The extreme northeast of China, hanging over the Korean Peninsula and bordering in the north with Russia, and in the southwest with Mongolia, has long been inhabited by local Tungus-Manchu peoples, in addition to the Chinese. The largest of them are the Manchus up to the present time. The ten million people of the Manchus speak the languages of the Tungus-Manchu group of the Altai language family, that is, they are related to the aborigines of Russian Siberia and the Far East - the Evenks, Nanai, Udege and some other peoples. It was this ethnic group that managed to play a colossal role in Chinese history. In the 17th century, the Qing state arose here, originally called the Late Jin and created as a result of the unification of the Jurchen (Manchu) and Mongol tribes living in Manchuria. In 1644, the Manchus managed to defeat the decrepit Chinese Ming empire and take Beijing. This is how the Qing empire was formed, which for almost three centuries subordinated China to the rule of the Manchu dynasty.
For a long time, the Manchu ethnocracy in China prevented the penetration of the Chinese into the territory of their historical homeland, Manchuria, in an effort to preserve the ethnic isolation and identity of the latter. However, after Russia annexed part of the lands called Outer Manchuria (now Primorsky Territory, Amur Region, Jewish Autonomous Region), the Qing emperors, from having no other options to save Inner Manchuria from the gradual absorption by the Russian Empire, began to populate the region with the Chinese. … As a result, the population in Manchuria has increased dramatically. Nevertheless, by the end of the 19th century, it became obvious that the region was of interest to two neighboring states, significantly superior in economic and military potential to the weakened and archaic Qing empire - for the Russian Empire and for Japan. In 1896, the construction of the Sino-Eastern Railway began, in 1898 Russia leased the Liaodong Peninsula from China, and in 1900, in the course of opposing the uprising of the "Boxers", Russian troops occupied part of the territory of Manchuria. The refusal of the Russian Empire to withdraw its troops from Manchuria became one of the key reasons for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The defeat of Russia in this war led to the de facto establishment of Japanese control over Manchuria.
Creation of Manchukuo and Emperor Pu Yi
Japan, trying to prevent the return of Manchuria to the orbit of Russian influence, in every possible way prevented the reunification of Manchuria with China. This opposition began especially actively after the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in China. In 1932, Japan decides to legitimize its presence in Manchuria by creating a puppet state entity that would formally be an independent state, but in fact would completely follow in the wake of Japanese foreign policy. This state, created on the territory occupied by the Japanese Kwantung Army, received the name Damanchou-digo - the Great Manchurian Empire, also abbreviated as Manchukuo or the State of Manchuria. The capital of the state was located in the city of Xinjing (modern Changchun).
At the head of the state, the Japanese put Pu Yi (Manchu name - Aisin Gero) - the last Chinese emperor of the Qing dynasty, ousted from power in China back in 1912 - after the Xinhai Revolution, and in 1924 finally deprived of the imperial title and all regalia.
Pu Yi in 1932-1934. was called the supreme ruler of Manchukuo, and in 1934 he became the emperor of the Great Manchu Empire. Despite the fact that 22 years elapsed between the overthrow of Pu Yi in China and his accession to Manchuria, the emperor was a young man. After all, he was born in 1906 and ascended the throne of China at the age of two. So by the time Manchukuo was created, he was not even thirty years old. Pu Yi was a rather weak ruler, since his formation as a person took place after the abdication of the throne, in an atmosphere of constant fear for his existence in revolutionary China.
The League of Nations refused to recognize Manchukuo, thereby calling into question the real political sovereignty of this state and facilitating Japan's withdrawal from this international organization. However, many countries of the world recognized the "second Manchu empire". Of course, Manchukuo was recognized by Japan's European allies - Germany, Italy, Spain, as well as a number of other states - Bulgaria, Romania, Finland, Croatia, Slovakia, Denmark, Vichy France, Vatican, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Thailand. The Soviet Union also recognized the independence of Manchukuo and established diplomatic relations with this state.
