Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War, known in China as the War of Resistance Against Japan, was a big fight between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan and its puppet states. It lasted from 1937 to 1945. This war is often seen as the start of World War II in Asia because the battles were part of the larger global war.

It began after an event called the Mukden incident. Japan used this as a reason to invade parts of China. Fighting happened in many places, including cities like Shanghai and Nanjing. The war caused a lot of suffering and destruction.

With help from allies, such as the Soviet Union at first and later the United States, China kept fighting. Japan finally surrendered in 1945. The war had a big impact on the world and helped shape the future of Asia.

Names

Chinese

In China and Taiwan, this war is often called the "War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression." Some people shorten this to "Resistance against Japanese Aggression" or "the War of Resistance."

Since 2017, the Chinese Communist Party has said the war began earlier, in 1931. They call it the "Fourteen Years' War of Resistance." This means they see the fight in Manchuria from 1931 to 1937 as part of the bigger war.

Japanese

In Japan, this conflict is most often called the "Japan–China War." Some in Japan think of it as a "Fifteen-Year War," starting with the invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

When the fighting spread to areas near Beijing in 1937, Japan called it "The North China Incident." Later, when battles reached Shanghai, Japan changed the name to "The China Incident." Japan used the word "incident" instead of "war" because neither country had officially declared war on the other.

During this time, Japan described the invasion as a "holy war." By December 1941, when both sides officially declared war, Japan called it the "Greater East Asia War."

The name "Second Sino-Japanese War" isn’t commonly used in Japan because the earlier war between Japan and China, led by the Qing dynasty, is called the Qing-Japanese War.

Background

Japanese expansion

Further information: First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, Japan during World War I, and Twenty One Demands

The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between 1894 and 1895. Japan won, and China lost. After the war, China had to give up Taiwan and let Korea become independent. Japan also took some islands called the Senkaku Islands.

In 1905, Japan beat Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. Japan got some land and control over Korea. In 1915, Japan made many demands on China to get more power there. After World War I, Japan took some areas from Germany in Shandong province. This made many people in China unhappy.

Warlord Era

Main article: Warlord Era

The government in China was weak, and different groups called warlords were fighting each other. This made China poor and easy for other countries to attack. Japan wanted to take more land from China.

Nationalist reunification

Main article: Northeast Flag Replacement

Further information: Northern Expedition

To bring China together, a group called the Kuomintang started a big movement from 1926 to 1928. They fought to remove the warlords. There were some fights with Japanese soldiers, which made the relationship between China and Japan worse.

Start of the Chinese Civil War

Main article: Chinese Civil War

In 1930, fighting began between different groups in China. The Chinese Communist Party kept growing. The leader of China, Chiang Kai-shek, thought it was important to first stop the fighting inside China before fighting Japan. He tried to remove the Communists. By 1934, the Communists had to move to a place called Yan'an. In 1936, Chiang was forced to work with the Communists to fight Japan together.

Pre-war events

Invasion of Manchuria

Main article: Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Japan wanted control of Manchuria because it had many resources and could be a market for Japan's goods. After winning a war in 1905, Japan had already placed many soldiers there. By 1915, Japan had control over railroads, businesses, and natural resources in the area.

In 1931, Japanese soldiers damaged a railroad to use as an excuse to invade. After fighting for five months, Japan created a new state called Manchukuo in 1932 and put the last Chinese emperor, Puyi, in charge. China asked for help from the League of Nations, but no one took strong action against Japan.

From 1931 to 1937, China's leader Chiang Kai-shek did not fight back much, but he started preparing for war in secret.

Fighting continued after the railroad incident. In 1932, Chinese and Japanese troops fought in Shanghai. In Manchukuo, groups formed to resist Japan. The Chinese Communist Republic also declared war on Japan.

Demilitarized zones

In 1933, Japan attacked near the Great Wall. The Tanggu Truce let Japan control Rehe Province and created a demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing-Tianjin. Japan wanted to protect its new state, Manchukuo, and used China's inner conflicts to weaken its opponents.

Japan helped set up governments in northern China that supported them. By the end of 1935, China had lost control of northern areas. New governments were formed in Hebei and Chahar with Japan's support. Resistance groups kept fighting Japan in these areas.

Course of the war

1937: Outbreak of full-scale war

Marco Polo Bridge incident

Main article: Marco Polo Bridge incident

In July 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops fought near the Marco Polo (or Lugou) Bridge close to Beijing. The fighting grew into a bigger battle over the weeks. However, talks continued even after the Battle of Shanghai with the Trautmann mediation and Nine Power Treaty Conference. Full war began after the Battle of Nanking when Fumimaro Konoe said Japan would no longer talk with Chiang Kai-Shek. China was not ready for war and had little military strength. Soon after 1937, local Chinese guerrilla forces started on their own. These groups usually joined either the Communist or Nationalist forces. Within the first year of full-scale war, Japanese forces won in most major Chinese cities.

On July 7, units of the Japanese China Garrison Army moved across the border for military exercises at night, saying Private Shimura Kikujiro went missing and asked to enter the walled city of Wanping. The Chinese garrison of the 29th Army refused. Fighting started in the confusion. The question of "who fired first" and started the incident is still debated, and the exact cause remains unknown. Despite the initial fighting, a ceasefire was agreed on July 11 in Beijing. The local Japanese military and General Qin Dechun agreed to a settlement: an apology, the withdrawal of Chinese troops from Wanping, and better control of "communists" in the area.

