65 years ago, on September 8, 1951, a peace treaty between the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition and Japan was signed in San Francisco. The USSR, however, refused to sign that agreement due to incorrect wording on the Kuril Islands: Japan admitted that it was transferring the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the USSR, but... not all.
Editor LJ Media
The history of the end of the Second World War is interesting.
As you know, on August 6, 1945, the American Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, and then on August 9, 1945, on Nagasaki. The plan was to drop several more bombs, the third of which would be ready by August 17-18 and would have been dropped if such an order had been given by Truman. Tom did not have to resolve the dilemma, since on August 14-15 the Japanese government announced surrender.
Soviet and Russian citizens, of course, know that by dropping nuclear bombs, the Americans committed a war crime, purely in order to scare Stalin, and the Americans and Japanese - that they forced Japan to surrender in World War II, thereby saving at least a million human lives, mostly military ones and Japanese civilians, and, of course, Allied soldiers, mainly Americans.
Let's imagine for a moment whether the Americans scared Stalin with a nuclear bomb, even if they suddenly set such a goal? The answer is obvious - no. The USSR entered the war with Japan only on August 8, 1945, i.e. 2 days after the bombing of Hiroshima. The date May 8 is not accidental. At the Yalta Conference on February 4-11, 1945, Stalin promised that the USSR would enter the war with Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war with Germany, with which [Japan] there was a neutrality pact concluded on April 13, 1941 (see. the main events of World War II according to the author of this LJ). Thus, Stalin fulfilled his promise on the last day of the promised 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany, but immediately after the bombing of Hiroshima. Whether he would have fulfilled this promise or not without her is an interesting question, perhaps historians have an answer to it, but I don’t know.
So, Japan announced surrender on August 14-15, but this did not lead to the end of hostilities against the USSR. The Soviet army continued to advance in Manchuria. Again, it is obvious to Soviet and Russian citizens that hostilities continued because the Japanese army refused to surrender due to the fact that some did not receive the order to surrender, and some ignored it. The question is, of course, what would have happened if the Soviet army had stopped offensive operations after August 14-15. Would this have led to the surrender of the Japanese and saved about 10 thousand lives of Soviet soldiers?
As is known, there is still no peace treaty between Japan and the USSR, and subsequently Russia. The problem of the peace treaty is linked to the so-called “northern territories” or the disputed islands of the Lesser Kuril chain.
Let's begin. Below the cut is a Google Earth image of the territory of Hokkaido (Japan) and now the Russian territories to the north - Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and Kamchatka. The Kuril Islands are divided into the Large Ridge, which includes large and small islands from Shumshu in the north to Kunashir in the south, and the Small Ridge, which includes from Shikotan in the north to the islands of the Habomai group in the south (limited on the diagram by white lines).
From the blog To understand the problem of disputed territories, let’s plunge into the deep history of the development of the Far East by the Japanese and Russians. Before both of them, local Ainu and other nationalities lived there, whose opinion, according to the good old tradition, does not bother anyone due to their almost complete disappearance (Ainu) and/or Russification (Kamchadals). The Japanese were the first to come to these territories. First they came to Hokkaido, and by 1637 they had drawn up maps of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
From the blog Later, the Russians came to these places, drew up maps and dates, and in 1786 Catherine II declared the Kuril Islands her possessions. At the same time, Sakhalin remained a draw.
From the blog In 1855, namely on February 7, an agreement was signed between Japan and Russia, according to which Urup and the islands of the Greater Kuril ridge to the north went to Russia, and Iturup and the islands to the south, including all the islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge, went to Japan. Sakhalin, in modern terms, was a disputed possession. True, due to the small number of Japanese and Russian populations, the issue was not so serious at the state level, except that problems arose among traders.
From the blog In 1875, in St. Petersburg, the Sakhalin issue was resolved. Sakhalin passed completely to Russia, in return Japan received all the Kuril Islands.
From the blog In 1904, the Russian-Japanese War began in the Far East, in which Russia was defeated and as a result, in 1905 the southern part of Sakhalin passed to Japan. In 1925, the USSR recognized this state of affairs. Afterwards there were all sorts of minor skirmishes, but the status quo lasted until the end of the Second World War.
From the blog Finally, at the Yalta Conference on February 4-11, 1945, Stalin discussed the issue of the Far East with the allies. I repeat, he promised that the USSR would enter the war with Japan after the victory over Germany, which was just around the corner, but in return the USSR would return Sakhalin, as illegally conquered by Japan during the 1905 war, and would receive the Kuril Islands, albeit in an indefinite amount.
And here the most interesting thing begins in the context of the Kuril Islands.
On August 16-23, the Soviet Army battles and defeats the Japanese group in the Northern Kuril Islands (Shumshu). On August 27-28, without a fight, since the Japanese capitulated, the Soviet Army took Urup. On September 1, landings take place on Kunashir and Shikotan; the Japanese offer no resistance.
From the blog September 2, 1945 Japan signs surrender - World War II officially ends. And then our Crimean operation takes place to capture the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, located south of Shikotan, known as the Habomai Islands.
The war is over, and the Soviet land continues to grow with the original Japanese islands. Moreover, I never found when Tanfilyev Island (a completely deserted and flat piece of land off the very coast of Hokkaido) became ours. But what is certain is that in 1946 a border post was established there, which became famous for the bloody massacre carried out by two Russian border guards in 1994.
From the blog As a result, Japan does not recognize the seizure of its “northern territories” by the USSR and does not recognize that these territories passed to Russia, as the legal successor of the USSR. February 7 (according to the date of the treaty with Russia in 1855) celebrates the day of the Northern Territories, which, according to the treaty of 1855, includes all the islands south of Urup.
An attempt (unsuccessful) to solve this problem was made in 1951 in San Francisco. Japan, under this treaty, must renounce any claims to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, with the exception of Shikotan and the Habomai group. The USSR did not sign the treaty. The United States signed the treaty with the clause: “ It is provided that the terms of the Treaty will not mean recognition for the USSR of any rights or claims in the territories that belonged to Japan on December 7, 1941, which would harm Japan's rights and title to these territories, nor will any whatever the provisions in favor of the USSR in relation to Japan contained in the Yalta Agreement.»
Comments from the USSR regarding the treaty:
Comment by Gromyko (Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR) regarding the treaty: The Soviet delegation has already drawn the attention of the conference to the inadmissibility of such a situation when the draft peace treaty with Japan does not say anything about the fact that Japan must recognize the sovereignty of the Soviet Union over South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The project is in gross contradiction with the obligations regarding these territories assumed by the United States and England under the Yalta Agreement. http://www.hrono.ru/dokum/195_dok/19510908gromy.php
In 1956, the USSR promised Japan to return Shikotan and the Habomai group if Japan did not lay claim to Kunashir and Iturup. Whether the Japanese agreed with this or not, opinions differ. We say that yes - Shikotan and Habomai are yours, and Kunashir and Iturup are ours. The Japanese say that everything south of Urup is theirs.
UPD Text of the declaration: At the same time, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan with the fact that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion.
