The date people celebrate the end of a war differs among nations. The official date though is the date when the peace treaty is signed. For Russia and Japan, this has yet to happen for World War II as none of them has signed the peace treaty.
The reason behind this is… the Kuril islands.
In August 1945, the Soviet troops occupied the Kuril Islands, in the north of Japan, which are currently part of Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast region. These islands were given to Japan in 1875 but, at the Yalta Conference, the US and Russia distributed world territories and decided that these islands were to be part of the Soviet Union. And then the whole thing got complicated: (the article continues after the ad)
In 1951, Japan formally renounced to these islands in the peace treaty of San Francisco, but Russia did not signed it so, 5 years later Japan changed its mind and now these islands are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the Northern Territories. There have been many attempts to sign a treaty between Russia and Japan to end the legal battle for these islands, so far without success. Although the Soviet Union has disappeared, neither Yeltsin nor Putin have changed their minds and the Kuril dispute is likely to go on for a long time.
If you like what you read, then you will definitely love this one: This Was Churchill’s Plan To Start WWIII Right After WWII
Source: www.deliveringdata.com
Photo: w0lfrick1945 / YouTube
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