Kantokuen

1941:
* June 22: Germany invades the Soviet Union, beginning Operation Barbarossa.
* July 7: Japan decides to invade the Soviet Union in order to expand its territorial holdings and gain access to the resources of Siberia.
* August 9: Japan declares war on the Soviet Union and launches an invasion of Siberia, catching the Soviet Union off guard.
1942:
* January 1: Japanese forces capture the city of Khabarovsk, and begin advancing towards Vladivostok.
* February 2: Soviet forces launch a counteroffensive against the Japanese in Siberia, causing heavy losses on both sides.
* May 8: Japan captures the city of Vladivostok, securing a major port on the Pacific Ocean.
* June 4-7: The Battle of Midway takes place in the Pacific, with the United States winning a decisive victory over Japan.
1943:
* January 1: Japan consolidates its control over Siberia, and begins extracting resources from the region.
* July 5: The Battle of Kursk takes place on the Eastern Front, with the Soviet Union winning a major victory over Germany.
* September 8: Italy surrenders to the Allies, and the war in Europe begins to turn against the Axis powers.
1944:
* January 27: The Soviet Union launches a major offensive against the Japanese in Siberia, pushing them back towards Manchuria.
* June 6: The Allies launch the D-Day invasion of Normandy, marking the beginning of the end for the Axis powers in Europe.
* August 9: The Soviet Union launches a surprise attack on Japanese forces in Manchuria, quickly overrunning their defenses.
1945:
* April 12: President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, and is succeeded by Harry S. Truman.
* April 30: Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin.
* August 6: The United States drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing over 100,000 people.
* August 8: The Soviet Union declares war on Japan, and launches a massive invasion of the Japanese home islands.
* August 9: The United States drops a second atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing over 70,000 people.
* August 15: Emperor Hirohito announces Japan's surrender, and the war officially ends.
In this alternate timeline, Japan's decision to invade the Soviet Union further stretches its already overextended military, and diverts resources and attention away from other theaters of the war. The Soviet Union is able to hold off the Japanese advance and eventually launches a successful counteroffensive, while the United States still ultimately succeeds in defeating Japan with the use of atomic bombs. The aftermath of the war and the course of world history may be different, however, due to the changes in the dynamics between the Soviet Union and Japan resulting from their direct military conflict.