Second Sino-Japanese War.pdf

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Second Sino-Japanese War 1

Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

Part of the Pacific War of World War II (from 1941)

Map showing the extent of Japanese control (red) in 1940.

Date Minor fighting since September 18, 1931

Full scale war: July 7, 1937 September 9, 1945

(8 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 5 days)

Location Mainland China, Burma

Result Chinese victory as part of the Allied victory in the Pacific War

Surrender of all Japanese forces in mainland China (excluding Manchuria), Formosa and French Indochina north

of 16 north to the Republic of China

China becomes a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council

Resumption of Chinese Civil War

Territorial

changes

China recovers all territories lost to Japan since the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Korea divided between US and Soviet

forces.

Belligerents

Republic of China[1]

with Foreign support

United States (194245)

Soviet Union (193741)

Empire of Japan with Collaborator support

Nanjing Government (194045) Manchukuo (193245)

Mengjiang (193645)

Provisional Government (193740)

Reformed Government (193740) East Hebei (193738)

Commanders and leaders
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=East_Hebei_Autonomous_Councilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China_1912-1928.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reformed_Government_of_the_Republic_of_Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Reformed_Government_of_the_Republic_of_China.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Provisional_Government_of_the_Republic_of_Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China_1912-1928.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mengjianghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Mengjiang.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchukuohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Manchukuo.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reorganized_National_Government_of_Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China-Nanjing_%28Peace%2C_Anti-Communism%2C_National_Construction%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Collaborationist_Chinese_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Empire_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Merchant_flag_of_Japan_%281870%29.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_Unionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:US_flag_48_stars.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Sino-Japanese_War%23Foreign_support_for_Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_China_%281912%E2%80%931949%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Division_of_Koreahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Shimonosekihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Nations_Security_Councilhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_China_%281912%E2%80%931949%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=16th_parallel_northhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_Indochinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Formosahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchuriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allies_of_World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Burmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mainland_Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Second_Sino-Japanese_War_WW2.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_War


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Chiang Kai-shek

Chen Cheng

Yan Xishan

Li Zongren

Xue Yue

Bai Chongxi

Wei Lihuang

Du Yuming

Fu Zuoyi

Sun Liren

Mao Zedong

Zhu De

Peng Dehuai

Joseph Stilwell

Claire Chennault

Albert Wedemeyer

Hirohito

Korechika Anami

Yasuhiko Asaka

Shunroku Hata

Seishir Itagaki

Kotohito Kan'in

Iwane Matsui

Toshiz Nishio

Yasuji Okamura

Hajime Sugiyama

Hideki Tj

Yoshijir Umezu

Seizo Ishikawa

Puyi

Wang Jingwei

Strength

5,600,000 Chinese

3,600 Soviets (1937

40)

900 US aircraft (194245)[2]

4,100,000 Japanese[3]

900,000 Chinese collaborators[4]

Casualties and losses

Nationalist: 1,320,000 KIA, 1,797,000 WIA, 120,000 MIA,

and 17,000,00022,000,000 civilians dead[5]

Communist: 500,000 KIA and WIA.

Japanese estimatesincluding 480,000 dead in total

19371941: 185,647 dead, 520,000 wounded, and 430,000 sick;

19411945: 202,958 dead; another 54,000 dead after war's end.[6][7]

Contemporary PRC studies: 1,055,000 dead

1,172,200 injured

Total: 2,227,200[8]

Nationalist Chinese (ROC) estimates1.77 million deaths, 1.9

million wounded

The Second Sino-Japanese War(July 7, 1937 September 9, 1945), called so after the First Sino-Japanese War of

189495, was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republicof China and the Empire of Japan from 1937

to 1941. China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany (see Sino-German cooperation), the Soviet

Union (see Soviet Volunteer Group) and the United States (see American Volunteer Group). After the Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is

broadly known as the Pacific War. The Second Sino-Japanese War was the largest Asian war in the 20th century. It

also made up more than 50% of the casualties in the Pacific War if the 19371941 period is taken into

account.[citation needed]

The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and

militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour.

Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called "incidents". In 1931, the Japanese

invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was

the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.

Initially the Japanese scored major victories in Shanghaiafter heavy fighting, and by the end of 1937 captured the

Chinese capital of Nanking. After failing to stop the Japanese in Wuhan, the Chinese central government was

relocated to Chongqing in the Chinese interior. By 1939 the war had reached stalemate after Chinese victories in

Changsha and Guangxi. The Japanese were also unable to defeat the Chinese communist forces in Shaanxi, which

performed harassment and sabotage operations against the Japanese using guerrilla warfare tactics. On the 7th of

December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and the following day (8 th December) the United States

declared war on Japan. The United States began to aid China via airlift materiel over the Himalayas after the Allied
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ghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sun_Lirenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fu_Zuoyihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Du_Yuminghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wei_Lihuanghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bai_Chongxihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xue_Yuehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Li_Zongrenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yan_Xishanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chen_Chenghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Republic_of_China_Army_Flag.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiang_Kai-shekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China.svg


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defeat in Burma that closed the Burma Road. In 1944 Japan launched a massive invasion and conquered Henan and

Changsha, but eventually surrendered on September 2, 1945 after atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and

Soviet invasion of Japanese-held Manchuria.

Nomenclature

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Allied Commander-in-Chief

in the China theatre from 1942 to 1945.

Name

In the Chinese language, the war is most commonly known

as the War of Resistance Against Japan (simplified Chinese:

; traditional Chinese: ), and also

known as the Eight Years' War of Resistance(

/), simply War of Resistance (/),

or Second Sino-Japanese War (/

).