The Japanese then retreated back (perhaps under pressure from the Americans), linking together all the islands south of Urup.
I don’t want to predict how history will unfold next, but most likely Japan will use the ancient Chinese wisdom and wait until all the disputed islands sail to them. The only question is whether they will stop at the 1855 treaty or go further to the 1875 treaty.
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Shinzo Abe announced that he would annex the disputed islands of the South Kuril chain to Japan. “I will solve the problem of the northern territories and conclude a peace treaty. As a politician, as a prime minister, I want to achieve this at any cost,” he promised his compatriots.
According to Japanese tradition, Shinzo Abe will have to commit hara-kiri to himself if he does not keep his word. It is quite possible that Vladimir Putin will help the Japanese prime minister live to a ripe old age and die a natural death.
In my opinion, everything is heading towards the fact that the long-standing conflict will be resolved. The time for establishing decent relations with Japan has been chosen very well - for the empty, hard-to-reach lands, which their former owners now and then look nostalgically at, you can get a lot of material benefits from one of the most powerful economies in the world. And the lifting of sanctions as a condition for the transfer of the islands is far from the only and not the main concession that, I am sure, our Foreign Ministry is now seeking.
So the quite expected surge of quasi-patriotism of our liberals, directed at the Russian president, should be prevented.
I have already had to analyze in detail the history of the islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoy Ussuriysky on the Amur, the loss of which Moscow snobs cannot come to terms with. The post also discussed a dispute with Norway over maritime territories, which was also resolved.
I also touched on the secret negotiations between human rights activist Lev Ponomarev and a Japanese diplomat about the “northern territories,” filmed and posted online. Generally speaking, this one video it is enough for our concerned citizens to bashfully swallow the return of the islands to Japan if it takes place. But since concerned citizens will definitely not remain silent, we must understand the essence of the problem.
Background
February 7, 1855 - Shimoda Treaty on Trade and Borders. The now disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands were ceded to Japan (therefore, February 7 is annually celebrated in Japan as Northern Territories Day). The issue of the status of Sakhalin remained unresolved.
May 7, 1875 - Treaty of St. Petersburg. Japan was given the rights to all 18 Kuril Islands in exchange for all of Sakhalin.
August 23, 1905 - Treaty of Portsmouth following the results of the Russo-Japanese War. Russia ceded the southern part of Sakhalin.
February 11, 1945 - Yalta Conference. The USSR, USA and Great Britain reached a written agreement on the Soviet Union's entry into the war with Japan, subject to the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to it after the end of the war.
On February 2, 1946, on the basis of the Yalta Agreements, the South Sakhalin Region was created in the USSR - on the territory of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. On January 2, 1947, it was merged with the Sakhalin region of the Khabarovsk Territory, which expanded to the borders of the modern Sakhalin region.
Japan enters the Cold War
On September 8, 1951, the Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan was signed in San Francisco. Regarding the currently disputed territories, it says the following: “Japan renounces all rights, title and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the adjacent islands over which Japan acquired sovereignty under the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.”
The USSR sent a delegation to San Francisco headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A.A. Gromyko. But not in order to sign a document, but to voice my position. We formulated the mentioned clause of the agreement as follows: “Japan recognizes the full sovereignty of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics over the southern part of Sakhalin Island with all the adjacent islands and the Kuril Islands and renounces all rights, title and claims to these territories.”
Of course, in our version the agreement is specific and more in line with the spirit and letter of the Yalta agreements. However, the Anglo-American version was accepted. The USSR did not sign it, Japan did.
Today, some historians believe that the USSR should have signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in the form in which it was proposed by the Americans - this would have strengthened our negotiating position. “We should have signed the agreement. I don’t know why we didn’t do this - perhaps because of vanity or pride, but above all, because Stalin overestimated his capabilities and the degree of his influence on the United States,” N.S. wrote in his memoirs .Khrushchev. But soon, as we will see further, he himself made a mistake.
From today's perspective, the absence of a signature on the notorious treaty is sometimes considered almost a diplomatic failure. However, the international situation at that time was much more complex and was not limited to the Far East. Perhaps what seems like a loss to someone, in those conditions became a necessary measure.
Japan and sanctions
It is sometimes mistakenly believed that since we do not have a peace treaty with Japan, then we are in a state of war. However, this is not at all true.
On December 12, 1956, a ceremony for the exchange of documents took place in Tokyo, marking the entry into force of the Joint Declaration. According to the document, the USSR agreed to “the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.”
The parties came to this formulation after several rounds of long negotiations. Japan's initial proposal was simple: a return to Potsdam - that is, the transfer of all the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to it. Of course, such a proposal from the side that lost the war looked somewhat frivolous.
The USSR was not going to give up an inch, but unexpectedly for the Japanese, they suddenly offered Habomai and Shikotan. This was a fallback position, approved by the Politburo, but announced prematurely - the head of the Soviet delegation, Ya. A. Malik, was acutely worried about N. S. Khrushchev’s dissatisfaction with him due to the protracted negotiations. On August 9, 1956, during a conversation with his counterpart in the garden of the Japanese Embassy in London, the fallback position was announced. It was this that was included in the text of the Joint Declaration.
It is necessary to clarify that the influence of the United States on Japan at that time was enormous (as it is now). They carefully monitored all its contacts with the USSR and, undoubtedly, were a third party to the negotiations, albeit invisible.
At the end of August 1956, Washington threatened Tokyo that if, under a peace treaty with the USSR, Japan renounces its claims to Kunashir and Iturup, the United States would forever retain the occupied island of Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu archipelago. The note contained wording that clearly played on the national feelings of the Japanese: “The US government has come to the conclusion that the islands of Iturup and Kunashir (along with the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, which are part of Hokkaido) have always been part of Japan and should rightly be considered as belonging to Japan " That is, the Yalta agreements were publicly disavowed.
The ownership of the “northern territories” of Hokkaido, of course, is a lie - on all military and pre-war Japanese maps, the islands were always part of the Kuril ridge and were never designated separately. However, I liked the idea. It was on this geographical absurdity that entire generations of politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun made their careers.
The peace treaty has not yet been signed - in our relations we are guided by the Joint Declaration of 1956.
Price issue
I think that even in the first term of his presidency, Vladimir Putin decided to resolve all controversial territorial issues with his neighbors. Including with Japan. In any case, back in 2004, Sergei Lavrov formulated the position of the Russian leadership: “We have always fulfilled and will fulfill our obligations, especially ratified documents, but, of course, to the extent that our partners are ready to fulfill the same agreements . So far, as we know, we have not been able to come to an understanding of these volumes as we see it and as we saw in 1956.”
“Until Japan’s ownership of all four islands is clearly determined, a peace treaty will not be concluded,” reacted then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The negotiation process has again reached a dead end.
However, this year we again remembered the peace treaty with Japan.
In May, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to negotiate with Japan on the disputed islands, and the solution should be a compromise. That is, neither party should feel like a loser. “Are you ready to negotiate? Yes, we are ready. But we were surprised to hear recently that Japan has joined some kind of sanctions - what does Japan have to do with this, I don’t really understand - and is suspending the negotiation process on this topic. So, are we ready, is Japan ready, I still haven’t figured it out for myself,” said the Russian President.
