SJ war - more Flashcards
(39 cards)
What were the events of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (2)?
1) The Japanese army guarding the Southern Manchurian Railway conducted a night-time exercise when one
soldier went missing.
2) Although he was found soon after, the commander used it as an excuse to attack the Chinese. An
ultimatum was issued for China to withdraw from the area, before Japan took Beijing and the surrounding
area.
What were the two main consequences of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident?
1) Jiang prepared for a full scale war against Japan, stating ‘the limits of endurance have been reached’.
2) The Second United Front was formally agreed between the CCP and the GMD. - MZ ‘total resistance by the whole nation is necessary’
What were the 4 main agreements under the Second United Front?
1) The CCP were to accept Jiang’s leadership and their military forces were to be placed under the command
of the NRA to coordinate efforts against Japan.
2) The GMD were to cease all operations against the CCP.
3) Financial support was to be given to communist forces from the central government.
4) The GMD were to end their political repressions of the CCP.
What was the National Political Consultative Counsel (NPCC) and how successful was it?
Created by Jiang in 1938, it aimed to unite all forces and ideas to formulate national policy. The council
would have 200 members, with 120 members coming from non-GMD parties. In practice, the NPCC had
little power and Jiang retained his autocracy.
What happened in the fight for Shanghai?
August - November 1937 - CKS bombs the French concession when aiming for warships (in Japanese controlled Yangtze river) - 1000 civilians killed. Japan sends 200,000 soldiers, killed 500,000 Chinese. Fighting continues till Japan lands troops to Hangzhou (up river w/ pincer movements) - CKS doesn’t let soldiers leave - 250,000 Chinese civilian deaths compared to 70,000 Japanese
8th Nov - China surrenders Shanghai
What events led to the Nanjing massacre?
Nationalist Government left as Japan was arriving, leaving 90,000 troops under an ‘opium smoking warlord’ - in 3 days most troops leave. Japan moves into Nanjing on 13th December - by which 50,000 people have attempted to flee + thousands die trying to move up/cross the Yangtze river.
What happened in the battle over Taierzhuang, Xuzhou?
Center/hub of railways/roads - connecting place + strategic, desirable area.
March - April 1938 - CHINESE VICTORY in bloody battle. Led by General Li Zhongren - Guangxi. Lures Japanese into the city, killing 8,000 in the town, more outside. ‘First happiest occasion since the war of resistance started.’
What does the Chinese success in Taierzhuang, Xuzhou show?
If China is well led and trained, they can be victorious. Demonstrates how at the heart of their loss is CKS’s autocratic leadership - doesn’t trust Li Zhongren - placing a female spy in his headquarters.
City falls in May 1938 - Li forced to retreat
What happened in the breaking of the Yellow River’s dam in Henan?
June 1938 - Ordered by CKS in an attempt to ward off Japan coming close to Wuhan - creates floods 20 miles wide, affects 6 million people, 4 thousand villages drowned
What were the consequences of Chiang Kai Shek’s breaking the Yellow River’s dam?
CKS uses this time to move to Chongqing (last major city inland) to make base - population goes from 300,000 to 1 million
Seen to be done without reason - causing extreme anger and resentment
How did Japan apply pressure on Chongqing?
After establishing airbases in central China, Japan were able to use aircrafts to launch bombing attacks on
Chongqing - in May 1939 6 - 8,000 people die from a bombing raid.
What issues did China have with it’s army during the war?
Lack of:
1) food - prices rose by 1400% in 1940-41
2) infrastructure
3) numbers - most divisions have lost a third of people (1940-41), desertion common
How does CKS attempt to improve the Chinese army?
Attempts conscription - fails - population not healthy enough for the army - in Sezchan (Sichuan province) only 1/3 of people healthy enough to recruit
What main areas did the Japanese have control of by the end of 1938?
Most of northern China including Beijing, Shanghai, the lower Yangzi river basin and Guangzhou (including Nanjing 1938 January)
What was the Hundred Regiments Offensive?
20th Aug - 5th Dec 1940. An offensive against the Japanese in the Hebei and Shandong provinces in northern China by CCP forces led
by Peng Dehuai and Zhu De. They destroyed approx. 600 miles of railways and briefly shutdown a strategic Jingxing coal mine. But it was a huge failure (the Japanese reasserted control over the area + railways) and was the last time that CCP forces engaged the
Japanese in an all-out attack in the war. August - December 1940.
What were the CCP casualties compared to the Japanese casualties following the Hundred Regiments
Offensive?
The CCP lost around 22,000 (in the New Fourth Army) and the Japanese only 3,000-4,000.
What were the consequences of Pearl Harbour (2)?
1) The USA entered WW2.
2) The USA regarded China as an important theatre of war against Japan, making an alliance alongside
Britain with Jiang Jieshi’s GMD government.
What was the Ichigo Offensive, and what was the US reaction to it?
Wanting to relieve USA bombings on Japan, Japan launched an offensive to capture the US airbases in
southern China. This was successful in capturing many bases, and some important cities, such as Changsha.
The USA were appalled at the NRA, and very frustrated by Jiang’s refusal to move forces blockading Yan’an
in the North to the South (1944).
What was US strategy in the Pacific 1944-1945?
To capture Islands close to Japan, in order to use as staging posts for an invasion of Japan.
What was the New Fourth Army (2)?
A CCP military force established in December 1937 from the remnants of CCP forces left behind in the south
after the Long March. They were led by Ye Ting and were 10,000 strong at the time of establishment.
What was the Eighth Route Army?
The larger of the two communist military forces that fought in the Sino-Japanese War.
Why did Jiang Jieshi break the Second United Front?
Ye Ting refused to move the New Fourth Army north, as ordered by Jiang Jieshi. Jiang then ordered an attack (of 80,000 people) on the New Fourth Army in the South, lasting 6 days in January 1941.
What were the consequences of the New Fourth Army Incident (2)?
1) Only 2,000 out of 9,000 of the New Fourth Army escaped and were forced to regroup in the North (7,000 died).
2) Jiang then formed a GMD perimeter around the CCP base in Yan’an.
In December 1941 how many army divisions does Japan have in China ?
34/50 - when US attacks Japan - hence their China strategy had a negative impact on their outcome in WW2.
