2.2- War with Japan Flashcards
What were the reasons for the war between japan and China
Japan had long history of wanting to win Chinese territory. In late 19th and early 20th centuries. Japan modernised its economy and military and had become a very strong military power.. During the 1920s japans economic growth slowed because of lack of raw materials such as oil. Japan had ambitions to expand its territory into China, Which had the raw materials that Japan needed. In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria and turned it into a puppet state. It appeared to be independent, but it was controlled by Japan. Qing emperor puyi was its puppet ruler Japanese renamed the province Manchukuo they moved to Shanghai from this base which was forced to submit to them.
Japan wanted to strengthen their position in China in areas they had occupied from 1937 they began to expand into new territories. Chiang-Kai Shek’s initial response was to allow the Japanese to take land. He was convinced that they could never occupy something as large as China. This approach had made him unpopular with the Chinese population and could not be continued once the Japanese began a full scale occupation. In July 1937, Chiang declared China at war with Japan
Why was the second front formed?
Chiang considered that the communist were a greater threat to China than the Japanese, therefore accepted Japanese occupation of Manchuria and the northern provinces. However China was difficult to Govern. Chiang relied on deal with the warlords to keep control of the country. They wanted Chiang to focus on removing the Japanese rather than fighting with the communist. In December 1936, they put pressure on Chiang to work with the communist to force the Japanese out of China.
What were the events of the war between China and Japan
As consequence a second United front between the GMD and the CCP was created. Although they would fight as separate armies they had a common goal to remove Japan from China.
The first 4 years of the war were bad for China. The Japanese captured major cities including Shanghai, Beijing and the GMD capital of Nanjing, forcing Chiang’s government to flee Chongqing. The Chinese people also suffered extreme violence from Japanese troops in the ‘rape of Nanjing’. In December 1937, over 30,000 Chinese were killed and 20,000 women ad girls were repeatedly raped by gangs of soilders. The Japanese persuaded former colleague of Chiang’ s, Wang Jingwi. to become leader of the ‘new gov of China , for the Japanese. Looked as if China would be defeated
China’s fortunes changed in 1941, after Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour in December of that year. The Allies, The USA the Soviet union and Britain supplied China with resources and funding to help them defeat Japan. The SU send planes with Soviet piolets. Although Chiang was still more concerned bout the communist than the Japanese, by 1945 the allied attacks on the Japanese mainland weakened the Japanese the two atomic bombs dropped in August 1945 ended the war.
What was the role of the CCP and the Red army play with the peasants and winning the war
The Allies recognised Chiang as the leader of China, and the CCP entered into the united front with the knowledge that Chiang was in control. However the CCP was a powerful force in the war. Party membership expanded rapidly during the war so that by 1945 it had grown from 40,000 in 1937 to 1.2 million. This increase was explained by the popular policies Mao implemented in the Yanan soviet. He won over the peasants by insisting that the red army treat them with respect when they entered villages, also insisted that landlord should not be seen as the enemy. He won the over by applying rent control rather than wiping them out as a class enemy. Support of the peasants for the communist very important during war. Informed the red army about position of the Japanese provided food and shelter many peasants were recruited into the red army
The red army played very important role in the war against Japan. first ‘100 regiment offensive’, launched in 1940, was one of the Red Army’s first successes. communist forces numbering over 400,000 attacked the Japanese in Northern and central China. Where they captured the Japanese soilders and destroyed over 965km of railway lines.
Although the Japanese were strong enough to launch a counter campaign and push the Red army back, the communist had demonstrated that they were eager to remove the Japanese from China, further increased their support. In comparison to Chiang and the GMD, the communist appeared to be much more determined to defeat Japan
The Red army used Guerrilla tactics against the Japanese; they ambushed Japanese forces, attacked the weak points in their defences stopped them from moving forward. Very successful then fighting in pitched battles in cities. Where Japanese could easily identify the enemy. At end of war Mao claimed his strategy had been a great success and that the communist had saved China from Japan. His claims were clearly propaganda. FOR WITHOUT THE HELP OF ALLIES AND THE USE OF ATOMIC BOMB WAR HAD ENDED IN 1945
