In East Asia, World War II began in July 1937 with the Japanese invasion of mainland China. The main reason for the invasion was the perception of Japan's lack of living space. Japan is a mountainous country with limited arable land. From 1868 to 1930 the Japanese population grew rapidly, from 30 million to 65 million. As a result of population growth, Japan was forced to import food. Within twenty years the import of rice tripled (1910-1930).
OF Natalia Griva (Internationalist)
The financial crisis of 1929 added another problem to the Japanese economy as it affected its performance in manufacturing exports. At the same time, the policy followed by the USA and the European powers based on the Smoot-Holley Act of 1930 with the increase of customs duties and the exclusion of Japanese products from the markets respectively created several problems.
For all these reasons and with a strong sense of nationalism, Japan considered territorial expansion as the last option for the survival of its population. But this choice divided the Japanese ruling class because if Japan violated the then international order it would be confronted by the Western powers who advocated international law and the inviolability of borders through the League of Nations.
Japan left the League of Nations (LOC) in 1933 because of its resolutions against the Japanese attacks on Manchuria in 1931 and Shanghai in 1932. But if it violated the international order at the time, it would come face to face with the Western powers.
On the one hand were the Japanese nationalists, who considered the old great powers hypocritical because they themselves had previously acquired large colonial lands and territories through territorial expansionism and now denied the emerging powers of the time (Japan, Germany, Italy) expansionism and they claimed that borders are inviolable and expansionism is reprehensible.
On the other side were the more moderate politicians who were reluctant to break with the West and opposed to territorial expansion. Due to this confrontation, two Japanese prime ministers along with other important politicians were assassinated and a coup attempt was made. Although the coup failed, the government ultimately pursued a policy of territorial expansion.
The fatal bridge
The occasion for the war was given by a fortuitous incident on the northern border of China at the Marco Polo Bridge just outside Beijing. Since 1901 with the Boxer Protocol, the Japanese have had troops in North China.
On July 7, 1937, a Japanese exercise was taking place and suddenly the Japanese claimed to have been fired upon by Chinese soldiers and asked to be allowed entry into a Chinese fortress to search for a Japanese soldier who had gone missing during the exercise, which entry was denied by the Chinese.
The Japanese government had exactly what it wanted to escalate the fighting, which by the end of July had escalated into a general military showdown in northern China. Within a short period of time the Japanese managed to control the area from the port of Tianjin to Beijing. This was mainly helped by the local Chinese warlords who did not commit their forces to the defense of the region.
Military operations 1937-1938
Chiang Kai-Shek (political and military leader), had put off the inevitable for many years, believing that first he had to suppress the Communists and improve the infrastructure and quality of the army. Nationalist China therefore found itself unprepared for war.
Chiang Kai-Shek on August 11, 1937 ordered the three best divisions, which were armed with German weapons and trained by General Alexander von Falkenhausen and his advisers, to attack the Japanese forces in Shanghai with the aim of weakening the Japanese attack having a numerical advantage.
But the attempt to neutralize the Japanese naval forces in Shanghai with an air attack ended in failure as the Chinese bombs ended up in the city instead of the Japanese ships causing thousands of civilian injuries and deaths. This was because the Japanese had already cracked the Chinese military telecommunications code and knew about the upcoming air strike.
In late August of that year the situation changed with Japan going on the counter-attack with bombardments from the Japanese fleet and strong Chinese resistance resulting in the Battle of Shanghai lasting three months. Chinese defenses finally buckled in early November with the Japanese landing operation south of Shanghai at the risk of Chinese overrun.
The Chinese were forced into a disorderly retreat on 11 November towards Nanjing, having already lost 270,000 hoplites and the Japanese 40,000 hoplites. In early December, Chiang and his government were moved further west to the tripolis of Wuhan. On December 12, Japanese warships were approaching the city of Nanjing from the Yangtze River. Its military commander abandoned the city and it fell without a fight.
Six weeks of unchecked violence followed that became known as the "Rape of Nanjing" and was the first of the mass crimes against humanity of World War II. During this period, Japanese racism and the Japanese feeling of superiority over the Chinese population are strongly experienced. Tens of thousands of disarmed prisoners of war were executed, as many women were rushed and then executed. Anyone who tried to help them was killed on the spot. Most estimates place the death toll of this event at between 200,000 – 300,000.
After Nanjing the Japanese wanted to join their forces in Northeast China with their troops on the lower Yangtze and for this reason their westward advance was halted. The two fronts were unified in May 1938 paving the way for the Japanese advance west towards Wuhan in Central China. Chiang Kai-Shek wanting to recover the advance decided to blow up the dams in the central part of the Yellow River. The flood did delay the Japanese advance but at the same time approximately 4,500 villages and 11 major cities were destroyed causing a large number of Chinese deaths.