In Japan, nowadays, the name "Japan

China War" (Nitch Sens) is most commonly used because of its

perceived objectivity. In Japan today, it is written as

in shinjitai. When the invasion of China proper began

in earnest in July 1937 near Beijing, the government of

Japan used "The North China Incident" (/

Hokushi Jihen/Kahoku Jihen), and with the

outbreak of the Battle of Shanghai the following month, it

was changed to "The China Incident" (Shina

Jihen).

The word "incident" (jihen) was used by Japan, as

neither country had made a formal declaration of war.

Especially Japan wanted to avoid intervention by other

countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the United

States, which were its primary source of petroleum; the United States was also its biggest supplier of steel. If the

fighting had been formally expressed that it had already escalated to "general war", US President Franklin D.

Roosevelt would have been legally obliged to impose an embargo on Japan in observance of the US Neutrality Acts.

Other names

In Japanese propaganda, the invasion of China became a "holy war" (seisen), the first step of the Hakk ichiu

(?, eight corners of the world under one roof) . In 1940, Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe

launched the Taisei Yokusankai. When both sides formally declared war in December 1941, the name was replaced

by "Greater East Asia War" ( Daita Sens).

Although the Japanese government still uses the term "China Incident" in formal documents [citation needed], the word

Shina is considered derogatory by China and therefore the media in Japan often paraphrase with other expressions

like "The JapanChina Incident" (Nikka Jiken, Nisshi Jiken), which were used by

media as early as the 1930s.

The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" is not usually used in Japan, as the First Sino-Japanese War (

Nisshin

Sens) between Japan and the Qing Dynasty in 1894 is not regarded as having obvious direct linkage to thesecond[citation needed], between Japan and the Republic of China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Republic_of_China_%281912%E2%80%931949%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qing_Dynastyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=First_Sino-Japanese_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shina_%28word%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taisei_Yokusankaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fumimaro_Konoehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prime_Minister_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Installing_Japanese_character_setshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religious_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_propaganda_during_World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neutrality_Acts_of_1930shttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Embargohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franklin_D._Roosevelthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franklin_D._Roosevelthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=President_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Declaration_of_warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shina_%28word%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Shanghaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Empire_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Empire_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beijinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=China_properhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shinjitaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Traditional_Chinese_charactershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simplified_Chinese_charactershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AChiang_Kai-shek_in_full_uniform.jpeghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiang_Kai-shekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generalissimohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchuriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soviet_invasion_of_Manchuriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasakihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Surrender_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Changshahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Henanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Ichi-Gohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burma_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_conquest_of_Burma


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Background

First Sino-Japanese War

The origin of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced to the First Sino-Japanese War of 189495, in which

China, then under the Qing Dynasty, was defeated by Japan and was forced to cede Formosa, and to recognize the

nominal independence (in fact, Japanese control) of Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The Qing Dynasty was onthe brink of collapse from internal revolts and foreign imperialism, while Japan had emerged as a great power

through its effective measures of modernization.[1]

The Republic of China

The Republic of China was founded in 1912, following the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

However, central authority disintegrated and the Republic's authority succumbed to that of regional warlords.

Unifying the nation and repelling imperialism seemed a very remote possibility. [2] Some warlords even aligned

themselves with various foreign powers in an effort to wipe each other out. For example, the warlord Zhang Zuolin

of Manchuria openly cooperated with the Japanese for military and economic assistance.

Twenty-One Demands

In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to extort further political and commercial privilege from China.[3]

Following World War I, Japan acquired the German Empire's sphere of influence in Shandong[4] (Shantung), leading

to nationwide anti-Japanese protests and mass demonstrations in China, but China under the Beiyang government

remained fragmented and unable to resist foreign incursions.[5] To unite China and eradicate regional warlords, the

Kuomintang (KMT, or Chinese Nationalist Party) in Guangzhou launched the Northern Expedition of 192628 with

the help of the Soviet Union.[6]

Jinan IncidentThe Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) swept through China until it was checked in Shandong,

where Beiyang warlord Zhang Zongchang, backed by the Japanese, attempted to stop the NRA's advance. This battle

culminated in the Jinan Incident of 1928 in which the National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army

were engaged in a short conflict that resulted in Kuomintang's withdrawal from Jinan.[7]

Nominal Unification of China

In the same year, Zhang Zuolin was assassinated when he became less willing to cooperate with Japan.[8] Afterwards

Zhang's son Zhang Xueliang quickly took over control of Manchuria, and despite strong Japanese lobbying efforts to

continue the resistance against the KMT, he soon declared his allegiance to the Kuomintang government under

Chiang Kai-shek, which resulted in the nominal unification of China at the end of 1928.[9]

Communist Party of China

In 1930, large-scale civil war broke out between warlords who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during

the Northern Expedition and the central government under Chiang. In addition, the Chinese Communists (CCP, or

Communist Party of China) revolted against the central government following a purge of its members by the KMT in

1927. The Chinese government diverted much attention into fighting these civil wars, following a policy of "first

internal pacification, then external resistance"((Chinese): ).
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Course of the war

Invasion of Manchuria, interventions in China

Japanese troops entering Shenyang during

Mukden Incident

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek announced the

Kuomintang policy of resistance against Japan at

Lushan on July 10, 1937, three days after the

Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

The chaotic situation in China provided excellent opportunities for

Japanese expansionism. Japan saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of

raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excludedfrom the influence of many Western countries in Depression era

tariffs), and as a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in

Siberia. Japan invaded Manchuria outright after the Mukden Incident

() in September 1931. After five months of fighting,

the puppet state of Manchukuo was established in 1932, with the last

emperor of China, Puyi, installed as its puppet ruler. Militarily too

weak to challenge Japan directly, China appealed to the League of

Nations for help. The League's investigation led to the publication of

the Lytton Report, condemning Japan for its incursion into Manchuria,

and causing Japan to withdraw from the League of Nations.

Appeasement being the predominant policy of the day, no country was

willing to take action against Japan beyond tepid censure.

