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        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
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        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
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        • Three Stages of Interrogations
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        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
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Japan’s Unofficial War with China

7/21/2018

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by Sophie Hammond
Picture
During the early twentieth century, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied Chinese lands without ever officially declaring war. In 1915, Japan issued the secret Twenty-One Demands to Chinese president Yuan Shikai, with the intent to claim economic and political power over China. ​
(continued) The Demands were divided into five groups, with the Group Five demands including concessions similar to those Japan had forced on Korea. After twenty-five rounds of negotiations and intense political maneuvering on President Yuan’s part, the Twenty-One Demands were agreed to, except for the Group Five demands. The other Demands, though, reinforced Japanese control of southern Manchuria, Shandong, and eastern inner Mongolia. Japan’s hold on Manchuria was especially strong. The Chinese warlord Zhang Zuolin tolerated Japan’s encroachments on his Manchurian territory in exchange for their help maintaining his power, and Japan controlled southern Manchuria economically through its ownership of most of Manchuria’s railway lines and its lease of the Liaodong Peninsula.

In 1928, a handful of extremist Japanese officers stationed in Manchuria bombed Zhang Zuolin’s personal train, assassinating him. According to many sources, they acted without any direct orders from Tokyo, hoping to provide Japan with an excuse to invade Manchuria. Whether or not the Imperial Japanese Army actually authorized the assassination, Zhang Zuolin’s son and heir Zhang Xueliang was understandably not eager to ally himself with the Japanese after this. Instead, he gave his loyalty to the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, who took as their main goal resistance to foreign influence in China.

The Manchurian railways also became a source of major contention, and to circumvent Japanese power in the region, the Chinese began building their own railway system which bypassed Japanese lines. It was these railways which formed the pretext for the Mukden Incident. Increasing tensions in the summer of 1931 culminated in the explosion of a bomb which destroyed a section of Japan-owned railway tracks near the city of Mukden. Japan blamed the Nationalists for the bomb, although even the League of Nations, after a thorough investigation, believed that the bomb had actually been planted by mid-level Imperial Japanese Army officers to justify seizing Manchuria.

The Mukden Incident, whether or not it was a staged pretext, is considered the beginning of Japan’s full-scale invasion of Manchuria and the beginning of Japan’s Fifteen Years’ War. By the next year, Japan had made Manchuria into Manchukuo, a puppet state headed by a puppet leader, the deposed Qing emperor Pu Yi. Pu Yi had become emperor of China in 1908 at the age of two, only for China to become a republic three years later. He lived in powerless luxury until 1924, when political turmoil in China caused him to appeal to Japan for protection. Eight years later, Japan made him Emperor of Manchukuo, and he lived again in powerless luxury.

As Japan pushed further and further into China and tightened its control over the regions it occupied, Chinese communist and Nationalist forces continued to fight against each other. However, in 1936, Zhang Xueliang, the leader of the Nationalists in Manchuria under Chiang Kai-shek’s command, forced Chiang to stop the civil war and ally with the communists to oppose the Japanese. Zhang achieved this unexpected result by kidnapping Chiang in Xi’an after Chiang arrived to order Zhang to resume fighting the communists. Chiang agreed to Zhang’s demands after communist leader Zhou Enlai intervened in the negotiations and helped persuade Chiang to fight more actively against the Japanese and to allow the communists local authority.

The Xi’an Incident of 1936 helped speed China on its way to a full-scale resistance to Japanese expansion, but most historians point to an incident at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing as the real beginning of the United Front against the Japanese. On the night of July 7, 1937, a small Japanese force demanded to be allowed into the walled town of Wanping to find a missing Japanese soldier. The Chinese garrison refused, and during the argument, a shot rang out. It remains a mystery which side fired the first shot, but soon enough, both sides began firing.

The clash at the Marco Polo Bridge bolstered Chinese resistance. Immediately, nearly all of the regional political and military groups in China threw their weight behind the Nationalists, even those who had formerly withheld their support. In September of that year, the Communists agreed to put their troops under Nationalist governmental control. This quickly escalated the fighting between Chinese and Japanese troops, as the Japanese seized several major Chinese cities and ports, including Shanghai in a three-month siege, followed by the unrestrained assault on the Nationalist capital, Nanjing, in what has become known as the Rape of Nanking. The Rape of Nanking further intensified Chinese resistance, and while the Imperial Japanese Army continued to expand their control over parts of China, their progress was stymied outside urban areas.

Yet war remained officially undeclared by either side until December 9, 1941, when the United States and China simultaneously declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

References
  1. Cavendish, Richard. “Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China, Is Pardoned.” History Today, vol. 59, no. 12, Dec. 2009.
  2. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Second Sino-Japanese War.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 Dec. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Second-Sino-Japanese-War.
  3. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Zhang Zuolin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 31 May 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Zhang-Zuolin.
  4. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Marco Polo Bridge Incident.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 30 June 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Marco-Polo-Bridge-Incident.
  5. Huang, Yanzhong. “China, Japan and the Twenty-One Demands.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/yanzhonghuang/2015/01/21/china-japan-and-the-twenty-one-demands/.
  6. “Invasion of Manchuria and Japanese Aggression.” The Pacific Theater, Lynden Pioneer Museum, 3 June 2014, lyndenpacifictheater.wordpress.com/china-invasion/.
  7. The Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs. “The Mukden Incident of 1931 and the Stimson Doctrine.” Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/mukden-incident.
  8. Overy, Richard. “China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival by Rana Mitter – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 June 2013, www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/06/china-war-japan-rana-mitter-review.
  9. Roosevelt, Franklin D. “On the Declaration of War with Japan - December 9, 1941.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Marist College, docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/120941.html.
  10. Twitchett, Dennis C., et al. “China.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 July 2018, www.britannica.com/place/China/War-between-Nationalists-and-communists.
  11. von Stauffenberg, Claus. “World War II: China's Declaration of War Against Japan, Germany and Italy.” Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/china-s-declaration-of-war-against-japan-germany-and-italy-december-1941.
  12. Wright, Edmund, editor. A Dictionary of World History. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2006

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  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
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    • Summer 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute