War II. Additional material on relations between the nations since the Soviet collapse & the rise of the new Russia. Paper Introduction: INTRODUCTION Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union have been much affected by the strategic position of Japan. It is relatively near the Atlantic coast of the old Soviet Union and current Russia. Japanese foreign policy has been conducted in terms of the geography of the country, with the four main islands of Japan standing off the coast of East Asia, near the peninsula of Korea, and surrounded by other islands, including the currently disputed Sakhalin and Kurile Islands to the north. Relations have shifted over the years, and Japan has drawn closer to the rest of the world as technology has improved: The power of Russia, China, and the United States and the policies of these countries toward Japan have changed dramatically during the past fifty years. But Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. This continued refusal has had certain political advantages for aconservative and pro-U.S.-Japanese government: The Soviet presence on the islands and the military buildup in and around the area served to maintain the salience of the Soviet threat to the Japanese public. Nevertheless, the last decade has witnessed astonishing changes in the domestic environment which have affected Japan's relations with the outside world (Drifte 3). The increase in thenationalistic movements saw the Russian Federation and the Sakhalinprovince emerging as additional constraints on Japan's Soviet policy. The Soviet Union was on theverge of disintegration, while Japan had become the world's number twoeconomic power. Overall, achieving a breakthroughin the Moscow-Tokyo territorial stalemate has been given low priority.Russia has refused to give up the northern territory, as did the SovietUnion. Muchof our policy in Europe over the past four decades has been geared tostaving off an implied Soviet threat both from the Soviet Union itself andfrom the satellite nations of Eastern Europe. Japan is now challenging theUnited States and other industrialized nations for world leadership ininnovation and industrial production, especially in high-tech industries ofgreat import on the international scene today and into the future. Russia has more thanenough clout to force the other states to comply with the Russiangovernment's desires--the Russians have by far the largest army, and theircountry is the main market for neighboring states' exports and the mainsupplier of energy to these states. With the endof the war, Japan was stripped of all its overseas holdings, bombed out,and on the verge of political and economic collapse. It is relatively near the Atlanticcoast of the old Soviet Union and current Russia. The Sovietsabruptly made concessions to the Japanese, however, and offered the returnof the lesser Kuriles, the Habomais and Shikotan, and agreed to toleratethe U.S.-Japanese security arrangement. RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA The dissolution of the Soviet Union and its satellite Eastern blocoffers a rare opportunity for curtailing certain U.S. In this atmosphere, Japan has founditself more and more in conflict with Western industrial powers, includingGermany, France, and the United States. In 1951 a peace treaty was signed in SanFrancisco, with Japan joining 48 nations led by the United States whileflatly rejecting the idea of an overall peace as advocated by theSocialists, Communists, and progressive intellectuals of the time. Some believe that Belarus, Moldava, and Ukrainewill forge strong links with the central European states of Poland,Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, while Arakhstan, Uzbekistan, Krygyzstan,Tajikistan, and Turkistan will forge ties as a loose, Islam-basedfederation with Afghanistan and Pakistan. economic andmilitary power. Works CitedDrifte, Reinhard. Just as the West will not allow Russia to disintegrate further intoeconomic anarchy and loss, the remilitarization of Russia would also be metwith considerable resistance from the West. defense policies andexpenditures on the basis of there no longer being an immediate need. But improvements in communication and transportation have brought its four neighbors closer to japan, and they continue to be of critical importance to Japan's security. The Soviet Union was preoccupied withindustrial expansion and played little role in the region. The Soviets approached theJapanese once more. What Russia will become remains uncertain given the size of thedifficulties that the country has to overcome in order to become acompetitive nation in world markets. New York: Columbia University Press, 1971. After Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviets made overtures seeking arapprochement with Japan, but the Japanese leadership ignored these atfirst. The Soviets swiftly took control of southern Sakhalin andthe Kurile islands. Prior to the war, Japanhad defensive bases that were then transformed into threatening positions.Japan had exercised sovereignty over Korea, all the Kurile islands, andsouthern Sakhalin, as well as the Bonins, the Ryukyus, and Taiwan.Manchuria was a