Incessant fighting followed the Mukden Incident. In 1932, Chinese and

Japanese troops fought a battle known as the January 28 Incident. This

resulted in the demilitarisation of Shanghai, which forbade the Chinese

from deploying troops in their own city. In Manchukuo there was an

ongoing campaign to defeat the anti-Japanese volunteer armies that

arose from widespread outrage over the policy of non-resistance to

Japan.

In 1933, the Japanese attacked the Great Wall region, the Tanggu

Truce taking place in its aftermath, giving Japan control of Jehol

province as well as a demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and

Beiping-Tianjin region. Japanese aimed to create another buffer zone

between Manchukuo and the Chinese Nationalist government in

Nanjing.

Japan increasingly exploited internal conflicts in China to reduce the

strength of its fractious opponents. This was precipitated by the fact

that even years after the Northern Expedition, the political power of theNationalist government was limited to just the area of the Yangtze River Delta. Other sections of China were

essentially in the hands of local Chinese warlords. Japan sought various Chinese collaborators and helped them

establish governments friendly to Japan. This policy was called the Specialization of North China (Chinese:

; pinyin: habitshha), more commonly known as the North China Autonomous Movement. The

northern provinces affected by this policy were Chahar, Suiyuan, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shandong.

This Japanese policy was most effective in the area of what is now Inner Mongolia and Hebei. In 1935, under

Japanese pressure, China signed the HeUmezu Agreement, which forbade the KMT from conducting party

operations in Hebei. In the same year, the ChinDoihara Agreement was signed expelling the KMT from Chahar.

Thus, by the end of 1935 the Chinese government had essentially abandoned northern China. In its place, the

Japanese-backed East Hebei Autonomous Council and the HebeiChahar Political Council were established. There

in the empty space of Chahar the Mongol Military Government () was formed on May 12, 1936,
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Japan providing all necessary military and economic aid. Afterwards Chinese volunteer forces continued to resist

Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and Chahar and Suiyuan.

Full scale invasion of China

Casualties of a mass panic during a June 1941

Japanese bombing of Chongqing. More than 5000

civilians died during the first two days of air raids

in 1939[10]

On the night of July 7, 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops exchanged

fire in the vicinity of the Lugou (or Marco Polo) bridge, a crucialaccess route to Beijing. What began as confused, sporadic skirmishing

soon escalated into a full-scale battle, in which Beijing and its port city

of Tianjin fell to Japanese forces. The initial skirmishes at the bridge,

known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, is recognized by most

historians as the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1937 Japanese map of Shanghai, showing the

Bund.

The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo were initiallyreluctant to escalate the conflict into full scale war, being content with

the gains acquired in northern China following the Marco Polo Bridge

Incident. The KMT, however, determined that the "breaking point" of

Japanese aggression had been reached. Chiang Kai-shek quickly

mobilized the central government's army and air force, placed them

under his direct command, and attacked Japanese Marines in Shanghai

on August 13, 1937, leading to the Battle of Shanghai. The Imperial

Japanese Army (IJA) had to commit over 200,000 troops, along with

numerous naval vessels and aircraft, to capture the city. After more

than three months of intense fighting, their casualties far exceededinitial expectations.[11]

Building on the hard won victory in Shanghai, the IJA captured the KMT capital city of Nanjing (Nanking) and

Northern Shanxi by the end of 1937. These campaigns involved approximately 350,000 Japanese soldiers, and

considerably more Chinese. Historians estimate up to 300,000 Chinese (mostly civilians) were mass murdered and

tortured in unspeakable methods and tens of thousands of women raped (themselves also slaughtered without mercy)

during the notorious Nanking Massacre (also known as the "Rape of Nanking"), after the fall of Nanking from

December 13, 1937 to late January 1938; some Japanese deny that the massacre occurred.

At the start of 1938, the leadership in Tokyo still hoped to limit the scope of the conflict to occupy areas around

Shanghai, Nanjing and most of northern China. They thought this would preserve strength for an anticipated

showdown with the Soviet Union, but by now the Japanese government and GHQ had effectively lost control of the

Japanese army in China. With many victories achieved, Japanese field generals escalated the war in Jiangsu in an
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attempt to wipe out Chinese resistance, but was defeated at the Battle of Taierzhuang. Afterwards the IJA changed

its strategy and deploy almost all of its existing armies in China to attack the city of Wuhan, which by now was the

political, economic and military center of China, in hopes of destroying the fighting strength of the National

Revolutionary Army (NRA) and forcing the KMT government to negotiate for peace. [12] The Japanese captured

Wuhan on October 27, 1938, forcing the KMT to retreat to Chongqing (Chungking), but Chiang Kai-shek still

refused to negotiate, saying he would only consider talks if Japan agreed to withdraw to pre-1937 borders.

With Japanese casualties and costs mounting, the Imperial General Headquarters attempted to break Chinese

resistance by ordering the air branches of the navy and the army to launch the war's first massive air raids on civilian

targets. Japanese raiders hit the Kuomintang's newly established provisional capital of Chongqing and most other

major cities in unoccupied China, leaving millions dead, injured, and homeless.

From the beginning of 1939 the war entered a new phase with the unprecedented defeat of the Japanese at Changsha

and Guangxi. These outcomes encouraged the Chinese to launch their first large-scale counter-offensive against the

IJA in early 1940; however, due to its low military-industrial capacity and limited experience in modern warfare, the

NRA was defeated in this offensive. Afterwards Chiang could not risk any more all-out offensive campaigns given

the poorly trained, under-equipped, and disorganized state of his armies and opposition to his leadership both within

the Kuomintang and in China in general. He had lost a substantial portion of his best trained and equipped troops inthe Battle of Shanghai and was at times at the mercy of his generals, who maintained a high degree of autonomy

from the central KMT government.