It looks like the pain point has been found correctly. And the negotiation process (hopefully, this time in offices tightly closed from American ears) has been in full swing for at least six months. Otherwise, Shinzo Abe would not have made such promises.
If we fulfill the terms of the 1956 Joint Declaration and return the two islands to Japan, 2,100 people will have to be resettled. They all live on Shikotan; only the border post is located on Habomai. Most likely, the problem of our armed forces being on the islands is being discussed. However, for complete control over the region, the troops stationed on Sakhalin, Kunashir and Iturup are quite sufficient.
Another question is what kind of reciprocal concessions we expect from Japan. It is clear that sanctions must be lifted - this is not even discussed. Perhaps access to credit and technology, increased participation in joint projects? It's possible.
Be that as it may, Shinzo Abe faces a difficult choice. The conclusion of a long-awaited peace treaty with Russia, flavored with the “northern territories,” would certainly make him the politician of the century in his homeland. It will inevitably lead to tension in Japan's relations with the United States. I wonder what the Prime Minister will prefer.
But we will somehow survive the internal Russian tension that our liberals will fan.
From the blog The Habomai Island group is labeled "Other Islands" on this map. These are a few white spots between Shikotan and Hokkaido.
(The post was written more than two years ago, but the situation as of today has not changed, but conversations about the Kuril Islands have intensified again in recent days, - editor's note)
History of the Kuril Islands
The narrow strait separating Kunashir from Hokkaido is called the Strait of Izmena in Russian. The Japanese have their own opinion on this matter.
The Kuril Islands got their name from the people who inhabited them. “Kuru” in the language of these people meant “man,” the Cossacks called them “Kurils” or “Kurilians,” and they called themselves “Ainu,” which in meaning was not much different from “Kuru.” The culture of the Kurils, or Ainu, has been traced by archaeologists for at least 7,000 years. They lived not only on the Kuril Islands, which were called “Kuru-misi”, that is, “land of people”, but also on the island of Hokkaido (“Ainu-moshiri”), and in the southern part of Sakhalin. In their appearance, language and customs, they differed significantly from both the Japanese in the south and the Kamchadals in the north.
A non-Mongoloid type of face, thick hair, a thick beard, pronounced vegetation all over the body - ethnographers searched for the ancestral home of the Ainu in both the Caucasus and Australia. In accordance with one of the latest hypotheses, the Ainu, who have lived on their islands for centuries, represent a “splinter” of a special, ancient race.
The Cossacks called them “shaggy”, and this nickname was used even in official Russian papers. One of the first explorers of Kamchatka, Stepan Krasheninnikov, wrote about the Kurils: “They are incomparably more polite than other peoples: and at the same time they are constant, just-hearted, ambitious and meek. They speak quietly without interrupting each other’s speeches... Old people are held in great reverence...”
In the 17th - 19th centuries, the Japanese had a different name for the island of Hokkaido - Ezo. In the old days, the term “edzo” meant the “northern savages” who obey no one. Gradually, Ezo in Japan began to mean all the lands north of the island. Hondo (Honshu), including Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Russians called Hokkaido Matsmai, since in its southwestern part there was a city of the same name, built by the samurai Matsumae clan.
One of the first expeditions to the lands of Ezo was undertaken by the Japanese in 1635. Presumably, a certain Kinfiro, a translator from Ainu who served with the feudal lords of Matsumae, took part in it. Whether Kinfiro managed to get to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands or received information about them from the Ainu is not known for certain, however, based on the results of his journey in 1644, a map was drawn up on which, although conditionally, Karafuto (Sakhalin) and Tsisimi - “a thousand islands” were indicated " - that's what the Japanese called the Kuril Islands. Almost at the same time, in 1643, the Southern Kuriles region was explored by the Dutch expedition of Maarten Fries, who was searching for mythical countries rich in gold and silver. The Dutch not only compiled good maps, but also described the lands they discovered (the journal of senior navigator Cornelius Kuhn was preserved and published), among which it is easy to recognize Iturup, Kunashir, and other islands of the South Kuril Islands.
In Russia, the first information about the Kuril Islands appeared in the reports of Vladimir Atlasov, who made the famous campaign against Kamchatka in 1697. But the first descriptions of the islands were compiled not by him, but by the Cossack Ivan Kozyrevsky, who, by a sad irony of fate, participated in the murder of Atlasov. To beg for forgiveness, Kozyrevsky went to the Kuril Islands in 1711, but visited only the first two islands - Shumshu and Paramushir, where he questioned in detail the “shaggy” people who lived there. He supplemented his report with information received from the Japanese, who were brought to Kamchatka during a storm in 1710.
In 1719, Peter I sent two surveyors to Kamchatka - Ivan Evreinov and Fyodor Luzhin. Officially - to find out whether America has come together with Asia. However, the content of the secret instructions they had was obviously different, since the surveyors, contrary to expectation, directed their ship not to the north, but to the south - to the Kuril Islands and Japan. They managed to pass only half of the ridge: near the island of Simushir the ship lost its anchor and was thrown back to Kamchatka by the winds. In 1722, Evreinov personally presented Peter with a report on the expedition and a map of the islands examined.
In 1738-1739, Martyn Shpanberg, a member of the Bering expedition, walked south along the entire Kuril ridge and mapped the islands he encountered. Spanberg's ship rounded Matsmai and anchored off the coast of Hondo - here the first meeting in history between the Russians and the Japanese took place. She was quite friendly, although not without mutual wariness. Avoiding risky voyages to the Southern Kuril Islands, the Russians developed the islands closest to Kamchatka, subjugating the “furry ones” and demanding yasak (fur tax) from them in sea otter skins. Many did not want to pay yasak and went to distant islands. To keep the Kurils, the Cossacks took amanats (hostages) from among their children and relatives.
In 1766, at the direction of the Siberian governor, the toyon (leader) from the island of Paramushir, Nikita Chikin, and the centurion from Kamchatka, Ivan Cherny, were sent to the southern Kuril Islands. They had to “persuade the Kurils into citizenship, without showing, not only deeds, but also a sign of rude actions and bitterness, but greetings and affection.” Chikin himself was one of the “shaggy” ones and easily found a common language with his fellow tribesmen, but, unfortunately, he died suddenly on Simushir and Black stood at the head of the party. The centurion walked to the 19th island (Iturup), along the way, by force bringing the “shaggy” ones into citizenship. From them he learned that the Japanese had a fortress on the 20th (Kunashir). During the winter on the 18th island (Urupa), Cherny drank, poached and mocked both his companions - the Cossacks and the “shaggy ones”. On the way back, the centurion took with him the “descended” (runaway) Kurilians, and kept them tied up on the ship, which is why many died. Cherny’s “exploits” did not go unnoticed; he came under investigation, but died in Irkutsk from smallpox. Embittered by the actions of Cherny and other merchants, the “shaggy” rebelled in 1771 and killed many Russians on the islands of Chirpoy and Urup.
