Japanese Occupation
- Japanese invaded the Chinese territory of Manchuria first in 1931-32
- Setup stations on the Russian railway across this area
- Lytton Commission reported that Japan was in fault
- Japan pulled out of the League of Nations
Summary
The Japan-China War started in July 1937 when the Japanese claimed that they were fired on by Chinese troops at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing. Using this as an excuse, the Japanese launched a full-scale invasion of China using the conquered Manchuria as a launching base for their troops.
The Japanese came up against little organised resistance. The Guomintang put up little resistance though they were up against a formidable enemy. In November 1937, China’s most important port, Shanghai, fell and Nanjing (Nanking), Chiang Kai-shek’s capital, fell in December 1937.The so-called "Rape of Nanking" has gone into the annals of history as one of the most shocking incidents in modern history. Its senior officers allowed the Japanese army to ransack Nanking murdering tens of thousands as they went. The final death toll for Nanjing has been put as high as 250,000. The Guomintang leader, Chiang, had to establish a new capital in Chongqing.The onslaught of the Japanese was relentless. Within 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. All of the major cities in China were captured by the Japanese by the end of 1937 – so were the major communication systems of the nation.After this initial success, the Japanese did not advance much further into China. In many senses there was no reason for her to do so as most of China’s hinterland contained nothing of strategic importance. Secondly, even the Japanese army could not hope to stretch its reserves to cover such a vast nation as China. By 1941, there were 2 million Japanese soldiers in China but even those areas captured by the Japanese were not totally controlled by them and this allowed the Chinese to gradually undermine the authority of the Japanese in this occupied zone.
The Japanese came up against little organised resistance. The Guomintang put up little resistance though they were up against a formidable enemy. In November 1937, China’s most important port, Shanghai, fell and Nanjing (Nanking), Chiang Kai-shek’s capital, fell in December 1937.The so-called "Rape of Nanking" has gone into the annals of history as one of the most shocking incidents in modern history. Its senior officers allowed the Japanese army to ransack Nanking murdering tens of thousands as they went. The final death toll for Nanjing has been put as high as 250,000. The Guomintang leader, Chiang, had to establish a new capital in Chongqing.The onslaught of the Japanese was relentless. Within 5 months, 1 million Chinese people were under Japanese control. All of the major cities in China were captured by the Japanese by the end of 1937 – so were the major communication systems of the nation.After this initial success, the Japanese did not advance much further into China. In many senses there was no reason for her to do so as most of China’s hinterland contained nothing of strategic importance. Secondly, even the Japanese army could not hope to stretch its reserves to cover such a vast nation as China. By 1941, there were 2 million Japanese soldiers in China but even those areas captured by the Japanese were not totally controlled by them and this allowed the Chinese to gradually undermine the authority of the Japanese in this occupied zone.