However, it was clear to everyone that behind the back of Emperor Pu Yi was the real ruler of Manchuria - the commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army. The Emperor of Manchukuo himself admitted this in his memoirs: “Muto Nobuyoshi, a former colonel-general, served as deputy chief of staff, chief inspector for military training and military adviser. In World War I, he commanded the Japanese army that occupied Siberia. This time, he came to the Northeast, combining three positions: Commander of the Kwantung Army (earlier this position was occupied by Lieutenant Generals), Governor General of the Kwantung Leased Territory (prior to the events of September 18, Japan established the Governor General of the colonies on the Liaodong Peninsula) and ambassador to Manchukuo. Soon after arriving in the Northeast, he received the rank of marshal. It was he who became the real ruler of this territory, the true emperor of Manchukuo. Japanese newspapers called him "the guardian spirit of Manchukuo." In my opinion, this sixty-five-year-old gray-haired man really possessed the majesty and power of a deity. When he bowed respectfully, it seemed to me that I was receiving the blessing of Heaven itself”(Pu I. The Last Emperor. Ch. 6. Fourteen Years of Manchukuo).
Indeed, without support from Japan, Manchukuo would hardly have been able to exist - the times of Manchu domination had long ended and by the time of the events described, ethnic Manchus did not make up the majority of the population even on the territory of their historical homeland, Manchuria. Accordingly, it would be very difficult for them without Japanese support to resist the much outnumbered Chinese troops.
The Japanese Kwantung Army, a powerful grouping of Japanese troops stationed in Manchuria, remained the forceful guarantor of the existence of Manchukuo. Created in 1931, the Kwantung Army was considered one of the most efficient formations of the Imperial Japanese Army and by 1938 had increased the number of personnel to 200 thousand people. It was the officers of the Kwantung Army who carried out the formation and training of the armed forces of the Manchu state. The emergence of the latter was due to the fact that Japan sought to demonstrate to the whole world that Manchukuo is not an occupied part of China or a Japanese colony, but a sovereign state with all the signs of political independence - both symbolic, such as a flag, coat of arms and anthem, and managerial, such as the emperor and the Privy Council, and power - their own armed forces.
Manchu Imperial Army
The history of the armed forces of Manchukuo began with the famous Mukden incident. September 18, 1931there was an explosion of the railway track of the South Manchurian Railway, the responsibility for the protection of which was borne by the Japanese Kwantung Army. It was established that this undermining as a provocation was carried out by the Japanese officers themselves, but became the reason for the Kwantung Army's offensive against the Chinese positions. The weak and poorly trained Northeastern Army of China, commanded by General Zhang Xueliang, was quickly demoralized. Some of the units retreated inland, but most of the soldiers and officers, numbering about 60 thousand people, came under the control of the Japanese. It was on the basis of the remnants of the Northeastern Army that the formation of the Manchu armed forces began after the creation of the state of Manchukuo in 1932. Moreover, many units of the Chinese army were still commanded by the old Manchu generals, who had begun their service in the Qing empire and were hatching revanchist plans to restore the former might of the Manchu state.
The immediate process of creating the Manchu imperial army was led by Japanese officers from the Kwantung Army. Already in 1933, the number of the armed forces of Manchukuo amounted to more than 110 thousand servicemen. They were divided into seven military groups stationed in seven provinces of Manchukuo, cavalry units, and the imperial guard. Representatives of all nationalities living in Manchuria were recruited into the armed forces, but individual units, primarily the Pu Yi Imperial Guard, were recruited exclusively by ethnic Manchus.
