Key
Green: Person
Pink: Term
Blue: Place
Yellow: Important
Orange: Treaty
Dailey 65 - 87
Second Sino-Japanese War 1937-45
★ There was no real cessation of war after Japan’s invasion of Manchuria
○ Japanese armies continued to operate -- they expanded their control of northern China by
1937
○ And then a larger war erupted with millions of troops
1. Japan expands into China 1935-6
a. Japan formed the Chinese Garrison Army to operate outside the borders of Manchuria
i.
They first occupied the eastern half of Charar Province by mid-1935
1. They were moved south into a neutral zone by the Tanggu Truce
2. But two pro-Japanese, Chinese newspaper owners were assassinated so
the army demanded that China withdraw from the Hebei Province or face
an invasion
b. Umezu-He Agreement
i.
Made this official -- created a large demilitarized zone throughout much of
northern China
1. A puppet gov called the East Hebei Autonomous Council was formed to
rule this region for Japan
2. Second London Naval Treaty 1935
a. By 1935 -- Japan’s military controlled the gov and didn’t want any treaties that would
limit their power
i.
Like the conferences in Washington and London
b. Britain and USA were still looking to limit their navies -- partly because of the Great
Depression
i.
Japan withdrew from treaty meetings with them
c. As a result, no agreement could be made about shipbuilding how many submarines you
can have
i.
But the US, Britain and France did sign an agreement on how big their boats
could be
3. Mengjiang
a. Doihara Kenji-Qin Dechun Agreement
i.
China agreed to remove all troops from the Manchukuo border -- and from the
Charar Province
1. They agreed because they were more focused on destroying the CCP
b. The China Garrison Army copied the Kwantung Army’s policy of creating a puppet-state
i.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Demchugdongrob (a descendent of Genghis Khan) became head of the
government of inner Mongolia
1. Fighting soon interrupted between the pro-China’s and the pro-Japan’s
throughout the region
2. Then in 1936, the new Mongol-led state was named Mengjiang -- or
Mongolland
c. Much of northern China was under Japan’s control -- either directly via military or
through puppet-states
i.
China tried ruling the demilitarized area through local councils but this didn’t
work as Japan could move their troops wherever they wanted
Second United Front
a. By the end of 1936, Chiang Kai-Shek’s policy of opposing the CCP and not Japan was
disliked
i.
He was like obsessed with the communists and it was weird so former warlord of
Manchuria Zhang Xueliang arrested Chiang because he was operating with the
KMT now
1. He forced Chiang to work with the CCP to create a united anti-Japanese
front
2. The Chinese people liked this -- and Japan was like oh shucks guys this
could be bad but maybe not we’ll see
b. The new alliance between the KMT and the CCP was known as the Second United Front
i.
The first being the Northern Expedition
ii.
Now they both fought together as the National Revolutionary Army
China resists: the MArco Polo Bridge Incident 1937
a. July, 1937 -- Chinese and Japanese troops fought briefly as the Marco Polo Bridge
(Lugouqiao -- Lugou Bridge)
i.
Japan wanted an apology but China said no
ii.
They both sent armies into northern China and the fighting began
1. Beijing and most areas in the north were rapidly occupied by Japanese
armies
2. China couldn’t do shit so they looked for victory elsewhere
a. August 13 -- bomber aircraft attacks an area of Shanghai that
was controlled by Japan
b. Japan and China were now at war
The Second Sino-Japanese War 1937-45
a. 15 August -- Japan formed the Shanghai Expeditionary Army -- they had the intention of
capturing all of Shanghai
b. Chinese troops attacked Japanese military installations in the International Settlement (an
area of Shanghai controlled by foreign governments) -- Japan was using bomber aircrafts
against Nanjing (China’s capital)
i.
Other Chinese cities were also attacked and Japanese armies were moving farther
south using China’s railways
Shanghai
a. They were battling in and around Shanghai for many months and the Chinese troops were
not very well equipped or as well trained as the Japanese
i.
But they tried their best but Japan still prevailed with air and water power
ii.
