Some assessments of the role of the war of resistance against the Japanese invaders in the Second World War. Transbaikal Information Agency

Until now, among historians there is a dispute when the Second World War began. A common point of view - September 1, 1939 - is more suitable for European countries. For China, the struggle for its freedom and the right to life began much earlier, namely on July 7, 1937, when Japanese troops provoked a clash with the capital's garrison on the outskirts of Beijing, and then launched a large-scale offensive, the springboard of which was the puppet state of Manchukuo. Before that, since 1931, when Japan annexed Manchuria, the countries had already been at war, but this war was sluggish. And yet, the first period of the Sino-Japanese conflict cannot be called a world war; the definition of “local” is more suitable for it.

On April 13, 1941, Japanese Foreign Minister Matsuoka and People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union Vyacheslav Molotov signed the infamous neutrality pact. In a certain sense, Stalin, of course, can be understood, because he constantly, starting in 1934, received reports that Japan was going to attack Soviet Union. In particular, Mauricio Fresco, Consul of Mexico in Shanghai, provided him with such information. That is, Stalin wanted to protect himself with this pact. Another thing is that in this case, to put it in slang, he "threw" Chiang Kai-shek, for whom this agreement was a serious blow.

No, not even an agreement, but a declaration that was signed after it. This declaration stated that the Soviet Union undertakes to maintain the territorial integrity of Manchukuo, and the Japanese, in turn, will adhere to the principles of territorial integrity in relation to the Mongolian People's Republic.

The signing of the neutrality pact between the USSR and Japan, 1941

Let us note that a conditional parallel can be drawn between the April 1941 agreement and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. However, the reaction in China to the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union was different from the reaction of Chiang Kai-shek, the Nationalist government, to the neutrality pact between the USSR and Japan. The fact is that the Chinese did not fight with Germany, they were not even at war until December 11, 1941. Moreover, when Japan attacked China in 1937, Nazi Germany helped the Celestial Empire.

And the Soviet Union was not an enemy for Chiang Kai-shek. Among other things, at that time the USSR was almost the only country that provided assistance to China. The Germans mainly helped with advisers, and even then until March 1938, until they began to actively draw closer to the Japanese. The Americans also helped the Chinese. For example, they provided the Chinese government with a loan of $25 million. The British also did not stand aside, providing the Chinese with a loan of 188 thousand pounds. However, the Soviet Union, firstly, issued a $50 million loan to the Celestial Empire and, secondly, provided weapons, the market value of which, according to modern experts, was $250 million. In addition, 700 Soviet pilots and technicians were sent to China, 200 of whom never returned to their homeland.

Soviet assistance to China during the Sino-Japanese war was significant

Returning to American aid, which can be conditionally divided into two stages: before Pearl Harbor and after. From 1937 to 1941, the Americans helped China rather moderately. For example, during all this time they delivered only 11 aircraft. Even the British gave more - 40 cars. Absolutely incomparable things with the Soviet Union!

But there was other help as well. For example, American pilots (about a hundred people), many of whom no longer served in the US troops, organized a volunteer group led by Claire Lee Chennault and went to the Middle Kingdom to help the Chinese. They had 90 aircraft, at that time the latest. By the way, the American volunteers fought so effectively that in 1942 Shannault returned to the United States Army and led an entire unit. He established a very good relationship with Chiang Kai-shek. In fact, it was he, an American pilot, who led the Chinese Air Force.

In general, quite a lot of American pilots served in the Chinese army (already starting from the period after Pearl Harbor). Many of them died (404 people).

Thus, when the Soviet Union, for many reasons, ceased to provide assistance to China (firstly, after the neutrality pact, and, secondly, after the attack of fascist Germany, the United States took on the main role of an assistant). . Shannault's unit, the Flying Tigers, was expanded, completed, and well supported financially.

Chiang Kai-shek, Song Meiling and Claire Lee Chennault

American lend-lease extended not only to China, but also to a number of other countries. First of all, the United States helped the British - 30 billion, the Soviet Union - 13 billion, while they could provide the Chinese with much more help, but it was limited to natural conditions.

The fact is that the Japanese, having started the war in the Pacific Ocean and in Southeast Asia, considered one of their goals, in addition to raw material problems, the idea of ​​isolating China, cutting off communications through which, in fact, Lend-Lease material assistance could come . And they succeeded: they took Burma and cut off the Burmese road. And then the only way for the Americans to supply China was air traffic through India and the Himalayas, which, of course, greatly limited US assistance. Initially, an agreement was established between the Americans and the Chinese government that they would send 5,000 tons of cargo every month, but, of course, they could not fulfill this. Just physically.

