Sakhalin

Sakhalin is a large elongated island in the North Pacific, lying between 45° 50' and 54° 24' N, in the Russian Far East. It is a part of the Russian Federation. The capital of Sakhalin is Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

History

Sakhalin was inhabited in the Neolithic Stone Age. Flint implements, like those found in Siberia, have been found at Dui and Kusunai in great numbers, as well as polished stone hatchets, like European examples, primitive pottery with decorations like those of the Olonets, and stone weights for nets. Afterwards a population to whom bronze was known left traces in earthen walls and kitchen-middens on the Aniva Bay.

Related Topics:
Neolithic - Stone Age - Flint - Siberia - Dui - Kusunai - Olonets - Bronze - Aniva Bay

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The indigenous people of Sakhalin are the Xianbei and Xiazhe tribes, who had a way of life based on fishing. The Chinese in the Ming dynasty knew the island as Kuyi ({{zh-cp|c=??|p=K?yí}}), and later as Kuye ({{zh-cp|c=??|p=Kùyè}}). According to the Book of Shengmu ({{zh-cp|c=???|p=Shèngw?jì}}), the Ming sent 400 troops to Sakhalin in 1616, but later withdrew as it was considered there was no threat to Chinese control of the island. A Ming boundary stone still exists on the island.

Related Topics:
Indigenous people - Xianbei - Xiazhe - Ming dynasty - 1616

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Qing Empire also claimed sovereignty over the island and Sakhalin was under formal Chinese rule from the Jin Dynasty onwards. However, as the Chinese governments did not have a military presence on the island, people from both Japan and Russia attempted to colonise the island. The Japanese settlement of Ootomari was established in 1679. The 1686 Nerchinsk Treaty reaffirmed Sakhalin as Chinese territory. Nevertheless Russia started occupying the island, with an army made up of convicts, from the 18th century onwards.

Related Topics:
Qing Empire - Jin Dynasty - Colonise - 1679 - Manchu Empire - 19th century - 1686 - Nerchinsk Treaty - 18th century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sakhalin became known to Europeans from the travels of Ivan Moskvitin and Martin Gerritz de Vries in the 17th century, and still better from those of Jean-François de La Pérouse (1787) and Ivan Krusenstern (1805). Both, however, regarded it as a peninsula, and were unaware of the existence of the Mamiya Strait or Strait of Tartary, which was discovered in 1809 by Mamiya Rinzo.

Related Topics:
Ivan Moskvitin - Martin Gerritz de Vries - Jean-François de La Pérouse - 1787 - Ivan Krusenstern - 1805 - Mamiya Strait - Strait of Tartary - 1809 - Mamiya Rinzo

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Japan unilaterally proclaimed sovereignty over the whole island in 1845. However, the Russian navigator Gennady Nevelskoy in 1849 definitively recorded the existence and navigability of this strait and — in defiance of Qing claim — Russian settlers established coal mines, administration facilities, schools, prisons, churches on the island. The Xiazhes were killed or forced to move to the Asian mainland.

Related Topics:
1845 - Gennady Nevelskoy - 1849 - Settler

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimoda, which declared that both nationals could inhabit the island: Russians in the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clear boundary between. Russia also agreed to dismantle its military base at Ootomari. Following the Opium War, Russia forced the Qing to sign the unequal Treaty of Aigun and Convention of Peking, under which China lost all territories north of Heilongjiang (Amur) and east of Ussuri, including Sakhalin, to Russia. A Czarist penal colony was established in 1857, but the southern part of the island was held by the Japanese until the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, when they ceded it to Russia in exchange for the Kuril islands. After the Russo-Japanese war, Russia and Japan signed the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905, which resulted in the southern part of the island below 50° N reverting to Japan; the Russians retained the other three-fifths of the area.

Related Topics:
1855 - Treaty of Shimoda - Opium War - Treaty of Aigun - Convention of Peking - Heilongjiang - Amur - Ussuri - Czar - Penal colony - 1857 - 1875 - Treaty of Saint Petersburg - Kuril - Russo-Japanese war - Treaty of Portsmouth - 1905

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In August 1945, the Soviet Union took over the control of Sakhalin. The Soviet attack on South Sakhalin started on August 11 1945. The 56th Sniper Corps consisting of the 79th Sniper Division, the 2nd Sniper Brigade, the 5th Sniper Brigade and the 214 Armored Brigade attacked the Japanese 88th Division.

Related Topics:
1945 - Soviet Union - August 11

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although the Red Army greatly outnumbered the Japanese three times, they couldn't advance due to strong Japanese resistance. It was not until the 113th Sniper Brigade and the 365th Independent Marine Sniper Battalion from Sovietskaya Gavan(????????? ??????) landed on T?r? (??), a seashore village of western Sakhalin on August 16 that the Soviets broke the Japanese defense line.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Japanese resistance grew weaker after this landing. Actual fightings continued until August 21 and these fightings were petty. From August 22 to August 23, most of the remaining Japanese units announced truce.

Related Topics:
August 22 - August 23

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Soviets completed the conquest of Sakhalin on August 25 1945 by occupying the capital of Sakhalin, ??(Yuzhno Sakhalinsk).

Related Topics:
August 25 - 1945

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since January 2, 1947, the Sakhalin Region, in its present form, was officially defined and integrated as a part of the Russian Federation.

Related Topics:
January 2 - 1947 - Russian Federation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

No final peace treaty has been signed, and the status of the neighbouring Kuril Islands remain disputed. Japan renounced its claims of sovereignty over southern Sakhalin in the Treaty of San Francisco (1952), but did not approve Russian sovereignty over it. From Japan's official position, Sakhalin's attribution is not determined yet.

Related Topics:
Kuril Islands - Treaty of San Francisco - 1952

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Korean Air flight 007, a South Korean civilian airliner, flew over Sakhalin and was shot down, just west of the island, by the Soviet Union on 1 September 1983, killing all 269 passengers and crew.

Related Topics:
Korean Air - 007 - South Korean - Civilian - Airliner - 1 September - 1983

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On May 28 1995, an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale occurred, killing 2,000 people of the town of Neftegorsk.

Related Topics:
May 28 - 1995 - Earthquake - Richter scale - Town - Neftegorsk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~