Russian air forces were placed at Chiang's disposal by Stalin thereby strengthening Nationalist China as a counterweight to Japan. Wuhan fell at the end of October 1938 while Canton in South China was captured by the Japanese a few days earlier almost without a fight.
Chiang Kai-Shenk in Chongqing
After the fall of Wuhan, the Japanese controlled all the major industrial centers and the most fertile rural areas of China. Chiang Kai-Sheng decided to retreat to southwest China making Chongqing in Sichuan Province the new seat of his government. He was convinced that he would defeat the enemy and eventually take back all the conquered lands, so he was buying time by ceding ground.
The Japanese had suffered heavy casualties in 1937-1938 and as they advanced deep into the interior of China the situation worsened further for two reasons. Firstly because they were moving away from their bases on the Chinese coast and secondly because the westernmost China was poorer in terms of infrastructure.
As a result, large-scale military operations were temporarily suspended. After all, Japan was not aiming at the dismemberment of China in the long term, but at a unified China under Japanese hegemony within the framework of a regional economic integration with Japan as its core.
The Japanese promoted the creation of puppet regimes. "The Provisional Government of North China" at the end of ΄37 and the "Reformed Government of Nanjing" on the lower Yangtze plain in March ’38. The leaders of these regimes justified their cooperation with the conquerors as necessary for the survival of the Chinese nation and avoiding the mass casualties that would be caused by a possible resistance.
Chiang Kai-Shek had pinned his hopes on the foreign aid he was receiving because of the acute lack of resources that led to a famine in 1942-1943 in Henan Province and an outbreak of internal fighting. The Kuomintang regime was initially supported by the Soviet Union which provided it with 1,000 planes, 2,000 "volunteer" pilots, hundreds of military advisers, oil and munitions worth a total of $250 million.
France then provided a $5 million loan for the construction of a railroad, which linked French Indochina with Kuomintang regime territories and was one of the regime's only two land lines of communication to shipping centers. The other line of communication was the Burma road.
The Kuomintang regime was more weakened than the regional warlords for two reasons. First, because the powerful German-trained Central Army had been largely lost in the Battle of Shanghai in '37. Second, the lack of resources led the central government to practices that undermined its popularity. E.g. tax increases to cover government spending and food expropriations to feed the army.
Japanese movements 1939-1942
In September 1939, the Japanese launched a major offensive against Kuomintang forces to capture Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province in south-central China. The attack was repulsed by Nationalist Chinese forces who counter-attacked in late 1939 and early 1940. At the same time, clashes between nationalist and communist forces were taking place, but the CCP did not blame Chiang Kai-Shek because it wanted to preserve the united front.
Japan, unable to force the Chinese regime to capitulate, decided to emphasize its economic blockade. In particular, he sought to cut off Nationalist China's access to munitions and other strategic materials from the rest of the world by cutting off its rail communications with Indochina and the Burma Road. At the same time, the Japanese tried to intercept communist guerrilla warfare and the mobility of their forces, setting up outposts along railway stations and at strategic points.
In August 1940, the KKK launched its biggest offensive of the entire war. Led by Peng Dehuai, it hit every major railway line in the occupied areas of North China, and when the Japanese were forced out of the outposts to protect them, the CCP's 8th Army began attacking the outposts. Great successes were scored for a few weeks causing a serious blow to the Japanese forces.
The Japanese counterattacked by chasing the 8th Army into the most inaccessible areas and implementing the "three all" tactic, i.e. kill all, burn all and loot all. Whole villages were destroyed with no one alive in mountainous areas of Northern China. The 8th army lost about 100,000 hoplites.
In September 1940, Japan concluded with Germany and Italy the Tripartite Pact, by which the two European powers recognized the establishment of a new order in wider East Asia under Japanese hegemony. Japan now looked to the conquest of wider areas. But he had not calculated that the most extensive territorial expansion would bring it into conflict with Great Britain and the USA.
Japan's entry into the Axis changed the attitude of the Western powers. Great Britain reopened the Burma Road in July 1940 to support Nationalist China (it had closed it earlier to appease Japan). British Prime Minister Churchill sought to secure a commitment from the US that it would enter the war in the event of a Japanese attack against British or Dutch colonies in East Asia. This commitment came from US President Franklin Roosevelt on December 1, 1941 a few days before Pearl Harbor.
The US responded to the Tripartite Pact in the late 1940s by increasing its aid to Nationalist China. Chiang Kai-Shek wanting to receive more aid from the Western powers (beyond the sums of money he had already received during 1940 -$20 million in April, $100 million in November) let it be known that he might be forced to capitulate with the Japanese. This fact, together with the conflicts with the communists and the fear of their ascendancy, Roosevelt included China in the new military aid program Lend – Lease Act .