The Chinese front distracted Japan from attacking the USSR

It is worth noting that the Chinese front greatly distracted Japan from attacking the Soviet Union, since the Japanese were unable to solve the strategic problem in China. They started the war, knowing full well that they were not in a position to occupy such a gigantic country. The problem with the war waged by Japan in China was primarily that the Japanese army was relatively small. When the Japanese launched a full-scale war with China (July 7, 1937), their army numbered only about half a million soldiers. And yet they reached Beijing, took it.

Secondly, the Japanese absolutely did not want and did not assume that the conflict would result in a protracted, long war. What they wanted was simply to deliver short blows to Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Shanghai and force Chiang Kai-shek to capitulate. That was their plan. Throughout the entire period of the war, from 1937 to 1945, the Japanese continuously sought to achieve the surrender of Chiang Kai-shek and tried to negotiate peace with him. Even when they formed a puppet government in Nanjing in 1940, Wang Jingwei, an opponent of Chiang Kai-shek and one of the leaders of the Kuomintang, became its nominal head. But the fact is that the Japanese appointed Wang Jingwei not as the chairman of the government, but only as a deputy, and the post of chairman remained vacant. They kept it for Chiang Kai-shek.

This, by the way, is the specificity of the war and its difference from the conflict in Europe. The Japanese had the opportunity to occupy only major cities and lines of communication. They could not take control of the entire territory of the country. What they did was about the same as what the Americans did later in Vietnam. The Americans called it "a mission aimed at finding and destroying partisans." That's what they were doing.

Soldiers of the collaborationist Chinese army

The Japanese had their own weapons in this war. They tried not to use armored vehicles due to lack of raw materials (fuel), so the Japanese infantry mainly operated, which, as already mentioned, occupied only strategic centers and lines of communication.

As for the balance of power, the army of Chiang Kai-shek numbered approximately 2.5 million people, and the army of the Communists - 75 thousand. However, at the time of the Japanese aggression, China was divided between the Communists and the Kuomintang, so the problem in the first place was to establish a united front. Such an opportunity appeared only when the Japanese hit Shanghai, which was the center of economic interests for Chiang Kai-shek personally (he had capital there). So, when it happened in August 1937, Chiang Kai-shek had already been pushed to the limit. He immediately signs an agreement with the Soviet Union and includes communist troops in the National Revolutionary Army of China under the name "anti-Japanese united front."

According to official statistics, the Chinese lost 20 million people in the Sino-Japanese war, mostly due to the civilian population. The Japanese were incredibly cruel. What is the infamous Nanjing massacre worth? In just two or three weeks, 300 thousand people were killed, 20 thousand women were raped. It was a terrible massacre. Even the Nazis, who were in Nanking at the time, were shocked by what the Japanese were doing.

The Chinese lost 20 million people in the Sino-Japanese War.

Returning to American participation and American assistance to China in the war with Japan, it should be noted that it was vital for the United States that China hold out and that Chiang Kai-shek did not capitulate. And they managed to achieve this, although the American government, and especially the American military, who were in China, had very big claims against Chiang Kai-shek's army. The fact is that the Chinese army was based on the basis of groupings. At the head of each division was a general who considered it (the division) as his own division and did not want to risk it. This, by the way, explains the countless defeats of Chiang Kai-shek: low command discipline, desertion in the troops, and so on. When the Americans began helping China, they sent Joseph Stilwell, a brilliant general, to become Chiang Kai-shek's Chief of General Staff. Friction immediately arose, since Stilwell, as a professional military man, sought to establish discipline in the troops above all. And Chiang Kai-shek couldn't do anything. This, by the way, explains the fact that by 1944 the Americans gradually began to reorient themselves towards the communists.

Few people know, but in 1944 there was even a special mission of the Americans (mainly, of course, intelligence officers), the so-called "Dixie" mission, who tried to establish contacts with Mao Zedong. But, as they say, it didn't work out. Why? The fact is that by that time, following instructions from Moscow, Mao Zedong had changed the image of the Communist Party from an aggressive socialist to a liberal democratic one, and in late 1939 - early 1940 he published a series of works on the so-called "new democracy" in China, arguing that China is not ready for socialism and the future revolution in the Celestial Empire will be democratic, liberal.

