1939 May
Battle of Nomonhan
Japan suffers a major defeat by the Russians on the Manchurian frontier
Second World War · permanent subject timeline
Battle of Nomonhan
The Soviet-Japanese border war fought before the European conflict expanded. This page combines historical context with 10 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database World War II battle archive.
Historical context
Battle of Nomonhan: overview and significance
What happened?
Soviet and Mongolian forces under Georgi Zhukov fought Japanese forces on the Manchurian-Mongolian frontier in 1939. Soviet combined-arms operations culminated in an encirclement that defeated the Japanese force.
Why was it important?
The defeat influenced Japanese strategic thinking and helped discourage a major northern war against the Soviet Union. Japan increasingly concentrated on expansion to the south and across the Pacific.
World History Database records
Battle of Nomonhan timeline
The records below are selected from the 797-record World War II battles archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1939
1939 20th August
Battle of Nomonhan
Attacks the Japanese in what began as a series of border skirmishes in May
1939 31st August
Battle of Nomonhan
Observes the 1st major tank Battle in history between Russia & Japan. Japan & Russia fight an undeclared war on the plains of Outer Mongolia. Fails to restrain the Japanese from persuing the Russians into Mongol territory
1939 31st August
Battle of Nomonhan
Defeat convinces the Japanese they cannot fight against the Russians
1939 31st August
Battle of Nomonhan
The Japanese are prevented from making any further incursions into Russian territory. In 1 day the Japanese suffer 50,000 casulties, their worst ever defeat. Defeat by Russia convinces the Japanese that they cannot fight against the Russians
1939 31st August
Battle of Nomonhan
The Russians destroy the IJA forces, 45,000 Japanese soldiers are killed
1939 31st August
Battle of Nomonhan
Destroys the IJA forces in & around Nomonhan, 45000 Japanese soldiers were killed
1939 15th September
Battle of Nomonhan
Japan suffers a major defeat by the Russians on the Manchurian frontier. A ceasefire forces Ueda to call off his counter-attack against the Russians
1939 September
Battle of Nomonhan
Driven back to Nomonhan by Zhukov. Border dispute with Russia located between Manchuria & Outer Mongolia
1939 September
Battle of Nomonhan
Victory over Japan at Nomonhan means that Russia does not have to fight a 2 front war. After Nomonhan transfers 1700 tanks, 3 cavalry Divs, 15 rifle Divisions & 1500 aircraft
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database Second World War records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
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