However, news of the ceasefire did not reach the central military command of either China or Japan right away, and both became more worried. Chiang Kai-shek had ordered four Central Army divisions to move into Hebei, even though this broke the He–Umezu Agreement. The next day, the Konoe cabinet held the Five Minsters Conference, where the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff agreed to send three infantry divisions from mainland Japan. Major General Ishiwara tried to oppose the plan but finally agreed to be ready for any problems. Although the ceasefire stopped open war, the arrival of new divisions and the resulting confusion made tensions rise. Military cable lines were often cut during the tensions.

Since October 1936, Moscow kept proposing a mutual security pact with China, but the deal was never accepted, even after the Xi'an Incident. On June 5, 1937, Joseph Stalin again proposed a mutual security pact to China, but Foreign Minister Wang Chonghui only gave it to Chiang a day after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Chiang immediately tried to accept the offer, but by then the USSR said it was too late and instead proposed a non-aggression pact. On July 16, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull gave a public statement supporting the "sanctity of treaties" and the "abstinence by all nations from use of force." Chiang Kai-shek watched Western reactions closely and aimed to get support from the League of Nations and the world to punish Japan. However, U.S. policy was to "keep this country out of war," so the diplomatic signals were vague to stay neutral.

On July 17, Chiang Kai-shek gave the Lushan Statement, calling the incident a fight for the nation's survival and saying China had reached its "limit of endurance." Chiang listed his demands for peace to Japan, including that the 29th Army be allowed to move freely in the area. This statement turned the local incident into a national cause of resistance. Although Chiang was ready to accept the local ceasefire, he slowed the withdrawal to see the international response. On July 25, the Langfang Incident happened when Chinese troops fought a Japanese communication repair unit. On July 26, the Guanganmen Incident saw Japanese troops shot at while trying to enter Peiping's city gates to protect Japanese people. These incidents made the Japanese China Garrison Army stop diplomatic efforts and start a military attack.

Beiping–Tianjin campaign

Main article: Battle of Beiping–Tianjin

On July 28, 1937, the IJA 20th Division and three independent combined brigades started an attack on the Chinese 29th Army. The battle had little fighting within Beiping itself, as General Song Zheyuan ordered a general withdrawal of the 29th Army to avoid its total destruction. The Japanese took the city on July 29 after the Chinese forces left, and most heavy fighting happened at Tianjin. The Taku Forts at Tianjin fell on July 30, ending the campaign.

The Japanese Army had been told not to go further than the Yongding River. The Konoe government's foreign minister started talks with Chiang Kai-shek's government in Nanjing and said: "Japan wants Chinese cooperation, not Chinese land." After the Tongzhou mutiny on July 29, Chinese soldiers assigned to a Japanese-backed puppet government rebelled and killed about 200 Japanese and Korean civilians. This made anti-Chinese feelings stronger in Japan and convinced many in the military that escalation in China was needed.

Diplomatic maneuvering

On August 6, 1937, Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky reportedly told Chinese officials that if the United States, England, and France offered mediation and Japan refused it, "the Soviet Union would go to war on the side of China." Chiang Kai-shek, encouraged by these Russian promises of armed help, "personally wished to fight" rather than accept a diplomatic deal with Japan.

Foreign Minister Kōki Hirota tried to end the conflict through the "Funatsu Operation" on August 7. The plan was given to Funatsu Tatsuichirō, a former consul-general. The Japanese wanted a larger demilitarized zone from Beiping to Tianjin, possible recognition of Manchukuo, and a Sino-Japanese anti-communist pact. However, talks failed after the Ōyama Incident on August 9, which happened the same day Funatsu arrived to meet with Chinese officials.

Battle of Shanghai

Main article: Battle of Shanghai

The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo was happy with the gains in northern China after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and at first showed no desire to make the conflict a full-scale war. However, the situation in Shanghai became serious on August 9, 1937, when the Ōyama Incident happened with the shooting of two Japanese officers who were trying to enter the Hongqiao military airport. The Japanese demanded that all Chinese forces leave Shanghai; the Chinese refused.

In response, both the Chinese and the Japanese sent more troops to the Shanghai area. Chiang put his best troops north of Shanghai to impress the city's large foreign community and increase China's foreign support. On August 13, 1937, Kuomintang soldiers attacked Japanese Marine positions in Shanghai, with Japanese army troops and marines moving into the city with naval gunfire support at Zhabei, starting the Battle of Shanghai. On August 14, Chinese forces under Zhang Zhizhong were told to capture or destroy the Japanese strongholds in Shanghai, leading to hard street fighting.

Chiang Kai-shek and his generals were encouraged by Soviet Ambassador Dmitry Bogomolov, who promised that China could expect help from the Soviet Union if it fought. The Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed on August 21. The USSR sent military help through Operation Zet, including aircraft, tanks, equipment, and military advisors. However, the Soviet Union never directly joined the war as Chiang hoped.

In late August, the Japanese Army landed more troops in northern Shanghai. Chinese commanders quickly sent forces to fight the landings, leading to heavy fighting including trench and urban warfare. Both sides lost many soldiers in the long battle.

As the battle in Shanghai went on, Japan moved along railway lines in the North, reaching Jinan and the Yellow River. Along with Mengjiang forces, Japan invaded Taiyuan and the North China area. By October 26, the IJA had taken Dachang, a key point in Shanghai, and on November 5, more troops from Japan landed in Hangzhou Bay behind Chinese lines. On November 9, the 10th Army landed in Hangzhou Bay, and the NRA started to retreat. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) used over 300,000 troops, plus many ships and planes, to take the city. After more than three months of hard fighting, their losses were much higher than expected. Japan did not immediately take the Shanghai International Settlement or the Shanghai French Concession, areas outside China's control because of the treaty port system. Japan moved into these areas after it declared war on the United States and the United Kingdom in 1941.