When did World War II start? The generally accepted date of September 1, 1939 is so arbitrary that some historians perceive the break between the first and second world massacres as a freeze of the conflict. And in fact, firstly, all the bloody events of 1939-45 flared up from the unextinguished coals of the First World War and were its direct consequence and generation. Secondly, the European slaughter here and there erupted with conflicts either at the junctions of collapsed empires (Bessarabia, Western Ukraine and Belarus, the Teshin region of Czechoslovakia, Finland), then at the sites of unfinished colonial battles (Second Italo-Ethiopian War), then at a test site for running in new weapons (civil war in Spain). It is still difficult for the Chinese to understand why for them the beginning of the Second World War should be the invasion of the Wehrmacht into distant Poland of distant Europe, when for them the war began much earlier?

Japan: World War II False Start

Japan unleashed another conflict on July 7, 1937. It ended a week after the surrender of Japan. In European historiography, the Sino-Japanese War from a certain moment suddenly turns into a part of the Second World War. In the official history of China, this event looks more logical - it is considered the "Eight Years' War of Japanese Resistance". However, in reality fighting began before 1937.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Japanese militarism carved out a "bridgehead" for itself to wage a continental war on Korean peninsula, which became in 1905 a protectorate of the Land of the Rising Sun, and in 1910 - a colony of Japan. In 1931-1932, the Japanese intervened in Manchuria, forming the puppet state of Manchukuo. Manchukuo, which existed until 1945 and collapsed a little earlier than imperial Japan, was led by the Qing emperor Pu Yi, who had practically no real power.

Chiang Kai-shek ordered his troops not to offer any resistance to the invaders. But it was on the territory of the "Great Manchurian Empire" that the first worthy resistance was offered to the invaders. So, in October 1931, units of General Zhenshan hit the Japanese detachments on the Nunjiang River, slowing down their further advance into the northern part of Manchuria. In early 1932, a couple of thousand Chinese guerrillas defeated the Japanese garrison at Xingmingting Station, knocking out a strategically important railroad.

Manchukuo and Pu Yi

In 1933, the soldiers of the army of the puppet state, together with the Japanese, staged another invasion of China. This event entered Chinese history under the name Defense. The result was the capture by the invaders of vast territories in Zhehe and Inner Mongolia. Later, in 1939, Manchukuo troops took part in the events at Khalkhin Gol (“the incident at Nomonkhan”). In 1945, the Manchus, who were allies of the Japanese militarists, offered minimal resistance to the advancing Soviet troops, and the puppet state ceased to exist almost simultaneously with the Kwantung and 6th Army of Japan. Emperor Pu Yi is taken to the USSR as a prisoner of war, and later becomes one of the best gardeners in the PRC, forever moving away from big, and even small, politics.

China's Eight-Year Defense in Historical Retrospective

The Sino-Japanese War was one of the greatest tragedies of the Chinese people. War is all-destroying natural disaster swept across the country, sowing death and destruction. Many priceless things were destroyed, enormous damage was done to the economy, 20-30 million people died. It is impossible to calculate the exact losses, especially when it comes to civilian casualties. Army losses amounted to about 3.2 million people (an average estimate from various sources), but there were also considerable losses among the communist partisans.

The bloody conflict determined the regime change in China. After the capitulation of Japan, a civil war began, ending with the coming to power of the Communists and the formation of the PRC (October 1, 1949) led by Mao Zedong, which for many decades changed the geopolitical situation in Southeast Asia in particular and throughout the world as a whole. The remnants of Chiang Kai-shek's supporters took refuge on the island of Taiwan, which later became one of the "Asian tigers". Communist China never recognized Taiwan's Republic of China as a separate state.

Beijing

During the war, the Japanese captured many cities, including Tianjin, Haikou, (the famous one was badly damaged here) and many others. In the very first days of the war, at the end of July 1937, Beiping was captured, as the Kuomintang called it since 1928. The name "Beijing" was urgently returned to the city and the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was created in it, completely controlled by the Japanese command. The Chinese still do not like to remember that a certain number of collaborators were also subordinate to the Provisional Government. The total number of collaborators, members of the pro-Japanese Chinese paramilitaries, reached approximately 1-1.2 million people. And in general, the Chinese do not like to remember that, and were once under the heel of the Japanese occupier. With the surrender of Japan, Beijing was again renamed Beiping, and on the last day of January 1949, Mao Zedong's communists captured it without a fight.

