The Second Sino-Japanese War has its roots in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, when the Qing Dynasty ruled China ( the ruling dynasty was facing many Internal Revolts ).
The cause of the Conflict was who would control the Korean Peninsula ( a small country located between China and Japan ) In this war Japan defeated the Chinese Forces and took control of the Korean Peninsula Which remained under its control until the end of World War II in 1945 And Japan also controlled as a result of that war the Chinese islands of Diawii and the island of Taiwan ( Formosa ) In addition to that, Japan annexed the Diaoyudao / Senkaku Islands in early 1895 as a result of its victory in the Sino-Japanese War I Japan Emerged as a Superpower.
Japan's Occupation Of The Chinese City Of Shandong
After the overthrow of the Monarchy in China and the proclamation of the Republic in 1912 China plunged into Turmoil and Chaos and submitted to Warlords Japan took advantage of the Turbulent Chinese situation and sought to support some of China's warlords For example Zhang Zulin of Manchuria Where he openly collaborated with the Japanese and asked them for military and economic assistance.
In 1915, Japan sent China twenty-one demands for more Political and Commercial Privileges And after World War I, Japan took control of the city of Shandong on the BohaiBay and the Yellow Sea ( China Sea ) - leading to Demonstrations in China against Japan.
Chinese National Army Attempt To Retake Shandong
The Chinese National Army of the Kuomintang Party attempted to retake Shandong from Japan in 1928 But this attempt failed as the Japanese managed to defeat the Chinese National Army Resulting in the deaths of more than a thousand Chinese Civilians in what was known as the "Jinan Incident" ( Jinan, the capital of Shandong ).
Warlord and Manchurian ruler Zhang Zulin was assassinated in 1928 when he became less willing to cooperate with Japan After which Shiuiliang Son Of Zhang quickly took control of Manchuria and declared allegiance to the Kuomintang Government headed by Chiang Kai-shek leading to the Nominal Unification of China at the end of 1928.
Japan invades Manchuria in 1931
Taking advantage of China's Preoccupation with the Civil War that had raged between The Chinese Communist Party (represented by the Chinese Red Army) and The Kuomintang (represented by the Chinese National Army) since 1927 Japan decided to Invade Manchuria to obtain Raw Materials and use them as a market for Japanese Manufactured Goods And as a Protective Barrier against the Soviet Union in Siberia.
The Invasion began on the eighteenth of September 1931 under the pretext of Blowing Up the Manchurian Railway (which belonged to Japan) which was accused of Chinese Resistance And after five months of fighting Japan managed to Occupy Manchuria in 1932 and establish a subordinate government known as Manshuku.
As a result of the war Shanghai Bordering Manchuria Was Demilitarized (demilitarized and police-ridden), And Japan took control of Jehul Province and established a DemilitarizedZone between the Great Wall Of China and the Beiping and Tianjin regions.
In 1932, The Council Of The League Of Nations met and condemned Japan's invasion of Manchuria and declared that it did not recognize the Menchuku Government And demanded that Japan withdraw from Manchuria, Japan responded by withdrawing from the League Of Nations in rejection of the decisions taken against it, and by 1936 Japan had completely controlled Northern China.
The Chinese Communist Party ( Chinese Red Army ) united with the Kuomintang ( Chinese National Army ) in late 1936 to confront The Common Enemy: Japan.
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident Triggers The Second Sino - Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War began on the eighth of July 1937 with the incident of the Marco Polo Bridge Where Japanese forces were conducting Military Exercises on the bridge, which is (10.2 km) from the capital Beijing at 2 o'clock that morning.
During the exercises A Japanese Soldier disappeared So Japan accused China of kidnapping him And Japan demanded that the Chinese forces located meters away from it ( affiliated with the ruling party ) ( the Marco Polo Bridge served as a Dividing Line between China and the Territories Occupied by Japan from China ) To enter to search for the missing soldier But the Chinese forces refused to do so And although the soldier returned to his camp hours later, the Chinese and Japanese sides had prepared for War.