In 1778, the Siberian nobleman Antipin, familiar with the Japanese language, was sent to the Southern Kuril Islands. At Urup he was joined by the Irkutsk townsman and translator Shabalin. The instructions given by the head of Kamchatka, Matvey Bem, instructed to “establish peaceful relations with the Japanese and the furry ones,” and “under the death penalty, do not offend the wild ones, as happened in the Aleutian Islands...”. Antipin and Shabalin managed to win the sympathy and favor of the “shaggy” ones, and in 1778-1779 more than 1,500 Kurils from Iturup, Kunashir and Matsmay were brought into Russian citizenship. Contacts with the Japanese were unsuccessful. Strictly adhering to the state policy of self-isolation, Japanese officials conveyed to Antipin a ban not only from trading on Matsmai, but also from going to Iturup and Kunashir. The expedition of Antipin and Shabalin was not continued: in 1780, their ship, anchored off the island of Urup, was thrown ashore by a powerful tsunami at a distance of 400 meters from the shore! With great difficulties, the sailors managed to return to Kamchatka using kayaks...
In 1779, by her decree, Catherine II freed the Kuril residents who had accepted Russian citizenship from all taxes. The “Extensive Land Description of the Russian State...”, published in 1787 by order of the Empress, contains a list of the Kuril Islands, “of which 21 are now considered under Russian possession...”. The 21st island was Shikotan, and about the 22nd, Matsmai, it was said that the Japanese have a city on its southern side, but how far their possession extends in the northern side of Matsmai is unknown.
Meanwhile, the Russians had no real control over the islands located south of the 18th (Urupa). In the report of the navigator Lovtsov, who visited Matsmai in 1794, it was reported: “The Kurilians, who live on the 22nd, as well as on the 19th, 20th and 21st islands, are revered by the Japanese as their subjects and are used by them in grave ways.” work... And from this it is noticeable that all the Kuril residents are extremely dissatisfied with the Japanese... In May 1788, one Japanese merchant ship came to Matsmai. The Kuriles attacked the ship. All 75 Japanese were killed, and the goods were taken and divided. An official was sent from Matsmaya and executed 35 people...”
In 1799, by order of the central government of Japan, two principalities founded outposts on Kunashir and Iturup, and since 1804, the protection of these islands was carried out constantly.
An attempt to resume negotiations with the Japanese on trade was made in 1805, when the founder of the Russian-American Company (RAC), actual state councilor Nikolai Rezanov, arrived in Nagasaki - the only port in Japan where foreign ships were allowed to enter. However, his audience with the governor was a failure. The acts handed over by the Japanese side finally formulated the refusal of trade relations with Russia. As for the Russian ships, they were asked not to stop at anchor and rather depart from the Japanese shores. Offended by the refusal, Rezanov made it clear to Japanese officials that the Russian emperor had ways to teach him to treat him with respect. In his report to the king, he also reported that the Japanese nobles, suffering from the despotism of the spiritual ruler "dairi", hinted to him, Rezanov, that the Japanese should be "moved" from the north and remove some industry - this would supposedly give the Japanese government a reason to establish trade relations with Russia... Rezanov instructed Lieutenant Khvostov and Midshipman Davydov to carry out this “hint”, forming an expedition of two ships.
In 1806, Khvostov expelled the Japanese from Sakhalin, destroying all trading posts in Aniva Bay. In 1807, he burned down a Japanese village on Iturup, and distributed goods from the stores to the Kurils. On Matsmai, Khvostov captured and plundered 4 Japanese ships, after which he left the Matsmai governor a paper with the following content: “The Russians, having now caused such little harm to the Japanese empire, wanted to show them only through ... that further stubbornness of the Japanese government could completely deprive him of these lands "
Believing that Khvostov's pirate raids were sanctioned by the Russian government, the Japanese prepared to retaliate. That is why the completely peaceful appearance of Captain Vasily Golovnin in Kunashir in 1811 ended with his capture and imprisonment for more than 2 years. Only after official government papers were delivered to the Matsmai governor of Okhotsk, which stated that “Khvostov and Davydov were tried, found guilty, punished and are no longer alive,” Golovnin and his friends received freedom.
After the release of Golovnin, the Irkutsk governor forbade Russian ships and canoes to sail further than the 18th island (Urupa), on which a colony of the Russian-American Company had existed since 1795. In fact, by the middle of the 19th century, the strait between Urup and Iturup began to serve as a border between states, which was recorded in the treaty of 1855, signed by Admiral Putyatin in the Japanese city of Shimoda. In a secret instruction to Putyatin, endorsed by Nicholas I, it was written unambiguously: “Of the Kuril Islands, the southernmost, which belongs to Russia, is the island of Urup, to which we could limit ourselves...”.
The 1855 treaty left the status of Sakhalin uncertain, and in 1875 a new treaty was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which Japan renounced its rights to Sakhalin, receiving in return all the Kuril Islands up to Kamchatka itself. The Ainu from Sakhalin did not take Russian citizenship and moved to Hokkaido. The Ainu of the northern Kuril Islands decided to stay on their islands, especially since the RAC, to which they were in virtual slavery, ceased its activities in 1867. Having accepted Japanese citizenship, they retained Russian surnames and the Orthodox faith. In 1884, the Japanese government resettled all the Northern Kuril Ainu (there were no more than 100 of them) to Shikotan, forcibly transforming them from fishermen and hunters into farmers and cattle breeders. At that time, the population of the Southern Kuril Islands, concentrated mainly in Iturup and Kunashir, was about 3,000 people, of which 3/4 were Japanese.
After Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, an agreement was signed in Portsmouth in 1905, according to which the southern part of Sakhalin (below the 50th parallel) also ceded to Japan. In 1920, Japan also occupied the northern part of Sakhalin, where it began intensive oil development. Historian Dmitry Volkogonov discovered evidence that Lenin was ready to sell northern Sakhalin to the Japanese in 1923, and the Politburo was going to ask for $1 billion for it. However, the deal did not materialize, and in 1925 a joint declaration in Beijing reaffirmed the provisions of the Portsmouth Treaty.
At the Yalta Conference in 1945, Stalin said that he would like to discuss the political conditions under which the USSR would enter the war against Japan. Roosevelt noted that he believed that there would be no difficulty regarding the transfer to Russia of the southern half of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands at the end of the war.
On August 8, 1945, the USSR fulfilled its obligations and attacked Japan. In early September, Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands, including the occupied Shikotan Island and the Habomai ridge, which both geographically and according to the Japanese territorial division did not then belong to the Kuril Islands. In 1946-1947, all Japanese from Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, numbering about 400 thousand, were repatriated. All the Ainu were deported to Hokkaido. At the same time, more than 300 thousand Soviet settlers arrived on Sakhalin and the islands. The memory of the almost 150-year stay of the Japanese in the Southern Kuril Islands was intensively erased, sometimes using barbaric methods. On Kunashir, Buddhist monuments that stood along the entire coast were blown up, and many Japanese cemeteries were desecrated.
