Battle of Khalkhin Gol: The Japanese-Soviet Border War of 1939
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, known to the Japanese during the period as the Nomonhan Incident, is one of the most important conflicts of World War II that is often completely ignored or only a minor footnote in most concise or comprehensive popular history and academic studies of World War II. This border conflict fought on the edges between China and Mongolia developed into a major conflict during the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, dating back to previous border clashes during and after the Russian Civil War in the early 20's. The conflict quickly escalated in the spring of 1939 into a "small" conflict with a contained front that became a major theater of war by the time the Red Army claimed victory in September 1939-just as World War II had begun with the invasion of Poland. Japanese Officers observing the Nomonhan Front, 1939 Critical to the later events of World War II itself, Khalkhin Gol was one of the most decisive and important conflicts fought during the last months...