Andy Young, who runs the well-known Siberian Light blog, wrote and tipped me off to an article he recently wrote about the battle of Khalkhin-Gol, which in Japan is known as the Nomonhan Incident.

I’d heard of Nomonhan, but only in reference to Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle which, you might notice bears a (purposefully) striking resemblance to the name of this site. In part of the book Murakami examines the Manchukuo episode (and by virtue of that Nomonhan) of WWII and its place in Japanese history.

Give Mr. Young’s piece a read. The title is “Khalkhin-Gol: The Battle that shaped WW2,” and he goes to great lengths to show how the massive tank battle was a much bigger turning point in history than people realize.

Defeat persuaded the Japanese to expand into the Pacific, where they saw the United States as a weaker opponent than the Soviet Union. If the Japanese had not lost at Khalkhin Gol, they may never have attacked Pearl Harbor.

That should whet your appetite as should this:

The Japanese decision to expand southwards also meant that the Soviet Eastern flank was secured for the duration of the war. Instead of having to fight on two fronts, the Soviets could mass their troops - under the newly promoted General Zhukov - against the threat of Nazi Germany in the West.

Give the comments a browse too as Taylor’s view is obviously controversial in the eyes of some.