Changkufeng Hill War 1938

The poorly defined boundary where Manchukuo, Korea and Siberia meet resulted in a brief and undeclared war between Japan and the USSR over the disputed Changkufeng Hill, near Lake Khasan on the Siberian-Manchurian border. Soviet troops had occupied the hill and fortified the area. It remains unclear whether the Japanese government had given prior approval to the use of force to resolve this border dispute or the miltitary, once again, took the initiative.

Beginning on July 11, 1938, Japanese forces attacked Soviet positions. While initial assaults were driven back by Red Army reinforcements, on July 31st the Japanese managed to capture the tactically important hills near Lake Khasan. Soviet forces attempted to retake the position on August 2nd and 3rd but the operation was not a success; Japanese troops had managed to consolidate their defenses and bring in reinforcements. The Red Army brought more units to the area of the battle. On August 6th, Soviet forces went on the offensive again and, in the course of three days of fighting, ousted the Japanese from the hill. Japanese counterattacks were repulsed.

At this point the potential for escalation was great. However, on August 10th the Japanese government proposed to the Soviet government that the fighting should cease and a settlement of their dispute be negotiated. On August 11, 1938, Soviet and Japanese troops ceased combat operations. The Changkufeng Hill remained under Soviet control.

Notes

[1] The Correlates of War battles deaths provided here seem to be based on the Japanese claim reported by Clodfelter. However, Clodfelter also provides the Soviet claim of only 236 battle deaths without an estimate of Japanese killed in action. Krivosheev reports 717 Soviet battle deaths.

References

Brownstone and Franck, 427; Clodfelter, 668-9; COW133; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1142-3; Krivosheev, 47-8.

Region

East Asia

Belligerents

Japan, USSR

Dispute

Territory

Initiation Date

July 29, 1938

Termination Date

August 11, 1938

Duration

2 weeks
(14 days)

Outcome

Unresolved Truce
(Soviet victory)

Fatalities

Total: 1,726
Japan: 526
USSR: 1,200^[1]

Magnitude

3.2

Armed Conflict Events Data