WAR IN CHINA
Background to the Second Sino-Japanese War -- World War II
Very Simple Overview for Kids (click here).
First Sino-Japanese War
- 1894-1895
- China, under the Qing Dynasty, was defeated by Japan.
- China had to give what is now Taiwan to Japan.
- Founded in 1912, following the Xinhai Revolution which overthrew the Qing Dynasty.
- The Republic gave into regional warlords which led to chaos and foreign involvement.
- 1915, Japan issued 21 demands to further extort China.
- This as well as Japanese involvement with Germany, resulted in nation-wide protests, but China had a weak, fractionalized government which did not allow for them to push out foreign powers.
- The Kuomintag (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) launched the Northern Expedition (1926-28) with the help of the Soviet Union.
- 1928, The National Revolutionary Army had a brief military conflict with the Imperial Japanese Army which resulted in The NRA’s withdrawal from Jinian.
- 1928, Zhang Zuolin was assassinated for not cooperating with Japan. Zuolin’s son took over and declared his allegiance to the NRA, which led to a tentative unification of China in 1928.
- 1930, civil war between warlords broke out.
- The Chinese Communists (CCP, Communist Part of China) revolted by killing its members in the NRA.
- This Civil War continued during China's war with Japan.
- China was in complete chaos, which allowed for Japan expansionism.
- Japan invaded Manchuria.
- 1932, fought a battle known as the January 28 Incident resulted in demilitarization of Shanghai.
- Japan increasingly used internal Chinese conflict to their advantage.
- July 7, 1937, Chinese and Japanese troops fired at each other by the Lugou bridge, a critical access route to Beijing.
- Turned into a full-scale battle
War
- War continued between China and Japan. Both sides suffered casualties, and Japan met more resistance than they expected.
- The war caused tensions between the Nationalists and Communists to bubble to the surface. The Chinese public was critical of Zhang Xueliang, the leader of Manchuria and a Nationalist.
- Zhang kidnapped the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The terms of the leader's release was that the two temporarily end the Chinese Civil War and unite against Japan.
- The United Front only achieved marginal success. Ultimately, it was too difficult for the two factions to work together. Historians differ about who ambushed who, but the two sides did engage in conflict which distracted from the goal of expelling the Japanese.
- The breakdown of the United Front led to Mao Zedong creating his plan to take over China.
- The communists were formalizing "Mao Zedong Thought" and focusing on their sphere of influence, mainly in rural areas and helping peasants. Meanwhile, the Nationalists tried to blockade the CCP while also fighting the Japanese.
Enter, the West
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Aftermath of WWII, Rise of Chinese Communists
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- The Chinese Civil War broke out between the Nationalists and the Communists, and concluded with a Communist victory in mainland China and a Nationalist retreat to Taiwan in 1949.
- The legal status of Taiwan is confused to this day.
Casualties
- Military and Civilian: approx. 20 million, 15 million wounded
- NRA killed and wounded: 3.2 million
- Communist killed and wounded: 500,000