Karafuto (Treaty of Saint Petersburg)

Karafuto (Japanese: 樺太), previously also known as Sakhalin (Russian: Сахалин), is a large island in the North Pacific Ocean, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N. Karafuto, which is about one-third the size of Honshu, is just off the east coast of Russia, and just north of Japan. The population was 3,156,372 as of the 2015 census, made up of mostly Karafuto and ethnic Japanese with small Russian community. The indigenous peoples of the island are the Ainu, Oroks and Nivkhs.

Karafuto was claimed by both Russia and Japan over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries. These disputes sometimes involved military conflict and divisions of the island between the two powers.

History
In 1855, Russia and Japan signed the Treat of Shimoda, which declared that nations of both countries could inhabit the island; Russians to the north, and Japanese in the south, without a clearly defined boundary between.

The island remained under shared sovereignty until the signing of the 1875 Treaty of Saint Petersburg, in which Japan surrendered its claims in the Kuril Islands to Russia in exchange for the northern Sakhalin lands.

Karafuto People's Republic
By 1926, the bottom had fallen out of the Japanese economy. Much of the population was unemployed and thousands had lost their life savings. A Communist movement increased in popularity and gained momentum throughout the country. Communism was quickly outlawed and subjected to repression and prosecution bu the military and police of Imperial Japan. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) took refuge in Karafuto away from the powers in central Japan. As World War II ended Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 14, 1945 after the Japanese government notified the Allies that it had accepted the Posdam Declaration. General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP) and was given direct control over the main islands of Japan (Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu) and the immediately surrounding islands, while the outlying possessions were divided between the Allied Powers. The Soviet Union occupied North Korea and Karafuto.

Karafuto would remain a satellite state of the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1949. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to Karafuto communist leadership in 1949, and the Karafuto People's Republic (KPR) began to function as a state on October 7, 1949. Joseph Stalin approved Matsubara Oda's stewardship of the Karafuto Communist Party (KCP) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Matsubara Oda was officially sworn in as leader of the Karafuto People's Republic on December 1, 1949.

Over the coming years, private industry was nationalized, the land seized from the pre-war landowners and redistributed to the peasants. Karafuto was now to be brought into line with the Soviet model of a "people's democracy", collectivisation of agriculture and a centrally planned socialist economy.

Tsuda Regime
Matsubara Oda would remain KCP leader and Chairman of the Council of Ministers until his death in 1966 at the age of 75. Two successors would emerge to replace the leader. Naonobu Tsuda, who had been closely aligned with Oda's regime and Koji Shimada, who was more socially and culturally liberalized than his opponent. The Soviet Union backed Naonobu Tsuda and would undermine Koji Shimada's attempt at leadership, leading to Tsuda being elected leader of the KCP and Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

As the leader of the Karafuto People's Republic, Tsuda's conservatism and carefulness to reach decisions by consensus with the rest of the Council of Ministers resulted in sustained political stability within the country. However, his hostility towards reform and active cultivation of cronyism ushered in a period of pervasive corruption and socioeconomic decline.

After years of declining health, Tsuda died on 10 October 1984 and was quickly succeeded in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers by Yoshifumi Nagata.

Nagata Regime
Just days after Tsua Naonobu Tsuda's death, on 13 October 1984, Yoshifumi Nagata was elected General Secretary of the KCP and Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

During his rule, Nagata attempted to improve the economy by raising management effectiveness without changing the principles of socialist economy. In contrast to T's policy of avoiding conflicts and dismissals, he began to fight violations of party, state and labour discipline, which led to significant personnel changes during an anti-corruption campaign against many of Naonobu's cronies.

In March 1986, Nagata suffered total kidney failure. In August 1986, he entered the hospital on a permanent basis, where he would spend the remainder of his life.

A four-day period of nationwide mourning was announced. Nagata was succeeded by Kano Kagawa, who seemed to mirror Nagata's tenure.

Fall of the Karafuto People's Republic
With Communism weakening throughout the Eastern Bloc, the KCP had grown too feeble to resist the demand for change. Kano Kagawa promised to open up the regime, stating support for multi-party elections. On February 20, 1989, Kagawa announced the Party would cede its monopoly over the political system. On June 14 1989 the first ever multi-party elections where held.

Republic of Karafuto
The National Democratic Party of Karafuto under the leadership of Takejiro Iori would sweep to victory in the general elections. Iori would become the countries first democratically elected leader. The new government abolished the Council of Ministers and enacted the Karafuto Parliament. On December 4 1989, Parliament voted to change the country's name to the Republic of Karafuto.

Geography
Karafuto is separated from Russia by the narrow and shallow Strait of Tartary and from Hokkaido, Japan by the Soya Strait or La Pérouse Strait. The island is 948 km (589 mi) long, and 25 to 170 km (16 to 106 mi) wide, with an area of 72,492 km2 (27,989 sq mi).