[henkster]

The incident probably turned into the battle of Khalkin-Gol, fought in a remote area along the Manchurian-Siberian border (heck, what part of the world there isn’t remote?).

The Soviets gave the Japanese a bloody nose, which helped convince the Japanese to go south, not north, in 1941. It also began the rise of a little known Soviet general named Zhukov, who barely missed being purged himself.

[BroJoeK]

"The Soviets gave the Japanese a bloody nose, which helped convince the Japanese to go south, not north, in 1941.

"It also began the rise of a little known Soviet general named Zhukov, who barely missed being purged himself."

I even argue that this battle was actually the "turning point" of the war, and apparently the Germans never even knew of it -- in short, Hitler was defeated before he even started the war.

If that sounds strange (surely it does!), it's based on the following: given the preponderance of force on the allied side, Hitler's only real chance to win was to knock the Soviets out before taking on the Americans.

And the only way for Hitler to defeat Stalin was to have the Japanese pin down Stalin's Far East army.

But after the battle of Khalkin-Gol, the Japanese had little interest in tangling with the Soviets again. Japanese officials who favored such a step were removed in 1941.

So Stalin was left free to bring his Far East divisions back to Moscow. The rest, as they say, is history...