Fall of Nanjing

Main article: Battle of Nanking

After the Battle of Shanghai, the Army General Staff set an "operation restriction line" up to the cities of Suzhou and Jiaxing to end the war. Konoe's government gave peace terms to Chiang Kai-shek through the Trautmann Mediation. These terms included no demands for land, but required economic cooperation and an anti-communist pact. Chiang may have hoped for Western help after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his Quarantine Speech in Chicago on October 5, calling for an international quarantine of aggressor nations. Japan was asked to go to the Nine Power Treaty Conference in Brussels, but this was refused by Hirota who thought it would 'only help China and lengthen the war rather than end it.' While Chiang secretly hoped FDR would quickly end the war with Japan, the conference failed to punish Japan.

The Japanese military's plan to not expand was dropped when Japanese generals ignored orders and started to chase Chinese forces past the restriction line on November 19, aiming to surround Nanjing. The Japanese Army General Staff then agreed to capture Nanjing on November 28, 1937, to force an end to the conflict.

In November 1937, the Japanese gathered 220,000 soldiers and started a campaign against Nanjing. Building on their win in Shanghai, the IJA moved on and took the KMT capital city of Nanjing (December 1937) and Northern Shanxi (September – November 1937).

Japanese forces caused heavy losses to the Chinese soldiers defending the city, killing about 50,000 of them including 17 Chinese generals. After taking Nanjing, Japanese troops did many bad things, including hurting Chinese people. The Nationalist government moved to Chongqing, which became the wartime seat of government until 1945. After taking Nanjing, Chiang Kai-shek was ready to accept Japan's first offer. However, the Japanese government made its terms much harder with the addition of recognizing Manchukuo. Peace talks failed and Chiang Kai-shek did not answer by the January 12, 1938 deadline. Prime Minister Konoe gave the First Konoe Statement on January 16, 1938, saying: "We will no longer deal with the government of Chiang Kai-shek." This ended relations and committed Japan to a total war to change the government.

Xinjiang rebellion

Main article: Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)

In 1937, pro-Soviet General Sheng Shicai invaded Dunganistan with Soviet troops to defeat General Ma Hushan of the KMT 36th Division. General Ma expected help from Nanjing, but did not get it. The Nationalist government had to say these actions were "Japanese propaganda," as it needed military supplies from the Soviets.

1938: Strategic retreat

Xuzhou and Wuhan

Further information: Battle of Xuzhou and Battle of Wuhan

By January 1938, most conventional Kuomintang forces had been defeated or no longer fought major battles against Japanese advances. KMT forces won a few victories in 1938 (the Battle of Taierzhuang and the Battle of Wanjialing) but were generally not effective that year. By March 1938, the Japanese controlled almost all of North China. Communist-led rural resistance to the Japanese stayed active, however. After the fall of Shanghai and Nanjing in late 1937, the Nationalist military command started a war of attrition known as "trading space for time" (以空間換時間). By moving slowly into China's large interior and making the rugged southwestern province of Sichuan a final defensive base, the Guomindang planned to stretch Japanese supply lines while rebuilding its armies.

With many wins, Japanese field generals escalated the war in Jiangsu to destroy the Chinese forces there. The Japanese overcame Chinese resistance around Bengbu and the Teng xian, but were stopped at Linyi. The Japanese were then badly defeated at the Battle of Taierzhuang (March–April 1938), where the Chinese used night attacks and close-quarters combat to beat Japanese firepower. The Chinese also cut Japanese supply lines from behind, forcing the Japanese to retreat in the first Chinese win of the war. The Japanese then tried to surround and destroy the Chinese armies in the Xuzhou region with a huge pincer movement. However, most of the Chinese forces, about 200,000–300,000 troops in 40 divisions, broke out of the trap and retreated to defend Wuhan, the Japanese's next target.

After Xuzhou, the IJA changed its strategy and sent almost all its armies in China to attack the city of Wuhan, which had become the political, economic and military center of China, hoping to destroy the NRA's fighting power and force the KMT government to make peace. On June 6, they took Kaifeng, the capital of Henan, and threatened Zhengzhou, the junction of the Pinghan and Longhai railways. The Japanese forces, about 400,000 men, faced over 1 million NRA troops in the Central Yangtze region. Learning from their losses at Shanghai and Nanjing, the Chinese adapted to fight the Japanese and managed to slow and sometimes reverse the Japanese advances, as at Wanjialing. To beat Chinese resistance, Japanese forces often used poison gas and did bad things to civilians, such as a "mini-Nanjing Massacre" in the city of Jiujiang after they took it. After four months of hard fighting, the Nationalists had to leave Wuhan by October, and its government and armies moved to Chongqing. Both sides lost many soldiers in the battle, with the Chinese losing up to 500,000 soldiers killed or hurt, and the Japanese up to 200,000.

Yellow River flood

1939–1941: Stalemate

Chinese counter-offensives

By 1939, the Nationalist army had moved to the southwest and northwest of China and the Japanese controlled the coastal cities that had been centers of Nationalist power. From 1939 to 1945, China was split into three parts: Japanese-occupied areas (Lunxianqu), the Nationalist-controlled area (Guotongqu), and the Communist-controlled areas (Jiefangqu, or liberated areas). During this time, the main Chinese goal was to drag out the war as long as possible to wear out Japanese resources while building up China's military. American general Joseph Stilwell called this strategy "winning by outlasting".