At the 1951 peace conference in San Francisco, the USSR delegation proposed to include in the text of the peace treaty with Japan a clause recognizing the sovereignty of the USSR over southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands, however, in the circumstances of the Cold War, the position of the United States and Great Britain was already different than in 1945 , and the USSR’s proposals were not accepted. The final text of the treaty included a provision on Japan’s renunciation of all rights and claims to the Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin, but it did not say, firstly, in whose favor Japan was renouncing these territories, and secondly, the concept of “Kuril Islands” was not deciphered islands,” which each side naturally understood in its own way. As a result, the USSR did not sign the treaty, but Japan did, which gave it the formal right to immediately raise the issue of returning the South Kuril Islands.
The refusal of the Soviet delegation in San Francisco to sign a peace treaty legally left Russia and Japan in a state of war. In 1956, a joint declaration was signed in Moscow between the USSR and Japan, which contained the consent of the Soviet Union to return Shikotan Island and the Habomai ridge to Japan immediately after the conclusion of a peace treaty. But in 1960, the USSR government unilaterally refused to implement the clause of the declaration on the return of the islands, citing "
" its rejection of the contents of the new Japan-US security treaty.
Since 1990, Japanese citizens have had the opportunity to visit the burial places of their relatives in the Southern Kuril Islands (the first such visits began back in 1964, but were subsequently discontinued). Many abandoned Japanese cemeteries were restored by Russian residents of the islands.
In 1993, a declaration on Russian-Japanese relations was signed in Tokyo, which sets out the need for an early conclusion of a peace treaty based on resolving the issue of ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands. In 1998, the Moscow Declaration on the establishment of a creative partnership between Russia and Japan was signed...
The strait separating Kunashir from Hokkaido is narrow. On Russian maps it is called the Strait of Treason - in memory of the captivity of Captain Golovnin. Many today believe that this name is unfortunate. But the time for renaming, apparently, has not yet come.
which opens only to those
who is truly interested in her...
Kurile Islands.
An archipelago of volcanic islands on the border of the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Ocean, between the island of Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula (Sakhalin region). It consists of the Greater and Lesser Kuril ridges, separated by the Kuril Straits. The islands form an arc long. OK. 1175 km. Total area 15.6 thousand km?. The largest islands of the Great Kuril Ridge: Paramushir, Onekotan, Simushir, Urup, Iturup, Kunashir. The Lesser Kuril Ridge consists of 6 islands and two groups of rocks; largest o. Shikotan.
Each island is a volcano or a chain of volcanoes, connected by foothills or separated by small isthmuses. The shores are mostly steep, sandy on the isthmuses, and there are few sheltered bays. The islands are mountainous, with heights of 500-1000 m, the Alaid volcano (Atlasova Island on the northern ridge) rises to 2339 m. On the islands approx. 160 volcanoes, including 40 active ones, many thermal springs, and there are strong earthquakes.
The climate is monsoon. Wed. August temperatures from 10 °C in the north to 17 °C in the south, February -7 °C. Precipitation is 600-1000 mm per year, and typhoons are frequent in autumn. There are many lakes, including in craters and lagoons. To the north on the islands there are thickets of alder and rowan, dwarf cedar and heath; on the islands cf. groups - sparse forests of stone birch with Kuril bamboo, to the south. Vakh Island - forests of Kuril larch, bamboo, oak, maple.
Notes on the Kuril Islands" by V. M. Golovnin, 1811
In 1811, the outstanding Russian navigator Vasily Mikhailovich Golovnin was commissioned to describe the Kuril and Shantar Islands and the shore of the Tatar Strait. During this task, he, along with other sailors, was captured by the Japanese, where he spent more than 2 years. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the first part of his note “Notes on the Kuril Islands,” which was compiled based on the results of research in the same 1811.
1. About their number and names
If all the islands located between Kamchatka and Japan are understood under the name of the Kuril Islands, then their number will be 26, namely:
1. Alaid
2. Noise
3. Paramushir
4. Flies
5. Makan-Rushi
6. Onekotan
7. Harimkotan*
8. Shnyashkotan**
9. Ekarma
10. Chirinkotan***
11. Musir
12. Raikoke
13. Matua
14. Rasshua
15. Middle Island
16. Ushisir
17. Ketoi
18. Simusir
19. Trebungo-Tchirpoy
20. Yangi-Tchirpoy
21. McIntor**** or Broughton Island
22. Urup
23. Iturup
24. Chikotan
25. Kunashir
26. Matsmai
Here is the real account of the Kuril Islands. But the Kurilians themselves and the Russians who visit them count only 22 islands, which they call: the first, the second, etc., and sometimes by proper names, which are:
Shumshu first island
Paramushir second
The third fly
Makan-Rushi fourth
Onekotan fifth
Harimkotan sixth
Shnyashkotan seventh
Ekarma eighth
Chirinkotan ninth
Musir tenth
Raikoke eleventh
Matua twelfth
Rashua the thirteenth
Ushisir fourteenth
Chum salmon fifteenth
Simusir sixteenth
Tchirpoy seventeenth
Urup eighteenth
Iturup nineteenth
Chikotan twentieth
Kunashir twenty-first
Matsmai twenty-second
The reason for this difference in the number of islands is the following: neither the Kurils nor the Russians living in that region consider Alaid to be the Kuril Island, although in all respects it belongs to this ridge. The islands of Trebungo-Tchirpoy and Yangi-Tchirpoy are separated by a very narrow strait and located not far from them to the NW, the almost bare, small island of Makintor, or Broughton Island, they mean by the general name of the seventeenth island and, finally, the island of Sredny, almost connected to Ushisir by a ridge of surface and pitfalls, they do not consider it a special island. So, with the exception of these four islands, there remain 22 islands, as usual, in the Kuril ridge.
It is also known that in different descriptions and on different maps of the Kuril Islands some of them are called differently: this discrepancy arose from error and ignorance. Here it would not be amiss to mention under what names some of the Kuril Islands are known on the best foreign maps and in the description of Captain Krusenstern.
Musir Island, otherwise called Steller Sea Stones by its residents, is called Stone Traps by Captain Kruzenshtern.
He calls Raikoke Musir, Matua - Raikoke, Rasshua - Matua, Ushisir - Rasshua, Ketoy - Ushisir, Simusir - Ketoy, and on foreign maps they write it Marikan.
The French, after La Perouse, call Tchirpa the Four Brothers.
Foreigners write Urup as Company Land, and the Russian American Company calls it Alexander Island.
Iturup on foreign maps is called the Land of States. Chikotan, or Spanberg Island. Matsmai, or Esso Land.
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The Alaid island mentioned in the text is Atlasov Island, which received its modern name in 1954 - the Alaid volcano island. It is an almost regular volcanic cone, the diameter of the base of which is 8-10 km. Its peak lies at 2339 m (according to historical data, before the strong eruptions of 1778 and 1821, the height of the volcano was much higher), which means that Alaid is the highest volcano in the Kuril ridge.