China and the Allied Powers

China's resistance to aggression was complicated by several factors. First, the low-intensity civil conflict did not stop in the country, which eventually ended in a civil war, the defeat of the Kuomintang and the formation of the PRC. Secondly, the country was greatly weakened economically, and the predominantly agrarian state practically could not create armed forces at a level that met the requirements of our time. Significant assistance to China in the formation, provision and training of troops was provided by the USSR and the USA. In 1937-41, he regularly supplied weapons to the Chinese, hundreds of Soviet military experts worked in the country. About 3,000 aircraft and guns and other types of equipment were delivered. Since 1941, Chiang Kai-shek was assisted by the United States, which also provided training and coordination of Chinese army units.

World War II was a disaster for all participating countries. Bloody battles took place in several parts of the planet at once. And wherever a studying eye looks, there is fear, horror and many deaths everywhere, which do not seem to be anything unusual. Assessing what happened, now the numbers inspire amazement. And this applies not only to Europe, China's losses in World War II are no less great.

The Russian-speaking population is well aware of its history, but in order to appreciate the true extent of the disaster, it is worth capturing the whole picture and looking at the inhabitants of other countries who also suffered irreparable losses. So, the Asian side is mentioned briefly in textbooks, although this war, which began two years before the Second World War and ended only in 1945, turned out to be no less terrible than the Second World War.

China's role in World War II

The role of this confrontation can be understood by looking at the history of the conflict between China and Japan.

It all started long before the Second World War, the aggravation of relations occurred at the end of the 19th century. In 1894, Japan carried out aggressive campaigns, annexing to itself:

• Korea, having long-standing views on it. She was under the protection of China.

This was the first step towards the development of a full-scale conflict.

Realizing its strength after the annexation of Korea, Japan was unable to moderate its imperial ambitions, which led to putting pressure on China. This led to constant armed clashes. Inside the country, the political situation was already very turbulent. Already in the 19th century, it thunders from revolutions; at the turn of the century, the Empire finally collapsed. This led to mass uprisings, the division of the state into separate parts, the loss of territories that had long desired independence and decided not to miss the chance. The Civil War also began, in which supporters of the Kuomintang power and the communists clashed.

Taking advantage of the moment, Japan invades China and quickly takes Manchuria and Inner Mongolia.

In 1937, the war officially began. While Japan captured one city after another, annexing Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing in a year, the country tried to gather strength for the fight. In the conditions of civil confrontation, this is not easy, because the parties hardly stood on the same side of the barricades. Moreover, China did not have any military power.

The command was far from being the most professional," great army» as such was not, because there was no common country. Foreign volunteers helped - the PRC received assistance from the USA and the USSR. Even most of the weapons were decommissioned from Nazi Germany.

Japan fought against individual centers of resistance and created a republic, which was called the "Wang Jingwei Regime" after the leader of one of the sides of the Civil War - the Kuomintang Party. She participated on the side of Japan and included, for example, the National Army of Mengjiang, consisting of the Chinese, who defeated their compatriots in 1937 in the battle for Taiyuan.

Everything changed in 1941. Deliveries from the United States under Lend-Lease began, they managed to acquire equipment, ammunition, in addition to this, American troops began hostilities with Japan to help the allies. Many Japanese forces switched to fighting the US. Also, to protect their colonies, British troops landed in support of the PRC.

Despite this support, the situation took an unexpected turn. In 1942, Japan captures Burma, where there were supplies of weapons from the allies. As a result, China remained cut off from them and the army quickly felt the lack of ammunition.

Meanwhile, Japan continued to fight, moving further and further inland, using ever more brutal types of weapons - chemical and biological. In 1943, the country was on the brink of disaster, but continued to hold on and restrain Japan from completely seizing territories and approaching the borders of the Soviet Union, which was already at war with Germany. On its territory, the Nazi troops at that time suffered a major defeat near Stalingrad.

The PRC held out on its own until 1944. After that, the allies who came to the rescue were able to oust the Japanese from the occupied territories. In 1945, the Soviet Union had already been liberated from the German troops and went to Berlin, and some of the troops were transferred to Asia. So, by joint efforts, the troops of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, the USA and the almost completely exhausted Chinese ousted the troops of Japan.