From early 1939, the war entered a new phase with the unexpected defeat of the Japanese at the Battle of Suixian–Zaoyang and First Battle of Changsha. General Ma Biao also led Hui, Salar and Dongxiang cavalry to defeat the Japanese at the Battle of Huaiyang in the summer of 1939. In 1939, Mao Zedong wrote The Greatest Crisis under Current Conditions, calling for more active resistance against Japan and for strengthening the Second United Front. The Chinese started their first large-scale counter-offensive against the IJA in December 1939; however, because of its weak industry and lack of experience in modern war, this attack failed. After this, Chiang could not risk more big attacks because his armies were poorly trained, badly equipped, and disorganized, and he faced opposition from within the Kuomintang and in China. He had lost many of his best troops in the Battle of Shanghai and sometimes could not control his generals, who had much freedom from the central KMT government.

After 1940, the Japanese had big problems controlling and guarding the areas they took, and tried to solve their problems by creating friendly puppet governments loyal to Japan in the areas they took. This included the regime led by Wang Jingwei, one of Chiang's rivals in the KMT. However, atrocities by the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as Japan's refusal to give any real power, made the puppets very unpopular and mostly ineffective. The only success the Japanese had was to recruit a large Collaborationist Chinese Army to keep order in the taken areas. By 1941, Japan occupied most of the eastern coastal areas of China and Vietnam, though guerrilla fighting continued there. Japan suffered heavy losses from the unexpectedly strong Chinese resistance, and neither side could make quick progress like Nazi Germany in western Europe.

By 1943, Guangdong had a famine. As the situation got worse, Chinese in New York got a letter saying that 600,000 people died in Siyi from hunger. Local Chinese resistance forces, organized separately by both the CCP and the KMT, kept fighting in taken areas to make Japanese control of China hard. In 1940, the Chinese Red Army started a major attack in north China, destroying railways and a big coal mine.

Three Alls Policy

Main article: Three Alls Policy

Japan had taken much of north and coastal China by the end of 1941, but the KMT central government and military had moved to the western interior to keep fighting, while the Chinese communists stayed in control of base areas in Shaanxi. From 1941 to 1942, Japan focused most of its forces in China to defeat the CCP bases behind its lines. To reduce the Communists' people and supplies, the Japanese military used the Three Alls Policy ("Kill all, loot all, burn all").

Following this policy, Japanese forces did mass killings, took people away, and raped many across North and Central China. They destroyed many villages, used poison gas, and forced starvation in the countryside. These actions killed millions of Chinese people, but had little effect on guerrilla activity. These destructive attacks continued until March 1945.

Collapse of the United Front

Main article: Second United Front

After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Chinese public opinion strongly criticized Manchuria's leader, the "young marshal" Zhang Xueliang, for not fighting the Japanese invasion, even though the Kuomintang central government was also responsible for this policy, giving Zhang an order to improvise while not giving support. After losing Manchuria to the Japanese, Zhang and his Northeast Army were told to fight the Red Army in Shaanxi after their Long March. This led to many losses for his Northeast Army, which got no help from Chiang Kai-shek. In the Xi'an Incident on December 12, 1936, Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an, hoping to end the KMT–CCP fight. Joseph Stalin, who saw Chiang Kai-Shek as key to defending his eastern borders, forced the CCP to talk with the KMT. To get Chiang released, the KMT agreed to a temporary ceasefire with the Communists.

On December 24, the two sides agreed to a United Front against Japan. The beleaguered Communists, who agreed to form the New Fourth Army and the 8th Route Army under the nominal control of the NRA. Also, Shaan-Gan-Ning and Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border regions were made, under CCP control. In Shaan-Gan-Ning, Communists in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Base Area started opium production, taxed it, and sold it—including to Japanese-occupied and KMT-controlled areas. The Red Army fought with KMT forces during the Battle of Taiyuan, and the high point of their teamwork was in 1938 during the Battle of Wuhan. The united front gave the CCP more legitimacy, but the central government did not say how much help it would give the communists. When talks with the CCP did not make the Soviet Union fight Japan, the KMT stopped helping the Communists. To make themselves more legitimate, Communist forces fought the Japanese early on. These attacks weakened Japanese forces in Shanxi and other northern areas.

Mao Zedong did not trust Chiang Kai-shek, however, and changed to guerrilla warfare to keep the CCP's military strong. Despite Japan's steady gains in northern China, the coast, and the rich Yangtze River Valley in central China, the distrust between the two was clear. The uneasy partnership started to break down by late 1938, partly because the Communists tried hard to grow their military by taking in Chinese guerrilla forces behind Japanese lines. Chinese militia who would not switch to the CCP were called "collaborators" and attacked by CCP forces. For example, the Red Army led by He Long attacked and destroyed a brigade of Chinese militia led by Zhang Yin-wu in Hebei in June 1939. Starting in 1940, open fighting between Nationalists and Communists became more common in the taken areas outside Japanese control, leading to the New Fourth Army Incident in January 1941.

After this, the Second United Front fully broke down and Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong started the plan for the CCP to eventually take power from Chiang Kai-shek. Mao talked about the "721" policy, saying "We are fighting 70 percent for self development, 20 percent for compromise, and 10 percent against Japan". Mao began his final push to consolidate CCP power under him, and his ideas became the central parts of CCP teaching that were later called Mao Zedong Thought. The Communists also focused most of their energy on building their influence wherever they could, mainly through rural groups, administration, land and tax changes helping poor peasants; while the Nationalists tried to stop the spread of Communist influence by military blockade of areas controlled by CCP and fighting the Japanese at the same time. In April 1941, Soviet aid to China stopped with the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact. The CCP said the pact was "a big win for Soviet diplomacy" and "was good for liberation across China."