It should be noted that the Manchu army did not differ in high fighting qualities from the very beginning. There are several reasons for this. First, since the surrendered units of the Chinese Northeast Army became the basis of the Manchu army, it inherited all the negative features of the latter, including low combat effectiveness, indiscipline, and poor training. Secondly, many ethnic Chinese served in the Manchu army, disloyal to the Manchu authorities, and especially the Japanese, and seeking to desert at the slightest opportunity, or even go over to the side of the enemy. Third, the real "scourge" of the Manchu armed forces was the smoking of opium, which turned many soldiers and officers into complete drug addicts. The poor fighting qualities of the Manchu army were aggravated by the lack of normally trained officers, which led the imperial government and Japanese advisers to the need to reform the training of the officer corps. In 1934, it was decided to recruit the officers of the Manchu imperial army exclusively at the expense of graduates of the Manchu military educational institutions. To train officers, in 1938, two Manchu military academies were opened in Mukden and Xinjin.
Another serious problem of the Manchu army for a long time was the lack of unified uniforms. For the most part, soldiers and officers used old Chinese uniforms, which deprived them of differences from the uniform of the enemy and led to serious confusion. It was only in 1934 that a decision was made to introduce uniforms based on the uniform of the Imperial Japanese Army. On May 12, 1937, the standard of uniforms for the Manchu imperial army was approved according to the Japanese model. It imitated the Japanese army in many ways: both in the presence of a leather inclined belt and a breast pocket, and in shoulder straps, and in a headdress, and in a cockade with a pentagram, the rays of which were painted in the colors of the national flag of Manchukuo (black, white, yellow, blue-green, red). The colors of the combat arms also copied the Japanese: red meant infantry units, green - cavalry, yellow - artillery, brown - engineering, blue - transport and black - police.
The following military ranks were established in the Manchu Imperial Army: Army General, Colonel General, Lieutenant General, Major General, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, Senior Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Junior Lieutenant, Warrant Officer, Senior Sergeant, Sergeant, Junior Sergeant, Acting Junior Sergeant, Private Upper Class, Private First Class, Private Second Class.
In 1932, the army of Manchukuo consisted of 111,044 servicemen and included the army of Fengtian province (number - 20,541 servicemen, composition - 7 mixed and 2 cavalry brigades); the Xin'an Army (4,374 troops); the army of Heilongjiang province (strength - 25,162 servicemen, composition - 5 mixed and 3 cavalry brigades); army of Jilin province (number - 34,287 troops, composition - 7 infantry and 2 cavalry brigades). Also, the Manchu army included several separate cavalry brigades and auxiliary units.
In 1934, the structure of the Manchu army was reformed. It consisted of five district armies, each of which included two or three zones with two or three mixed brigades in each. In addition to the zones, the army could include operational forces, represented by one or three cavalry brigades. The strength of the armed forces by this time numbered 72,329 servicemen. By 1944, the number of the Manchu imperial army was already 200 thousand people, and the composition included several infantry and cavalry divisions, including 10 infantry, 21 mixed and 6 cavalry brigades. Subdivisions of the Manchu army took part in the suppression of the actions of the Korean and Chinese partisans jointly with the Japanese troops.
In 1941, Soviet intelligence, closely monitoring the state of the Japanese troops and the armed forces of their allies, reported the following composition of the armed forces of Manchukuo: 21 mixed brigade, 6 infantry brigades, 5 cavalry brigades, 4 separate brigades, 1 guards brigade, 2 cavalry divisions, 1 "calm division", 9 separate cavalry regiments, 2 separate infantry regiments, 9 training detachments, 5 anti-aircraft artillery regiments, 3 air detachments. The number of military personnel was estimated at 105,710, light machine guns - 2039, heavy machine guns - 755, bombers and mortars - 232, 75-mm mountain and field guns - 142, anti-aircraft guns - 176, anti-tank guns - 56, aircraft - 50 (Reconnaissance report No. 4 (along the East). M.: RU GSh RKKA, 1941. S. 34).
