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Full Name 6 Republic of China Alliance Allies - Minor Member Nation or Possession Entry into WW2 7 Jul 1937 Population in 1939 517,568,000 Military Deaths in WW2 4,000,000 Civilian Deaths in WW2 16,000,000

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseChina had been in political turmoil since the 1911 revolution. In fact, civil wars and regional conflicts would continue nearly non-stop into the WW2 era. By 1928, the Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, based in the capital of Nanjing, had largely emerged as the strongest faction. In the early- to mid-1930s, Nationalist government was able to significantly improve the country's infrastructure and stabilize the economy. Since the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, sovereignty had slowly been returning to Chinese hands from the European imperial powers, and relationships with the west had also been improving. Foreign nations such as and the Soviet Union and Germany contributed much to the rise of modern China in this period. Behind the steady progress was the Nationalist Party's one-party system, which was maintained by brutal force whenever necessary. Corruption, which was a matter of course in Qing Dynasty China, was inherited by the Nationalist officials, and the party leadership did little to curb such practice.

ww2dbaseIt was around this time that the Chinese Communist Party was formed. Although later Communist literature would claim a great amount of credit in its efforts to better the lives of the ordinary people and to counter the increasing Japanese demands on China, the truth was that the Communist party was only slightly better than a group of bandits in the 1930s, surviving as the result of the Nationalist Party's agreement with the Soviet Union in return for military aid.

ww2dbaseJapan's violation of Chinese sovereignty started as early as 1931 when Japanese troops entered northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, which had a population of about 30,000,000. On 18 Feb 1932, Japan established the puppet nation of Manchukuo, forcibly taking Manchuria away from China. The League of Nations attempted to interfere with Japan's aggression toward China, but failed. With the former Emperor of China, Puyi, nominally at the helm of the puppet nation, Japan used Manchukuo for its rich resources as well as its strategic location to counter Soviet influence in the area. In 1932, Japan attacked the Chinese city of Shanghai, again triumphant over an ineffective League of Nations. The streak of aggression would continue with an invasion of Hebei Province in 1933 and an indirect support of a Mongolian raid into northern China in 1936. Full scale war would finally break out in Jul 1937. Nationalist Chinese leader Chiang Kaishek, previously stressed the need to unify China by defeating the Communists before dealing with external aggression, was kidnapped during the Xi'an Incident and forced to temporarily ally with the Communists. Such an alliance was nominal at best. At first, the Communists undermined Nationalist efforts against the Japanese so to allow the Japanese to inflict maximum damage on the Nationalists, while the Nationalists moved their best divisions and weapons into reserve for the inevitable future civil war against the Communists. Before long, the two sides would engage in actual fighting against each other, although such clashes would be played down on both sides to avoid damage in reputation.

ww2dbaseThe city of Shanghai on the Chinese coast fell under Japanese control in Oct 1937, followed by the capital of Nanjing two months later. Japanese troops committed atrocities, with the most brutal example shown with the Rape of Nanjing, where 50,000 to 300,000 Chinese, mostly civilians and prisoners of war, were murdered and 20,000 women of all ages were raped. Japanese bomber crews were equally brutal against the civilians, dropping their payloads purposefully in residential zones and on clearly marked hospitals. Although out-gunned and out-maneuvered by Japanese troops, the Chinese were determined and were resilient. Fighting primarily a defensive war, the Chinese made use of the vastness of China Proper to trap more and more Japanese troops in this large theater as occupation troops, preventing them from being used offensively in the China-Burma-India Theater or as garrison troops in the Pacific War. To partially counter this, the Japanese organized regiments of Manchurian, Mongolian, and Han Chinese military and gendarmerie units to police the conquered territories. The most powerful collaborationist force in China under Japanese control was the military of the puppet state Manchukuo, which fielded a 220,000-strong military with a small air force and a small navy. The general Chinese population who happened to reside near main railways was pressed into Japanese service as well. These civilians were given the responsibility to quickly repair sections of tracks damaged or destroyed by Chinese saboteurs within eight miles of their places of residence; failures in doing so quickly would often result in reprisal killings.

ww2dbaseAt the end of the war, over 2,000,000 Japanese lived in China, most of whom in Manchuria. Nearly all were deported back to Japan after the war.

