Second Sino-Japanese War

The **Second Sino-Japanese War** (7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945) was a major war fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. It started in 1937 and became part of World War II when Japan entered that war on the side of the Axis powers. Part of the war was fought in northern Burma (now Myanmar) and northeastern India. The war ended in 1945, when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of the counrtry.

During the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and 1895, led by Emperor Meiji, the grandfather of Hirohito Japan had won against the Qing dynasty, which ruled China.

## Invasion of China

Japan invaded China in 1931 after it has used the Mukden Incident as an excuse. It is sometimes said that the war started then. Hovewer, the invasion grew into a full-scale war only after the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident. Japanese officers said that their soldier got lost, and they were allowed to search for him in Beiping (now called Beijing).

The Empire of Japan needed more and more raw materials to create its heavy industry and intended to get them by colonizing more of Asia. Also, the Japanese military and Japanese nationalism, were becoming stronger and more popular.

The Nationalist Party government, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, and the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, who were enemies to each other, cooperated a little to try to fight off Japan. It was called the Chinese United Front. However, for the most part, they continued to fight each other as well.

### Japanese occupation of China

In 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army began to occupy China, starting in the northeastern region of Manchuria, where they created a puppet state, called Manchukuo. In 1937, the Japanese occupied Beijing and then Nanjing. For six weeks in Nanjing, the army was committing the Nanjing Massacre.  During the massacre, Japanese soldiers killed between 40,000 and 300,000 Chinese people, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls.

After six weeks, the Japanese Army left Nanjing and finally occupied southern China's industrial cities. Chiang moved his capital city from Nanjing to Chongqing and began a tactic of "using space to trade for time". His tactics forced Japanese Army to spread out too thin and so they were covering too much space with too few soldiers. That made it harder for them to fight and easier for partisans to fight the Japanese occupation.

Many soldiers died on both sides. In 1938, the Chinese destroyed the dam that was supposed to hold back the water of Yellow River, which slowed down the Japanese significantly. However, more than 900,000 civilians were also killed directly or indirectly. At least 7,000 Japanese soldiers were injured.

In 1940, the Japanese was no longer able to move farther into China and take more land.   That year China began to fight back, and Japan could no longer conquer the country.

### Engagement of Americans inside China

In the autumn of 1937, the Chinese started to pay attention to Yunnanyi Airport. During the war, the "air route" from India to China was called "The Hump" by the pilots. The Chinese received supplies from the Allies via that route. The Japanese bombed Kunming heavily.  By 1942, a significant number of Americans had come to Yunnan to assist China.

## Engagement of Chinese Army outside China

The Japanese had persuaded Thailand to let their troops pass safely. Therefore, the next goal of the Japanese was to occupy Burma (now Myanmar). The British and Joseph Stilwell, an American general, were having a difficult time in Burma.

As the Chinese believed that the road connection with Burma was of strategic importance, they decided to send troops out of China to help the Allies. Famous Chinese commanders who led the troops included Sun Li-jen, Du Yuming and Wei Lihuang. The Japanese lost many battles, such as the Battle of Northern Burma and Western Yunnan (1943 - 1945).

Some Chinese ended up in British India, because the Allies decided to get out of Burma in an orderly manner. The retreat preserved their military strength. Some Chinese returned home, through the jungles and mountains, instead of following the Allies to India.

## End of war

After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, an American naval base, on 7 December 1941, the war became part of World War II and became part of a fighting area, called the China Burma India theatre. The American entering the war in Asia meant that the Chinese military started receiving Lend-Lease supplies from the British and the Americans over the Burma Road. That helped the Chinese fight back and get much-needed modern weapons.

Throughout the war, Japan was severely exhausted. Instead of quickly winning the war, Japan's military had already fought China for four years. That made it much more difficult for the Japanese to keep fighting since they were now in the Pacific against the Allied forces. That may have been one of the reasons for Japan eventually losing the war.

In China, the war had some important effects. It increased support for the Communists, which helped them win against the Nationalists in 1949 during the Chinese Civil War.

## Related pages

- Empire of Japan
    - Imperial Japanese Army
    - Nanjing Massacre
    - Attack on Pearl Harbor and Battle of Midway
- Chinese famine of 1942–1943

## Other websites

- WW2DB: Second Sino-Japanese War

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Second Sino-Japanese War
- **place**: Republic of China (1912–1949), China
- **partof**: the Second World War
- **date**: 7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945
- **image**: Second Sino-Japanese War WW2.png
- **result**: Republic of China (1912–1949), Chinese victory
- **combatant1**: *  KMT, Nationalists
*  Communist Party of China, Communists
- **combatant2**: *
*
*
- **caption**: The war in 1940