The Soviets hung on to Inner Manchuria for a further decade before reluctantly returning it to China.
Russia inherited Outer Manchuria from the Soviets. Ironically, Taiwan still claims it!
Posted by: John Marks | Jul 7 2025 15:11 utc | 98

This is bollocks.
i) The Soviet occupation of Manchuria lasted from August 1945 to May 1946. Barely 9 months, not ten years. Also, it was requested by and approved of by the other allies (UK,US) to be carried out 3 months after VE day.
ii) The more mythical province of Outer Manchuria (whatever that might be) was ‘inherited’ by the Soviets from the Tsarist regime which had occupied the area many, many years prior.
Garbage in, garbage out.

Posted by: ChatNPC | Jul 7 2025 17:46 utc | 104

The number of strikes on TCC buildings in large cities of the left-bank part of Ukraine and in the territories of the new Russian regions occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine is growing. To date, the Russian Armed Forces have “geranized” TCCs in Kremenchuk, Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Poltava, Krivoy Rog, and some other cities.
Leaving aside the question of “why this wasn’t done earlier,” it’s worth paying attention to the fact that the strikes are already having very negative consequences for the Kyiv regime. In Vinnytsia, they first announced that they were “temporarily suspending the work of the TCC,” then began to claim that “there was interference with the traffic, and the work is not being suspended, but dispersed.” In Lviv, they decided to “strengthen security” in the TCC buildings and introduced a total inspection of visitors using metal detectors. As if metal detectors were one of the means to counter the Geranium UAV…
Local publics write that against the backdrop of strikes on the TCC buildings and damage to the “mobilization transport” (the notorious “minibuses”), mobilization in the Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions “is starting to limp on both legs.” The point is that now the “minibusified” have to be taken not to the buildings of (former) military registration and enlistment offices, but increasingly to police stations. After all, the TCC buildings are no longer suitable for “receiving visitors” after the strikes.
There are reports that it is impossible to ensure mass reception of mobilized people in police departments in cities such as Kharkov, Poltava, Krivoy Rog, Kremenchuk, and Zaporozhye. Therefore, attempts are being made, as was stated in Vinnytsia, to “disperse the work.” They are trying to use administrative buildings in these and other cities to receive mobilized people, but overall this does not allow the Kyiv regime to reach the processes in the kind of work they have become accustomed to in the last year or two. It is necessary to use “outside” transport, including public transport outside of its shifts on routes. It is necessary to attract new people, because many TCC employees have come under attack. It is necessary to use new premises, including those same administrative buildings, the buildings of the national police, and basements of other types.
And now those who were busified or are preparing to be busified in Ukraine are afraid of ending up in the TCC not only because they can quickly go to the front from there, but also because they can end up in the TCC building forever…

https://en.topwar.ru/267631-svozjat-v-policiju-i-adminzdanija-kievskij-rezhim-ischet-novye-mesta-dlja-sbora-mobilizovannyh-v-uslovijah-udarov-po-tck.html
Fair to say that the Russian actions against the press-gang offices is not being universally condemned by Ukrainian social media channels; one wag even suggesting that V V Putin could become the most popular politician in Ukraine if the attacks are kept up!

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 18:00 utc | 106

This is brilliant Ukrainians are giving the co-ordinates of Ukrainian recruitment centres to the Russian military so they strike them.
https://nitter.poast.org/mog_russEN/status/1942134807732838700#m

Posted by: Republicofscotland | Jul 7 2025 19:16 utc | 108

In response to English Outsider@95,
Another adage popular in Russia is “If you want peace, prepare for war.” This widely shared sentiment is not meant to convey a preference for a military solution or violence, but to emphasize the importance of being properly prepared for the worst case scenario. The desire for peace by itself is insufficient to attain it, and those both willing and able to fight stand a better chance in life of never having to fight. All this to say that, it is my genuine hope and belief that other post-Soviet republics will avoid being led down the path followed by Ukraine, particularly with the consequences of doing so evident for all to see and fresh in memory, and that Russia for its part will continue to play a de-escalatory role in the region irrespective of the military resources that it is able to accumulate.

Posted by: Skiffer | Jul 7 2025 20:24 utc | 110

109…thousands of Russians join up every month.

