Kantokuen

Large-scale mobilization by the Japanese Army to prepare for war against the Soviet Union. Abbreviation for the Kwantung Army Special Maneuvers. When the German-Soviet War began in June 1941, the idea of ​​invading the Soviet Union rapidly gained momentum within the Japanese Army, and at the Imperial Conference on July 2, it was decided to prepare for war against the Soviet Union in secret, and to start war against the Soviet Union if the situation in the German-Soviet War progressed in Japan's favor (Outline of Imperial National Policy in Accordance with Changes in the Situation). For this reason, the first mobilization order was issued on July 7, and large-scale transportation of mobilized troops to Manchuria and Korea was carried out from late July to September. This mobilization and concentration was the largest since the establishment of the Japanese Army, and the Kwantung Army's military strength increased to about 700,000 personnel, about 140,000 horses, and about 600 airplanes, and a large amount of military supplies was accumulated in Manchuria and Korea. However, contrary to Japan's expectations, the Soviet forces were able to withstand the German onslaught, and the transfer of Soviet Far Eastern troops to the west was only on a relatively small scale, so on August 9, the Army Department of the Imperial General Headquarters decided to abandon plans for an invasion of the Soviet Union within the year. Although the Kanto Exercise was called an "exercise" to conceal its intentions, it was actually a preparatory action for an operation that assumed the use of force against the Soviet Union, and thus violated the Japan-Soviet Neutrality Pact.

[Yoshida Yutaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本軍による対ソ戦準備のための大動員。関東軍特種演習の略称。1941年（昭和16）6月、独ソ戦が開始されると、日本陸軍内には対ソ侵攻論が急速に台頭し、7月2日の御前会議では、秘密裏に対ソ戦準備を整え、独ソ戦の戦況が日本にとって有利に進展した場合には、対ソ戦を開始することが決定された（情勢の推移に伴ふ帝国国策要綱）。このため、7月7日には最初の動員令が下令され、7月下旬から9月にかけて動員部隊の満州、朝鮮への大輸送が行われた。この動員、集中は陸軍建軍以来最大の規模のものであり、関東軍の兵力は人員約70万、馬匹約14万、飛行機約600機にまで増強され、満州、朝鮮には多数の軍需資材が集積された。しかし、日本の期待に反してソ連軍はドイツ軍の猛攻に耐え、極東ソ連軍の西方への移送も比較的小規模のものにとどまったため、8月9日、大本営陸軍部は年内における対ソ侵攻作戦を断念する方針を決定したのである。関特演は、企図秘匿上の考慮から「演習」という呼称を用いてはいるものの、実際には対ソ武力発動を前提とした作戦準備行動であり、日ソ中立条約を侵犯するものであった。

［吉田　裕］

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