After 1940 the Japanese encountered tremendous difficulties in administering and garrisoning the seized territories,

and tried to solve its occupation problems by implementing a strategy of creating friendly puppet governments

favourable to Japanese interests in the territories conquered, the most prominent being the Nanjing Nationalist

Government headed by former KMT premier Wang Jingwei. However, atrocities committed by the Japanese army,

as well as Japanese refusal to delegate any real power, left them very unpopular and largely ineffective. The only

success the Japanese had was the ability to recruit a large Collaborationist Chinese Army to maintain public security

in the occupied areas.

By 1941, Japan held most of the eastern coastal areas of China and Vietnam, but guerilla fighting continued in these

occupied areas. Japan had suffered high casualties from unexpectedly stubborn Chinese resistance, and neither side

could make any swift progress in a manner resembling the fall of France and Western Europe to Nazi Germany.

Chinese resistance strategy

Chinese soldiers in house-to-house fighting in

Battle of Taierzhuang.

The basis of Chinese strategy before the entrance of Western Allies can

be divided into two periods:

First Period: 7 July 1937 (Battle of Lugou Bridge) 25 October 1938

(Fall of Wuhan).

Unlike Japan, China was unprepared for total war and had little

military-industrial strength, no mechanized divisions, and few

armoured forces. Up until the mid-1930s China had hoped that the

League of Nations would provide countermeasures to Japan's

aggression. In addition, the Kuomintang (KMT) government was

mired in a civil war against the Communist Party of China (CCP), as

Chiang Kai-shek was quoted: "the Japanese are a disease of the skin, the Communists are a disease of the heart".

The Second United Front between the KMT and CCP was never truly unified, as each side was preparing for a

showdown with the other once the Japanese were driven out.
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National Revolutionary Army soldiers march to

the front in 1939.

Even under these extremely unfavorable circumstances, Chiang

realized that to win support from the United States and other foreign

nations, China had to prove it was capable of fighting. Knowing a

hasty retreat would discourage foreign aid, Chiang resolved to make a

stand at Shanghai, using the best of his German-trained divisions to

defend China's largest and most industrialized city from the Japanese.The battle lasted over three months, saw heavy casualties on both

sides, and ended with a Chinese retreat towards Nanjing, but proved

that China would not be easily defeated and showed its determination

to the world. The battle became an enormous morale booster for the

Chinese people, as it decisively refuted the Japanese boast that Japan

could conquer Shanghai in three days and China in three months.

Afterwards China began to adopt the strategy of "trading space for time" ( (Chinese): -). The

Chinese army would put up fights to delay the Japanese advance to northern and eastern cities, allowing the home

front, with its professionals and key industries, to retreat west into Chongqing. As a result of Chinese troops'

scorched earth strategies, in which dams and levees were intentionally sabotaged to create massive flooding,

Japanese advances began to stall in late 1938.

Second Period: 25 October 1938 (Fall of Wuhan) December 1941 (before the Allies' declaration of war on Japan).

During this period, the main Chinese objective was to drag out the war for as long as possible, thereby exhausting

Japanese resources while building up Chinese military capacity. American general Joseph Stilwell called this

strategy "winning by outlasting". The National Revolutionary Army adopted the concept of "magnetic warfare" to

attract advancing Japanese troops to definite points where they were subjected to ambush, flanking attacks, and

encirclements in major engagements. The most prominent example of this tactic was the successful defense of

Changsha in 1939 (and again in 1941), in which heavy casualties were inflicted on the IJA.

Local Chinese resistance forces, organised separately by both the communists and KMT, continued their resistancein occupied areas to pester the enemy and make their administration over the vast land area of China difficult. In

1940 the Chinese Red Army launched a major offensive in north China, destroying railways and a major coal mine.

These constant harassment and sabotage operations deeply frustrated the Japanese army and led them to employ the

"Three Alls Policy" (kill all, loot all, burn all) ( , Hanyu Pinyin: Sngung Zhngc, Japanese On:

Sank Seisaku). It was during this period that the bulk of Japanese war crimes were committed.

By 1941 Japan had occupied much of north and coastal China, but the KMT central government and military had

successfully retreated to the western interior to continue their resistance, while the Chinese communists remained in

control of base areas in Shaanxi. In the occupied areas, Japanese control was mainly limited to railroads and major

cities ("points and lines"). They did not have a major military or administrative presence in the vast Chinese

countryside, where Chinese guerillas roamed freely. This stalemate situation made a decisive victory seem

impossible to the Japanese.
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Relationship between the Nationalists and Communists

Eighth Route Army Commander Zhu De

with KMT Blue Sky White Sun Emblem

cap.

After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Chinese public opinion was strongly

critical of Manchuria's leader, the "young marshal" Zhang Xueliang, for his

nonresistance to the Japanese invasion, even though the Kuomintang central

government was also responsible for this policy, giving Zhang an order to

"improvise" while not offering support. After losing Manchuria to theJapanese, Zhang and his Northeast Army were given the duty of suppressing

the Red Army of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Shaanxi after their

Long March. This resulted in great casualties for his Northeast Army, which

received no support in manpower or weaponry from Chiang Kai-shek.

On 12 December 1936 a deeply disgruntled Zhang Xueliang kidnapped

Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an, hoping to force an end to the conflict between

KMT and CCP. To secure the release of Chiang, the Kuomintang agreed to a

temporary end to the Chinese Civil War and, on 24 December, the creation of

a United Front between the CCP and KMT against Japan. The alliance having

salutary effects for the beleaguered CCP, they agreed to form the New Fourth

Army and the 8th Route Army and place them under the nominal control of

the National Revolutionary Army. The CCP's Red Army fought with KMT forces during the Battle of Taiyuan, and

the high point of their cooperation came in 1938 during the Battle of Wuhan.