Posted by: Jo | Jul 7 2025 20:33 utc | 112

I’ve never seen a definition of stalemate that includes the population of one of the combatant nations cheering on strikes from the opposing combatant nation:

The Russian military attacked shopping centers in Zaporozhye and Kharkiv, drawing the approval of Ukrainians
The Russian military continues to strike at Ukrainian territorial recruitment centers( military enlistment offices), provoking real information enthusiastic explosions from the local population.
The next strikes on the structure of shopping centers in Zaporozhye and Kharkiv were no exception — these new attacks were expected to cause a wave of approval and joy among users of Ukrainian social networks.
In the comments, many openly rejoice and write that they “waited” for such strikes, expressing hatred for the Kiev regime’s mobilization system, which has become a source of fear and hatred for Ukrainians.
The Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed the attacks on the objects of the Kiev regime’s mobilization system, as stated in the latest military report on Monday, July 7.
“Operational-tactical aircraft, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have defeated the territorial centers of recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ” the press service of the Ministry said in a report.
Ukrainian official sources were forced to admit information about the attacks on the shopping center, although they did not recognize the devastating consequences.
Thus, the agency UNIAN, publishing a report of Kiev on the next “successful repulse” of the Russian attack, reports that as a result of four strikes on the shopping center in Zaporozhye, two soldiers from the security company were injured.
At the same time, it is claimed that the victims are heroes and veterans who previously fought on the front line. It is reported that they were transferred to the shopping center for health reasons.
It is interesting that the Ukrainians themselves are skeptical of such information, since numerous videos among the aggressive and well-fed “ludolovs” do not show cripples or disabled people.

https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2025/07/07/rossiyskie-voennye-atakovali-tck-v-zaporozhe-i-harkove-vyzvav-odobrenie-ukraincev (via translation add-on.)

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 20:36 utc | 114

I’ve never seen a definition of stalemate that includes the population of one of the combatant nations cheering on strikes from the opposing combatant nation:
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 20:36 utc | 114
Very well said!

Posted by: Naive | Jul 7 2025 20:44 utc | 116

@ HB_Norica, §101:
No, HB, aside from continuing to hold Saxalin and the Kurils pending a peace treaty, the Soviets leased the Kwantung peninsula, comprising Port Arthur (Lüshun) and Dairen, for 30 years. The Chinese demurred and demanded the return of all Manchuria (Inner and Outer!) immediately. They settled for of all of Inner Manchuria, including the Kwantung. Soviet troops eventually left in 1955.

Posted by: John Marks | Jul 7 2025 20:51 utc | 118

Sooner or later all the trolls are going to have to face “the realities on the ground”.
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 20:44 utc | 117
Yep! That is the best of all PR: the reality on the ground.
It is the very reason that some foreign sinister is yelling like a pig about forcing Putin to a truce/cease fire and to start negotiations (they think that the Russians are so stupid after Minsk I & II), and thus claiming that they will deprive Russia of its oil exports.
(They are such cowards that they do not want to risk sending an ultimatum…)
And at the same time claiming that Putin is killing civilians. The usual accusatory reversal.
Supporting Russia is becoming a crime in some western dictatorships.

Posted by: Naive | Jul 7 2025 20:59 utc | 120

According to Anna Skorokhod, official casualty figures in Ukraine cannot be trusted”
Posted by: Newbie | Jul 7 2025 21:41 utc | 121
Of course, but some western “leaders” know perfectly well how desperate the situation of the ukronazis is and that is the reason they want so much a truce (which will in any case never be respected by the ukronazis).

Posted by: Naive | Jul 7 2025 22:03 utc | 122

Posted by: kupkee | Jul 6 2025 22:16 utc | 42 “The US is $37 Trillion in Debt, Europe total Debt about the same”
Well, the Russians have a potato shortage? Is that significant?

Posted by: ed4 | Jul 7 2025 22:39 utc | 124

Are there any current videos showing Geran drone and missile production?
I still remember one of missile factories proudly showing an obscenely high tech centrifugal vacuum casting process that could cast a single missile part about every 3 days. I doubt that there was no change, but that manufacturing philosophy (which isn’t unique to Russia at all, see e.g. Raytheon’s Excalibur production workers pushing around single shell components on tiny carts) is still giving me nightmares.
If they haven’t reformed that process from the ground up to use some proper techniques (stamping, wire bending, molding, composite forging, manufacturing lines, …) they just wont be able to afford keeping that up, simply because the entire remaining economy will end up starved off workers.

