Why didn't Japan attack the Soviet Union in 1941?

Question

Why didn't Japan support Germany's attack on the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa? I know that Japan had signed a non-aggression pact, but Hitler didn't really care. So why didn't Japan attack the USSR as well?

hoermirzu · Answer

The Russians were also totally uninteresting for the Americans!

thearistocrat · Answer

... because of the bad eco and CO2 balance sheet and climate change in terms of global warming ☝️

imperator91 · Answer

Because Japan had no interest in it. After all, they had their hands full in China.

docpsychopath · Answer

Japan was only a little ahead in the war against China, and had now also developed with GB and the USA. That was more than enough.

What are the reasons for in another war for nothing but ice and trees? As crazy as Hitler was nobody else on Earth.

zetra · Answer

Because Japan had a five-year contract with the Soviet Union, not to attack.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese-Soviet_Neutralit%C3%A4tspakt

Only when Richard Sorge reported this out of Japan, Stalin moved away from the 50 divisions there standing troops, soldiers and set them in front of Moscow and Stalingrad.

Japan had to do full with its caring army in China, Korea, down to Singapore.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwantung-Armee

mitscher45 · Answer

In short, because Japan had completed a non-attacking pact with the Soviet Union

Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact – Wikipedia

Longer:

There were two competing currents in Japan related to the question in which direction the empire should be extended.

only to the south

Nanshin-ron – Wikipedia

or to the north

Hokushin – Wikipedia

The first was the plan of the Navy, the latter of the plan of a faction within the army.

The group, which supported this plan, had the most power at the beginning of the 30s (thus the invasion of Manchuria) but became increasingly weaker in the further course.

Imperial Way Faction – Wikipedia

Also due to the coup attempt in 1936

February 26 incident – Wikipedia

Finally, plans for expansion to Siberia were buried due to a number of defeats suffered by the Japanese army against the Red Army.

Soviet–Japanese border conflicts – Wikipedia

Thus, the marine was able to penetrate with the south-facing expansion. To do this, one needed the back and closed a non-attacking pact, which one also kept.

udavu · Answer

Why didn't Japan attack the Soviet Union in 1941?

Could Japan have attacked the USSR in 1942?

After the Japanese invasion of the US fleet in Pearl Harbor in 1941, Hitler declared America war. Conversely, Tokyo remained neutral to the Soviet Union. They had learned from defeats.

Focus on the Pacific: Japan was heavily focused on the war in the Pacific, in particular on expansion in Southeast Asia and securing raw materials. An attack on the Soviet Union would have overstretched its resources and military capacities.

Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact: Japan and the Soviet Union had signed a neutrality pact in 1941, allowing both countries to concentrate on their respective war effort without threatening each other.

Military challenges: The Japanese army was aware of the strong Soviet defense, especially after the Soviet experience in the fight against the Japanese in the battle of Khalchin Gol in 1939, where the Soviets were victorious.

Strategic considerations: Japan had the goal of ensuring control over resources in China and in Southeast Asia, which was considered to be a priority. A war against the Soviet Union would have brought significant military and logistical challenges.

Internal and external political factors: The political and military leaders of Japan were in agreement with the strategy, and some saw the Soviet Union as potential allies against Western powers.

Could Japan have attacked the USSR in 1942?