Despite Japan's steady territorial gains in northern China, the coastal regions, and the rich Yangtze Riv er Valley in

central China, the distrust between the two antagonists was scarcely veiled. The uneasy alliance began tobreak down

by late 1938, partially due to the Communists' aggressive efforts to expand their military strength by absorbing

Chinese guerrilla forces behind Japanese lines. Chinese militia who refused to switch their allegiance were often

labelled "collaborators" and attacked by CCP forces. For example, the Red Army led by He Long attacked and wiped

out a brigade of Chinese militia led by Zhang Yin-wu in Hebei in June, 1939.[13] Starting in 1940, open conflictbetween Nationalists and Communists became more frequent in the occupied areas outside of Japanese control,

culminating in the New Fourth Army Incident in January 1941.

Afterwards, the Second United Front completely broke down and Chinese Communists leader Mao Zedong outlined

the preliminaryplan for the CCP's eventual seizure of power from Chiang Kai-shek. Mao began his final push for

consolidation of CCP power under his authority, and his teachings became the central tenets of the CCP doctrine that

came to be formalized as "Mao Zedong Thought". The communists also began to focus most of their energy on

building up their sphere of influence wherever opportunities were presented, mainly through rural mass

organizations, administrative, land and tax reform measures favoring poor peasants; while the Nationalists attempted

to neutralize the spread of Communist influence by military blockade of areas controlled by CCP and fighting the

Japanese at the same time

Foreign support for China

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union provided aid to China at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. By 1940

the United States had become China's main diplomatic, financial and military supporter.[14]

German support

Prior to the outbreak of the war, Germany and China had close economic and military cooperation, with Germany

helping China modernize its industry and military in exchange for raw materials. More than half of German arms

exports during its rearmament period were to China. Nevertheless, the proposed 30 new German-trained divisions inthe National Revolutionary Army failed to materialize after Germany withdrew its support in 1938. By that time
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=German-trained_divisions_in_the_National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazi_Germanyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peasanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taxationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Land_ownershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mao_Zedong_Thoughthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mao_Zedonghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Fourth_Army_Incidenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hebeihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=He_Longhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yangtze_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Wuhanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Taiyuanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Revolutionary_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=8th_Route_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Fourth_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Fourth_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_United_Front_%28China%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xi%27anhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xi%27an_Incidenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xi%27an_Incidenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long_Marchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shaanxihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Communist_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chinese_Red_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fengtian_cliquehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhang_Xuelianghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mukden_Incidenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AZhu_De_with_NRA_Emblem.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhu_Dehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eighth_Route_Army


10/33


Adolf Hitler was forming an alliance with Japan against the Soviet Union.

Soviet support

I-16 with Chinese insignia. I-16 was the main fighter

plane used by the Chinese Air Force and Soviet

volunteers.

After the signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact between Germany

and Japan, the Soviet Union hoped to keep China in the war as a

way of deterring the Japanese from invading Siberia, thus savingitself from the threat of a two-front war. In September 1937, the

Soviet leadership signed the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and

approved Operation Zet, the formation of a Soviet volunteer air

force. As part of this secret operation, Soviet technicians upgraded

and ran some of China's transportation systems. Bombers, fighters,

supplies and advisors arrived, including Soviet general Vasily

Chuikov, the future victor of the Battle of Stalingrad. Prior to the

entrance of the Western allies, the Russians provided the largest amount of foreign aid to China, totalling some $250

million in credits for munitions and other supplies. In April 1941, Soviet aid ended as a result of the SovietJapanese

Neutrality Pact and the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. This pact enabled the Soviet Union to avoid fightingagainst Germany and Japan at the same time. In total, 3,665 Soviet advisors and pilots served in China, [15] and 227

of them died fighting there.[16]

Japan lost a separate local confrontation with the Soviet Union at the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in May - September

1939. The defeat left the Japanese army reluctant to fight the Soviets again.[17]

Allied support

Flying Tigers Commander Claire Lee Chennault

From December 1937 events such as the Japanese attack on the

USS Panay and the Nanking Massacre swung public opinion in

the West sharply against Japan and increased their fear of Japaneseexpansion, which prompted the United States, the United

Kingdom, and France to provide loan assistance for war supply

contracts to the Republic of China. Australia also prevented a

Japanese government-owned company from taking over an iron

mine in Australia, and banned iron ore exports in 1938. However

in July 1939, negotiations between Japanese Foreign Minister

Arita Khatira and the British Ambassador in Tokyo, Robert

Craigie, led to an agreement by which Great Britain recognized

Japanese conquests in China. At the same time, the U.S.

government extended a trade agreement with Japan for six months,then fully restored it. Under the agreement, Japan purchased trucks

for the Kwantung Army,[18] machine tools for aircraft factories,

strategic materials (steel and scrap iron up to 16 October 1940, petrol and petroleum products up to 26 June

1941[19]), and various other much-needed supplies.

Japan invaded and occupied the northern part of French Indochina (present-day Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia) in

September 1940 to prevent China from receiving the 10,000 tons of materials delivered monthly by the Allies via the

HaiphongYunnan Fou Railway line.
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11/33


A "blood chit" issued to AVG pilots requesting all

Chinese to offer rescue and protection.

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union.

Notwithstanding non-aggression pacts or trade connections,

Hitler's assault threw the world into a frenzy of re-aligning

political outlooks and strategic prospects.

On July 21 Japan occupied the southern part of French Indochina

(Southern Vietnam and Cambodia), contravening a 1940"Gentlemen's Agreement" not to move into southern French

Indochina. From bases in Cambodia and Southern Vietnam,

Japanese planes could attack Malaya, Singapore, and the Dutch

East Indies. As the Japanese occupation of Northern French

Indochina in 1940 had already cut off supplies from the West to

China, the move into Southern French Indochina was viewed as a

direct threat to British and Dutch colonies. Many principal figures

in the Japanese government and military (particularly the navy)

were against the move, as they foresaw that it would invite

retaliation from the West.