By the end of October, 1937, Chinese forces were ordered to evacuate -- giving
Japan control of the city
1. Chiang redeployed his troops to protect the route to Nanjing
8. Nanjing
a. Japan organized the Central China Area Army in November to move against Nanjing
i.
The Japanese forces quickly overwhelmed the Chinese troops sent to block them
1. Chiang-Kai Shek ordered the govt to relocate to the city of Wuhan
2. Nanjing was under Japanese siege by 9 December and captured on the
13th
9. The Nanjing Massacre
a. Japanese Emperor Hirohito appointed his uncle Prince Asaka as head of the Central
China Area Army
i.
Asaka was an ultranationalist and ordered that any Chinese captured should be
executed
1. As the Japanese army moved from Shanghai to Nanjing the troops
showed no mercy
b. Once Nanjing was captured the amount of crimes committed by the Japanese troops
multiplied
i.
Possibly 300,000 Chinese people died
10. Further Japanese conquests
a. Armies invaded southern and central areas of China -- their main aim being taking
control of the railways, cities and ports
i.
If they severed supply lines China’s armies might collapse and Japan could have
absolute victory
b. The temporary capital of Wuhan was captured and came under Japan’s control
c. But China’s military was increasingly supplied by the Soviet Union -- and China was
changing its military strategies -- upping its game
i.
The Chinese got established itself at Chongqing in the far west
1. Japan attempted to bomb them there but failed so they concentrated on
cutting supply lines instead (which lead to conflicts with the USA by
1940)
d. A rival Chinese-led govt was created to manage areas of China under Japanese
occupation
i.
It was headed by Wang Jingwei (the former head of China’s pre-war govt)
1. He serves as the president of the Republic of China (same as Chiang’s)
a. Most everything was controlled by the Japanese military
b. It was also one of the largest countries in the world
11. The impact of war on Japan
a. They were not prepared for long-term war
i.
ii.
Usually things only lasted a few months for them and it was super chill
And while they had expanded this was not usually accomplished through legit
military action
1. So they entered the second Sino_japanese war thinking it would be over
in a few months (honey you’ve got a big storm coming…)
b. Many thought war with China would drain their resources and that they might be more
vulnerable to the Soviets
i.
And the Soviets were a much greater threat to them as it bordered the industrial
powerhouse of Manchukuo
1. But some people disagreed with this
c. Millions of Japanese troops were deployed to China
i.
Many of them were the unemployed from the Great Depression
d. The military’s war needs began to dictate economic and domestic policies
i.
And mass employment and shortage of consumer goods lead to inflation which
then lead to the govt instituting price controls
e. Soon the military controlled the govt and political parties were banned
12. Responses to the Second Sino-Japanese War
a. The LoN was consumed with European affairs in the late 30s and didn’t think they could
do anything about Asia
i.
And they also wanted Japan to fight the communists
b. China did appeal to the League in ‘37
i.
Nine-Power Treaty Conference met in Belgium and released a declaration that
Japan and CHina should suspend hostilities and work with other countries to
resolve the situation
1. LoN was also weakened by the Abyssinian Crisis
13. Response: Soviet Union
a. They were pleased by Japan’s invasion of China
i.
Ended Chiang’s persecution of the CCP
ii.
The Soviets then began supplying China with military equipment
b. They also took advantage of this which helped China out
i.
As Japan moved to capture Wuhan the Soviets caused them to temporarily
suspend the attack and they got some land out of it
c. The delay created conflict at Lake Khasan and the Soviets shipped a ton of weapons to
the Chinese
i.
So the Chinese could slow the Japanese invasion -- and they could evacuate
citizens which was nice
d. May, 1939 --Japan was moving farther west into China -- and the Soviets moved to
distract them again
i.
They battled in Nomonhan, Mongolia which was a puppet-state managed by the
Soviets
1. So they could deploy their trooped along their border with Japanesecontrolled China
2. In sept. 20,000 Japanese soldiers were killed -- largely by Soviet tank
forces which caused Japan to offer the Soviets a section of Chinese
territory in return for an end to the fighting
a. The Soviets said heck yes
e. The Soviets would continue to supply China’s govt with weapons even when Chiang
turned against the CCP while still in the midst of war with Japan
f. Lots of money loaned until Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941
i.
