Background of the Second Sino-Japanese War

Background of the Second Sino-Japanese War

 The origin of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced to the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, in which China, then under the Qing Dynasty, was defeated by Japan and was made to cede Taiwan to her, and to recognize the 'independence' of Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The Qing Dynasty was on the brink of collapse from internal revolts and foreign imperialism, while Japan had emerged as a great power through its effective measures of modernization. The Republic of China was founded in 1912, following the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty. However, the nascent Republic was even weaker than its predecessor due to the predominance of Chinese warlords. Unifying the nation and repelling imperialism appeared a remote possibility. Some warlords even aligned themselves with various foreign powers in an work to wipe each other out. For example, warlord Zhang Zuolin of Manchuria openly cooperated with the Japanese for military and economic assistance.

 In 1915, Japan issued the Twenty-One Demands to extort further political & commercial privilege from China. Following World War I, Japan acquired the Italian sphere of influence in Shandong, leading to nationwide anti-Japanese protests & mass demonstrations in China, but China under the Beiyang government remained fragmented & unable to resist foreign incursions. In order to unite China & eradicate regional warlords, the Kuomintang (KMT, or Chinese Nationalist Party) in Canton launched the Northern Expedition of 1926-28. The Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) swept through China until it was checked in Shandong, where Beiyang warlord Zhang Zongchang, backed by the Japanese, tried to cease the NRA's advance. This battle culminated in the Jinan Incident of 1928 in which the National Revolutionary Army & the Imperial Japanese Army were engaged in a short conflict that resulted in Kuomintang's withdrawal from Jinan. In the same year, Zhang Zuolin was assassinated when he became less willing to cooperate with Japan. Afterwards Zhang's son Zhang Xueliang quickly took over control of Manchuria, & 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 finish of 1928.

However in 1930, a large scale civil war broke out between warlords who fought in alliance with Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition and 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 from the KMT in 1927. Therefore the Chinese central government diverted much attention into fighting these civil wars and followed a policy of "first internal pacification before external resistance"

Chinese Resistance Strategy in the Second Sino-Japanese War

 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 & had tiny military-industrial strength, no mechanized divisions, & few armored 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 government was mired in a civil war against the Communists, as Chiang Kai-shek was famously quoted: "the Japanese are a disease of the skin, the Communists are a disease of the heart". The United Front between KMT & CCP was seldom truly unified, as each side was preparing for a showdown with the other one time the Japanese were driven out.

 Even under these unfavorable circumstances, Chiang realized that in order to win the support from the United States & other foreign nations, China must show that it was indeed able to fighting. A fast retreat would discourage foreign aid so Chiang decided to make a stand in the Battle of Shanghai. Chiang sent the best of his German-trained divisions to defend China's largest & most industrialized city from the Japanese. The battle lasted over months, saw heavy casualties on both sides & ended with a Chinese retreat towards Nanjing. While this was a military defeat for the Chinese, it proved that China would not be defeated basically & showed China's determination to the world, which became a giant morale booster for the Chinese people as it ended the Japanese taunt that Japan could conquer Shanghai in days & China in months.

 Afterwards the Chinese began to adopt the strategy of "trading space for time" (Chinese: ). The Chinese army would put up fights to delay Japanese advance to northern and eastern cities, to allow the home front, along with its professionals and key industries, to retreat west into Chongqing. As a result of Chinese troops' scorched earth strategies, where dams and levees were intentionally sabotaged to create massive flooding, the consecutive Japanese advancements and conquests 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 Chinese main objective was to prolong the war as long as possible, exhausting the Japanese resources and building up the Chinese military capacity. American general Joseph Stilwell called this strategy "winning by outlasting". Therefore, 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 is the successful defense of Changsha in 1939 and again in 1941 while inflicting heavy casualties on the IJA.

 Also, CCP and other local Chinese guerrillas forces continued their resistance in occupied areas to pester the enemy and make their administration over the vast lands of China difficult. In 1940 the Chinese Red Army launched a major offensive in north China, destroyed railways and blew up 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) . It was during this time period that the bulk of Japanese atrocities were committed.

By 1941, Japan had occupied much of north and coastal China, but the Kuomintang central government and military had successfully retreated to the western interior to continue their stubborn resistance, while the Chinese communists remained in control of base areas in Shaanxi. Furthermore, in the occupied areas Japanese control was limited to just railroads and major cities ("points and lines"), but they did not have a major military or administrative presence in the vast Chinese countryside, which was a hotbed of Chinese partisan activities. This stalemate situation made a decisive victory seem impossible to the Japanese.

Relationship between the Nationalists and Communists in the Second Sino-Japanese War

 After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Chinese public opinion strongly criticized the leader of Manchuria, the "young marshal" Zhang Xueliang, for his nonresistance to the Japanese invasion, although the Kuomintang central government was indirectly responsible for this owner. Afterwards Chiang Kai-shek assigned Zhang & his Northeast Army 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, & Chiang Kai-shek did not give him any support in manpower & weaponry

On 12 December 1936 a deeply disgruntled Zhang Xueliang decided to conspire with the CCP & kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an to force an finish to the conflict between KMT & CCP. In order to secure the release of Chiang, the KMT was made to agree to a temporary finish to the Chinese Civil War & the forming of a United Front between the CCP & KMT against Japan on 24 December 1936. The cooperation took place with salutary effects for the beleaguered CCP, & they agreed to form the New Fourth Army & the 8th Route Army which were nominally under the command of the National Revolutionary Army. The Red Army of CCP fought in alliance with the KMT forces in the coursework of the Battle of Taiyuan, & the high point of their cooperation came in 1938 in the coursework of the Battle of Wuhan.

However, despite Japan's steady territorial gains in northern China, the coastal regions, & the rich Yangtze River Valley in central China, the mistrust between the antagonists was veiled. The uneasy alliance began to break down by late 1938 because of the Communists efforts to aggressively expand their military strength through absorbing Chinese guerrilla forces behind enemy lines. For Chinese militia who refuse to switch their allegiance, the CCP would call them "collaborators" & then assault to eliminate their forces. For example, the Red Army led by He Long attacked & wiped out a brigade of Chinese militia led by Zhang Yin-wu in Hebei in June, 1939. Beginning in 1940, open conflicts between the Nationalists & Communists became more frequent in the occupied areas outside of Japanese control, culminating in the New Fourth Army Incident in January 1941.

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