‘Nomonhan’ highlights decisive WWII battle
“Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II,” by Stuart D. Goldman, Naval Institute Press, 2012, 288 pages, $31.95.
Possibly the most decisive battle of World War II started before the German invasion of Poland and ended 16 days after the Third Reich entered that nation. Despite this significance, few have even heard of the battle.
The battle, called Nomonhan by Imperial Japan and Khalkhin Gol by the Soviet Union, is the subject of the book “Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II,” by Stuart D. Goldman.
The battle is little known because it was fought in one of the world’s most isolated spots — semiarid grassland on the Chinese-Mongolian border.
This disputed territory belonged to neither major combatant, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union. It was claimed by two client states — Mongolia (backed by the Soviet Union) and Manchukuo (a Japanese puppet state).
When the Japanese sent an infantry division in May 1939 to clear Mongolian cavalry from the debatable land, the Red Army responded. By August, an Army group had been committed. A successful offensive cleared the Japanese from this land.
These battles and the events that preceded the border clash with their impact on the larger world stage are crisply described by Goldman. The topic absorbed Goldman since his college days in the 1960s, and “Nomonhan, 1939” is the fruit of that interest. It benefited from his years of study, as he was able to examine both Japanese and Soviet records from the period.
This allowed Goldman to place the battle in its proper historical perspective. In “Nomonhan, 1939,” Goldman shows that this Asian conflict was the major reason Stalin, unwilling to risk a two-front war, signed the 1939 nonaggression pact with Hitler. This Soviet cooperation started World War II by allowing Hitler’s invasion of Poland, something he would have avoided.
Soviet victory at Nomonhan focused Japan’s military interest south toward European Asian possessions rather than north toward Siberia. It ensured Japanese neutrality when Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, allowing the Soviets to use their Siberian armies against Germany in front of Moscow. Japan’s southern strategy also drew the United States into World War II, ensuring an ultimate Allied victory.
Additionally, the Nomonhan campaign was Georgy Zhukov’s first victory. He first tested the tactics he would successfully use against the Nazis on the Mongolian steppes.
“Nomonhan, 1939” is a book that highlights a critical, yet misunderstood, campaign that had decisive results. Any student of World War II should read Goldman’s book.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
Possibly the most decisive battle of World War II started before the German invasion of Poland and ended 16 days after the Third Reich entered that nation. Despite this significance, few have even heard of the battle.
The battle, called Nomonhan by Imperial Japan and Khalkhin Gol by the Soviet Union, is the subject of the book “Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army’s Victory That Shaped World War II,” by Stuart D. Goldman.
The battle is little known because it was fought in one of the world’s most isolated spots — semiarid grassland on the Chinese-Mongolian border.
This disputed territory belonged to neither major combatant, Imperial Japan or the Soviet Union. It was claimed by two client states — Mongolia (backed by the Soviet Union) and Manchukuo (a Japanese puppet state).
When the Japanese sent an infantry division in May 1939 to clear Mongolian cavalry from the debatable land, the Red Army responded. By August, an Army group had been committed. A successful offensive cleared the Japanese from this land.
These battles and the events that preceded the border clash with their impact on the larger world stage are crisply described by Goldman. The topic absorbed Goldman since his college days in the 1960s, and “Nomonhan, 1939” is the fruit of that interest. It benefited from his years of study, as he was able to examine both Japanese and Soviet records from the period.
This allowed Goldman to place the battle in its proper historical perspective. In “Nomonhan, 1939,” Goldman shows that this Asian conflict was the major reason Stalin, unwilling to risk a two-front war, signed the 1939 nonaggression pact with Hitler. This Soviet cooperation started World War II by allowing Hitler’s invasion of Poland, something he would have avoided.
Soviet victory at Nomonhan focused Japan’s military interest south toward European Asian possessions rather than north toward Siberia. It ensured Japanese neutrality when Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, allowing the Soviets to use their Siberian armies against Germany in front of Moscow. Japan’s southern strategy also drew the United States into World War II, ensuring an ultimate Allied victory.
Additionally, the Nomonhan campaign was Georgy Zhukov’s first victory. He first tested the tactics he would successfully use against the Nazis on the Mongolian steppes.
“Nomonhan, 1939” is a book that highlights a critical, yet misunderstood, campaign that had decisive results. Any student of World War II should read Goldman’s book.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, amateur historian and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.
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