Northwest resistance

Japan tried to get Chinese ethnic groups to join them against the Han Chinese, but only succeeded with some Manchu, Mongol, Uyghur, and Tibetan people. The Japanese try to get the Muslim Hui people to join them failed, as many Chinese generals such as Bai Chongxi, Ma Hongbin, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Bufang were Hui. The Japanese tried to talk to Ma Bufang but failed. Ma Bufang supported the anti-Japanese Imam Hu Songshan, who prayed for the destruction of the Japanese.

Ma became chairman (governor) of Qinghai in 1938 and led a group army. He was appointed because of his anti-Japanese views, and was such a problem to Japanese agents trying to contact the Tibetans that he was called an "adversary" by a Japanese agent. During the attack, Hui forces in Suiyuan under generals Ma Hongbin and Ma Buqing defeated the Imperial Japanese Army and their puppet Inner Mongol forces and stopped the planned Japanese move into northwest China. Ma Hongbin's father Ma Fulu had fought the Japanese in the Boxer Rebellion. Many Hui fought the Japanese such as Bai Chongxi, Ma Hongbin, Ma Hongkui, Ma Bufang, Ma Zhanshan, Ma Biao, Ma Zhongying, Ma Buqing and Ma Hushan.

Qinghai Tibetans served in the Qinghai army against the Japanese. The Qinghai Tibetans see the Tibetans of Central Tibet (Tibet proper, ruled by the Dalai Lamas from Lhasa) as different and even pride themselves on not being ruled by Lhasa since the fall of the Tibetan Empire. Xining was bombed by Japanese planes in 1941, making all ethnicities in Qinghai unite against the Japanese. General Han Youwen defended the city of Xining during air raids by Japanese planes.

Han survived a bombing by Japanese planes in Xining while being directed by phone by Ma Bufang, who hid in an air-raid shelter in a military base. The bombing left Han buried in rubble, but he was later rescued. John Scott reported in 1934 that there was both strong anti-Japanese feeling and anti-Bolshevik among the Muslims of Gansu and he mentioned the Muslim generals Ma Fuxiang, Ma Qi, Ma Anliang and Ma Bufang who was chairman of Qinghai province when he stayed in Xining.

1942–1943: Allied entry

Further information: Pacific War

Embargoes

Japan hoped to gain economic benefits from its invasions of China and elsewhere, including fuel and raw materials. However, as Japan kept attacking, the United States put trade bans on many goods, including oil and petroleum (starting December 1939) and scrap iron and weapons (starting July 1940). The United States wanted Japan to leave China and also did not recognize Japan's control of the Indochinese countries. In spring 1941, trade talks between the United States and Japan failed. In July 1941, the United States froze Japanese money and got Dutch and British agreement to also stop their oil sales to Japan. This led Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. The United States embargoed Japan in 1941 cut off oil and other resources Japan needed to keep fighting in China. This pressure, meant to make Japan stop the war and negotiate, led to the Attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan's move south to take resources from European colonies in Southeast Asia by force. After Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan, and soon China joined the Allies in formally declaring war on Japan, Germany and Italy. As the Western Allies joined the war against Japan, the Sino-Japanese War became part of a bigger conflict, the Pacific theatre of World War II. Japan's attack on the United States also limited its ability to keep attacking in China.

Foreign aid

After the Lend-Lease Act passed in 1941, American money and military help started to arrive slowly. Claire Lee Chennault led the 1st American Volunteer Group (called the Flying Tigers), with American pilots flying American planes painted with the Chinese flag to attack the Japanese. He led both the volunteer group and the uniformed U.S. Army Air Forces units that replaced it in 1942.

But it was the Soviets who gave the most help to China from 1937 to 1941, with fighter planes for the Nationalist Chinese Air Force and guns and tanks for the Chinese Army through the Sino-Soviet Treaty; Operation Zet also sent a group of Soviet volunteer pilots to join the Chinese Air Force in fighting the Japanese from late 1937 to 1939. Soon after, Chinese troops won another big victory at the Battle of Changsha, which gave the Chinese government prestige with the Western Allies. China was one of the "Big Four" Allied Powers during the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union and China the world's "Four Policemen"; his main reason for giving China this status was the belief that after the war it would be a strong force against the Soviet Union.

Tensions with Allied commanders

Chiang was named Allied commander-in-chief in the China theatre in 1942. American general Joseph Stilwell served for a time as Chiang's chief of staff, while also leading American forces in the China-Burma-India Theater. For many reasons, the relationship between Stilwell and Chiang broke down. Some historians (such as Barbara W. Tuchman) think it was mainly because of the corruption and problems of the Kuomintang government, while others (such as Ray Huang and Hans van de Ven) think it was more complicated.

Stilwell strongly wanted to take full control of Chinese troops and use an aggressive strategy, while Chiang preferred a careful and less costly strategy of waiting out the Japanese. Chiang kept a defensive position despite Allied requests to actively break the Japanese blockade, because China had already lost tens of millions of people in the war and believed Japan would eventually give up because of America's huge industrial power. For these reasons, the other Allies slowly lost trust in China's ability to attack from the Asian mainland, and instead focused their efforts against Japan in the Pacific Ocean Areas and South West Pacific Area, using an island hopping strategy. Long-standing differences in national interests and political views between China, the United States, and the United Kingdom remained.