On 24 July 1941 Roosevelt requested Japan withdraw all its forces

from Indochina. Two days later the USA and the UK began an oil

embargo; two days after that the Netherlands joined them. This

was a decisive moment in the Second Sino-Japanese war. The loss of oil imports made it impossible for Japan to

continue operations in China on a long term basis. It set the stage for Japan to launch a series of military attacks

against the Allies, including the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

In mid-1941, the United States government financed the creation of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), or

Flying Tigers, to replace the withdrawn Soviet volunteers and aircraft. Contrary to popular perception, the Flying

Tigers did not enter actual combat until after the United States had declared war on Japan. Led by Claire LeeChennault, their early combat success of 300 kills against a loss of 12 of their shark painted P-40 fighters earned

them wide recognition at a time when the Allies were suffering heavy losses, and soon afterwards their dogfighting

tactics would be adopted by the United States Army Air Forces.

Entrance of Western Allies

Chiang Kai-shek, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston

Churchill met at the Cairo Conference in 1943 during

World War II.

Within a few days of the attack on Pearl Harbor, China formally

declared war against Japan, Germany and Italy, and almost

immediately Chinese troops achieved another decisive victory in

the Battle of Changsha, which earned the Chinese government

much prestige from the Allies. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

referred to the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union and

China as the world's "Four Policemen", elevating the international

status of China to an unprecedented height after a century of

humiliation at the hands of various imperialist powers.

Chiang Kai-shek continued to receive supplies from the United

States as the Chinese conflict was merged into the Asian theatre of

World War II. However, in contrast to the Arctic supply route to

the Soviet Union which stayed open through most of the war, sea
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12/33


Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Madame

Chiang with Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell in

1942, Burma.

A U.S. poster advocating to help China fight on.

routes to China and the YunnanVietnam Railway had been

closed since 1940. Therefore, between the closing of the Burma

Road in 1942 and its re-opening as the Ledo Road in 1945, foreign

aid was largely limited to what could be flown in over "The

Hump".

Most of China's own industry had already been captured ordestroyed by Japan, and the Soviet Union refused to allow the

United States to supply China through Kazakhstan into Xinjiang as

the Xinjiang warlord Sheng Shicai had turned anti-Soviet in 1942

with Chiang's approval. For these reasons, the Chinese

government never had the supplies and equipment needed to

mount major counter-offensives. Despite the severe shortage of

materiel, in 1943, the Chinese were successful in repelling major

Japanese offensives in Hubei and Changde.

Chiang was named Allied commander-in-chief in the China

theater in 1942. American general Joseph Stilwell served for a

time as Chiang's chief of staff, while simultaneously commanding

American forces in the China-Burma-India Theater. For many

reasons, relations between Stilwell and Chiang soon broke down.

Many historians (such as Barbara W. Tuchman) have suggested it

was largely due to the corruption and inefficiency of the

Kuomintang (KMT) government, while others (such as Ray Huang

and Hans van de Ven) have depicted it as a more complicated

situation. Stilwell had a strong desire to assume total control of

Chinese troops and pursue an aggressive strategy, while Chiangpreferred a patient and less expensive strategy of outwaiting the

Japanese. Chiang continued to maintain a defensive posture

despite Allied pleas to actively break the Japanese blockade,

because China had already suffered tens of millions of war

casualties and believed that Japan would eventually capitulate in

the face of America's overwhelming industrial output. For these reasons the other Allies gradually began to lose

confidence in the Chinese ability to conduct offensive operations from the Asian mainland, and instead concentrated

their efforts against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean Areas and South West Pacific Area, employing an island

hopping strategy.[20]

Longstanding differences in national interest and political stance among China, the United States, and the United

Kingdom remained in place. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was reluctant to devote British troops, many

of whom had been routed by the Japanese in earlier campaigns, to the reopening of the Burma Road; Stilwell, on the

other hand, believed that reopening the road was vital, as all China's mainland ports were under Japanese control.

The Allies' "Europe First" policy did not sit well with Chiang, while the later British insistence that China send more

and more troops to Indochina for use in the Burma Campaign was seen by Chiang as an attempt to use Chinese

manpower to defend British colonial holdings. Chiang also believed that China should divert its crack army divisions

from Burma to eastern China to defend the airbases of the American bombers he hoped would defeat Japan through

bombing, a strategy that American general Claire Lee Chennault supported but which Stilwell strongly opposed. In

addition, Chiang voiced his support of Indian independence in a 1942 meeting with Mahatma Gandhi, which further

soured the relationship between China and the United Kingdom.[21]
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_independence_movementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claire_Lee_Chennaulthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burma_Campaignhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Europe_firsthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burma_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winston_Churchillhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leapfrogging_%28strategy%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leapfrogging_%28strategy%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_West_Pacific_theatre_of_World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Ocean_Areas_%28command%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ray_Huanghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kuomintanghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Barbara_W._Tuchmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=China_Burma_India_Theater_of_World_War_IIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Stilwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Changdehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_West_Hubeihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anti-Sovietismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sheng_Shicaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xinjianghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kazakhstanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Humphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Humphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ledo_Roadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_conquest_of_Burmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_conquest_of_Burmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yunnan%E2%80%93Vietnam_Railwayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AUnited_China_Relief1.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AChiang_Kai_Shek_and_wife_with_Lieutenant_General_Stilwell.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burmahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Stilwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lieutenant_Generalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soong_May-linghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soong_May-linghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chiang_Kai-shekhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generalissimo


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American and Canadian-born Chinese were recruited to act as covert operatives in Japanese-occupied China

(Canadian-born Chinese having not yet been granted citizenship were trained by the British army). Employing their

racial background as a disguise, their mandate was to blend in with local citizens and wage a campaign of sabotage.