Please note that the 26th island of the Kuril chain is named Matsmai Island - this is Hokkaido. Hokkaido became part of Japan only in 1869. Until this time, the Japanese lived only on the southern tip of the island, where there was a small Japanese principality. The rest of the territory was inhabited by the Ainu, who even outwardly differed sharply from the Japanese: white-faced, with strong hair, for which the Russians called them “shaggy Kurilians.” It is known from documents that at least in 1778-1779 the Russians collected yasak from the inhabitants of the northern coast of Hokkaido.
The largest of the Kuril Islands in the direction from north to south: Shumshu - 467 square kilometers,
Paramushir - 2479 square kilometers,
Onekotan, or Omukotan, - 521 square kilometers,
Kharimkotan - 122 square kilometers,
Shiyashkotan - 179 square kilometers,
Simusir - 414 square kilometers,
Urup - 1511 square kilometers, Iturup, the largest of the Kuril Islands - 6725 square kilometers.
Kunashir Island - 1548 square kilometers
and Chikotan or Scotan - 391 square kilometers.
Island Shikotan- this place is the end of the world. Just 10 km from the village of Malokurilskoye, behind a small pass, lies its main attraction - Cape World's End. ... Russian navigators Rikord and Golovnin called him Fr. Chikotan.
Small islands are located from north to south: Alaid - 92 square kilometers (Atlasov Island), Shirinki, Makanrushi or Makansu - 65 square kilometers, Avos, Chirinkotan, Ekarma - 33 square kilometers, Musir, Raikoke, Malua or Matua - 65 square kilometers . Islands: Rasshua - 64 square kilometers, Ketoi - 61 square kilometers, Brotona, Chirpoi, Brother Chirpoev, or Brother Hirnoy, (18 square kilometers). Between the islands from the Sea of Okhotsk to the east to the Pacific Ocean there are straits: the Kuril Strait, the Small Kuril Strait, the Strait of Hope, the Strait of Diana, the Bussoli Strait, the De Vries Strait and the Pico Strait.
The entire series of Kuril Islands is of volcanic origin. There are a total of 52 volcanoes, including 17 active ones. There are many hot and sulfur springs on the islands;
earthquakes .
The Ainu, the peoples who inhabited the Kuril Islands, christened each island individually. These are the words of the Ainu language: Paramushir - a wide island, Onekotan - an old settlement, Ushishir - the land of bays, Chiripoy - birds, Urup - salmon, Iturup - large salmon, Kunashir - a black island, Shikotan - the best place. Since the 18th century, the Russians and Japanese have tried to rename the islands in their own way. Most often, serial numbers were used - the first island, the second, etc.; only the Russians counted from the north, and the Japanese from the south.
The Kuril Islands are administratively part of the Sakhalin region. They are divided into three regions: North Kuril, Kuril and South Kuril. The centers of these areas have corresponding names: Severo-Kurilsk, Kurilsk and Yuzhno-Kurilsk. And there is another village - Malo-Kurilsk (the center of the Lesser Kuril Ridge). Total four Kurilsk.
Kunashir Island.
A MOMENTARY SIGN TO THE RUSSIAN PIONEERS WAS ESTABLISHED IN KUNASHIR |
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A memorial sign in honor of the 230th anniversary of the landing of Russian Cossack pioneers under the leadership of Dmitry Shabalin was opened on September 3 in the village. Golovnino (South Kuril region, Kunashir). It is installed near the village cultural center.The famous Sakhalin historian-archaeologist Igor Samarin discovered documents and the so-called “Mercator map” of the Kuril Islands, compiled based on the results of the voyage of 1775-1778. near Kunashir. There is an inscription on it: “... Where were the Rassey people in two canoes in 778.” The "D" icon is shown at the current location of the village. Golovnino - next to the Strait of Izmena (southern part of the island). Sushi question. For both Japan and Russia, the “Kuril issue” has become a matter of principle over the past decades. For both Russian and Japanese politicians, the slightest concessions threaten, if not the collapse of their careers, then serious electoral losses. Statement Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the intention to resolve the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands and sign a peace treaty with Russia once again attracted the attention of the general public to the so-called “problem of the South Kuril Islands” or “northern territories”. Shinzo Abe's loud statement, however, does not contain the main thing - an original solution that could suit both sides. Land of the Ainu The dispute over the Southern Kuril Islands has its roots in the 17th century, when there were neither Russians nor Japanese on the Kuril Islands. The indigenous population of the islands can be considered the Ainu - a people whose origins scientists still argue about. The Ainu, who once inhabited not only the Kuril Islands, but also all the Japanese islands, as well as the lower reaches of the Amur, Sakhalin and the south of Kamchatka, have today turned into a small nation. In Japan, according to official data, there are about 25 thousand Ainu, and in Russia there are just over a hundred of them left. The first mentions of the islands in Japanese sources date back to 1635, in Russian sources - to 1644. In 1711, a detachment of Kamchatka Cossacks led by Danila Antsiferova And Ivan Kozyrevsky first landed on the northernmost island of Shumshu, defeating a detachment of local Ainu here. The Japanese also showed more and more activity in the Kuril Islands, but no demarcation line and no agreements existed between the countries. Kuril Islands - to you, Sakhalin - to us In 1855, the Shimoda Treaty on trade and borders between Russia and Japan was signed. This document for the first time defined the border of the possessions of the two countries in the Kuril Islands - it passed between the islands of Iturup and Urup. Thus, the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands came under the rule of the Japanese emperor, that is, the very territories around which there is a dispute today. It was the day of the conclusion of the Shimoda Treaty, February 7, that was declared in Japan as the so-called “Northern Territories Day”. Relations between the two countries were quite good, but they were spoiled by the “Sakhalin issue”. The fact is that the Japanese claimed the southern part of this island. In 1875, a new treaty was signed in St. Petersburg, according to which Japan renounced all claims to Sakhalin in exchange for the Kuril Islands - both Southern and Northern. Perhaps, it was after the conclusion of the 1875 treaty that relations between the two countries developed most harmoniously. Exorbitant appetites of the Land of the Rising Sun Harmony in international affairs, however, is a fragile thing. Japan, emerging from centuries of self-isolation, was rapidly developing, and at the same time its ambitions were growing. The Land of the Rising Sun has territorial claims against almost all its neighbors, including Russia. This resulted in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, which ended in a humiliating defeat for Russia. And although Russian diplomacy managed to mitigate the consequences of military failure, nevertheless, in accordance with the Portsmouth Treaty, Russia lost control not only over the Kuril Islands, but also over South Sakhalin. This state of affairs did not suit not only Tsarist Russia, but also the Soviet Union. However, it was impossible to change the situation in the mid-1920s, which resulted in the signing of the Beijing Treaty between the USSR and Japan in 1925, according to which the Soviet Union recognized the current state of affairs, but refused to acknowledge “political responsibility” for the Portsmouth Treaty. In subsequent years, relations between the Soviet Union and Japan teetered on the brink of war. Japan's appetite grew and began to spread to the continental territories of the USSR. True, the defeats of the Japanese at Lake Khasan in 1938 and at Khalkhin Gol in 1939 forced official Tokyo to slow down somewhat. However, the “Japanese threat” hung like a sword of Damocles over the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. Revenge for old grievances By 1945, the tone of Japanese politicians towards the USSR had changed. There was no talk of new territorial acquisitions - the Japanese side would have been quite satisfied with maintaining the existing order of things. But the USSR gave an undertaking to Great Britain and the United States that it would enter the war with Japan no later than three months after the end of the war in Europe. The Soviet leadership had no reason to feel sorry for Japan - Tokyo behaved too aggressively and defiantly towards the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s. And the grievances of the beginning of the century were not forgotten at all. On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. It was a real blitzkrieg - the million-strong Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria was completely defeated in a matter of