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Despite the massive death toll and sheer magnitude of the confrontation
The second sino-japanese war is often overlooked as a part of the second world war
This conflict played a major role in deciding the victor of the ongoing
Chinese Civil War award that would transform China into the communist state that exists today
I'm Griffin Johnson the armchair historian and today we'll be exploring the causes and course of the second sino-japanese war
But first I'd like to say thanks to our sponsors over a banknote world. I
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Now back to the topic at hand to understand the precarious situation that led up to the second sino-japanese war
It is important to mention the events of 19th century China
The century can be characterized as one of factionalism lawlessness foreign intervention by Western powers and
Rising nationalist sentiments which in 1911 culminated in the overthrow of the established Qing Dynasty
by the nationalist Republicans or
Kuomintang this led to intense regionalism across China as warlords to control of small territories that they ruled in their own name
by the 1920s the spread of communism led to the creation of the Chinese Communist Party or
CCP which was suppressed by the Kuomintang the leader of which was the cunning Chiang kai-shek
Who subjugated influential warlords in order to secure his rule over China soon after Chiang turned his attention towards the Communists
igniting the Chinese Civil War in 1927
Japan by contrast had been relatively isolated for millennia. The island nation had developed a highly militaristic
Society and this was intensified after the Emperor of Japan
Consolidated his power in what was known as the Meiji Restoration
With its populations adherence to warrior and feudal codes translating into a religious devotion to the Emperor these years of seclusion
Contributed to the development of a xenophobic mentality the Japanese viewed their culture as the most sophisticated
and civilised this sense of national pride continue to inflate despite increased influence of the West in matters of
technology and trade throughout the 19th and 20th centuries the combination of
Ultra-nationalism a centralized state and European technology allowed Japan in the first sino-japanese war
To conquer Korea from the Chinese whose administrative process and technology paled in comparison
The Japanese would continue to expand throughout the Pacific and on to the East Asian mainland
The requirements of both a large population and a large military began to strain the Japanese economy
Causing ever deeper expansion into the Asian mainland in September of 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria
which offered ample resources and living space as
Justification Japan cited the Mukden incident in which elements of the Imperial Japanese Army
Detonated a small amount of dynamite at a section of the South Manchuria railway
Which had been granted to them in the russo-japanese war the Japanese then falsely accused China of sabotage
Despite receiving orders to keep the incident contained at a local level the Japanese army
Proceeded to capture all of the cities along the South Manchuria railway and surprisingly the Republic of China maintained a policy of non-resistance
Although some Chinese warlords and generals tried to resist but unsuccessfully by February of 1932
Japan had control over all of Manchuria establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo
Which interestingly was governed by the last emperor of China the 26 year-old Pu Yi
The Chinese appealed to the League of Nations in response and after a year-long investigation
The league concluded that the invasion was unjustified to which Japan simply left the League of Nations
Chiang kai-shek was aware that the Japanese interests in China were not over and so in 1936
He agreed to an alliance with the Communists putting the Chinese Civil War on hold
Less than one year later
the second sino-japanese war would break out in full when on the 7th of July Japanese troops conducted a
Military exercise near the Marco Polo Bridge in wham pink which startled the Chinese garrison who weren't warned in advance
And the resulting confusion shots were exchanged and after the skirmish ended the Japanese noticed one of their men was missing after a headcount
When the Chinese refused to allow them to search the city the Japanese attacked the city head-on trying to cross the bridge
on July 20th
Japan began bombarding ran ping and by the end of the month had taken Beijing and the surrounding areas the
Japanese were initially content with the territory they'd taken in northern China and wanted to end the war quickly
But Chiang kai-shek was not giving up anytime he decided to open up a second front at the city of Shanghai
storming the Japanese quarter of the city on the 13th of August
The fighting around the Shanghai area lasted for a total of three months marked by intense close quarters combat
Shanghai finally fell when an afib ia's Japanese force landed in the southern region of the city
Which was left undefended the Chinese took heavy casualties
Losing two hundred and fifty thousand men many of them their highest-quality troops while the Japanese lost
60,000 on the 8th of November Chiang ordered his forces to retreat west towards the city of Nanking the capital of China at the time
The Chinese in Nanking were positioned in elaborate fortifications inside and outside of the city
Despite these defenses the Japanese had captured the southern portion of the city by December 12th
Which prompted Chiang to evacuate his troops from the city the Japanese were frustrated after what they thought would be an easy victory this frustration
Translated into brutality against the civilians who were raped and executed on an immense scale
estimates for the number of casualties ranges from 50,000 to
300,000 the massacre is possibly the defining event in the second sino-japanese war and is possibly one of the single largest
atrocities in human history as such the event remains one of the primary reasons why even today
Relations between Japan and China are at best somewhat bitter by 1939
the war was beginning to reach a stalemate the Chinese still refused to surrender despite huge casualties and
Territorial losses and had begun to receive much-needed experience and foreign aid
meanwhile
The Japanese lines of communication were being stretched to their limit and Japanese forces had suffered substantial losses both equipment and manpower
however
Japanese spirits were lifted when their German Ally signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union whom the Japanese feared would invade
Manchuria and their holdings in northern China on September 14 13 days after Germany invaded Poland a Japanese force of
100,000 men attacked the city of Shanghai
which was the next major target on the road to Shan Shan where the Chinese government had been relocated a force of
240 thousand Chinese soldiers repelled them
Inflicting more casualties than they had sustained on October 6 the Japanese myth drew and allowed the Chinese three lost ground in the surrounding areas
Shengshou was the first major Chinese city that managed to fight off the Japanese
successfully while the Kuomintang tended to partake in large sweeping
Operations their communist allies in the north had mainly opposed the Japanese through insurgency and guerrilla tactics
But under pressure from Chiang kai-shek the Communist Party of China began to execute large offensive actions on the 20th of August
1940 the CCP gathered
400,000 men of the 8th route army and assaulted numerous staging areas and railways which were defended by
420 Japanese and collaborationist to Chinese forces and what would be called the hundred regiments offensive?
although the Japanese and collaborators push in the back the communists considered their campaign successful because it resulted in the destruction of about
600 miles of railroad tracks
The remainder of the second sino-japanese war was marked by repeated failed attempts by the Japanese to take various strategic studies
It wasn't until near the end of the Second World War when on the 9th of August
1945 three days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima
The Soviet Union declared war on Japan and promptly destroyed the primary Japanese Army in Manchuria
on the 15th of August Japan surrendered ending the second sino-japanese war and
Ending the occupation of China within a year the Chinese Civil War began again, but that is a story for another day
As I mentioned before our friends over at banknote world are sponsoring today's episode
So, please click the link in the description below and check out everything they have to offer
Thanks for watching. I'd like to thank my general staff on patreon Jake Hart Joe Crispin
gibbsy Joshua Haverstock Fritz Patrick Reardon, Joe Graham James Thompson
Derek below Jim Talbott, Dmitry Stillman and everyone else listed on screen
I'd also like to thank those working on the armchair history team for making this video possible
Thanks again, I'm Griffin Johnson the armchair historian and I'll see you next time with our video on the siege of leningrad
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