Activities focused on destruction of Japanese transportation of supplies (signaling bomber destruction of railroads,

bridges).[22]

The United States saw the Chinese theater as a means to tie up a large number of Japanese troops, as well as being alocation for American airbases from which to strike the Japanese home islands. In 1944, with the Japanese position

in the Pacific deteriorating rapidly, the IJA mobilized over 400,000 men and launched Operation Ichi-Go, their

largest offensive of World War II, to attack the American airbases in China and link up the railway between

Manchuria and Vietnam. This brought major cities in Hunan, Henan and Guangxi under Japanese occupation. The

failure of Chinese forces to defend these areas encouraged Stilwell to attempt to gain overall command of the

Chinese army, and his subsequent showdown with Chiang led to his replacement by Major General Albert Coady

Wedemeyer.

By the end of 1944 Chinese troops under the command of Sun Li-jen attacking from India, and those under Wei

Lihuang attacking from Yunnan, joined forces in Mong-Yu, successfully driving the Japanese out of North Burma

and securing the Ledo Road, China's vital supply artery.[23] In Spring 1945 the Chinese launched offensives thatretook Hunan and Guangxi. With the Chinese army progressing well in training and equipment, Wedemeyer planned

to launch Operation Carbonado in summer 1945 to retake Guangdong, thus obtaining a coastal port, and from there

drive northwards toward Shanghai. However, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet invasion

of Manchuria hastened Japanese surrender and these plans were not put into action.

Intrusion into French Indochina

The Chinese Kuomintang also supported the Vietnamese Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang in its battle against French and

Japanese imperialism.

In Guangxi Chinese military leaders were organizing Vietnamese nationalists against the Japanese. The VNQDD hadbeen active in Guangxi and some of their members had joined the KMT army. Under the umbrella of KMT

activities, a broad alliance of nationalists emerged. With Ho at the forefront, the Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi

(Vietnamese Independence League, usually known as the Viet Minh) was formed and based in the town of Chinghsi.

The pro-VNQDD nationalist Ho Ngoc Lam, a KMT army officer and former disciple of Phan Boi Chau, [24] was

named as the deputy of Pham Van Dong, later to be Ho's Prime Minister. The front was later broadened and renamed

the Viet Nam Giai Phong Dong Minh (Vietnam Liberation League).

The Viet Nam Revolutionary League was a union of various Vietnamese nationalist groups, run by the pro Chinese

VNQDD. Chinese KMT General Zhang Fakui created the league to further Chinese influence in Indochina, against

the French and Japanese. Its stated goal was for unity with China under the Three Principles of the People, created

by KMT founder Dr. Sun and opposition to Japanese and French Imperialists. The Revolutionary League was

controlled by Nguyen Hai Than, who was born in China and could not speak Vietnamese. General Zhang shrewdly

blocked the Communists of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh from entering the league, as Zhang's main goal was Chinese

influence in Indochina. The KMT utilized these Vietnamese nationalists during World War II against Japanese

forces. Franklin D. Roosevelt, through General Stilwell, privately made it clear that they preferred that the French

not reacquire French Indochina (modern day Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) after the war was over. Roosevelt

offered Chiang Kai-shek control of all of Indochina. It was said that Chiang Kai-shek replied: "Under no

circumstances!".

After the war, 200,000 Chinese troops under General Lu Han were sent by Chiang Kai-shek to northern Indochina

(north of the 16th parallel) to accept the surrender of Japanese occupying forces there, and remained in Indochina

until 1946, when the French returned. The Chinese used the VNQDD, the Vietnamese branch of the Chinese

Kuomintang, to increase their influence in Indochina and to put pressure on their opponents. Chiang Kai-shek
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14/33


threatened the French with war in response to manoeuvering by the French and Ho Chi Minh's forces against each

other, forcing them to come to a peace agreement. In February, 1946 he also forced the French to surrender all of

their concessions in China and to renounce their extraterritorial privileges in exchange for the Chinese withdrawing

from northern Indochina and allowing French troops to reoccupy the region. Following France's agreement to these

demands, the withdrawal of Chinese troops began in March 1946.

Contemporaneous wars being fought by China

The Chinese were not entirely devoting all their resources to the Japanese, because they were fighting several other

wars at the same time.

The Soviet Union attacked the Republic of China in 1937 during the Xinjiang War (1937). The Muslim General Ma

Hushan of the Kuomintang 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) resisted the Soviet invasion, which was

being led by Russian troops commanded by Muslim General Ma Zhanshan, previously one of Chiang Kaishek's

suboordinates.

General Ma Hushan was expecting some sort of help from Nanjing, as he exchanged messages with Chiang

regarding Soviet attack. Both the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Xinjiang War erupting simultaneously rendered

Chiang and Ma Hushan on their own to confront the Japanese and Soviet forces.

The Republic of China government was fully aware of the Soviet invasion of Xinjiang province, and Soviet troops

moving around Xinjiang and Gansu, but was forced to mask these manoeuvers to the public as "Japanese

propaganda" to avoid an international incident and for continued military supplies from the Soviets.

Because the pro-Soviet governor Sheng Shicai controlled Xinjiang, which was garrisoned with Soviet troops in

Turfan, which bordered Gansu, the Chinese government had to keep troops stationed there as well.

The Muslim General Ma Buqing was in virtual control of the Gansu corridor at this time. Ma Buqing had earlier

fought against the Japanese, but because the Soviet threat was great, Chiang made some arrangements regarding

Ma's position. In July 1942 Chiang Kai-shek instructed Ma Buqing to move 30,000 of his troops to the Tsaidam

marsh in the Qaidam Basin of Qinghai. Chiang named Ma Reclamation Commissioner, to threaten Sheng Shicai's

southern flank in Xinjiang, which bordered Tsaidam.

