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East, Malaya, Netherlands India, British East India, Afghanistan, Australia, New Zealand,
Hawaii, the Philippines and the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans."

The borders of so-called "Greater East Asia" were similarly delineated in the plans and
projects of the Institute of Total War, an institution set up by special command of the
Japanese Emperor and directly controlled by the Japanese Prime Minister.

Aggression against the Soviet Union figured as the principal undertaking in the criminal
plans of the Japanese imperialists. In the Japanese militarists' strategical plans for aggression,
the U.S.S.R. was usually referred to as "Target No. 1."

Widespread propaganda in favour of a war of aggrandizement against the U.S.S.R. was
carried on among the Japanese public. This war propaganda was conducted, in particular, in
all the organs of the Japanese press, which was completely controlled by the Information
Bureau of the Japanese government.

In furtherance of their criminal plans, the Japanese ruling clique committed a series of
aggressive acts, to wit:

In 1931, Japanese armed forces provoked the so-called "Mukden incident" and thereafter
invaded and occupied Manchuria;

In 1937, Japanese troops, after provoking the so-called "Marco Polo Bridge incident,"
invaded China;

In 1938, the Japanese military attacked the U.S.S.R. in the Lake Hasan area, but were
routed by the Soviet Army;

In 1939, the Japanese imperialists attacked the Mongolian People's Republic, the friend of
the U.S.S.R., in the Khalkhin-Gol area, but were likewise routed by the armed forces of the
M.P.R. and the Soviet Union;

At the end of 1941, the Japanese militarists brought Japan into the second world war on the
side of Hitler Germany.

Japanese aggression ended only with the surrender of Japan to the United Nations,
following on the decisive defeat inflicted by the Soviet Army on Japan's main striking force
— the Kwantung Army, which was concentrated in Manchuria.

The events relating to Japanese imperialist aggression were examined at the Tokyo
international trial of the major Japanese war criminals. The International Military Tribunal
found it fully established that the Japanese ruling clique had, in conjunction with Hitler
Germany, planned, launched and waged aggressive wars, and had for many years engaged in
active preparations for a large-scale aggressive war against the Soviet Union. The Tribunal
placed on record the fact that Japan had conducted aggressive wars against the U.S.S.R. in the
Lake Hasan area in 1938 and in the Khalkhin-Gol area in 1939. The Tribunal also attested the

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