military satellite, and the Caroline and Marshall Islandswere under a Japanese mandate. Curtis (ed.) 274-3 2. Prime Minister Yoshida was not interested, but his opponent,Hatoyama Ichiro, became interested in the idea, though he was notinterested in bringing about a drastic shift in Japan's foreign policyorientation toward Washington or in the direction of Moscow. Disputes over Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands remain tothis day, and the shift in power from the Soviet Union to a new Russia hasnot changed that argument. The Japanese industrialexpansion since World War II has been considerable and has been noted byother industrialized nations around the world. However, by April 1992, Japan feared becoming isolated fromthe international community and so agreed to participate in a $24 billioneconomic aid package for Russia through the International Monetary Fund.Without an agreement by Moscow to make substantial concessions to Japanwith reference to the disputed islands, however, it is unlikely that Japanwill provide more than modest levels of assistance on a bilateral basis: For much of the world the Cold War is now largely a memory. Pro-U.S. Second, the geographic contiguity of Japan to a militarily assertiveSoviet Union and the alliance with the United States put pressure on Japanto become once more a major military power. Sharpe, 1993.Weinstein, Martin E. When the war ended, the Soviets still captured some6 , Japanese soldiers and civilians and sent them to Siberian laborcamps in violation of the Potsdam Declaration, which had called for thespeedy repatriation of Japanese after the war. The dissolution of the Soviet Union also provided a new opening forJapan to address the issues that have been dividing the two countries fordecades. Without economic development,Russia remains too weak to take on the West in any direct fashion, one ofthe primary reasons why the Soviet Union fell part in the first place, witheconomic weakness leaving the country in an arms race it could notmaintain. The major shift took place with World War II. . Japan over the same period when the Soviet Union was in decline hasbecome a stronger world power. TheU.S. that the territorial issue would bediscussed at a summit to be held in 1988. Japanese foreign policyhas been conducted in terms of the geography of the country, with the fourmain islands of Japan standing off the coast of East Asia, near thepeninsula of Korea, and surrounded by other islands, including thecurrently disputed Sakhalin and Kurile Islands to the north. security roles in East Asia. If Russia is to become a fullydemocratic state, it will be because the nation manages to achieve economicstability and thus to foster the environment in which a democratic statecan flourish. Assistance has beenprovided to Moscow by most of the G-7 industrial nations out of fear of theconsequences of a destabilized Russia. The Western Europeans will remain moreprosperous, but the Russians will be wealthy enough to spend their leisuretime dabbling in politics and will be demanding a change in the politicalmodel to involve more than one party in the governing process. Indeed, Japan has demonstrated since theend of the war a drive for increased economic development, which has takenplace against a background of a relative decline in U.S. is already sending aid to Russia and offering other assistance to helpthe emerging democratic nation develop in a way that will bolster theeconomy and prevent the nation from crumbling. Questions of territory are often considered sacrosanct matters evoking patriotic and propriety emotions. In the new structure, the Confederation of Independent States isabandoned totally in the late 199 s as the various components turn indifferent directions, according to their geographic position and strategicand marketing interests. (Weinstein 5-6). andcountries of Western Europe have such a stake in a successful Europe thatthey are not likely to let it happen if they can do anything about it. This createdpolitical strains on all sides that only complicated the solution to theseconflicts. The policy was intended to makethe Soviets aware that the territorial issue stood in the way of Japaneseaid for Soviet economic reform (Saito 284-285). Relationshave shifted over the years, and Japan has drawn closer to the rest of theworld as technology has improved: The power of Russia, China, and the United States and the policies of these countries toward Japan have changed dramatically during the past fifty years. relations" (Drifte 2). The Soviets signaled a willingnessto establish cooperation with Japan. State Department, there was an explicitacknowledgement of Soviet possession of southern Sakhalin and the Kurileislands. The collapse of the Soviet Union left behind a smaller andeconomically devastated Russia struggling to survive. Russia has to raise the livingstandards of the people in order to consolidate power and achieve stabilitywhile also enlisting the support of the people to maintain the governmentthat is developing and to push the country further along the road todemocracy and national reform. Fourth, though Japan is geographically and culturally part of Asia,its