An interesting page in the history of Manchukuo was the participation of Russian White émigrés and their children, of whom a great many migrated to the territory of Manchuria after the defeat of the Whites in the Civil War, in the military and political activities of the Manchu state. In 1942, all Russian men up to 35 years old were involved in compulsory military training, and in 1944 the age of those involved in general military training was raised to 45 years. Every Sunday Russian émigrés were taught drill and firepower training, and a short-term field camp was set up in the summer months. At the initiative of the Harbin military mission in 1943, Russian military units were created with Russian officers at the head. The first infantry squad was stationed at Handaohedzi station, and the second cavalry squadron was stationed at Songhua 2nd station. Russian youths and men were trained in a detachment under the command of Colonel of the Imperial Japanese Army Asano, who was later replaced by a Russian emigrant officer Smirnov.
All servicemen of the cavalry detachment at the Songhua 2nd station were included in the Armed Forces of Manchukuo, officer ranks were assigned by the Manchu military command. In total, 4-4,% of a thousand Russian emigrants managed to serve in the detachment on Sungari 2. At the Handaohedzy station, where the detachment was commanded by Colonel Popov, 2,000 servicemen were trained. Note that the Russians were considered the fifth nationality of Manchukuo and, accordingly, had to carry the entirety of military service as citizens of this state.
The imperial guard of Manchu-kuo, staffed exclusively by ethnic Manchus and stationed in Xinjing, near the imperial palace of the head of state Pu Yi, remained a special elite unit of the Manchu army. The Japanese imperial guard became the model for the creation of the imperial guard of Manchukuo. The Manchus recruited into the Guard were trained separately from other military personnel. The armament of the guard consisted of firearms and edged weapons. The guards wore gray and black uniforms, caps and helmets with a five-pointed star on the cockade. The number of the guard was only 200 troops. In addition to the imperial guard, over time, the guard was given the function of modern special forces. It was carried out by the so-called. A special guard engaged in counter-partisan operations and the suppression of popular uprisings on the territory of the Manchu state proper.
The Manchu imperial army was distinguished by weak weapons. At the beginning of its history, it was armed with almost 100% captured Chinese weapons, primarily rifles and pistols. By the mid-1930s, the reorganization of the arsenal of the Manchu Armed Forces began. First of all, large shipments of firearms arrived from Japan - first 50,000 cavalry rifles, then lots of machine guns. As a result, at the beginning of World War II, the Manchu army was armed with: Type-3 machine gun, Type-11 light machine gun, Type-10 mortar and Type-38 and Type-39 rifles. The officer corps was also armed with Browning and Colt pistols, and the NCOs were armed with Mauser. As for heavy weapons, the artillery of the Manchu army consisted of Japanese artillery guns - mountain 75-mm Type-41, field Type-38, as well as captured Chinese artillery pieces. Artillery was the weak side of the Manchu army, and in the event of serious clashes the latter would have to rely solely on the help of the Kwantung people. As for the armored vehicles, they were practically absent for a long time. Only in 1943, the Kwantung Army handed over 10 Type 94 tankettes to the Manchus, as a result of which a tank company of the Manchu imperial army was formed.
Manchu sea and air fleet
As for the navy, in this area Manchukuo also did not differ in serious power. Back in 1932, the Japanese leadership, given that Manchukuo had an outlet to the sea, took care of the problem of creating the Manchu imperial fleet. In February 1932, five military boats were received from the Chinese admiral Yin Zu-Qiang, which formed the backbone of the River Guard Fleet patrolling the Songhua River. On April 15, 1932, the Law on the Armed Forces of Manchukuo was adopted. In accordance with it, the imperial fleet of Manchukuo was formed. As a flagship, the Japanese handed over the destroyer Hai Wei to the Manchus. In 1933, a consignment of Japanese military boats was delivered to protect the Sungari, Amur and Ussuri rivers. The officers were trained at the Imperial Navy Military Academy in Japan. In November 1939, the Manchukuo River Guard Fleet was officially renamed the Imperial Manchukuo Fleet. Its command staff consisted partly of Japanese officers, since the Manchus did not have enough naval officers, and it was not always possible to train them at an accelerated pace. The Manchu imperial fleet did not play a serious role in the hostilities and was completely destroyed during the Soviet-Japanese war.