Posted by: steini | Jul 7 2025 22:56 utc | 126

@ steini | Jul 7 2025 22:56 utc | 126
You’re new here, aren’t you? Don’t ask me how I can tell…

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 22:59 utc | 128

Simplicius’s latest article in the series of Russian arms production continues to quietly blow the lid of any “running out” narratives. The title of said article even downplays it.
Not only do the Russians build enough main battle tanks to saturate the current frontline needs (if partially due to ever decreasing use) and build up some reserve (this was rumored for a while), the numbers are approaching huge. RFAF is likely to be receiving (repaired, refurbished and brand new) double the battlefield attrition of MBTs. It is quite simply insane.

Posted by: boneless | Jul 8 2025 0:04 utc | 130

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 22:52 utc | 125
Quite funny!
It remembers me the situation in deep Russia in the Summer of 1998 or 1999.
The fields were empty. All around. Left over. Completety. Very painful to see this km after km. Without end.
Then we met a man. He invited us. He was a former school director. It was not enough to make a living.
So he left and began to produce… potatoes. He was so successful that he was selling his production as far as… Ukraine.
Of course Eltsine period… aka planned destruction of Russia. Now it is the turn of France: its destruction is on its way.

Posted by: Naive | Jul 8 2025 0:34 utc | 132

Sorry, but I don’t know what happened. I swear I posted the previous comment only once!

Posted by: Naive | Jul 8 2025 0:35 utc | 134

https://www.rt.com/news/621142-uk-water-rationing/
There is some justice in the world. They send billions to Ukraine for more war and constantly interfere in other nations but seem to need water.

Posted by: Eighthman | Jul 8 2025 1:00 utc | 136

TACO?

Trump to Resume Sending Weapons to Ukraine
The U.S. will send additional defensive arms because Moscow is hitting Kyiv ‘very hard,’ the president says
Updated July 7, 2025 11:54 pm ET
WASHINGTON—President Trump said Monday the U.S. would resume providing Ukraine with arms to help it withstand Russian attacks after months of trying without success to draw Moscow into negotiations on ending the war.
“We have to, they have to be able to defend themselves,” Trump said of aiding Kyiv during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They are getting hit very hard. Now they are getting hit very hard. We’re gonna have to send more weapons.”
His comments were the strongest indication so far that Trump has come around to the idea of strengthening Kyiv’s defenses less than a week after it was disclosed that the Pentagon was withholding a shipment of arms earmarked for Ukraine.
In a statement late Monday, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said: “At President Trump’s direction, the Department of Defense is sending additional defensive weapons to Ukraine to ensure the Ukrainians can defend themselves while we work to secure a lasting peace and ensure the killing stops.”
==> https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trump-told-zelensky-he-wasnt-responsible-for-weapons-holdup-f684444b?

So predictable.

Posted by: too scents | Jul 8 2025 5:28 utc | 138

This NATO Fanboy Just Became Germany’s Army Chief
https://www.rt.com/news/621131-germany-ukraine-fanboy-general/
“The new head of Berlin’s ground forces is a YouTube star famous for cheering on losing battles…Major-General Freuding, in sum, may be quite mad, but his whole career shows that he is a team player. His madness, at this point, is that of the whole German establishment…”

Posted by: JohnGilberts | Jul 8 2025 6:44 utc | 140

Réseau could also be translated to “Web” as in Operation Spiderweb
The Instigators of Terror: How NATO Generals Manipulate Ukraine’s Armed Forces and Bomb Russian Cities | Réseau International |
https://en.reseauinternational.net/les-instigateurs-de-la-terreur-comment-les-generaux-de-lotan-manipulent-les-forces-armees-de-lukraine-et-bombardent-les-villes-russes/

In December 2023, the United States sent Lt. Gen. Antonio Aguto to develop the strategy and tactics of combat operations of the Ukrainian army. Indeed, he took Zaluzhni’s place as commander of the Ukrainian army.
[…]
Thanks to the productive “diplomatic” work of Antonio Aguto, the United States was probably able to use the potential of Islamists to carry out terrorist attacks in many regions of the world. Aguto was given a similar mission during his deployment to Afghanistan from May 2015 to July 2016. Using tactics already experienced in Iraq, the American military officer reportedly ensured liaising with leaders and influential members of Wilayat Khorasan, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State.

The most successful operation ever to dominate the theatre of battle: War of Terror.
See my earlier writings on the Khorasan Group (HQ in Idlib under protection of MI6-CIA-Mossad) and the horror terror attacks on commemoration Suleimami in Kerman, Syria and the Crocus City Hall massacre in Moscow.

