the sino-japense war 1937-45

Question 1

what caused the sino-Japanese war?

Answer 1

7 July 1937 - fighting broke out between Japanese and chinese soldiers at marco polo bridge. a japense solider went missing whilst on guard at the japanese owned south manchurian railway. the chinese weren’t involved but japan used it as a reason to attack. despite the ultimatum for china to withdraw troops, japan attacked beijing

Question 2

What is the Xian incident 1936

Answer 2

Jiang said that the japanese were a “disease of the skin” whilst communist were “disease of the heart”.
Military commander Zhang Xueling helped CCP kidnap Jiang when he was on a visit to the capital (Xian) (Dec 1936)

Question 3

how did the Xian incident lead to the second united front

Answer 3

Communists insisted jiang was the only man capable of leading the country in a was against the japanese but he had to agree to an alliance with the ccp. no written agreement but only verbal. the offensive against communists in Xian was called off

Question 4

What was included in the second united front agreement

Answer 4

• ccp accept jiangs leadership and that communist military was under national revolutionary army (NRA) - never fully implemented
• gmd would stop operations against communist
• financial aid from central government for communist forces
• gmd would end political repression of the CCP

Question 5

what was the National Political Consultative Council -1938

Answer 5

-to “unite all the forces in the country and bring together all ideas and views to benefit the formulation of national policies”
- 200 members; 120 -ccp and mother non-gmd parties
- limited power

Question 6

who was zhu de (1886-1976)

Answer 6

-professional solider in GMD til 1927
- joined CCP in 1927
- worked close w Mao in Jiangxi and during the long march
- during sino-jap war he was commander in chief of ccp forces
- held this position in People liberation Army (PLA) after 1949

Question 7

Second sino-japanese war 1937-39, key battles

Answer 7

Aug 1937- Jiang launched attack on Japanese forces in Shanghai
After a few months Shanghai was captured and jap forces advanced up the Yangzi River towards Nanjing
Jan 1938 - loss of Nanjing and movement of capital to Wuhan
Oct 1938- Wuhan captured and capital moved to more remote upper Yangzi region, capital was Chongqing

Question 8

What was under japanese control at the end of 1938

Answer 8

• northern china
• shanghai
• lower yangzi river basin
• guangzhou in the south

southern, western, and central china remained out of japanese control

created new airbases which bombed chongqing

Question 9

What was the hundred regiments offensive

Answer 9

Aug 1940- communists lead by Peng Dehuai and Zhu De launched attacked Japanese forces in Hebei and Shandong provinces in northern China.
Battle carried on till December. CCP losses were heavy
22,000 CCP soliders were killed
Japanese lost 3000-4000
Last instance CCP launched a full scale attack during the war.
To retaliate, “three all” was created by jap forces - kill all, burn all, loot all- against communists. It forced CCP to give up part territory it controlled.

Question 10

Who was Peng Dehuai (1898-1974)

Answer 10

• professional solider who joined CCP in 1920s
• became a senior military commander in the eighth route army
• after 1949 communist victory, he became defence minister in the People’s Republic of China until he was purged by Mao until he was purged by mao for critiquing his policies in 1959

Question 11

Why did the USA get involved in the second sino-Japanese war

Answer 11

Dec 1941- Japan attacked Pearl harbour a US naval base

Question 12

What happened after pearl harbour

Answer 12

• alliance of USA, Britain, china
• US Airbases set up in China
• weapons /supplies sent to China from America
• American military officers trained NRA
• Japanese forces over-extended due to occupation of indo-china, Thailand, Malay peninsula, Burma, Philippines, Dutch East Indies
• 1944- American airforce based in China bombed Japan

Question 13

What happened after 1944 American attack from China on Japan

Answer 13

• japan launched offensive
• ICHIGO OFFENSIVE - captured many bases and important cities like Changsha
  -American advisers appalled by lack of fighting spirit amongst the NRA

Question 14

Sino-Japanese war 1944-45

Answer 14

-China became side stepped by the USA
- American effort focused of capturing Japan owned islands
-aug 1945 (after the end of war in europe) - USSR entered war in far east in alliance w GMD and it’s forces advanced into Manchuria

Question 15

The end of the sink-Japanese war

Answer 15

• 15 AUGUST 1945 - after Americans dropped atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Question 16

What was the relations between GMD and CCP during Second United front

Answer 16

• communists were too suspicious of jiang to allow him and his army control of their forces
• Jiang never abandoned the objective of getting rid of the CCP in China
• each side conducted separate uncoordinated wars against the Japanese
• both sides wanted to have more power than the other when the war is over

Question 17

Breakdown of the second United front

Answer 17

• jan 1941 - Jiang attacked Communtist new fourth army in the south of China
• this was caused by refusal by Ye Ting to move the army northwards
• CCP lost 7000 of total strength of 9000 and were forced to regroup in the north
• Jiang established a line of defensive positions around CCP base in Yan’an.
• the second United front was broken but not completely abandoned

Question 18

What was the new fourth army

Answer 18

-established in DEC 1937 from the remains of communist forces left behind in the south after the long march
- technically under GMD, but it was a communist force run by Ye Ting
- started with 10,000 troops

Question 19

What caused the USA to become involved in the war between the GMD + CCP

Answer 19

• Jiang focused on fighting the communists instead of the Japanese
• 1944 during then Japanese Ichiago Offensive, Jiang refused to aid the Americans by moving the NRA from the north (where they were blocking CCP) to the south to fight the Japanese

Question 20

What happened during peace talks of July 1944 between the GMD and CCP

Answer 20

• American ambassador, Patrick Hurley, tried to help mediate
• CCP demanded to be included in the government, and combined military forces should be under watch of a joint military council, and communist prisoners should be released
• peace was destroyed by Jiang insistence to have CCP forced be placed under NRA command
• aug 1945, second United front existed only in name

Question 21

Impact of the war

Answer 21

• Japanese forces devastated cities like Shanghai, and nanjing
• due to Jiang, industrial equipment in lower Yangtze factories were dismantled to area of Chongqing
• 1938, dykes on the yellow river exploded to slow Japanese soliders leading to damaged 1.4million acres of farming land in Henan province
• 1million+ killed, million left homeless
• 3/4million Chinese soliders killed
• civilian casualties between 10-20 million

Question 22

Impact of the war on China as a community

Answer 22

• not united
• many parts were weak and corrupt
• more international recognition
• 1942, Roosevelt declared China USA’s main ally in the war
• 1943, Britain and USA gave up all territory of China
• 1943 nov, Jiang was invited to Allied conference at Cairo

Question 23

What was chinas relations with American

Answer 23

• a lot of tension; American military commanders and diplomats in China were highly critical of Jiang
• Jan 1945 Yalta, USA promised ussr rights over Manchuria if they helped in the war with Japan
• ussr concluded friendship treaty with China to recognise GMD as official government over China.

Question 24

Impact of the war on the GMD

Answer 24

• gained quantities of military equipment
• Jiang is portrayed by the communists as lacking in will and courage to fight the Japanese
• Jiangs leadership was always under increased scrutiny
• Jiang valued loyalty over ability and held back supplies and equipment from officers he didn’t trust
• GMD lacked coordination

Question 25

Impact of the war on the CCP

Answer 25

• CCP emerged stronger at the end of the war than in 1937
• control over more territories (shaanxi, hunan, Yan’an)
• CCP fought Japanese through the use of guerrilla warfare
• increased propaganda advantage
• portrayed as more commuted to their country
• the CCP did less fighting than their propaganda portrayed