The imperial fleet of Manchukuo was structured into the following components: Coastal Defense Forces as part of the destroyer Hai Wei and 4 patrol battalions of combat boats, River Defense Forces as part of 1 patrol battalion of patrol boats,The Imperial Marine Corps, consisting of two detachments of 500 troops each, armed with machine guns and small arms. The Marines were recruited from the Manchus and the Japanese and were used as security guards at naval bases and ports.
The creation of the Imperial Air Force of Manchukuo was also associated with the initiative of the Japanese military command. Back in 1931, the national airline Manchukuo was created, which was supposed to be used in case of war as a military organization. Later, 30 people were enrolled in the Imperial Air Force, who were trained in Harbin. Three aviation units were formed. The first is in Changchun, the second is in Fengtian, and the third is in Harbin. The aviation units were armed with Japanese aircraft. In 1940, the Air Defense Directorate of the Imperial Air Force was created.
In the period from 1932 to 1940. the Manchukuo Air Force was manned exclusively by Japanese pilots. In 1940, training began on piloting military aircraft for ethnic Manchus. The Manchukuo flight school trained both military and civilian pilots. The school had twenty training Japanese aircraft on its books. The Imperial Court used for its own purposes a transport aircraft link of three aircraft. An unpleasant story for the Japanese and Manchu command was associated with the Manchukuo Air Force flight school, when in January 1941 about 100 pilots revolted and went over to the side of the Chinese partisans, thereby avenging the Japanese killing their commander and instructor.
The Soviet-Japanese war of the Manchukuo Air Force was met as part of the command of the 2nd Air Army of the Japanese Air Force. The total number of flights of Manchu pilots did not exceed 120. The headache of the Manchu aviation was the insufficient number of aircraft, especially those adequate to modern conditions. In many ways, this was the reason for the rapid fiasco of the Manchu Air Force. Although they also had heroic pages related to the borrowing of aerial kamikaze tactics from the Japanese. So, a kamikaze was attacked by an American bomber. Kamikaze tactics were also used against Soviet tanks.
The end of the "Manchu empire"
The state of Manchukuo fell under the blows of the Soviet army, which defeated the Japanese Kwantung Army, like other puppet states created by the "Axis countries." As a result of the Manchurian operation, 84 thousand Japanese soldiers and officers were killed, 15 thousand died from wounds and diseases, 600 thousand people were taken prisoner. These figures are many times greater than the losses of the Soviet Army, estimated at 12 thousand servicemen. Both Japan and its satellites in the territory of present-day China - Manchukuo and Mengjiang (a state on the territory of modern Inner Mongolia) were dealt a crushing defeat. The personnel of the Manchu armed forces partly died, partly surrendered. Japanese settlers living in Manchuria were interned.
As for Emperor Pu Yi, both the Soviet and Chinese authorities are humane enough with him. On August 16, 1945, the emperor was captured by Soviet troops and sent to a prisoner of war camp in the Khabarovsk region. In 1949, he asked Stalin not to hand him over to the revolutionary Chinese authorities, fearing that the Chinese communists would sentence him to death. However, he was deported to China in 1950 and spent nine years in a re-education camp in Liaoning Province. In 1959, Mao Zedong allowed the "re-educated emperor" to be released and even settled in Beijing. Pu Yi got a job at a botanical garden, then worked in the state library, in every possible way trying to emphasize his loyalty to the new authorities of revolutionary China. In 1964, Pu Yi even became a member of the PRC's political advisory council. He died in 1967, at the age of sixty-one, from liver cancer. He left behind the famous book of memoirs "The Last Emperor", in which he writes about that period of fourteen years, during which he occupied the imperial throne in the puppet state of Manchukuo.