After Ma evacuated his positions in Gansu, Kuomintang troops from central China flooded the area, and infiltrated

Soviet occupied Xinjiang, gradually reclaiming it and forcing Sheng Shicai to break with the Soviets. The

Kuomintang ordered Ma Bufang several times to march his troops into Xinjiang to intimidate the pro-Soviet

Governor Sheng Shicai. This helped provide protection for Chinese settling in Xinjiang.

The Ili Rebellion broke out in Xinjiang when the Kuomintang Chinese Muslim Officer Liu Bin-Di was killed while

fighting Turkic Uyghur Rebels in November 1944. The Soviet Union supported the Turkic rebels against the

Kuomintang, and Kuomintang forces were fighting back.
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Use of chemical and bacteriological weapons

Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces with gas

masks and rubber gloves during a chemical

attack[citation needed] near Chapei in the Battle of

Shanghai.

Despite Article 23 of the Hague Conventions (1899 and 1907), article

V of the Treaty in Relation to the Use of Submarines and Noxious

Gases in Warfare, article 171 of the Treaty of Versailles and a

resolution adopted by the League of Nations on May 14, 1938,

condemning the use of poison gas by the Empire of Japan, the Imperial

Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons during the war.

Japanese troops stage a poison gas attack in China.

According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, the

chemical weapons were authorized by specific orders given by

Japanese Emperor Hirohito himself, transmitted by the Imperial

General Headquarters. For example, the Emperor authorized the

use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the Battle of

Wuhan from August to October 1938.[25] They were also used

during the invasion of Changde. Those orders were transmitted

either by Prince Kan'in Kotohito or General Hajime Sugiyama.[26]

Bacteriological weapons provided by Shir Ishii's units were also

profusely used. For example, in 1940, the Imperial Japanese ArmyAir Force bombed Ningbo with fleas carrying the bubonic plague.[27] During the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials the

accused, such as Major General Kiyashi Kawashima, testified that, in 1941, some 40 members of Unit 731

air-dropped plague-contaminated fleas on Changde. These attacks caused epidemic plague outbreaks.[28]

Ethnic minorities

Japan attempted to reach out to ethnic minorities to rally to their side, but only succeeded with certain Manchu,

Mongol, and Uyghur elements.

Conclusion and aftermath

End of Pacific War and surrender of Japanese troops in China
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Uyghur_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mongolhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manchuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Changdehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plague_%28disease%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unit_731http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khabarovsk_War_Crime_Trialshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bubonic_plaguehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fleahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ningbohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unit_731http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shir%C5%8D_Ishiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biological_warfarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hajime_Sugiyamahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prince_Kan%27in_Kotohitohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Changdehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Wuhanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Wuhanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_General_Headquartershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_General_Headquartershttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hirohitohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emperor_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yoshiaki_Yoshimihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AJapanese_artillery_soldiers_with_gas_masks%2C_Changsha%2C_1941.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_Japanese_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_Japanese_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Empire_of_Japanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=League_of_Nationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Versailleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hague_Conventions_%281899_and_1907%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AJapanese_Special_Naval_Landing_Forces_in_Battle_of_Shanghai_1937.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Shanghaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Shanghaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zhabei_Districthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_Special_Naval_Landing_Forces


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Japanese troops surrendering to the Chinese.

Commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army

Yasuji Okamura presenting the Japanese Instrument of

Surrender to general He Yingqin at Nanjing on 9

September 1945

The United States and the Soviet Union put an end to the

Sino-Japanese War (and World War II) by attacking the Japanese

with a new weapon (on America's part) and an incursion into

Manchuria (on the Soviet Union's part). On August 6, an

American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic

bomb used in combat on Hiroshima, killing tens of thousands andleveling the city. On August 9, the Soviet Union renounced its

non-aggression pact with Japan and attacked the Japanese in

Manchuria, fulfilling its Yalta Conference pledge to attack the

Japanese within three months after the end of the war in Europe.

The attack was made by three Soviet army groups. On that same

day, a second equally destructive atomic bomb was dropped by the

United States on Nagasaki.

In less than two weeks the Kwantung Army, which was the

primary Japanese fighting force,[29][30] consisting of over a million

men but lacking in adequate armor, artillery, or air support, had

been destroyed by the Soviets. Japanese Emperor Hirohito

officially capitulated to the Allies on August 15, 1945, and the

official surrender was signed aboard the battleship USS Missouri

on September 2.

After the Allied victory in the Pacific, General Douglas

MacArthur ordered all Japanese forces within China (excluding

Manchuria), Formosa and French Indochina north of 16 north

latitude to surrender to Chiang Kai-shek, and the Japanese troops in China formally surrendered on September 9,

1945.

Post-war struggle and resumption of civil war

The Chinese return to Liuzhou in July 1945

In 1945, China emerged from the war nominally a great military power

but economically weak and on the verge of all-out civil war. The

economy was sapped by the military demands of a long costly war and

internal strife, by spiraling inflation, and by corruption in the

Nationalist government that included profiteering, speculation and

hoarding.

Furthermore, as part of the Yalta Conference, allowing a Soviet sphereof influence in Manchuria, the Soviets dismantled and removed more

than half of the industrial equipment left there by the Japanese before

handing over Manchuria to China. Large swathes of the prime farming

areas had been ravaged by the fighting and there was starvation in the

wake of the war. Many towns and cities were destroyed, and millions were rendered homeless by floods.

The problems of rehabilitation and reconstruction from the ravages of a protracted war were staggering, and the war

left the Nationalists severely weakened, and their policies left them unpopular. Meanwhile,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Famine

Documents

Second Sino-Japanese War.pdf