Roosevelt promoted in April 1941 the secret formation of the "Flying Tigers" volunteer air corps. under American Colonel Clair Chennault initially based in Burma to provide air support to the Nationalist forces.
On June 22, 1941, the dynamics of the war changed with Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. The Japanese leadership was again divided. On the one hand, there were those who supported expansion into Southeast Asia, having ensured that the Soviet Union no longer threatened Japan's south in Manchuria. On the other hand, there were those who supported an invasion of the Soviet Union in its Far Eastern provinces. Finally the first thought prevailed and in July of the same year Japan occupies areas in southern Indochina.
The reaction of the USA was the embargo of oil and strategic materials to Japan. Japan, being dependent on US oil imports, had two options. Either bow to the American will or seek to seize Indonesia's oil fields. Finally he decided to move towards Indonesia.
The American and British colonies, however, would stand in the way of lines of communication between Japan and Indonesia. That is why Japan began planning a major offensive against the US and the British Empire, hoping that they would accept a compromise and thereby bring East Asia under Japanese hegemony.
With this plan on December 7, 1941 the Japanese attacked the American naval station at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii starting the war in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This move, of course, brought the opposite of the intended results. America's entry into World War II meant overturning the war.
The Japanese continued their expansion in Asia by conquering Hong Kong in December 1941 and within six months the Philippines. At the same time, they landed forces in Malaysia and Burma . Chiang Kai-Shek wanting to keep the Burma road open sent nine Chinese divisions. However, it failed to prevent the Japanese conquest.
US involvement in China in 1942-43
With the fall of Burma, Nationalist China's only line of communication with the Western powers was the difficult air route to India over the Himalayas. After Pearl Harbor, the US passed an aid package of 630 million dollars and another 500 million dollars as a loan. Roosevelt appointed General Joseph Stilwell to manage American aid and bring about the reorganization of the Chinese National Army.
But the main problem with Nationalist China was that it was now weak and incompetent. Of the 300 divisions, only 40 were directly controlled by the central government. Chiang Kai-Shek avoided as much as possible bloody battles against the Japanese even when he was pressured by the Americans to launch major operations in order to preserve his forces from his looming post-war showdown with the CCP.
In addition, he did not want the US to understand how low combat value his army was. Chiang feared that a new pole of power would emerge within the Kuomintang regime and together with the US threaten his power. That's why he wanted to control the administration of American aid instead of Stilwell.
In late 1942 much of Nationalist China's resources were channeled into the construction of a series of airfields in the interior of southeastern China so that Chennault's strategy could be carried out. Ο Chennault υποστήριζε τη διεξαγωγή αεροπορικών επιχειρήσεων με βάση την εθνικιστική Κίνα και με σκοπό πρώτα την αποδυνάμωση της ιαπωνικής αεροπορίας στην Κίνα ευνοώντας τις χερσαίες κινεζικές δυνάμεις και στη συνέχεια τον αεροπορικό βομβαρδισμό της ίδιας της Ιαπωνίας.
Πολεμικές επιχειρήσεις ως το 1945
Από το 1942 μέχρι το 1944 και τα δύο κινεζικά καθεστώτα επιδίωκαν να ελαχιστοποιήσουν τις απώλειες τους κατά των Ιαπώνων καθώς έβλεπαν ότι θα αυτοί ηττούντο από τους Αμερικανούς ούτως ή άλλως. Δεν συνθηκολογούσαν όμως με την Ιαπωνία για να την αναγκάζουν να διατηρεί τα 2/5 του στρατού της στην Κίνα.
Σημαντικά αποτελέσματα έφερε η στρατηγική του Chennault το Νοέμβριο του 1943, η οποία κατάφερε να πλήξει ιαπωνικές βάσεις στην Κίνα καθώς και την ιαπωνική ναυτιλία στα κινεζικά ύδατα που μετέφερε πρώτες ύλες από τη νοτιοανατολική Ασία στην Ιαπωνία. Το Δεκέμβριο του 1943 πραγματοποιήθηκε διάσκεψη στο Κάιρο μεταξύ του Roosevelt, του Churchill και του Chiang και αποφάσισαν την επιστροφή του Μαντσουκουό και της Ταιβάν στην Κίνα.
Ωστόσο η διεθνής εικόνα του καθεστώτος Κουόμιντανγκ κατέρρευσε κατά τη διάρκεια της ιαπωνικής στρατιωτικής επιχείρησης «Ίτσιγκο». Ξεκίνησε τον Απρίλιο του 1944 και κράτησε μέχρι το Νοέμβριο. Ο πρώτος σκοπός της επιχείρησης ήταν να καταληφθούν από τις ιαπωνικές δυνάμεις οι βάσεις των αεροπορικών επιχειρήσεων του Chennault.