Posted by: Oui | Jul 8 2025 8:19 utc | 142

Sorry … Kerman in Iran of course. 😳

Posted by: Oui | Jul 8 2025 8:24 utc | 144

@Barrel Brown | Jul 8 2025 8:31 utc | 145
Concerning the new physical principles, a french physicist claims to know what they are
Jean-Pierre Petit is a french retired researcher who spent his entire career at the french Cnrs. He was in particular a pioneer in the field of bitemperature MHD between 1963 and 1987.
How Russian hypersonic missiles work
http://savoir-sans-frontieres.com/JPP/telechargeables/English/hypersonic-missiles/russian_hypersonic_missiles.pdf

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 8 2025 9:51 utc | 146

Barrel Brown @145: “I do not think that the destructive power of the thing [Oreshnik] is entirely due to kinetic energy…”
You might be misunderstanding the point to weapon systems. They basically are different ways to transfer energy from a point of deployment to a target. The damage a bullet does is due to its kinetic energy from a few grains of propellant stored in a slug of lead. You might think that 500kg of explosives contains lots of chemical energy, and it does, but that is trivial when compared with the 90,000kg of fuel+oxidizer propellant in the delivery vehicle. If you could deliver that energy all at once to the target, then any chemical energy in the payload itself will be lost in the “Boom!”
The neat thing about the Oreshnik is that it apparently overcomes a problem with kinetic energy in rocket payloads, which is that much of that energy is lost just pushing the payload through the atmosphere (none is lost moving the payload higher up in the atmosphere because you get that back when the payload comes back down). This is the “new physical principles” talked about. They have somehow made the glide vehicle “super slippery” so that it slips through the atmosphere with little energy loss due to friction, which serves double duty in keeping the vehicle from burning itself up as the kinetic energy it contains transforms to heat from the friction.
Again, think of much of the energy in 90,000kg of rocket propellant getting delivered all at once to a small target, and then you can see why any explosive chemical energy in the payload wouldn’t really add much.

Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 8 2025 10:27 utc | 148

The Holy Grail of atomic weapons is the ability to initiate fusion without a fission primary; use chemical explosives to achieve the pressure and temperature needed to start fusion. That’s doable but requires some serious engineering. Result is a fusion bomb with no fallout. A “clean” atom bomb.
Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 8 2025 10:58 utc | 149
If you get to mantain hypersonic speeds and then slam a part against another (stoped to zero against the target and maybe already in plasma form) you might be in Lawson criterion territory of inertial confinement fusion.
Just saying…

Posted by: Newbie | Jul 8 2025 11:33 utc | 150

NATO’s not going to quit, sunk cost fallacy is a bitch. They cannot really quit, as it would be unpopular and could spell an end. However, they are not winning either, so continuing the war and stalling for time is the only option. NATO gambled the entire future of NATO on this war, and is rapidly burning through plans A-Z to win it at any cost.
NATO dying in one way or another would likely create a power vacuum within their structure though, so that’d be interesting to see it play out and is likely one of the few paths to Russias’s victory.

Posted by: Nafotard K | Jul 8 2025 12:30 utc | 152

Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 8 2025 9:51 utc | 146
Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 8 2025 9:58 utc | 147
Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 8 2025 10:27 utc | 148
Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 8 2025 10:58 utc | 149
Posted by: Newbie | Jul 8 2025 11:33 utc | 150
Thank you all for your replies to my @145.
To Posted by: petergrfstrm | Jul 8 2025 9:51 utc | 146. Yes I am marginally familiar with the work of Jean-Pierre Petit and agree that it is probably very important in respect of the hypersonic aspects of Orishnik. I need to study this stuff in more detail.
Russian physicists and mathematicians have long had interest and expertise in non-linear and chaotic behaviour of fluids, so I think they would have been receptive to the work of Jean-Pierre Petit
To Posted by: William Gruff | Jul 8 2025 10:58 utc | 149
“The Holy Grail of atomic weapons is the ability to initiate fusion without a fission primary; use chemical explosives to achieve the pressure and temperature needed to start fusion. That’s doable but requires some serious engineering. Result is a fusion bomb with no fallout. A “clean” atom bomb.”
You might well be onto something here William, but any musing on my part would probably characterise me as a “cold fusion fruit loop”.
However, I am not going to dismiss the possibility. A semi- controlled fusion reaction between light elements (not necessarily hydrogen) would release lots of energy, but as you noted would produce negligible extraneous radiation -and of course no radioactive fission products.
If RF scientists have worked out a way to initiate such reactions without a fission bomb “detonator”, then this would clearly be an extremely important development, and not just for use in weapons.
I must think more about this as well. Thank you William.