September 2, 1945 is the official date when the Second World War ended, because only the Second World War ended on May 9. This war is not full of victories and was more of a defensive war, but China's participation in World War II contributed to the history of mankind. Thanks to the stoppage of Japanese troops, the Allies won a number of victories in Asia and the waters Pacific Ocean, putting an end to the ongoing nightmare that has engulfed the whole world.

How many died

The Sino-Japanese war lasted about 8 years and due to difficult history China at this time to estimate the number of deaths is quite difficult. The country experienced internecine skirmishes, a large number of The population died not at the hands of the Japanese, but from hunger, disease and other factors. The data of the opposing troops of the communists and the government differed.

Thus, according to the PRC government, China lost about 35 million people during World War II - this includes troops and civilians.

A US researcher, Rudolf Rumpel, a political scientist who has studied the methods and systems of extermination of the population during wars, speaks of more than 20 million, of which 12 are civilians. An organization that sums up statistics on the data of all what is happening and what happened armed conflicts, speaks of at least 18 million civilians and 11 million military.

The total losses of Japan, according to differing data, amounted to about 800 thousand people.

How many Chinese were killed by the Japanese

The population was counted, as mentioned earlier, only in 1950. In addition to this, researchers and historians from many other countries evaluate the data very differently. Therefore, it is not easy to say who is as close to reality as possible. Also, do not forget that the government of the country - China in this case - can "embellish" even such information.

• 1.31 million people were killed.
• 1.753 million injured.
• 115 thousand people are missing.

Data from September 28 of the same year - 1.8 million died, the same number were injured or disappeared. That is, the losses amounted to more than 3 million people, and this is only in the army. Many foreign researchers prefer to talk about figures between 3 and 5 million military dead, taking into account those who died due to diseases.

Losses in the allied forces

The losses of the allied forces during the Sino-Japanese war are not so great. However, if you look at the picture of the Second World War, they turned out to be no less, especially in the Soviet Union. main reason related to the history of the PRC, because the first three years of participation in the war had to cope on their own. There were other factors that influenced the number of victims. For example, unpreparedness for hostilities.

Compared to World War I, Great Britain, for example, lost fewer soldiers. During the entire Second World War, about 400 thousand soldiers and about 70 thousand civilians were killed. The USSR became poorer by 27 million soldiers and civilians.

US losses were greater in World War II than in World War I. America helped the allies not only in Europe, but also in Africa, as well as China, fighting Japan. Most of the losses came from air force. The number of military dead is estimated at about 407.5 thousand, in addition to this, about 6 thousand civilians.

Civilian casualties

The actions of both sides of the conflict led to this. China could not attack and only defended itself, sacrificing thousands of its citizens, just to delay the enemy. Command errors also resulted in avoidable casualties. As an example, a case is recorded in history when the army command in 1938 ordered the destruction of the dams that held back the Yellow River from spilling. As a result, not only the Japanese suffered, but also hundreds of thousands of local residents.

The Japanese side should not be overlooked either. Its troops presented themselves as brutal conquerors and went down in history for their inhumanity, often carrying out "massacres" like the one that took place in Nanjing in 1937. This is one of the most brutal war crimes in the history of mankind. Also, the troops resorted to cruel treatment and the killing of thousands of prisoners of war, there is evidence of experiments on prisoners to create bacteriological weapons. You can learn more about this by reading about Detachment 731.

Most of all deaths in China during World War II were civilians.

The parties to the conflict are still arguing about how many people were killed in that massacre. Japan tends to understate data, sometimes dozens of times, while China sometimes exaggerates.

China's weapons and how much equipment was destroyed

The armament of China in World War II left much to be desired. There were few weapons before her because of the Civil War, and they were not produced. No one was preparing for full-fledged hostilities with Japan. Allied deliveries helped, offering not only weapons and ammunition, but also equipment, along with specialists. Most of all, this concerned aircraft and pilots. Also came tanks and other heavy equipment, mechanics and doctors, conducting regular classes. Thanks to this, the PRC was able to slightly level its position when it itself began to produce equipment, albeit in small quantities.

At the beginning it was:

• 1.9 million soldiers and officers. 300 thousand + 150 thousand partisans were with Chiang Kai-shek, about a million - with the government, of which 45 thousand were partisans. The rest were volunteers.
• A little over 500 aircraft, of which 305 are fighters. About half are unsuitable for sorties. The aircraft were obsolete, the crews had little experience and knowledge. There were no trained army reserves.