At fifty-four minutes of Dawn that day (the eighth of July 1937) The Chinese army opened fire on the Japanese forces present at the Marco Polo Bridge And as a result of the great losses suffered by the Japanese They decided to NegotiateA Ceasefire with the Chinese government And the result was a Verbal Agreement with China that the Chinese would apologize to the Japanese, and the Chinese Government would Pledge to punish those responsible.
The Border Town Of Wanping is also handed over with Japanese forces to the Chinese Civil Police With the Chinese government ( led by the Kuomintang ) pledging to take control of the Chinese Red Army led by the Chinese Communist Party But this Truce did not last long as the Chinese Red Army resumed its attacks ( it was united with the Chinese army but each side resisted Japan in areas where this army was present and invaded by Japan ) against the invading Japanese forces of China on the ninth of July 1937.
The first phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War
With the start of the Second Japan-China War in 1937, the Soviet Union was an obsession with the Japanese ground forces, and the American Fleet in The Pacific Ocean was an obsession for the Japanese Naval Forces as well, and although the Chinese united against the common enemy where the strength of the Chinese army reached one million seven hundred thousand soldiers - Japan's Air Superiority allowed it to achieve victories at the beginning of this war As it was able to control Shanghai and Nanjing by late December. December 1937.
In the meantime, China sought External Support to confront the Japanese invasion, obtaining support from the Soviet Union Where China signed on the twenty-first of August 1937 with the Soviet Union a Non-Aggression Agreement Under which the Soviet Union provided China with munitions, military advisers and hundreds of aircraft with Soviet pilots.
In mid-1938, Japanese armies took control of Guangzhou on October 12, 1938, halting the railway supply line to Wuhan ( the temporary Chinese capital ) And Japan captured Hankou Hanyang and Wushang on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth of October 1938 And the Chinese government and military leadership moved to Chongqing in Sichuan.
By the end of this first phase of the war, the Chinese government had lost a large number of elements of its military, as well as the air force, most of China's Modern Industries and Railwayskey tax Resources And all the outlets through which military equipment and Civilian Supplies could be imported. However, China still held extensive territory And large manpower reserves were unlimited. This has helped China continue its Resistance against Japan.
The second stage of the second Sino-Japanese war
Japan at this point bombed areas that remained outside its control in China, Chongqing suffered repeated air raids in which thousands of civilians were killed, and in 1940 Japan established a government in Nanjing under Wang Qingwei to compete with the Chinese government in Sichuan And in the meantime Hundreds of thousands migrated to western China to continue the Struggle against Japanese occupation, factories and skilled workers were Re-Established in the West As the government rebuilt its Shattered Armies and tried to buy supplies from abroad.
At this stage The Soviet Union extended its loans to China for military Aid of two hundred and fifty million dollars While the United States, Britain and France granted two hundred and sixty-three million five hundred thousand dollars to China.
The situation changed due to the Second World War
World War II began on September 1, 1939, with the Occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany Which had signed A Mutual Defense Agreement with France and Britain, stating that "any aggression against Poland is an aggression against France and Britain together" And after the German invasion of France in the spring of 1940, China's military supplies ceased.
As for the Soviet Union, which was providing aid to China, it was attacked by Nazi Germany in June 1941 And its supplies were interrupted as a result of its preoccupation with the Japanese-German Invasion of its territory Leaving only the United States to help China, which sent a hundred Fighter Jets.
In addition to large quantities of weapons and equipment and a military group to advise on the use of those weapons, the U.S. Strategy was to support China to prevent Japan from advancing southward ( Southern India, Thailand, and the East Indies ) So that Japan would not be close to the U.S. Border.
Taking advantage of the interruption of military supplies to China, Japan took control of North Indochina in September 1940 and closed the supply line to the Chinese City Of Kunming China suffered from high prices and a shortage of goods as a result of war conditions and supply disruptions, which led to Widespread Corruption and Bureaucracy.