economic and political system and trade imperatives drew the nationcloser to the advanced western democracies outside the region. The Japanese policies since World War II show certain characteristicsthat help define Japanese foreign policy. The "go-slow"advocates prevailed, though peace talks were opened in 1955, soon reachinga deadlock because of the northern territorial problem. Stalin refused to sign the San Francisco treaty, so a chanceto conclude a Soviet-Japanese peace treaty was missed: The legal state of war between the USSR and Japan continued and the dispute over the northern territories emerged. This in turn helped to reduce public opposition to incremental increases in the defense budget (Saito 297). Some 6 , Japanese diedin Siberia, and this and the Soviet occupation of the northern territoriescontributed to a deep-seated and widespread distrust of the Soviet Unionamong the Japanese people. In short, Hatoyama had no intention whatever of fundamentally altering the Yoshida Doctrine (Saito 277). Other forces pressing in thissame direction included Japan's own economic and technological strengths.Military links between Japan and the United States increased and weredirected largely at supplementing some U.S. The new prime minister had intended to work for anagreement with the Soviets to accomplish the following: 1) the repatriationof Japanese detained in the Soviet Union; 2) the admission of Japan to theUnited Nations; and 3) an agreement on measures to ensure the safety ofJapanese fishermen operating in the North Pacific. Japan has been withholdingfinancial assistance to Moscow until the issue of the northern territoriesis resolved. EVOLUTION OF JAPAN'S POLICY TOWARD THE SOVIET UNION Near the end of World War II, with Japan on the verge of surrender,the Soviet Union declared war on Tokyo in violation of the Soviet-JapaneseNeutrality Pact. The northern territories remained asticking point, though Prime Minister Tanaka did modify Japanese demands byindicating a desire for cooperative efforts to develop Siberian resources: Contrary to the widespread interpretation in Japan, the top priority of Tanaka's Soviet trip was placed not on the territorial issue nor on the conclusion of a peace treaty but on the promotion of economic cooperation between the two nations (Saito 281).Tanaka's tone showed a desire that Japan's economic cooperation toward theUSSR would eventually lead to the solution of the territorial question. "Japan's 'Northward' Froeign Policy." In Japan's Foreign Policy After the Cold War, Gerald L. Yet, Japan was notcontent with this position and dreamed of regional hegemony. He thoughtthat the restoration of relations with the Soviets would strengthen Japan'sbargaining position toward Washington and would thus enable Japan to have amore autonomous foreign policy orientation: Specifically, he contended that Japan should rigorously adhere to the existing 1951 U.S.-Japanese Security Treaty; were the Soviet Union to insist that the U.S.-Japanese security system be dismantled, he favored breaking off peace talks with Moscow. This has naturally created a sense of euphoria in the West, but ithas also contributed to the development of a good deal of confusion anduncertainty. Japan's Postwar Defense Policy, 1947-1968. Japan began from a positionfar behind the West, with a devastated infrastructure, and since hasachieved a position of economic preeminence. Russia could become a miliary power once more and make use of militarymight to force compliance from neighboring states. TheForeign Minister has played a strong role in the postwar formulation ofJapan's Soviet Policy. The disintegration of the Soviet Union as accompanied by a risein nationalist movements among the former Soviet provinces and satellites.Postwar Japanese policy toward the Soviets had been under the influence ofboth external determinants and internal factors. Fifth, while Japan's economic expansion and other changes in theeconomic environment had increasingly integrated the nation into globalaffairs, most Japanese and their leaders had an outlook that remainedparochial, which was reflected in the domestic political system: Moreover, the concern of the Japanese for the preservation of their unique national identity makes it difficult to accommodate various external demands for smoother integration into the world economy and greater burden-sharing. Much of this energy has been exportedat subsidized rates, and last year Russia exported the equivalent of 1 percent of its GDP to the other ex-Soviet states in the form of aid andcheap loans. The JapaneseIslands were under virtually no danger of attack. . Russia could simply disintegrate over the next fewyears, and this remains a distinct possibility given the degree of changethat has to be wrought in the economy to make it strong enough to enter theinternational marketplace and compete with more fully developed capitalistnations. A shift in leadership in Japan broughtTakeshita to the role of prime minister, and he was not as interested in arapprochement as had been Nakasone. Noprogress on the territorial issue was made at this time, but progress wasmade on economic collaboration with the signing of an