Ο δεύτερος σκοπός ήταν να εξασφαλίσουν οι Ιάπωνες έναν συνεχή εδαφικό διάδρομο από την Ινδοκίνα ως την Κορέα, διασχίζοντας τα εδάφη της εθνικιστικής Κίνας και κόβοντάς την στα δύο, ώστε να μεταφέρουν από ξηράς πρώτες ύλες από τη νοτιοανατολική Ασία ως κοντά στην Ιαπωνία.
Οι καλύτερες μεραρχίες της εθνικιστικής Κίνας επλήγησαν και σημειώθηκε αποφασιστική αποδυνάμωση. Το Νοέμβριο οι Ιάπωνες έφτασαν ως την Ινδοκίνα ολοκληρώνοντας το διάδρομο τους και έχοντας επιτύχει τους σκοπούς της επιχείρησής τους σταμάτησαν να σπαταλούν άλλες δυνάμεις στην Κίνα. Επιπλέον, οι Ιάπωνες κατέλαβαν αποθήκες με εξοπλισμούς για 40 μεραρχίες, υλικό που είχε μεταφερθεί με μεγάλη δυσκολία από τους Αμερικανούς πετώντας πάνω από τα Ιμαλάια.
Η κινεζική υποχώρηση έναντι της επίθεσης Ίτσιγκο κ η απροθυμία του Chiang να ρίξει τις εφεδρείες του στον αγώνα ενάντια στους Ιάπωνες προκάλεσε κρίση στις σινο- αμερικανικές σχέσεις. Ο Roosevelt πίεσε τον Chiang να δεχτεί τον Stilwell ως αρχιστράτηγο όλων των κινεζικών δυνάμεων καθώς οι μονάδες, οι οποίες είχαν αναδιοργανωθεί και εκπαιδευτεί από αυτόν πολεμούσαν επιτυχώς ενάντια στους Ιάπωνες, σε αντίθεση με το υπόλοιπο στράτευμα που υποχωρούσε συνεχώς. Παράλληλα ο Roosevelt ζήτησε να επανέλθει το ενιαίο μέτωπο του Κουόμιντανγκ με το ΚΚΚ και τον ίδιο μήνα έστειλε αμερικανική στρατιωτική αποστολή στη Γιανάν.
Ο Chiang κατάφερε να επιβιώσει πολιτικά χωρίς να υποκύψει στις αμερικανικές πιέσεις και ζήτησε την αντικατάσταση του Stilwell. Ο Roosevelt όμως, δεν ενδιαφερόταν πλέον καθώς θεωρούσε ότι η εθνικιστική Κίνα δεν μπορούσε να του προσφέρει ουσιαστική στρατιωτική βοήθεια στον πόλεμο εναντία στην Ιαπωνία. Προτίμησε να στραφεί στο Στάλιν και να του ζητήσει να μπει στον πόλεμο εναντίον της Ιαπωνίας μετά το τέλος του πολέμου στην Ευρώπη.
Η παρακμή της εθνικιστικής Κίνας φάνηκε και στη διάσκεψη της Γιάλτας το Φεβρουάριο του 1945. Για να πεισθεί η Σοβιετική Ένωση να εισέλθει στον πόλεμο της έγιναν κάποιες εδαφικές παραχωρήσεις στην ανατολική Ασία ερήμην του Chiang και αυτό σήμαινε ότι η ήττα της Ιαπωνίας δεν θα οδηγούσε στην πλήρη απελευθέρωση της Κίνας, αλλά στην επαναφορά στα προνόμια που είχε αποσπάσει ο τσαρικός ιμπεριαλισμός σε βάρος της Κίνας.
Στις 14 Αυγούστου 1945 η Ιαπωνία αναγκάστηκε σε συνθηκολόγηση αφού προηγήθηκε η ρίψη των 2 ατομικών βομβών στη Χιροσίμα και στο Ναγκασάκι. Με αυτό τον τρόπο τελείωσε ο οκταετής πόλεμος για την Κίνα αφήνοντας πίσω 15 τουλάχιστον εκ. νεκρούς.
Πηγές:
• «Η Κίνα από την ουράνια αυτοκρατορία στην ανερχόμενη υπερδύναμη του 21ου αιώνα», Χ. Παπασωτηρίου, εκδόσεις Ποιότητα
• “The Cambridge History of China, Volume 13 Republic China 1912-1949 part 2”, Publication Cambridge University