The United States supplied equipment, oil products, medicines, food and ammunition under Lend-Lease. Everything that was destroyed was not subject to payment, the rest could be sold to China or returned back to the United States.

The USSR for the entire period was brought:

• 1285 aircraft, including 777 fighters, about 400 bombers and a hundred training ones. At the beginning of the war, the entire army had about 150 aircraft.
• Guns - 1600 pcs.
• T-26, light tanks - 82 pcs.
• easel and light machine guns- 14 thousand pieces.
• Tractors and machines - 1850.

Considering that the allies did not always send as many weapons as they asked for, as well as the number of deaths that exceeded Japan's weapons and other factors, it is difficult to say that the supplies were enough. China has lost a significant part.

Causes of huge losses

There are many reasons why so many people were killed:

• China was not ready for war.
• The command was unprofessional.
• There was almost no army, the preparation was poor. Japan was superior to the enemy in everything - in motivation, professionalism, weapons, physical training etc.
• There was a civil war that did not stop during the Second World War.
• Japanese troops staged a genocide against the Chinese.

Thus, both countries were to blame for the fact that the losses, especially among civilians, were so great.

The incompetence of the leadership of the Chinese army

Due to the fact that the country had split by the beginning of the war, the army command was completely ineffective and had difficulty making decisions. The two opposing sides could hardly be called a cohesive army. No one went to a temporary reconciliation, so defensive battles took place in pockets without coordination of actions with each other.

For this reason, most of the civilian population was left without protection, which the Japanese took advantage of.

The remaining military had almost no equipment, no strength, no motivation to continue fighting, and the Japanese army took any means to break the enemy. Therefore, the victory can be attributed to factors such as:

• The Japanese were outnumbered.
• The Chinese are resilient.
• Allied troops provided great support.

Could such victims have been avoided?

Research on this topic was conducted by the Center for the Study. It lasted about 10 years, during which time specialists visited about 95% of all settlements that were in Japanese occupation. About 80% of the residents who witnessed those events were interviewed. This made it possible to obtain about 800 thousand certificates and a large layer of data about the Second World War.

Participated in the project and residents of countries such as:

1. Russia.
2. Japan.
3. Great Britain.
4. Taiwan.

Summing up, we can say that such a large number of victims could have been avoided. Because the Chinese command let down its army, the country found itself in a trap. An association opposing sides could significantly rally the people and increase military power.

The strife within the country turned out to be stronger than the threat of an external enemy. Therefore, no matter how inhumanly the Japanese army behaved, only it cannot be blamed for what happened.

Conclusion

Speaking about the role of this war for world history, there is no doubt that it has become one of the key ones. China took the brunt and won the fight at a huge cost. It will never be possible to forget how the PRC got this victory. There is still no exact data on all the dead, but even the numbers now available are already making a terrible impression. Realizing that every single unit in these brief reports was a person, the same as everyone else, the first thing that comes to mind is that this should not happen again. But now there are places where people continue to fight each other for reasons that don't really matter, given that the world is not divided into parts. And this unity is a value that needs to be nurtured and protected.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping up criticism of Japan over issues of historical recognition, disputed territories and resources to divert attention from domestic political issues with nationalist sentiment and reduce tensions in the country. One manifestation of a similar policy was a speech by South Korean President Park Geun-hye with familiar criticism of Japan during a visit to Berlin on March 28.

Xi Jinping said: “The Sino-Japanese war has claimed the lives of 35 million Chinese. A brutal massacre took place in Nanjing, as a result of which more than 300 thousand soldiers and civilians were killed. It goes without saying that Chinese propaganda believes that Japan "had no reason for this."

On the issue of historical recognition, Japan is now in a dilemma, taking a vague position of non-intervention ("disputes will damage friendly relations") - and, on the other hand, hoping that public opinion in the world "everything will eventually be understood."

China wanted war with Japan

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Germany concluded the Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan (after which allied relations were established), however, in cooperation with Japan, she led the preparation of Chiang Kai-shek's army, sent her advisers to China, and supplied the Chinese with the latest weapons. In other words, she did everything to exhaust Japan.