Then the shipments ended
14. Response: USA
a. All they wanted was to preserve the Open Door Policy so they could sell products to
China
i.
And they wanted to demonstrate how they didn’t appreciate all this Japanese
aggression -- but they didn’t want the Japanese to interfere with their exports
reaching Asian markets
ii.
They also didn’t want Japan moving against their colony the Philippines
1. So their original response was to prohibit the shipment of weapons or
war supplies to either China or japan
a. But since Japan produced most of their weapons this really only
hurt China -- whom the USA hoped to indirectly support
iii.
But the US was the largest producer of oil and Japan relied on them to fuel their
ships
1. Oil and metals were not prohibited though and continued to export from
the USA until sanctions were imposed
b. A small US navy ship was sunk by Japanese aircraft in December 1937 as Japan moved
against Nanjing
i.
But then Japan said it was an accident so their was no conflict
c. Feb 1938 -- the USA lent China $25 million and then remained relatively uninvolved in
the conflict until 1940 -- Japan was moving against territories outside of China
15. Response: Germany
a. They were in an awkward situation with regard to the Second Sino-Japanese War
i.
They supported Chiang because it was anti-communist
1. And they had supplied China with many military advisors and did a lot
of business with China
a. By ‘36 they supplied 80% of China’s weapons
b. China did benefit but Germany was also dependent on China’s
tungsten supplies for its growing military expansion
b. 1936: Japan and Germany agree to oppose communism in the Anti-Comintern Pact
i.
Germany wanted to increase pressure on the Soviet Union while Japan was more
focused on expanding into China
1. With the outbreak of war however the Soviets faced little pressure on
their borders with Korea and Manchukuo
c. Germany attempted to be friendly with Japan and China so Germany continued to supply
China with about 60% of its weapons until 1938
i.
Japan was like dude stop it
d. Germany contributed to Japan’s overall policies in significant ways
i.
Primarily in dealings with the Soviet Union
ii.
The Japanese govt was completely surprised that Germany and the Soviet Union
agreed to the so-called Nazi-Soviet Pact in August 1939
1. Because they were pretty clear about being anti-communist so it was
weird
2. And now they were promising not to interfere with each other's plans or
policies
a. And Germany also agreed to supply the Soviets with weapons as
the Soviets agreed to supply them with raw materials and other
products
i.
This clearly violated the Japanese-Germany pact as the
Japanese wanted to be aggressive towards the Soviets
e. As a result of this the Japanese govt collapsed and was replaced with one that would
work with the Soviets and have a strong relationship with Germany and Italy
i.
The Tripartite Pact created a formal alliance among Germany, Italy and Japan
1. Germany conquered France and the Netherlands by mid-1940 which
created opportunities to expand into French Indochina (which Japan did)
2. Japan and the Soviets signed a neutrality agreement promising they
wouldn’t go to war with each other
a. This helped with Japan expanding into Indochina and the Dutch
East Indies and also helped with moving against the USA -- now
they didn’t have to fear a Soviet attack
16. Response: China
a. Chiang’s nationalist govt adapted a new strategy after Wuhan was captured and the govt
had moved to Chongqing in the far west
i.
This was to keep Japanese forces tied down as much as possible so that they
committed more and more to their scarce resources to the war
1. It was hoped that Japan would just get tired and leave
a. Guerillas were a key part of this strategy
17. Loss of support
a. Chiang was working to consolidate his power
i.
He executed former warlords and named himself president of various clubs and
organizations
b. Millions of Chinese were refugees at this point or they had been killed -- and Chiang
wasn’t doing shit to help them
i.
His govt was widely known as corrupt -- officials needed to be paid to cooperate
with the military
1. And financial aid to the military hardly ever made it to the military
2. The CCP used this to make his look really bad
c. The Chinese armies also made decisions that made them lose support
i.
Chiang destroyed some dikes that kept the Yellow River from flooding -- this
killed almost a million people but it destroyed anything useful for the Japanese
armies
18. Collapse of the Second United Front
a. CCP and KMT alliance was under great stress
i.
