The Second Sino-Japanese War Flashcards
When was the Second Sino-Japanese War?
1937-45
When was the Second United Front formed?
1936 following the Xi’An incident
Why was the Japanese army stronger?
- Japan had undergone political and economic development in the late 19th century, forming a well trained Westernised armed force with modern weapons
- China was weakened following the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911
- Nationalist armies were overcome with the technological supremacy ad preparedness of the Japanese
- China had no tanks and only a few aircraft
What is an example of the brutality of Japanese troops?
‘Rape of Nanjing’ 1937
- Japan forced the Nationalist government to retreat from capital Nanjing to Chongqing in late 1937
- Japan massacred 300,000 people in and around the city (many civilians)
- described as a uniquely ‘urban atrocity’
- they reduced the cities inhabitants to the status of sub-humans who could be murdered, tortured and raped at will
- civilians were buried alive, machine-gunned or used for bayonet practice
- women were made to be ‘sex slaves’
What were atrocities the Japanese carried out throughout China?
- human experimentation in secret bases
- injected prisoners with diseases
- e.g. anthrax, smallpox, cholera
- tests on the effects of chemical weapons and flamethrowers on prisoners
- air-bombed cities with flea carrying bubonic plague
- many cities decimated
What Nationalist move caused them to lose peasant support?
- June 1938: Jiang blew the Yellow River dam to try slow Japanese advances
- Ploy worked in slowing the invasion
- caused a devastating flood
- killed 500,000 - 1 mil Chinese civilians
- up to 10 million homeless
- ruined millions of acres of farmland
- resulted in food shortages, famine and human suffering
- contributed to rising peasant hatred of Jiang and the Nationalist government
What were problems the Nationalist government faced during the Sino-Japanese War?
- increasing peasant hatred
- destruction of Yellow River dam resulted in deaths, homelessness and famine
- widespread corruption in the government
- rising inflation
- high desertion rates due to poor treatment of Nationalist soldiers, most of whom were unwilling conscripts
What was the US role in the Sino-Japanese War?
- Following Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour in Dec 1941, US was drawn into WW2
- China was an important theatre in war against Japanese
- 1942: US general Joseph Stillwell sent to China to assist with training, reorganisation and equipment
- Jiang’s authoritarianism hampered their collaboration
- US supplied 7,000 tonnes per month to Chongqing
What was the CCP doing during the Sino-Japanese War?
- CCP continued to consolidate their base in Yan’an
- Red Army defended inland areas of the northwest
- Japan had no desire to occupy inland rural areas, which created a misleading perception that communists were successful defenders
- Favourable reports from foreign visitors about the Yan’an Soviets was exploited by CCP propaganda to generate support for the party
How did the CCP suffer at the hands of the GMD during the Sino-Japanese War?
- Jiang attacked the New Fourth Army in 1941 for operating below the Yangtze
- 1000s of communists were killed
- the New Fourth Army not crushed and instead regrouped
- useful propaganda
What was the Ichigo Offensive 1944?
- Japan attacked cities like Guilin and Liuzhou
- No defence made
- Chinese armies were inept and under resourced
- Chiang kept armies weak if he distrusted their leaders
- Loyalty got resourced, not competence
- Many Chinese soldiers were ill with malnutrition and TB, etc.
- Offensive shone a light on the inadequacies of Chiang’s leadership
- Chiang didn’t have another opportunity to prove himself as Japan surrendered in 1945
How did the Second Sino-Japanese War end?
- Aug 1945: US detonated nuclear weapons over Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- Russian troops invaded from north, suppressing Japanese forces in Manchuria
- Japanese forces in China were ordered to surrender to Jiang and Nationalists
- China came out politically unsettled, economically exhausted and scarred with massive human loss