During the events in Nanjing, American missionaries urged the people to make a safety zone in the center of the city and stay there. The decisions of the missionaries were led by an international committee, and the German Jon Rabe was at the head of the committee.
Therefore, Xi Jinping saw Germany as a suitable place to criticize Japan. He mentioned Rabe's name and spoke of him with gratitude: "This touching story is an example of friendship between China and Germany."

Initially, he planned to give a speech at the Holocaust memorial, but since Rabe was at one time a member of the Nazi party, Germany did not give its permission, so as not to open the old wound associated with the massacres of Jews.

Apparently, Xi Jinping was so absorbed in criticizing Japan that he did not even think that the word "mass murder" might remind the Germans of their Holocaust. Even in such small things, China's selfish behavior is revealed.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, China was not even a unified state, it was torn apart by war between military cliques. Japan was afraid of the spread of communism in such conditions and therefore supported Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang, who opposed Mao Zedong.

However, a split occurred within the Kuomintang party itself, and part of the Chinese went over to the communists, after which they began to oppose Japan together. The position of the party changed in an unpredictable way.

Japan, which was afraid of war and wanted to end it as quickly as possible, was caught in the net of the newly emerging Communist Party of China. It was the CCP that wanted the war, because it was going to watch from the sidelines as the Kuomintang and Japan fought each other and lost strength.

Why "wasn't mass murder»?

The battles for Shanghai and Nanjing were especially fierce. Following Chiang Kai-shek, the head of the city's defense and the commander of the Nanjing army Tang Shengzhi, as well as division commanders, fled from Nanjing. Chinese army turned out to be headless and out of control.

The soldiers tried to break through several city gates, which remained open, they were held back by shots from special barrage detachments, leaving only corpses.

In the security zone, where the civilians of the city had gathered, fleeing soldiers began to appear, who entered the zone, throwing away their weapons and uniforms.

Disguised soldiers (the remnants of a defeated army) in the zone could become dangerous elements, so the Japanese army developed a sweep operation. The detained soldiers were not subject to the terms of the Hague Prisoner of War Convention. In addition, the Japanese army could not support them due to the lack of sufficient provisions, and therefore the irreparable happened.

No one questions the fact that Nanjing was great amount victims. However, existing photographs of Chinese people smiling while getting haircuts on the street, children playing with Japanese soldiers and rejoicing in the received candy, suggest that even immediately after the incident, calm reigned on the streets of the city.

Considering the conditions of the time, criticism of Japan's treatment of disguised soldiers, who should have been treated like prisoners of war, in the conditions of the war in Nanjing becomes nothing more than empty theory.

Chinese soldiers who failed to achieve the status of prisoners of war could verbally betray their homeland in the name of love for her (any, even the biggest lie in such conditions is considered a manifestation of love for their country) in order to deserve better treatment.

However, the study of historical materials exported by the Kuomintang to Taiwan, in the light of new finds, made it possible to learn even more about the real background of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Incident.

Thus, errors were pointed out in photographs exhibited at the Museum of Memory of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, which led to the removal of some of the photographs. Following this, a certain person who worked in the propaganda department of the Kuomintang disclosed the information he had that all the letters of the Nanjing residents, written by hand to their relatives and friends about peaceful life, were seized, replaced with descriptions of deliberately exaggerated brutal actions of the Japanese military.

Thus, we see that in the conditions of fierce battles, of course, there were cases of killing civilians by mistake, cases of poor treatment of prisoners of war, but the largest number casualties arose as a result of the destruction of the remnants of a defeated army, which did not fall under the status of prisoners of war, in other words, there was no deliberate "massacre (of prisoners of war and civilians)".

The study of history continues, and now that a correct understanding of events is beginning to emerge, the old lies in Xi Jinping's speech only indicate that China does not deserve the trust of the international community.

If you tell the truth, you will be considered a traitor

The police and other departments of China constantly inflate the statistics not only by two, but by ten times, even Peaceful time increasing the number of demonstrators. When covering the Nanjing incident, a war was waged on all fronts (information, psychological and legislative). To achieve goals information war the situation was distorted. For example, in order to declare the cruelty of the Japanese army, the corpse of a soldier killed in battle was dressed in civilian clothes. Discussions were also raised that the Japanese army did not treat Chinese soldiers as prisoners of war, who, in fact, did not fall under the status of "prisoners of war" and were simply the remnants of a defeated army.