Burma campaign

Main article: Burma campaign

Chiang Kai-shek kept getting supplies from the United States. However, unlike the Arctic supply route to the Soviet Union which stayed open most of the war, sea routes to China and the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway had been closed since 1940. So, between the closing of the Burma Road in 1942 and its reopening as the Ledo Road in 1945, foreign aid was mostly limited to what could be flown over "The Hump". In Burma, on April 16, 1942, 7,000 British soldiers were surrounded by the Japanese 33rd Division during the Battle of Yenangyaung and saved by the Chinese 38th Division. Chinese forces moved to northern Burma in late 1943, surrounded Japanese troops in Myitkyina, and captured Mount Song.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was not willing to use British troops, many of whom had been defeated by the Japanese in earlier battles, to reopen the Burma Road; Stilwell, on the other hand, thought reopening the road was vital, as all China's mainland ports were under Japanese control. The Allies' "Europe first" policy did not please Chiang, while the later British demand 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 soldiers to protect British colonies. Chiang also believed China should send its best troops from Burma to eastern China to protect the airbases of the American bombers he hoped would defeat Japan by bombing, a strategy that American general Claire Lee Chennault supported but which Stilwell strongly opposed. Also, Chiang supported the Indian independence movement in a 1942 meeting with Mohandas Gandhi, which further hurt the relationship between China and the United Kingdom.

Most of China's industry had already been taken or destroyed by Japan, and the Soviet Union refused to let the United States supply China through Kazakhstan into Xinjiang because the Xinjiang warlord Sheng Shicai had turned against the Soviets in 1942 with Chiang's approval. For these reasons, the Chinese government never had the supplies and equipment to launch big attacks. Despite the serious lack of materials, in 1943, the Chinese successfully beat back major Japanese attacks in Hubei and Changde.

Indochina resistance

Main article: French Indochina in World War II

The Chinese Kuomintang also helped the Vietnamese Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng (VNQDD) fight against French and Japanese rule. In Guangxi, Chinese leaders organized Vietnamese nationalists against the Japanese. The VNQDD was active in Guangxi and some of its members joined the KMT army. Under KMT activities, a broad group of nationalists formed. With Ho at the front, the Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi (Vietnamese Independence League, usually called the Viet Minh) was created and based in the town of Jingxi. The pro-VNQDD nationalist Ho Ngoc Lam, a KMT army officer and former student of Phan Bội Châu, was named deputy of Phạm Văn Đồng, later Ho's Prime Minister. The front was later made bigger and renamed the Viet Nam Giai Phong Dong Minh (Vietnam Liberation League).

The Viet Nam Revolutionary League was a group of different Vietnamese nationalist groups, led by the pro Chinese VNQDD. Chinese KMT General Zhang Fakui created the league to increase Chinese influence in Indochina, against the French and Japanese. Its goal was unity with China under the Three Principles of the People created by KMT founder Dr. Sun and fight against Japanese and French rulers. The Revolutionary League was controlled by Nguyen Hai Than, who was born in China and could not speak Vietnamese. General Zhang wisely kept the Communists of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh from joining the league, as Zhang's main goal was Chinese influence in Indochina. The KMT used these Vietnamese nationalists during World War II against Japanese forces.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, through General Stilwell, privately told Chiang Kai-shek that they did not want France to get French Indochina (modern Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos) back after the war. Roosevelt offered Chiang Kai-shek control of all of Indochina. It is 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 take the surrender of Japanese forces there, and stayed until 1946 when the French returned. The Chinese used the VNQDD, the Vietnamese branch of the Chinese Kuomintang, to increase their influence in French Indochina and put pressure on their opponents. Chiang Kai-shek threatened war with France to make them make peace. In February 1946, he also made the French give up all their concessions in China and give up their special rights in exchange for the Chinese leaving northern Indochina and letting French troops return. After France agreed to these demands, the Chinese troops left in March 1946.

Aerial bombardment

Further information: Bombing of Chongqing

As Japanese losses and costs grew, the Imperial General Headquarters tried to break Chinese resistance by ordering the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service to start the war's first big air attacks on civilian areas. Japanese planes hit the Kuomintang's new provisional capital of Chongqing and most other big cities in free China, leaving many people dead, hurt, or with no home.

After the Doolittle Raid, the Imperial Japanese Army started a big attack through Zhejiang and Jiangxi, now called the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign, to find the remaining American airmen, punish the Chinese who helped them and destroy air bases. The attack started May 15, 1942, with 40 infantry groups and 15–16 artillery groups but was stopped by Chinese forces in September.

During this attack, the Imperial Japanese Army left a path of destruction and spread cholera, typhoid, plague and dysentery diseases. Chinese reports say that up to 250,000 civilians, mostly poor Tanka boat people and other groups who could not escape, may have died from disease. The attack made more than 16 million civilians move deep into China to escape. About 90% of Ningbo's people had already left before the battle started.

1944: Renewed offensives

Operation Ichi-Go

Main article: Operation Ichi-Go

In 1944, the Communists started attacks from the free areas against Japanese forces. Japan's 1944 Operation Ichi-Go was the biggest military operation of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The operation used 500,000 Japanese soldiers, 100,000 horses, 1,500 guns, and 800 tanks. Japanese forces moved along Chinese railways and attacked American airfields. Chinese armies were badly supplied and not ready, and lost 300,000 soldiers and large areas of land.

In late November 1944, the Japanese advance slowed about 300 miles from Chongqing because of shortages of trained soldiers and supplies. Although Operation Ichi-Go achieved its goals of taking United States air bases and creating a possible railway link from Manchukuo to Hanoi, it happened too late to change the war's result. American bombers in Chengdu were moved to the Mariana Islands where, with bombers from Saipan and Tinian, they could still bomb Japan's home islands.

The poor performance of Chiang Kai-shek's forces against the Japanese attack during Operation Ichi-Go was widely seen as showing Chiang's weakness. It seriously hurt the Roosevelt administration's view of Chiang and the KMT. The attack also weakened the Nationalist economy and government money. Because the Nationalists could not afford the military, they ignored army theft and smuggling. The Nationalist army started taking people from villages by force to join the army and march them to their units. About 10% of these people died before reaching their units.

