To understand the key events in the Second Sino-Japanese War CHINA’S WAR WITH

and the war’s impact upon China and the Chinese Civil War JAPAN, 1931-45
 TIMELINE
THE BOXER THE THE WAR
REBELLION WARLORD AGAINST THE ERA OF MAO ZEDONG
PERIOD JAPAN

THE CULTURAL
WORLD WAR 1 WORLD WAR 2 REVOLUTION

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

FOUNDATION
OF THE CCP
THE
The Long FOUNDATION OF
THE END OF THE March THE PRC, 1949
1934-35
QING EMPIRE

THE CIVIL WAR ERA

Knowledge Check:
1. In what year did the Shanghai Massacre take place?
2. Where was the first Chinese soviet established in 1931?
3. How many days did the Long March last?
4. How many people survived the Long March and how many died?
5. In 1911, which imperial general was sent to quell the Wuchang Rebellion, but actually
did a deal with the republican rebels?

1. 1927

2. Jiangxi

3. 368

4. 10,000 survived; 77,000 died

5. Yuan Shikai
To understand the key events in the Second Sino-Japanese War CHINA’S WAR WITH
and the war’s impact upon China and the Chinese Civil War JAPAN, 1931-45
RECAP
AFTER ESCAPING FROM THE GMD
ENCIRCLEMENT AND EXTERMINATION
CAMPAIGNS, THE COMMUNISTS EMBARKED
ON THE LONG MARCH TO THE NORTH
WHERE THEY ESTABLISHED A NEW BASE
AREA AT YAN’AN.

DURING THE LONG MARCH, MAO HAD

Mao leading the Long March, 1934-5
BECOME THE LEADING FIGURE IN THE CCP.
JIANG JIESHI’S HATRED FOR THE
COMMUNISTS REMAINED HIS TOP PRIORITY
IN SPITE OF THE MANY OTHER DANGERS
FACED BY CHINA.
THE BIGGEST OF WHICH WAS JAPAN.
 “The Japanese are a
disease of the skin.
The Communists are
a disease of the
soul; it affects the
whole body.”

Jiang Jieshi, 1936

NOTE DOWN THE THREE KEY INCIDENTS FROM THE WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN.
JAPAN’S INTEREST IN CHINA
Japan had developed quickly at the
end of the 19th century.
It was a powerful, modern economy
with a strong military and a rising
population.
It did not have the natural resources
it needed to support its industrial
economy and the Great
Depression had led to a collapse in
its exports to the USA and Europe. Many in Japan saw an opportunity to use the
weakness of China to expand the Japanese empire
further to acquire resources and markets.
A BOMB EXPLODED ON THE RAILWAY
LINE THROUGH MANCHURIA.

THE JAPANESE CLAIMED THEY HAD

BEEN ATTACKED BY CHINESE FORCES
THOUGH PROBABLY THE JAPANESE false flag operation: a political
SET OFF THE BOMB THEMSELVES. or military action carried out with
the intention of blaming an
THEY USED THIS AS AN EXCUSE TO opponent for it.
TAKE CONTROL OF MANCHURIA AND
CREATED A NEW PUPPET STATE.
JAPAN’S FIRST MOVE WAS TO
INVADE MANCHURIA IN 1931. The MANCHURIAN INCIDENT 1931
THEY CREATED A NEW PUPPET
STATE HERE WHICH THEY CALLED
MANCHUKUO. THEY PUT THE LAST
EMPEROR OF CHINA, PUYI, ON THE
THRONE OF MANCHUKUO, BUT IN
REALITY MANCHURIA WAS
CONTROLLED BY JAPAN.

PUYI

JAPANESE POSTER SHOWING FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE MANCHURIANS AND THE

JAPANESE
JIANG JIESHI’S RESPONSE
MANY CHINESE WERE SURPRISED WHEN JIANG
TOOK NO ACTION AGAINST THE JAPANESE.
HE MAY HAVE WISHED TO AVOID PROVOKING
THE JAPANESE FURTHER, BUT HE APPEARED TO
BE FOCUSED ON FIGHTING THE CCP RATHER
THAN FOREIGN INVADERS.

ZHANG XUELIANG (GMD)

General and former warlord of
Manchuria
THE XI'AN INCIDENT, 1936
ZHANG’S FORCES KIDNAPPED JIANG JIESHI AND HELD
HIM PRISONER UNTIL HE AGREED TO STOP FIGHTING
THE COMMUNISTS AND WORK WITH THEM TO FIGHT
THE JAPANESE. JIANG HAD LITTLE CHOICE.

HE AGREED TO THE SECOND UNITED FRONT WITH THE

COMMUNISTS.