While the Chinese Communist Party and its military arm, the Chinese Red Army ( named the Eighth Army during the war with Japan ) worked to win Peasants into its ranks to continue Guerrilla warfare against the Japanese Occupation The Chinese Red Army activity was concentrated in northwest China, where residents provided the Eighth Army with food and recruits to confront the Japanese Invaders.
US President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Japan on the twenty-fourth of July 1941 to withdraw all its troops from Indochina, and two days later the United States of America and the United Kingdom began an Oil Embargo on Japan ( Japanese oil sources were from the United States of America ) This was a decisive moment in the Second Sino-Japanese War, as Japan lost its oil will, which made it difficult for it to continue its Operations in China.
That embargo paved the way for Japan to launch a series of military attacks against the Allies, including the attack on the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean on December 7, 1941, leading to an overt alliance between the United States and China and the entry of the United States into World War II on the side of the Allied powers (Soviet Union, Britain, France).
That embargo paved the way for Japan to launch a series of military attacks against the Allies, including the attack on the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean on December 7, 1941, leading to an overt alliance between the United States and China and the entry of the United States into World War II on the side of the Allied Powers ( Soviet Union, Britain, France ).
At this stage, Japan continued its military advance, taking control of Hong Kong on the twenty-fifth of December 1941 Communication between China and the outside world was interrupted, especially after Japan took control of most of Burma by May 1942 after defeating the British, Indian, Burmese and Chinese defenders. China was almost completely Besieged.
Meanwhile, a new supply route to China was found through India, and by the end of 1943 the fourteenth U.S. Air Force, based in China, had achieved parity with the Japanese in central China, and this Confrontation began with the bombing by said U.S. forces of a Japanese Ship Anchored on the Yangste River in Eastern China and a successful raid on Japanese airfields in Taiwan.
Sino-Japanese War during the third phase between 1944 and 1945
At this point, China managed to thwart the Japanese attack on the Chinese city of Assam between March and July 1944, but the Japanese managed to take control of the cities of Guilin, Liuzhou, and Nanning by November of the same year, and in the spring of 1945 the Chinese launched attacks in which they were able to regain control of Hunan and Guangxi.
As the Chinese military developed well in training and equipment, it planned to launch a military operation in the summer of 1945 to retake Guangdong And then advance north towards Shanghai But this plan was not implemented because the Soviet Union and the United States put an end to The Second Sino-Japanese War.
End of the Second Sino-Japanese War
After the Allies ( The United States, France, Britain ) managed to end the war in Europe with the surrender of Italy and Japan in 1945, the United States was able to develop two Atomic Bombs Which it used to end the Sino-Japanese War and with it World War II by dropping them on Japan.
On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb, known as "The Little Child", on Hiroshima Killing tens of thousands.
On the ninth of August 1945, the Soviet Union abandoned a non-aggression agreement with Japan and Soviet forces attacked the Japanese in Manchuria in fulfillment of what had been agreed at the Yalta Conference (where the Soviet Union pledged to declare war on Japan within three months after the end of the war in Europe) And the Soviet attack came by three groups of the Soviet army.
On the same day (the ninth of August 1945) the United States of America dropped A Second Devastating Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki And in less than two weeks the Soviet Union had destroyed the Japanese army And the Japanese Emperor Hirohito had officially Surrendered to the Allies on the fifteenth of August 1945 And the official surrender was signed on board an American Warship named "Missouri" on the second of September 1945
Thus ending the Second Sino-Japanese War and with it World War II, which lasted for years.
By The Way
The Chinese Civil War, which lasted until 1949, resumed with the victory of the Chinese Red Army The Military Arm of the Communist Party of China And the proclamation of the founding of The People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, while the Chinese National Army The military arm of the Kuomintang, withdrew to the island of Taiwan.
After that, the United States of America refused to Recognize the People's Republic of China in exchange for recognition by the Soviet Union And this remained the case until 1971 When the United NationsGeneral Assembly Passed a Resolution recognizing the People's Republic of China and granting it permanent Membership in the United Nations Security Council And the United States of America recognized the People's Republic of China during PresidentRichard Nixon's visit to China between the twenty-first and twenty-eighth of February 1972.
