SINO JAPANESE WAR

Toivino Kais Junior Massamba

HIS601- History of International conflicts in the 20th Century & Beyond

Professor Munoz

October 21, 2020

in the early 20th century. Japan's vision was usually accompanied by aggressions across the

region that sometimes led to conflicts. China could no longer bear these Japan aggressions where

they attacked and occupied Marco Polo Bridge, a strategic point joining Beijing on July 7 1937

marking the beginning of the worst war in the history of conflicts between the two countries. The

second Sino-Japanese war was also the most dangerous conflict among the Pacific wars. This

conflict was only declared as a war in 1941(HISTORY, 2014). Earlier both countries had

downplayed the scale of the conflict with Japan terming it just an incident. From Marco Polo

incident when they invaded the bridge to China incident, this war was one of the most atrocious

but less spoken about the war in the history of the region.

This paper went deep into the political dynamics of the time and mirrored the war from its

potential causes, how it was fought and won, the strategies that were used, and what the impacts

did it leave in both countries and it’s important because it’s showing how Japanese imperialism

was not simply about increasing the nation’s territory. It was also fueled by a strong ideological

sense of mission and racial superiority.

This paper discusses literature review as a methodology for conducting research and offers an

overview of different types of reviews.

Just as any war, casualties, winners and losers were expected. Japan and China had gone

to war before in 1895 but it was not as atrocious as this one nor did it last this long (HISTORY,

2014). The first Sino-Japan War had lasted only two years. The Sino-Japan War led to hundreds

of thousands perhaps millions of civilians dead. There is no data that gave the exact number of

casualties. Soldiers from both sides died, and many were massacred in some incidences. In 1945,

Japan surrendered after the USA bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Until now no country
could claim to be victorious in the war what is clear though is the sheer number of casualties and

losses that both sides incurred.

It was believed that the war was caused by the Japan economic and military policy of

having control over raw materials and other significant financial resources. Japan was also said

to be looking for grounds to test their highly modernized military. With the scale of the industrial

revolution going on in Japan during that time, the demand for labor was at its highest. Japan

thought by annexation of more territories they would be assured of constant supply of food and

labor. These ideologies of occupying more territories may have caused discomfort in the region

(Phillips, 2013).

Methodology

Qualitative methods will be used to give a description of the events that have occurred.

Secondary data; the internet, books, case studies and how different historians analyzed this war.

Theoretical approach

The exact causes and the immediate causes of the Sino-Japanese war were still not known to

certainty though Japan's aggression features prominently. Some of the aggression incidences are

as below.

Linkage of Sino- Japanese War to themes developed in ww1 which we discussed in class.

As we can see the causes of the Sino-Japanese war are Japanese nationalism and imperialism.

Nationalism during the 19th century also largely explains the outbreak of the First World War.
The second Sino-Japanese war is believed also to have some links to the first war (Qing Japanese

war) In 1895 during the Qing dynasty in China, Japan and China went to war with one another.

Japan was undergoing rampant growth and modernization went to war with China that was

having several internal conflicts. Japan forced China to cede Formosa and recognize Korea’s

independence as was the agreement in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (Twitchett, Fairbank & Liu,

1980). The second Sino-Japanese war could be traced to this already established adversary

between these two countries.

Japan had wanted to expand their military and political dominance in the Asian region.

With a quick growing economy, demand for raw materials, labor and other economic resources

such as food and minerals were at their highest. Japan was also looking to control the vast

Chinese territory that could serve as a market for the Japanese goods. Japan thought they could

achieve this by bringing more territories under their control (Jansen & Rozman, 1986). Chinese

territories like Manchuria and other islands could suffice these needs. Government of China

could not entertain any more territorial losses if they were to maintain legitimacy with the

people. According to the Chinese authorities, Japan's aggression had reached its limits.

Japan had also issued a decree to China to exploit its economic resources. After World War 1

Japan had also acquired Shandong from Germany. This led to a mass protest in China against

Japan. China was already furious with Japan. Chiang and his KMT government were facing a lot

of pressure to react. The communist movement was growing strong, and Chiang had to prove

their credibility.

China was a disjointed country after world war 1. Japan’s acquisition of Shandong might

have hurt China, but they could not fight without uniting the country first.
With his forces bolstered, General Fukuda issued a set of demands to the Chinese, to be met

within twelve hours. These were: punishment of responsible Chinese officers, the disarming of

responsible Chinese troops before the Japanese army, evacuation of two military barracks near

Jinan, prohibition of all anti-Japanese propaganda, and withdrawal of all Chinese troops beyond

20 li (Chinese distance) on both sides of the Qingdao–Jinan railway. (Wilbur 1983 PP. 179). The

Japanese knew that the Chinese would not be able to fulfil their demands within the stated

timeframe. Instead, their issuance was designed to raise the morale of Japanese troops, cow the

Chinese, and demonstrate the "determination" of the Japanese military to foreigners. (Iriye 1990)

As expected, the demands were viewed as humiliating and unacceptable by the Chinese. In

response, Chiang, who had left the area, sent a courier to the Japanese garrison, stating that he

would meet some, but not all of the stated demands. (Wilbur 1983 PP. 179) Fukuda, who deemed

that his demands had not been met, launched a full-scale attack on the Chinese in Jinan in the

afternoon of 8 May. (Wilbur 1983 PP. 180) Fighting was fiercest on the night of 9–10 May, with

the Japanese using artillery to bombard the old walled city, where the remaining NRA troops had

holed up. The civilian population of the old city were not warned in advance of the Japanese

bombardment, which is thought to have resulted in many casualties. The final group of Chinese

soldiers escaped under the cover of night on 10–11 May. (Nakamura 1989) (The New York

times, 1928) By morning, the Japanese had gained full control of Jinan, and took up positions in

the walled city. (Wilbur 1983 PP. 180) The city would remain under Japanese occupation until

March 1929, when an agreement to settle the dispute over Jinan was reached. (Hata, Sase &

Tsuneishi, 2002, PP. 62-63) The period of occupation was defined by oppression, with freedom

of the press and assembly proscribed, postal correspondence censored, and residents killed for

alleged sympathies with the KMT. (Iriye 1990, 203-204)

two countries even today. Chinese leadership during the war period can be said to have been too

slow to react. Japan had aggressed China in several occasions leading to the occupation of their

territories most of the time. Japan had shown no respect for territorial borders, and the League of

Nation could have taken a firmer action against Japan when China reported the issue.
 References

Abend, Hallett (11 May 1928). "Japan Wins Tsinan; Drives out Chinese in Week's

Fighting". The New York Times.

HISTORY, (2014). Sino-Japanese War. Retrieved 28 May 2015, from

http://www.history.co.uk/study-topics/history-of-ww2/sino-japanese-war

Hiromichi, M. (2008). The Second Sino – Japanese War Was Caused by China — A Criticism of

the ―Japan - as - Aggressor‖ View (1st Ed.). Retrieved from http://www.sdh-

fact.com/CL02_1/69_S4.pdf

Histclo.com, (2015). World War II-- Japanese invasion of China Second Sino-Japanese War.

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