days. On August 18, Soviet troops launched the Kuril landing operation, the goal of which was to capture the Kuril Islands. Fierce battles broke out for the island of Shumshu - this was the only battle of the fleeting war in which the losses of Soviet troops were higher than those of the enemy. However, on August 23, the commander of Japanese troops in the Northern Kuril Islands Lieutenant General Fusaki Tsutsumi capitulated. The fall of Shumshu became the key event of the Kuril operation - subsequently the occupation of the islands on which the Japanese garrisons were located turned into acceptance of their surrender. They took the Kuril Islands, they could have taken Hokkaido August 22 Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East Marshal Andrei Vasilevsky, without waiting for the fall of Shumshu, gives the order to troops to occupy the Southern Kuril Islands. The Soviet command is acting according to plan - the war continues, the enemy has not completely capitulated, which means we should move on. The initial military plans of the USSR were much broader - Soviet units were ready to land on the island of Hokkaido, which was to become a Soviet zone of occupation. One can only guess how the further history of Japan would have developed in this case. But in the end, Vasilevsky received an order from Moscow to cancel the landing operation in Hokkaido. Bad weather somewhat delayed the actions of Soviet troops in the Southern Kuril Islands, but by September 1, Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan came under their control. The Habomai island group was completely taken under control on September 2-4, 1945, that is, after the surrender of Japan. There were no battles during this period - Japanese soldiers resignedly surrendered. So, at the end of World War II, Japan was completely occupied by the Allied powers, and the main territories of the country came under US control. Kurile Islands. Photo: Shutterstock.com January 29, 1946 Memorandum No. 677 of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Powers General Douglas MacArthur The Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands), the Habomai group of islands (Habomadze) and the island of Sikotan were excluded from the territory of Japan. On February 2, 1946, in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was formed in these territories as part of the Khabarovsk Territory of the RSFSR, which on January 2, 1947 became part of the newly formed Sakhalin Region as part of the RSFSR. Thus, de facto, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands passed to Russia. Why didn't the USSR sign a peace treaty with Japan? However, these territorial changes were not formalized by a treaty between the two countries. But the political situation in the world has changed, and yesterday’s ally of the USSR, the United States, turned into Japan’s closest friend and ally, and therefore was not interested in either resolving Soviet-Japanese relations or resolving the territorial issue between the two countries. In 1951, a peace treaty was concluded in San Francisco between Japan and the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, which the USSR did not sign. The reason for this was the US revision of previous agreements with the USSR, reached in the Yalta Agreement of 1945 - now official Washington believed that the Soviet Union had no rights not only to the Kuril Islands, but also to South Sakhalin. In any case, this is exactly the resolution that was adopted by the US Senate during the discussion of the treaty. However, in the final version of the San Francisco Treaty, Japan renounces its rights to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. But there’s a catch here too - official Tokyo, both then and now, states that it does not consider Habomai, Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan to be part of the Kuril Islands. That is, the Japanese are sure that they really renounced South Sakhalin, but they never renounced the “northern territories”. The Soviet Union refused to sign a peace treaty not only because its territorial disputes with Japan were unresolved, but also because it did not in any way resolve similar disputes between Japan and the then USSR ally, China. Compromise ruined Washington Only five years later, in 1956, the Soviet-Japanese declaration on ending the state of war was signed, which was supposed to be the prologue to the conclusion of a peace treaty. A compromise solution was also announced - the islands of Habomai and Shikotan would be returned to Japan in exchange for unconditional recognition of the sovereignty of the USSR over all other disputed territories. But this could happen only after the conclusion of a peace treaty. In fact, Japan was quite happy with these conditions, but then a “third force” intervened. The United States was not at all happy about the prospect of establishing relations between the USSR and Japan. The territorial problem acted as an excellent wedge driven between Moscow and Tokyo, and Washington considered its resolution extremely undesirable. It was announced to the Japanese authorities that if a compromise was reached with the USSR on the “Kuril problem” on the terms of the division of the islands, the United States would leave the island of Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu archipelago under its sovereignty. The threat was truly terrible for the Japanese - we were talking about a territory with more than a million people, which has the greatest historical significance for Japan. As a result, a possible compromise on the issue of the Southern Kuril Islands melted away like smoke, and with it the prospect of concluding a full-fledged peace treaty. By the way, control over Okinawa finally passed to Japan only in 1972. Moreover, 18 percent of the island’s territory is still occupied by American military bases. Complete dead end In fact, there has been no progress in the territorial dispute since 1956. During the Soviet period, without reaching a compromise, the USSR came to the tactic of completely denying any dispute in principle. In the post-Soviet period, Japan began to hope that generous with gifts Russian President Boris Yeltsin will give up the “northern territories”. Moreover, such a decision was considered fair by very prominent figures in Russia - for example, Nobel laureate Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Perhaps at this moment the Japanese side made a mistake, instead of compromise options like the one discussed in 1956, they began to insist on the transfer of all the disputed islands. But in Russia the pendulum has already swung in the other direction, and those who consider the transfer of even one island impossible are much louder today. For both Japan and Russia, the “Kuril issue” has become a matter of principle over the past decades. For both Russian and Japanese politicians, the slightest concessions threaten, if not the collapse of their careers, then serious electoral losses. Therefore, the declared desire Shinzo Abe solving the problem is undoubtedly commendable, but completely unrealistic. The dispute over the southernmost Kuril Islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai - has been a point of tension between Japan and Russia since they were captured by the Soviet Union in 1945. More than 70 years later, Russian-Japanese relations are still not normal due to the ongoing territorial dispute. To a large extent, it was historical factors that prevented the solution of this issue. These include demographics, mentality, institutions, geography and economics—all of which encourage tough policies rather than compromise. The first four factors contribute to the continuation of the impasse, while the economy in the form of oil policy is associated with some hope of resolution. Russia's claims to the Kuril Islands date back to the 17th century, resulting from periodic contacts with Japan through Hokkaido. In 1821, a de facto border was established, according to which Iturup became Japanese territory, and Russian land began with the island of Urup. Subsequently, according to the Treaty of Shimoda (1855) and the Treaty of St. Petersburg (1875), all four islands were recognized as Japanese territory. The last time the Kuril Islands changed their owner was as a result of World War II - in 1945 in Yalta, the Allies essentially agreed to transfer these islands to Russia. The dispute over the islands became part of Cold War politics during the negotiations for the San Francisco Peace Treaty, Article 2c of which forced Japan to renounce all its claims to the Kuril Islands. However, the Soviet Union's refusal to sign this agreement left these islands in a state of uncertainty. In 1956, a joint Soviet-Japanese declaration was signed, which de facto meant the end of the state of war, but could not resolve the territorial conflict. After the ratification of the US-Japan Security Treaty in 1960, further negotiations ceased, and this continued until the 1990s. However, after the end of the Cold War in 1991, a new opportunity to resolve this issue seemed to arise. Despite