CCP were executing KMT guerrillas and their were small battles between the
two groups
b. The official end of the cooperation against Japan was in 1941 -- CCP’s New Fourth
Army was destroyed by the KMT
The route to Pearl Harbor
★ Japan’s army was the main protagonist in the Second Sino-Japanese War
○
They didn’t complete their victory against China -- and ultranationalist wanted to
increase the size of the empire at the expense of the recently defeated European states
■ This would help them cut supplies to Chongqing
■ But this eventually provoked the USA to respond which lead to WWII in the
Pacific
1. French Indochina
a. Japan occupied China’s ports but supplies were still reaching the Chinese govt at
Chongqing
i.
These were supplies sent by the Soviets, the USA and Britain -- through Burma
and western provinces
ii.
The largest was through French Indochina, Laos and Cambodia
1. But with France’s defeat these places were vulnerable
a. Japan requested permission from the French governor of
Indochina to occupy its northern regions to cut supply lines to
China
i.
For this Japan would allow the French govt (ruled by
Vichy France) to remain in Indochina
1. This happened and Japan landed troops at
Haiphong in French Indochina
b. The US responded almost immediately
i.
They prohibited the sale of scrap iron and steel to Japan -- and they were a main
supplier
ii.
They also started helping China out more but this was difficult because of Japan
c. By July 1941 Japan occupied the rest of Indochina, the US:
i.
ii.
Britain took similar action and the Netherlands did as well as they ruled from
London as they had been taken over by Germany
2. The oil embargo 1941
a. This had the greatest effect on Japan
i.
The US was the largest supplier of oil and Japan’s war with China would
certainly collapse after this
1. Japan had 18 months worth of fuel -- the other large source was the
Netherlands’ Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) so Japan made plans for its
occupation
a. They assumed the US would be provoked by this
3. Japanese planning
a. Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto developed a plan to attack the USA by defeating the US
navy’s Pacific fleet based at Pearl Harbor
They wanted the US to be absorbed in this that they wouldn’t pay attention to the
Dutch East Indies
1. But if the US chose to fight then they would have lost a significant
amount of their navy so they’d need time to build
2. This gave Japan plenty of time to defeat China, annex the Dutch East
Indies and organize itself for war with the USA
b. Another factor in Japan’s planning for war with the USA was its support for the Soviet
Union in its war against Germany
i.
Japan’s govt was primarily concerned about the military threat posed by the
Soviet Union and the spread of communism
1. When Germany invaded the Soviets in 1941 the USA responded with $1
billion in aid
a. Lots of gifts for the Soviets from the US
ii.
In April the Soviet Union and Japan signed a neutrality pact so Japan couldn’t
interfere with the US shipments
1. Japan signed it so they could finish their war against China and then get
back to fighting the Soviets later
4. The Hull Note
a. The US increased pressure on Japan 26 Nov 1941 -- the Hull Note (named for US
Secretary of State Cordell Hull) the US demanded:
i.
i.
1. 2 weeks later Japan attacked US and British forces across the Pacific
Ocean region
5. Pearl Harbor and the Pacific, December 1941
a. 7 December 1941 -- a day that will live in infamy
6. The attack on Pearl Harbor
a. Attack made by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)
i.
Losses:
1. Japan clearly won the battle but they didn’t meet their main objective
which was to destroy US aircraft carriers
a. Because they weren’t at Pearl harbor at the time
b. Oil and torpedo storage facilities also survived the attack
b. The US declared war on Japan the next day (and we won)
7. Attacks on other US territories
a.
8. Attacks on British territories
a. In Asia
i.
Invaded Malaya (Malaysia) on 8 December -- and their aircrafts attacked British
naval vessels in the area
1. All of Malaya and Singapore were captured by February 1942
2. They also attacked Britain’s port in China, Hong Kong
3. And Burma -- an oil territory of Britain’s -- was under pressure when
Thailand (which was independent state) was invaded
a. Thailand immediately surrendered and soon Burma was invaded
by the Japanese and Thai as they were now allied
The Route to Pearl Harbor