After Operation Ichi-Go, Chiang Kai-shek started a plan to move Chinese troops from the Burma theatre against Japan in Southeast Asia for a counter attack called "White Tower" and "Iceman" against Japanese soldiers in China in 1945. By the end of 1944, Chinese troops under Sun Li-jen attacking from India, and those under Wei Lihuang attacking from Yunnan, joined in Mong-Yu, successfully pushing the Japanese out of North Burma and securing the Ledo Road, China's main supply route. In the spring of 1945 the Chinese started attacks that took back Hunan and Guangxi. With the Chinese army getting better at training and equipment, Wedemeyer planned Operation Carbonado for summer 1945 to take Guangdong, getting a sea port, and from there move north toward Shanghai. However, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Soviet invasion of Manchuria made Japan surrender before these plans could start.

Ili Rebellion

Main article: Ili Rebellion

As the war continued, Nationalist General Ma Buqing controlled the Gansu area. Ma had fought the Japanese before, but because the Soviet threat was big, Chiang in July 1942 told him to move 30,000 of his soldiers to the Tsaidam marsh in the Qaidam Basin of Qinghai. Chiang also named Ma Reclamation Commissioner to threaten Sheng's southern side in Xinjiang, which bordered Tsaidam.

The Ili Rebellion started in Xinjiang when the Kuomintang Hui Officer Liu Bin-Di was killed while fighting Turkic Uyghur rebels in November 1944. The Soviet Union helped the Turkic rebels against the Kuomintang, and Kuomintang forces fought back.

1945: Conclusion

Japanese surrender

Main article: Surrender of Japan

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan often won battles but could not win the war. Although it took most of China's industry, occupied major cities, and rarely lost a battle, occupying China cost Japan a lot. Japan lost about 50,000 soldiers each year and 200,000 wounded each year.

In less than two weeks the Kwantung Army, Japan's main fighting force, with over a million men but lacking good tanks, guns, or air support, was destroyed by the Soviets. Japanese Emperor Hirohito officially gave up to the Allies on August 15, 1945. The official surrender was signed on the battleship USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, with several Allied leaders including Chinese general Hsu Yung-chang present.

After the Allied win in the Pacific, General Douglas MacArthur told all Japanese forces in China (except Manchuria), Taiwan and French Indochina north of 16° north to give up to Chiang Kai-shek, and the Japanese troops in China surrendered on September 9, 1945, at 9:00 am. The ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month was chosen to match the Armistice of 11 November 1918 (on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) and because "nine" (九 jiǔ) sounds like the word for "long lasting" in Chinese (to suggest that the peace would last forever).

Chiang used American help to move Nationalist troops to take back areas that had been under Japanese control. Non-Chinese thought these troops acted in ways that hurt Nationalist legitimacy, and these troops did bad things and stole, leading to many people thinking the liberation was done badly. The Nationalist government took Japanese-held businesses when Japan gave up. The Nationalist government did not try hard to give these businesses back to their original Chinese owners. A way existed for Chinese and foreign owners to ask for their property back. In practice, the Nationalist government and its leaders kept much of the taken property and stealing property, especially from warehouses, was common. Nationalist leaders sometimes forced money from people in freed areas by threatening to call them Japanese supporters. Chiang focused on fighting communists, so he left Japanese troops or troops of the Japanese puppet governments to stay in place in taken areas to avoid them giving up to Communist forces.

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Tactics

The Chinese forces used clever tactics to fight back against the Japanese. They would lead the Japanese into traps where they could be ambushed. One famous example was the defense of Changsha in 1939 and again in 1941.

During the war, both sides used risky tactics. Sadly, the Japanese used harmful weapons that hurt many people. These actions caused a lot of suffering.

Economy

Chinese Industrial Cooperatives

Main article: Chinese Industrial Cooperatives

Further information: History of the cooperative movement in China and Gung Ho

The Second Sino-Japanese War caused big problems for China's economy. A major city, Shanghai, was a key place for trade and industry. When the fighting began there in 1937, it made it hard for China to make and sell goods.

To help, China started smaller groups called Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (CIC) in 1937. These groups set up small factories in safer towns. They made things needed for the war and gave jobs to people who had to leave their homes.

Many people supported the CIC, but it was hard to build as many as planned. The goal was to create 30,000 small factories, but only about 2,000 were built. The name "Gung Ho" came from a misunderstanding of Chinese words for these groups, and it became a popular phrase meaning "work together."

Foreign aid

Further information: Japanese in the Chinese resistance to the Empire of Japan

Before the Second Sino-Japanese War, Germany helped China by giving it equipment and training, including air-combat training. Several countries, including the United States, Italy, and Japan, also gave training and equipment to China’s air force units before the war.

When the war began between China and Japan, the Soviet Union became China’s main supporter through the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact from 1937 to 1941.

Overseas Chinese

Over 3,200 overseas Chinese drivers and mechanics went to China to help with the military and supply lines, especially through Indo-China. This became important when Japan cut off ocean access to China’s interior.

Overseas Chinese communities in the U.S. raised money and supported talent to help China. They helped fund a squadron of Boeing P-26 fighter planes for the war. Over a dozen Chinese-American pilots joined the Chinese air forces to fight against Japan.

Korea

The exiled Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea based in Chongqing worked with Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist Army against Japan. They formed the Korean Liberation Army to fight Japan in China.

Germany

Further information: China–Germany relations (1913–1941)

Before the war, Germany and China worked closely together economically and militarily. Germany helped China modernize its industry and military in exchange for raw materials. Germany sent military advisers to China to help reform its armed forces.