the turbulent events in world affairs, the positions of Japan and Russia on the Kuril Islands issue have not undergone much change since 1956, and the reason for this situation was five historical factors outside the Cold War. The first factor is demographic. Japan's population is already declining due to low birth rates and aging, while Russia's population has been declining since 1992 due to excess alcohol consumption and other social ills. This shift, coupled with the weakening of international influence, has led to the emergence of backward-looking trends, and both nations are now largely trying to resolve the issue by looking back rather than forward. Given these attitudes, it can be concluded that the aging populations of Japan and Russia are making it impossible for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin to negotiate due to their deeply entrenched views on the Kuril Islands issue. ContextIs Russia ready to return the two islands?Sankei Shimbun 10/12/2016Military construction in the Kuril IslandsThe Guardian 06/11/2015Is it possible to agree on the Kuril Islands?BBC Russian Service 05/21/2015All this also plays into the mentality and perceptions of the outside world, which are shaped by how history is taught and, more broadly, by how it is presented by the media and public opinion. For Russia, the collapse of the Soviet Union was a severe psychological blow, accompanied by a loss of status and power, as many former Soviet republics seceded. This significantly changed Russia's borders and created significant uncertainty about the future of the Russian nation. It is well known that in times of crisis, citizens often exhibit stronger feelings of patriotism and defensive nationalism. The Kuril Islands dispute fills a void in Russia and also provides an opportunity to speak out against perceived historical injustices committed by Japan. The perception of Japan in Russia was largely shaped by the issue of the Kuril Islands, and this continued until the end of the Cold War. Anti-Japanese propaganda became common after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, and it was intensified by Japanese intervention during the Russian Civil War (1918–1922). This led many Russians to believe that as a result, all previously concluded treaties were annulled. However, Russia's victory over Japan in World War II ended the previous humiliation and strengthened the symbolic significance of the Kuril Islands, which came to represent (1) the irreversibility of the results of World War II and (2) Russia's status as a great power. From this point of view, the transfer of territory is seen as a revision of the outcome of the war. Therefore, control of the Kuril Islands remains of great psychological importance for the Russians. Japan is trying to define its place in the world as a “normal” state, located next to an increasingly powerful China. The issue of the return of the Kuril Islands is directly related to the national identity of Japan, and these territories themselves are perceived as the last symbol of defeat in World War II. The Russian offensive and seizure of Japan's "inalienable territory" contributed to the victim mentality that became the dominant narrative after the end of the war. This attitude is reinforced by Japan's conservative media, which often supports the government's foreign policies. In addition, nationalists often use the media to viciously attack academics and politicians who hint at the possibility of compromise on the issue, leaving little room for maneuver. This, in turn, influences the political institutions of both Japan and Russia. In the 1990s, President Boris Yeltsin's position was so weak that he feared possible impeachment if the Kuril Islands were transferred to Japan. At the same time, the central Russian government was weakened as a result of the growing influence of regional politicians, including two governors of the Sakhalin region - Valentin Fedorov (1990 - 1993) and Igor Fakhrutdinov (1995 - 2003), who actively opposed the possible sale of the Kuril Islands to Japan. They relied on nationalist feelings, and this was enough to prevent the completion of the treaty and its implementation in the 1990s. Since President Putin came to power, Moscow has brought regional governments under its influence, but other institutional factors have also contributed to the stalemate. One example is the idea that a situation must mature before some issue or problem can be resolved. During the initial period of his rule, President Putin had the opportunity, but did not have the desire, to negotiate with Japan over the Kuril Islands. Instead, he decided to spend his time and energy trying to resolve the Sino-Russian border conflict through the issue of the Kuril Islands. Since returning to the presidency in 2013, Putin has become increasingly dependent on the support of nationalist forces, and it is unlikely that he will be willing to cede the Kuril Islands in any meaningful sense. Recent events in Crimea and Ukraine clearly demonstrate how far Putin is willing to go to protect Russia's national status. Japanese political institutions, although they differ from Russian ones, also support a tough course of action in negotiations regarding the Kuril Islands. As a result of reforms carried out after the end of World War II, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) occupies a dominant position in Japan. With the exception of the period from 1993 to 1995 and from 2009 to 2012, the LDP has had and continues to have a majority in the national legislative assembly, and in fact its party platform on the return of the four southern islands of the Kuril chain has been an integral part of national policy since 1956. Moreover, as a result of the 1990-1991 real estate crash, the Liberal Democratic Party has produced only two effective prime ministers, Koizumi Junichiro and Shinzo Abe, both of whom rely on nationalist support to maintain their positions. Finally, regional politics plays an important role in Japan, and elected politicians on the island of Hokkaido are pushing the central government to take an assertive stance in the dispute. Taken together, all these factors are not conducive to reaching a compromise that would include the return of all four islands. Sakhalin and Hokkaido emphasize the importance of geography and regional interests in this dispute. Geography influences how people see the world and how they observe policy formation and implementation. Russia's most important interests are in Europe, followed by the Middle East and Central Asia, and only after that Japan. Here is one example: Russia devotes a significant part of its time and effort to the issue of NATO expansion to the east, into the eastern part of Europe, as well as the negative consequences associated with the events in Crimea and Ukraine. As for Japan, for it the alliance with the United States, China and the Korean Peninsula have a higher priority than relations with Moscow. The Japanese government must also heed public pressure to resolve issues with North Korea over kidnapping and nuclear weapons, which Abe has promised to do several times. As a result, the issue of the Kuril Islands is often relegated to the background. Probably the only factor contributing to a possible resolution of the Kuril Islands issue is economic interests. After 1991, both Japan and Russia entered a period of prolonged economic crisis. The Russian economy hit its lowest point during its currency crisis in 1997, and is currently facing serious difficulties due to the collapse of oil prices and economic sanctions. However, the development of oil and gas fields in Siberia, during which Japanese capital and Russian natural resources are combined, contributes to cooperation and the possible resolution of the issue of the Kuril Islands. Despite the sanctions imposed, 8% of Japan's oil consumption in 2014 was imported from Russia, and the increase in oil and natural gas consumption is largely due to the consequences of the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Taken together, historical factors largely determine the continued stagnation in resolving the issue of the Kuril Islands. Demographics, geography, political institutions, and the attitudes of Japanese and Russian citizens all contribute to a tough negotiating position. Oil policy provides some incentives for both nations to resolve disputes and normalize relations. However, this has not yet been enough to break the deadlock. Despite the possible change of leaders around the world, the main factors that have driven this dispute to an impasse will most likely remain unchanged. Michael Bacalu is a member of the Council on Asian Affairs. He received a master's degree in international relations from Seoul University, South Korea, and a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Arcadia University. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author as an individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization with which he has an association. InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff. |