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World War II China: Crisis -- Japanese Agression
World War II Crisis: Japanese Aggression in China (1931-45)
Figure 1.--The Japan Army was unable to complete the conquest of China and force the Nationlosts to capitulate. The Nationalists retired into the rugged interior. So the Japanese turned to terror bombing the Nationalist cities--the first strategic bombing campaign in history (1938). And the Nationalists had no way of defending their cities. America responded with not just diplomatic protests, but embargoes which would eventually lead to the oil embrgo (1941). This left Japan no choice. It had to withdraw from China or go to war. They chose war. Japan slosed the Burma Road. This was the only way left of supplying China. Thhis left flying in supplies over the Himlayas as the only way of supplyimng China. It limited the quantity of supplies, but it was enough to begin American air operations in China. And the Nationalists China finally had an effective air defense. Ironically Japan as the first country to launch a strategic bombing camopaign would be reduced to cinders by the strategic bombing campaign of the Pacific War, another war launched by the the Japanese.
China was the first victim of Axis agression. Japan from an early point after the Meiji Restoration had long coveted China, both as a secure market fir Japan's expanding industry and as a source of badly needed raw materials. Japan's first modern war was fought with Chuna (1894-95). Its second war was fought with Russia over control of the Shanding Peninsula, Korea, and influence in Manchuria (1904-05). Japan's initial interest in China was the Shandong Peninsula. The United Stares convinced Japan to withdraw from the Shandong Peninsula after World War I. As tge militarits gained power in Japan, the focus on China internsified. Japan seized Manchuria from Nationalist China (1931). Chiang knew he did not have the military capacity to resist the Japanese in Manchuria (1931). When Japan invaded China proper, he had no choice, but to fight (1937). Japan gained many battlefield victories, but was unable to force the Nationalists who retired into China's rugged interior to capitulate. So they began the first strategic bombing campaign in history. And the Chinese Air force had been destroyed in 1937, leading the beleagered country with no air defense. Japan was the first country to launch a strategic bombing campaign. Ironically, it would be Japan that would be reduced to cinders by the very trategy that they initiated--strategic bombing. And it would occur as a result of the Pacific War -- another war launched by the Japanese.
Japan had long desired to expand in East Asia. Its primary historic target, reflecting the geogrphy of East Asia, was Korea. Japan's ambitions were, however, limited by the tremenous power of China which for most of history dominated Korea and influenced client States. This changed with the Meiji Restoration anbd the development of Japan as an industrial power. The First Sino-Japanese war (1894) and Russo-Japanese war (1904-05) opened up East Asia to Japanese imperialism. Access to Manchria ws at first limited to the Liaodong Peninsula in the Yellow sea. The seizure of Korea (1909) and Japanese territoril expansion as a result of World war I, more fully opened up Mnchuria to Japanese expnsion. The Japanese Kwantung Army occupied Manchuria, a Chinese province, using as a pretext a faked incident on the main railroad (1931). Japan then decalared "Manchukuo" an independent state, setting up Pu Yi, the last Manchu Emperor of China as puppet Emperor (1932). Anti-Japanese disturbances broke out in Shanghai. The Japanese bombed the unprotected city to quell the disturbances. There was no effort to hit military targets. This was the first of many Japanese terror bombings of civilian populations. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations as a resulted of the criticism of her military operations in Manchuria and China (1933). The Japanese encouraged Japanese "colonizers" to emmigrate to Manchukuo, but few responded to the propaganda films depicting an Asian paradise. For the Chinese in Manchukuo, life became increasingly difficult.
The Japanese invaded China proper, launching the Second Sino-Japanese War (July 1937). The Japanese Kwantung Army turned a small incident into a full-scale war. Chinese forces were unable to effectively resist the Japanese.
The Nationalist Army after the Japanese invasion fought it out with the Japanese (1937). The Japanese military was not only better armed and organized, they were also incredibly brutal. The rape of Nanking was some of the most terrible atrocities of World War II. The Japanese methodically moved south, seizing control of most of eastern China and all of the major ports by the time war broke out in Europe. (1939). Unlike the subequent NAZI invasions in Europe, there was no quick victory. The Nationlist Government did not collapse. The Kuomintang Army was battered, but the Japanese were unable to destroy it. After a series of Japanese victories, however, the Nationalidsts retired into the interior.
Chiang used the same tactics that Mao and the Communists had used, withdraw into the rugged, easily defensible interior. The Japanese moved up rivers and railroad lines into the interior of China. Much of the Japanese Army was committed to the war in China. It did not prove as draining for Japan, however, as the Soviet campaign did for Germany. This was in part because of the ineffectiveness of the Kuomintang Army. Resistance to the Japanese fell primarily on the Kuomintang because the Communists were in the remote areas of northwestern China. Also neither Chiang or Mao wanted to weaken their forced by fighting pitched battles with the Japanese. The Japanese could not bring the war to a conclusion without substanially increasing their invasion and occupation force (1938). And this wuld have been very expensive and the whole purose of invading China was to profit from exploiting the country. The Japanese in addition to terrible atrocities, began to bomb Chinese civilans, essentially waging a campaign of terror on civilians crammed full of desperate refugees. Unlike ground forces, the Japanese air forces could strile deep into the Chinese interior.
The Japanese used their air superiority not only to attack military targets, but to indiscrinately attack Chinese citis as well. The cities had no anti-aircraft defenses or organized civil defense systems. The result was extensive civilian casualties. The only Chinese areas off limits to the Japanese were the European treaty ports like Shanghai and Hong Kong. It is unclear what the Japanese objective was in attacking civilian targets. Presumably it was to terrorize the Chinese into surrendering. This did not occur. In the east, the air attacks were followed by land attacks and occuoation, often leading to horific actions, such as the rape of Nanking. The Chinese, unable to protect their major cities, simply moved deeper into the interior of the country beyond the reach of the Japamese Army. Distance and did=fficult terraine made the logistics of following the Nationalists with sizeable forces impossible. The Japanese were hard-pressed to occupy the area already seized. The Natioanlist Army was beyond the reach of the Imperail Army, but not beyond the range of Japanese bombers. The air war in Asia began as in the European theater with mastery of the skies by the Japanese. The Chinese air force was quickly brushed aside and after the first year virtually non-existant. The reklocated Chinese capital of Chunking became the major Japanese target. The first raids caused wide-spread panic as there were no bomb shelters. . Gradually the city adjusted. People moved into caves for protection. Thus the Japanese, who would after the war compalin biterally about the bombing of their cities, engaged in virtially unopposed terror bombing of Chinese cities for nearly a decade. This began before the actual invasion with the terror bombing of Shanghai (1931). And would only be limited when the American Flying Tigers arrivd (1942). HBC has not yet developed details on the Japanese terror bombing of Chinese cities, but we do have sone details on a general page about Japanese atrocities. The Japanese attacks would continue unopposed until the arrival of American planes and pilots--the famed Flying Tigers. The Flying Tigers were a vey small force, but even so for the first time, the Japanese began to suffer substantial losses. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor bringing America into the War, substantial American air units began to arrive in China making Japanese air raids on Chunking and other Chinese cities increasingly difficult. Ironically Japan as the first country to launch a strategic bombing camopaign would be reduced to cinders by the strategic bombing campaign of the Pacific War, another war launched by the the Japanese.