After Japan took Nanjing and China retreated, Germany decided to stop supporting China in 1938 and instead allied with Japan.

Soviet Union

After Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, the Soviet Union wanted to keep China fighting to prevent a Japanese invasion of Siberia. In 1937, they signed the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact and formed a secret Soviet volunteer air force. They provided bombers, fighters, supplies, and advisors.

The Soviet Union provided the most foreign aid to China before the Western Allies. They defeated Japan in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol in 1939.

In 1941, Soviet aid to China ended with the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact and the start of the Great Patriotic War. In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded parts of Japan’s occupied areas and continued to support the Chinese Communist Party.

United Kingdom

Further information: Mission 204 and British Army Aid Group

After some tensions, Britain began to support China during the war. The British public felt strongly for China after a Japanese attack on a car carrying a British official.

Britain sent some unassembled Gloster Gladiator fighters to China through Hong Kong. Britain shipped weapons to China each month through Hong Kong.

When Japan took Hong Kong in 1941, the British Army Aid Group was formed to help prisoners of war escape from Japanese camps. They also gathered information, gave medical help, and supported Chinese civilians and soldiers.

A British-Australian commando operation called Mission 204 was created to train Chinese guerrilla troops. The mission helped Chinese forces fight Japan successfully before ending in 1944.

After Japan blocked the Burma Road in 1942, most supplies to China had to be flown over the Himalayas, known as “The Hump.” Flying over the Himalayas was very dangerous, but the airlift continued until August 1945.

United States

Pre-war trade and neutrality

The United States mostly stayed neutral between Japan and China until 1940, giving little help to China. From December 1937, events turned Western public opinion sharply against Japan. This led the United States, the United Kingdom, and France to give loan assistance for war supplies to China. Australia also stopped Japan from taking an iron mine and banned iron ore exports in 1938.

Indochina and the oil embargo

Japan invaded parts of French Indochina in 1940 to stop China from getting supplies. In July 1941, Japan moved into southern French Indochina, which threatened British and Dutch colonies. In response, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands put an oil embargo on Japan on July 26, 1941. Losing oil imports made it hard for Japan to keep fighting in China, leading to Japan’s attacks on the Allies, including Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Military volunteers and aid

Further information: American Volunteer Group, Flying Tigers, and China Air Task Force

In mid-1941, the United States created the American Volunteer Groups (AVG), including the “Flying Tigers,” to help China. They began fighting after the U.S. declared war on Japan. The Flying Tigers were successful in their early battles, shooting down many Japanese planes with their heavily armed Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters.

There were disagreements between the United States and China, and within the U.S. military, about how to give aid.

Intelligence and covert operations

The Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO) was created in 1942 by a treaty between China and the United States. It gathered intelligence against Japan together with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), America’s first intelligence agency. SACO worked closely with Chinese forces, training them and helping with weather forecasting, scouting landing areas, rescuing downed American pilots, and intercepting Japanese radio messages.

One of SACO’s goals was to prepare China’s coast for possible Allied attacks on Japan. American and Canadian-born Chinese were recruited to work secretly in Japanese-occupied China, using their appearance to blend in and sabotage Japanese supply lines.

Casualties

The Second Sino-Japanese War lasted from July 1937 to September 1945. It was a long and difficult conflict. Many people lost their lives during this war.

In China, many people died, including soldiers and civilians. The war also caused many people to become refugees, forcing them to leave their homes.

Japan also suffered losses during the war. Some Japanese soldiers were wounded, and others died.

The war had a deep impact on both countries.

Aftermath

Resumption of the Chinese Civil War

Main article: Chinese Civil War

In 1945, China ended the war but was very weak. The long and costly war, along with inner fighting, hurt the country's money and economy. Many farms were destroyed, causing hunger. Cities were damaged, and many people lost their homes.

The Nationalist government was seen as not doing well. After the war, the Soviet Union took much machinery from areas they controlled, making it harder for China to rebuild.

During this time, the Communist group grew stronger. They helped poor farmers and gave them land. Soon after, fighting began again between the Nationalists and the Communists. This led to the Communists taking control of most of China in 1949, while the Nationalists moved to Taiwan.

Stranded populations

Many Japanese women who had been sent to live in China were left behind after the war. Most of these women were young and had to decide whether to stay or return to Japan. Some chose to stay because they had married Chinese men and started families.

Some women from Korea who had been brought to China by the Japanese during the war also stayed behind. They had faced very hard times. Many married Chinese men and began new lives.

Legacy

Commemorations

Main article: Victory over Japan Day

Further information: Victory over Japan Day (China) and Victory Day (United States)

Different countries remember the end of World War II on different days. China celebrates on September 3, the day Japan officially surrendered. Japan marks August 15, the day its emperor announced the surrender.

China holds yearly events on September 3 to honor the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. These events help people remember the war and bring the nation together.

Controversy over historical revisionism

Further information: Controversies surrounding Yasukuni Shrine

Japan has a national memorial on August 15. Many Japanese visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which causes tension with China and South Korea. Some in Japan deny parts of their history, which creates problems between countries.

The war still affects relations between Japan and China. While many Japanese acknowledge their country's past mistakes, some still deny them. This has led to disagreements, especially about school textbooks.

Political status of Taiwan

Main article: Political status of Taiwan

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Taiwan was a Japanese colony and used as a base for attacks. After the war, Taiwan came under the control of the Republic of China government. However, there is still debate about who truly owns Taiwan, and this continues today.

Traditionally, the Republic of China government celebrated events related to the war. But after a change in leadership, these celebrations stopped for a while. When the original party returned to power, the celebrations started again.