ww2dbaseThe eight-year war ended with a great cost on the Chinese population with about 20,000,000 perishing in the conflict, 16,000,000 of that figure civilian. Inflation grew to dangerous levels in the post-war economy, and the situation was worsened by rampant corruption in the Nationalist government. Meanwhile, the Soviet troops that invaded the puppet nation of Manchukuo remained there, providing a safe haven for the Chinese Communists to build up strength and gathered surrendered Japanese equipment. In Mar 1946, the civil war restarted, and a year later the Communist capital of Yenan was taken by the Nationalists, which enjoyed a military advantage and had monetary support from the United States. The Communists quickly turned the tide, however. Through effective propaganda campaigns and popular land reform policies, the Communists secured loyalty from the massive farmer population, thus providing the Communists a nearly unlimited pool of resources from which they could recruit manpower. By late 1947, the Communists had taken control all of northeastern China. Chiang Kaishek suggested an offensive into the northeast, but US Secretary of State George Marshall convinced Chiang to wait, hoping the civil war could end via diplomatic means; although a Nationalist offensive might or might not had been successful, the pause meant the Nationalists had now given away any chance of seizing the initiative. In 1948, the Communists launched an offensive of their own into China Proper, rapidly pushing back Nationalists forces. On 31 Jan 1949, Beiping was declared secure by the Communists. On 21 Apr, the Chinese capital of Nanjing fell under Communist control. The Nationalist government first fled to Guangzhou on 23 Apr, then Chongqing on 15 Oct, followed by Chengdu on 25 Nov.

ww2dbaseRelocation of the Republic of China to Taiwan

ww2dbaseOn 10 Dec 1949, the Nationalists abandoned all positions in mainland China and relocated the Republic of China to the island of Taiwan on 10 Dec 1949. The Nationalists were able to secure quantities of gold reserves and various cultural treasures to Taiwan before they could be captured by the Communists. The Republic of China still remains in Taiwan today with the capital in the city of Taipei. Mainland China today is occupied by a new country formed by the Communist forces which claimed victory in 1949; the communist People's Republic of China renamed Beiping ("Northern Peace") to Beijing ("Northern Capital") to serve as its capital.

ww2dbaseAdministrative Divisions of the Republic of China

Name (Pinyin) Name (Postal Map) Legal Entity Abbreviation Capital (Pinyin) Capital (Postal Map) Historical Region Andong Antung Province An Tonghua Tunghwa Manchuria Anhui Anhwei Province Wan Hefei Hofei China Proper Chahar Chahar Province Cha Zhangyuan Changyuan Mongolia Zhejiang Chekiang Province Zhe Hangzhou Hangchow China Proper Fujian Fukien Province Min Fuzhou Foochow China Proper Hebei Hopeh Province Ji Qingyuan Tsingyuan China Proper Heilongjiang Heilungkiang Province Hei Bei'an Pei'an Manchuria Hejiang Hokiang Province He Jiamusi Chiamussu Manchuria Henan Honan Province Yu Kaifeng Kaifeng China Proper Hubei Hupeh Province E Wuchang Wuchang China Proper Hunan Hunan Province Xiang Changsha Changsha China Proper Xing'an Hsing'an Province Xing Hailar Hailar Manchuria Rehe Jehol Province Re Chengde Chengteh Mongolia Gansu Kansu Province Long Lanzhou Lanchow China Proper Jiangsu Kiangsu Province Su Zhenjiang Chiangkiang China Proper Jiangxi Kiangsi Province Gan Nanchang Nanchang China Proper Jilin Kirin Province Ji Jilin Kirin Manchuria Guangdong Kwangtung Province Yue Guangzhou Canton China Proper Guangxi Kwangsi Province Gui Guilin Kweilin China Proper Guizhou Kweichow Province Qian Guiyang Kweiyang China Proper Liaobei Liaopeh Province Tao Liaoyuan Liaoyuan Manchuria Liaoning Liaoning Province Liao Shenyang Mukden Manchuria Ningxia Ningsia Province Ning Yinchuan Yinchuang Mongolia Nenjiang Nunkiang Province Nen Qiqihar Tsitsihar Manchuria Shanxi Shansi Province Jin Taiyuan Taiyuan China Proper Shandong Shantung Province Lu Jinan Tsinan China Proper Shaanxi Shensi Province Shan Xi'an Sian China Proper Xikang Sikang Province Kang Kangding Kangting Tibet Xinjiang Sinkiang Province Xin Dihua Tihwa Dzungaria/Tarim Basin Suiyuan Suiyuan Province Sui Guisui Kweisui Mongolia Songjiang Sungkiang Province Song Mudanjiang Mutankiang Manchuria Sichuan Szechwan Province Shu Chengdu Chengtu China Proper Taiwan Taiwan Province Tai Taipei Taipei Taiwan Qinghai Tsinghai Province Qing Xining Sining Tibet Yunnan Yunnan Province Dian Kunming Kunming China Proper Hainan Hainan Special District Qiong Haikou Haikow Hainan Menggu Menggu Area Meng Kulun Kulun Mongolia Xizang Sizang Area Zang Lhasa Lhasa Tibet

ww2dbaseSources:

Jung Chang, Mao

Philip Jowett, China's Wars

Wikipedia.

Last Major Update: Mar 2010

Photographs

Maps

China in World War II Interactive Map

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