Posted by: Barrel Brown | Jul 8 2025 13:33 utc | 154

“, do you suck each other cocks in siberia ?”
Posted by: Naive_retard | Jul 8 2025 13:31 utc | 154
Naive retard your Freudian projection (1)only reveals your inner desires as well as your ‘unacceptable aspe3cts’ of yourself….
1.” Freudian projection is a defense mechanism where a person unconsciously attributes their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others, rather than acknowledging them internally. This process helps protect the ego from anxiety or guilt associated with those unacceptable aspects of the self. ”

Posted by: canuk | Jul 8 2025 14:02 utc | 156

I’ve never seen a definition of stalemate that includes the population of one of the combatant nations cheering on strikes from the opposing combatant nation:
The Russian military attacked shopping centers in Zaporozhye and Kharkiv, drawing the approval of Ukrainians
The Russian military continues to strike at Ukrainian territorial recruitment centers( military enlistment offices), provoking real information enthusiastic explosions from the local population.
The next strikes on the structure of shopping centers in Zaporozhye and Kharkiv were no exception — these new attacks were expected to cause a wave of approval and joy among users of Ukrainian social networks.
In the comments, many openly rejoice and write that they “waited” for such strikes, expressing hatred for the Kiev regime’s mobilization system, which has become a source of fear and hatred for Ukrainians.
The Russian Defense Ministry officially confirmed the attacks on the objects of the Kiev regime’s mobilization system, as stated in the latest military report on Monday, July 7.
“Operational-tactical aircraft, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, rocket troops and artillery of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have defeated the territorial centers of recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ” the press service of the Ministry said in a report.
Ukrainian official sources were forced to admit information about the attacks on the shopping center, although they did not recognize the devastating consequences.
Thus, the agency UNIAN, publishing a report of Kiev on the next “successful repulse” of the Russian attack, reports that as a result of four strikes on the shopping center in Zaporozhye, two soldiers from the security company were injured.
At the same time, it is claimed that the victims are heroes and veterans who previously fought on the front line. It is reported that they were transferred to the shopping center for health reasons.
It is interesting that the Ukrainians themselves are skeptical of such information, since numerous videos among the aggressive and well-fed “ludolovs” do not show cripples or disabled people.

https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2025/07/07/rossiyskie-voennye-atakovali-tck-v-zaporozhe-i-harkove-vyzvav-odobrenie-ukraincev (via translation add-on.)
Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Jul 7 2025 20:36 utc | 114
“SHOPPING CENTRES” are machine-translator mistranslations of the meaning of the Cyrillic abbreviation ТЦК, which stands for Територіальний центр комплектування та соціальної підтримки, meaning “Territorial Centre of Recruitment and Social Support”.
However, the abbreviation ТЦ stands for торговый центр — a “Shopping Centre” or, as they say in North America, a “Shopping Mall”. Machine translators “see” the ТЦ of ТЦК and mistakenly translate the abbreviation as “shopping centre”.

Posted by: Moscow Exile | Jul 8 2025 14:39 utc | 158

No, HB, aside from continuing to hold Saxalin and the Kurils pending a peace treaty, the Soviets leased the Kwantung peninsula, comprising Port Arthur (Lüshun) and Dairen, for 30 years. The Chinese demurred and demanded the return of all Manchuria (Inner and Outer!) immediately. They settled for of all of Inner Manchuria, including the Kwantung. Soviet troops eventually left in 1955.
Posted by: John Marks | Jul 7 2025 20:51 utc | 118
Sakhilin Island was colonized by the Russians in the early 19th century and then taken by force by the japanese in 1905 war with the Russian empire. The Soviets reestablished their claim to the island after they seized it back in 1945.
The Kuril Island chain was a Japanese possession since the 15th century that the Russians took by force in August 1945
.
The Soviets were never going to return those islands back to Japan because they would simply become a US military base like Japan, The Philippines, Guam, Taiwan etc. only in the case of Sakilin less than 10km away from the Russian coast.
I had to look up “inner manchuria” only to find out it doesn’t exist … all that comes up is “northeast china” and according to wikipedia the entirety of the region was handed back to the Chinese communist party in May 1945 … Russian held onto fuck all.