agreement onscientific and technological cooperation (Saito 281). INTRODUCTION Relations between Japan and the Soviet Union have been much affectedby the strategic position of Japan. As Japanand Germany tie themselves to Russia, the U.S. This came at the same time ascertain revelations about Japanese business practices brought a round ofJapan-bashing in the United States. This came at a time when the structureof the Cold War was beginning to collapse. Talks ended in 1955 without atreaty (Saito 277). Oddly, this encouraged Japanesehard-liners and created another deadlock. will suffer from bothagricultural and manufacturing competition. CURRENT SITUATION The Soviet Union held sway for some 7 years before the differentregions held together largely by military might disintegrated in 1989,leaving a large portion of what had been the Soviet Union as Russia. Relations between Tokyo and Moscow warmed up, and JapanesePrime Minister Nakasone welcomed the shift. The country wasoccupied by British and American units under the American Supreme Commanderfor the Allied Powers. The disintegration of theSoviet Union into a series of smaller independent states has eliminatedthat threat and has in effect ended European Communism as an internationalthreat. position of hegemony are forcing Japan to reassessJapanese-U.S. A crumbling Russia would bea danger. The final draft, at Japanese insistence, stipulated only Japan'sunilateral abandonment of those territories and made no reference to Sovietpossession. forces inJapan bitterly opposed Hatoyama and insisted that the northern dispute beresolved before restoration of official diplomatic ties. New York: M.E. Takeshita adopted a strategy ofinternationalization based on the northern territorial issue, and heobtained a promise from the U.S. Japan has become the world's second largest exporter andsince 1986 the world's largest creditor nation. Hatoyama became prime minister in 1954. Third, Japan had undertaken a singular and successful pursuit ofeconomic goals, as noted, and this along with the relative decline of theUnited States produced conflicts with Japan's major economic partners overtrade, investment, and technology, as well as over increased expectationsof the ability of the Japanese to share the security burden. Japan's Foreign Policy. When Gorbachev came to power in 1985, the issue was raised again.Gorbachev wanted to revitalize the Soviet economy and so radically alteredSoviet conduct of foreign affairs. In theinitial draft of the treaty, as prepared by John Foster Dulles, foreignpolicy advisor to the U.S. Resolving the problem will require not only strong determination but also a diplomacy inspired by the art of possibility (Saito 298). The Japanese government contends that the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 provides no legal base for Soviet control over the northern territories since the USSR was not a signatory to the treaty (Saito 275). New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 199 .Saito, Motohide. Noone is certain what will happen with the newly independent Russian statesor with Russia itself. This does not seem a very likely scenario because the U.S. The near anarchy of a few months ago as various legislatorstried to take over the government was seen as such a threat, and no onewants that sort of action to succeed. Russia then will remain the mosteconomically successful as a result of that country's coastal development.The Germans are likely to invest heavily in technical manufacturing west ofthe Urals, and the Japanese, Koreans, and Taiwanese will be likely to shifttheir heavier industries out of their own countries to Russia's Pacificcoast for economic reasons. CONCLUSION Relations between the Soviets and Japan were never normalized afterWorld War II, and relations have not been normalized with the Russia thathas emerged since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In the last days of the war, the Soviet Unioninvaded Manchuria, southern Sakhalin, and the entire Kurile chain(Weinstein 6-7). First, in an internationalenvironment which was largely bipolar in security terms, Japan remainedpolitically, economically, and militarily closely linked with the UnitedStates, but because of Japan's large technological and economic base, itwas necessary for Japan to maintain substantial relations with the rest ofthe world: "Moreover, growing multipolarity, interdependence and theweakening of the U.S. An examination of Japanese defense policytoward the Soviet Union first and Russia currently shows the nature of thedispute and the way Japan has approached these issues. But the issue of the northern territories, a remnant of the tensions that once existed, remains caught in the Moscow-Tokyo ties. FURTHER EFFORTS Another attempt at rapprochement came in the early 197 s during theperiod of Soviet détente with the West. The dispute overthe northern territories has not always been the central issue, but itremains a major emotional issue for the Japanese people. The central desire on the part of Washington hasbeen to keep Japan out of Soviet hands. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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