ZHANG XUELIANG AND

JIANG JIESHI
(Note: Jiang doesn’t look
very happy in this image)

JIANG AND MAO AGREED TO

COOPERATE IN THE
NATIONAL INTEREST.
AN ACCIDENTAL CLASH
BETWEEN JAPANESE AND
CHINESE SOLDIERS AT A
RAILWAY BRIDGE IN BEIJING
GAVE JAPAN THE EXCUSE TO
LAUNCH A FULL SCALE
INVASION OF CHINA IN 1937.
THE WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND
JAPAN WOULD LAST UNTIL 1945
AND BE FOUGHT WITH GREAT
LOSS OF LIFE AND TERRIBLE
DESTRUCTION.
THE ROLE OF THE CCP AND THE
GMD IN THIS STRUGGLE WOULD
PLAY A LARGE PART IN
DECIDING WHO WOULD
EVENTUALLY CONTROL CHINA
AFTER WORLD WAR 2.
THE [2ND] SINO-JAPANESE WAR
AT THE HEIGHT OF
THE WAR THE
JAPANESE HAD A
MILLION SOLDIERS
IN CHINA.

BUT THE FURTHER

THEY WENT INTO
CHINA, THE
HARDER IT BECAME
TO SUPPLY THEIR
ARMY. THE CHINESE
FELL BACK
WESTWARDS AND
THE JAPANESE
ARMY BECAME
BOGGED DOWN
EVENTUALLY, THE
JAPANESE TURNED
THEIR ATTENTION TO A
WAR WITH THE USA IN
THE PACIFIC. THE WAR IN
CHINA BECAME LESS
IMPORTANT THAN THEIR
CAMPAIGN TO CONTROL
THE RESOURCES OF SE
ASIA IN 1940.
THE USA AND BRITAIN SUPPLIED JIANG JIESHI WITH
MILITARY RESOURCES SENT THROUGH BURMA AND
WITH CASH TO FIGHT THE JAPANESE IN CHINA. JIANG
DID NOT SHARE THESE RESOURCES WITH THE
COMMUNISTS AND KEPT THE MONEY FOR HIMSELF. THE
GMD FORCES WERE NO MATCH FOR JAPANESE
TROOPS IN OPEN WARFARE. JIANG DECIDED HE COULD
WAIT UNTIL THE AMERICANS HAD DEFEATED THE
JAPANESE, AND THEN RESUME HIS CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE COMMUNISTS.

On the other hand, the
Communists were prepared to take
on the Japanese. They did not
attack the Japanese head on but
used guerilla tactics: ambush,
sabotage and assassination. They
used their experience and the
support of the peasants to fight the
Japanese.
The role of the
RED ARMY
Mao had become an
expert on this kind of
unequal warfare. The willingness of the Red Army to fight the
Japanese increased the popularity of the
CCP and its support throughout China
The END OF WORLD WAR 2, 1945 The PACIFIC WAR ENDED IN AUGUST
1945 WITH THE DROPPING OF TWO
ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN, WHICH
LED TO ITS SURRENDER AND AN END
TO THE WAR IN CHINA.

THERE WERE HOPES THAT JIANG AND

MAO WOULD COOPERATE TO
REBUILD CHINA.

MAO AND JIANG TOAST THE DEFEAT OF JAPAN IN AUGUST 1945

 GMD vs CCP 1945

THE GMD ENDED THE

THE CCP HAD EMERGED
WAR IN A WEAKER
FROM THE WAR WITH
POSITION. THEY HAD NOT
THEIR REPUTATION
FOUGHT CONVINCINGLY
INCREASED BY THEIR
AGAINST THE JAPANESE
SUCCESSES AGAINST
IN SPITE OF SUPPORT
THE JAPANESE.
FROM AMERICA.
THEY WERE SEEN AS
THE GMD WAS SEEN BY
PATRIOTIC AND THEIR
MANY AS CORRUPT AND
TROOPS SUPPORTED BY
THEIR SOLDIERS WERE
ORDINARY PEOPLE.
OFTEN FEARED BY
ORDINARY PEOPLE.
Create a slide and describe these incidents and their
significance. WHAT HAPPENED?

THE MANCHURIAN INCIDENT 1931

THE XI'AN INCIDENT 1936

THE MARCO POLO BRIDGE INCIDENT 1937

Resources are available on the next slide; however, you will need to complete independent research
for additional information and details about each incident.
Resources:

Xi’An: https://www.britannica.com/event/Xian-Incident
Marco Polo Bridge: https://www.britannica.com/event/Marco-Polo-Bridge-Incident
Manchuria/Manchukuo: https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchuria/Manchuria-since-c-1900
False Flags: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60434579
Pu Yi: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Puyi
The Fall and Rise of China:
https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Fall-and-Rise-of-China-Audiobook/B00DIAXG8C?action_code=ASSG
B149080119000H&share_location=pdp
If you’ve finished…
When the Prime Minister of Japan, Kakuei Tanaka, visited Beijing in 1972, he
apologised to Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai, for Japan’s invasion of China in the
1930s.

Zhou is reported to have replied that if it hadn’t been for Japan’s invasion, “We
might still be living in caves in Yan’an.”

What do you think he meant and why?