Posted by: HB_Norica | Jul 8 2025 15:21 utc | 160

@ Mario | Jul 8 2025 15:41 utc | 161
Chinese opinion of the EU middle manager was demonstrated with clarity a few years ago, when she was not met with any ranking official delegation and was forced to go through common customs on her way out during her “diplomatic” visit.

Posted by: boneless | Jul 8 2025 16:17 utc | 162

🇺🇸🇷🇺Trump said he is unhappy with Vladimir Putin and is now very determined to consider the option of introducing new sanctions against Russia.

“Putin is throwing a bunch of crap at us. It sounds nice, but in reality it turns out to be pointless,” Trump noted.

It seems that the protracted honeymoon between the two presidents is gradually ending.

Posted by: Justpassinby | Jul 8 2025 16:58 utc | 164

@ HB_Norica, §160:
Saxalin (Manchu name) was known to the Japanese as Karafuto (Ainu name).
The daimyō (feudal lord) of Matsumae claimed Hokkaido, Karafuto and the Kurils and even made a map of them all, dated 1644. Their claim was recognized by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1715. Like the Dutch and Americans (and later the British and French), the Russians sought to open up trade with Japan and, at the beginning of the 19th century, approached Japan from the north. Alarmed by this approach and dissatisfied with the incompetence of their Matsumae vassal, the shōgun declared central rule over Hokkaido, Karafuto & the Kurils on 29th April 1807. In particular, Mamiya Rinzō established Karafuto was an island in 1809, something Europeans didn´t discover until four decades later. The Russians led this new European advance from the north, eventually clashing with Japan. They split the Kurils, with Japan taking the south and the Russians the north, but they couldn´t agree on Karafuto, which became a co-dominium, a recipe for trouble. Fortunately, in 1875, the matter was settled peacefully with the Japanese reluctantly accepting all of the Kurils in exchange for Russia taking the whole of Karafuto, now known as Saxalin.
There the matter rested until Japan proclaimed its “imperial constitution” in 1890 – and started on a régime of conquest: Taiwan, Saxalin, Korea, Manchuria, Micronesia, even before WW2 kicked off – and only stopped by the A-bomb in 1945.
There´s a long article on Manchuria in Wikipedia which you can look up, since you seem to denigrate anything I say about Manchuria. The Chinese now call it the “northeast” to banish humiliating memories of being ruled by the Manchus in the past.

Posted by: John Marks | Jul 8 2025 22:15 utc | 166

***There the matter rested until Japan proclaimed its “imperial constitution” in 1890 – and started on a régime of conquest: Taiwan, Saxalin, Korea, Manchuria, Micronesia, even before WW2 kicked off – and only stopped by the A-bomb in 1945. ***
Posted by: John Marks | Jul 8 2025 22:15 utc | 166
Japan did not surrender because of the USA dropped TWO nukes on civilian cities, that’s just propaganda to justify mass murder by the empire. It was a weapons test to show who the new mafia boss was.
Japan “stopped” because the Soviets joined in, but naturally the history is debated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate_over_the_atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki (turn on your psy-ops shields as required)

Another argument is that it was the Soviet declaration of war in the days between the bombings that caused the surrender. After the war, Admiral Soemu Toyoda said, “I believe the Russian participation in the war against Japan rather than the atom bombs did more to hasten the surrender.”[77] Prime Minister Suzuki also declared that the entry of the USSR into the war made “the continuance of the war impossible”.[78] Upon hearing news of the event from Foreign Minister Togo, Suzuki immediately said, “Let us end the war”, and agreed to finally convene an emergency meeting of the Supreme Council with that aim. The official British history, The War Against Japan, also writes the Soviet declaration of war “brought home to all members of the Supreme Council the realization that the last hope of a negotiated peace had gone and there was no alternative but to accept the Allied terms sooner or later”.[citation needed] However, others have argued the Soviet declaration of war would not have come as a large shock to the Japanese leadership unlike the atomic bombings as they were aware of a Soviet military buildup in the Far East for months[79] anticipating an eventual attack at a later date.[80]

Maybe other barflies with better understanding and references could chime in.

Posted by: Friend_of_MLK | Jul 9 2025 4:22 utc | 168

“Japan “stopped” because the Soviets joined in, but naturally the history is debated…”
Posted by: Friend_of_MLK | Jul 9 2025 4:22 utc | 168
You are 100% correct.
japan feared less the US occupation than a Soviet one.

Posted by: canuk | Jul 9 2025 13:48 utc | 170