At the same time, at the Tokyo process, which was conducted by the winners, any, even the most controversial, arguments were passed, if they were convenient for the allies. The losing side, on the contrary, could not even provide the available documentary evidence.

Chinese-American Iris Chan published a book called Violence in Nanjing, which became an American bestseller. The book contains a large number of erroneous photographs, and the Japanese translation of the book did not live up to the publisher's sales plans.

An experienced British journalist, Henry Stokes, who collected materials on the uprising in the South Korean Gwangju, wrote that the information differed from all American and European reporters who were in South Korea at that time, so it was completely incomprehensible what was really happening then in this remote region. . The truth was revealed only twenty years later.

Based on the experience gained, the journalist in his last book"Lies in Allied Historical Views as Seen by a British Journalist" admits that journalists in Nanjing could not make sense of the situation at the time.

In addition, he believes that “Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong spoke in public many times after the debacle at Nanjing, but never once mentioned the massacre carried out by the Japanese army there. It is only from this fact that one can understand that the Nanjing massacre was a fiction.

Historian Minoru Kitamura, in his book The Investigation of the Nanjing Incident and Its Real Image, written on the basis of an extensive evidence base, towards the end of the work writes about "problems of cross-cultural communication" that appeared as a result of a political position, and not on the basis of common sense .

For example, if we turn to the already sounded problem of lying in the name of love for the motherland, then with this approach a person can say anything, even realizing that it is a lie. Conversely, a person who confesses to lying is declared a traitor and labeled as an "enemy of the people." Truth simply cannot exist in such a society.

"Feelings" are taken into account in the statistics of victims

Despite the fact that Xi Jinping claimed 35 million casualties in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Gu Weijun, a representative of the Chinese Kuomintang government, at a meeting of the League of Nations immediately after the incident (February 1938), spoke of only 20,000 people being killed.

At the Tokyo trial, the number of victims of the war rose to 2.5 million people, but the Kuomintang insisted on 3.2 million, and then on 5.79 million. After the emergence of the People's Republic of China, the statistics of victims jumped sharply to 21.68 million people, in this form it is given by the Military Museum of China. Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1995, in his speech in Moscow, already announced 35 million.

Until 1960, Chinese state textbooks cited a figure of 10 million victims, after 1985 they began to write about 21 million victims, and after 1995 about 35 million victims.

As for the victims of the Nanjing Incident, the Tokyo Hiniti (future Mainichi) and Asahi newspapers, which wrote about the sensational competition in killing people, went to the hundreds, did not say a word about the massacre. The newspapers Osaka Mainichi, Tokyo Hinichi, and Asahi printed photographs of happy Chinese children, suggesting that there were no massacres.

Director of the Chinese Institute of Social Science Research and modern history Bupin, who launched a debate with a group of Yoshiko Sakurai from Japan, calmly stated: “Historical truth does not exist as such, it is directly related to feelings. For example, 300,000 dead in the Nanjing massacre is not just a figure obtained by adding up the number of people killed. This figure should express the feelings of the victims ”(Yoshiko Sakurai“ The Great Historical Controversy Between Japan, China and South Korea»).

AT Memorial Museum Hiroshima writes, for example, that “the number of victims is 140,000 plus or minus 10,000 people,” these 10,000 people “are necessary for the possibility of mutual discrepancies within the established framework,” the museum explains in order to avoid claims.

Provided that studies were carried out before and after the atomic bombing and the figures are based on factual data, 10,000 missing people can be called our “lie for the sake of the love of the motherland”, which is given under the guise of “variances” or “feelings”.

Summarizing

I think it is correct to say that Japan treats history as a thing of the past, China as a propaganda tool, and South Korea as a fantasy.

The historical view of China and South Korea is far from reality, it includes feelings, wishes and hopes. Therefore, it is almost impossible to come to a common point of view in a joint historical study.

At the same time, one cannot avoid all-round communication between neighboring states. If the lies spread by China and South Korea take root in the world's understanding, the dignity of Japan will be hurt, because if a lie is repeated a hundred times, then it will become the truth.

Of course, scientific research is needed, but an active position from a political point of view is no less important.

Horrors were happening in this theater of operations, even by the standards of the Second World War, overshadowing everything else. But Europeans and Russians know almost nothing about it.

Many Russian Stalinists like to dream of an alliance between Russia and China against the West. For all their "sinophilia", they have no idea of ​​the outstanding role that China played in saving the regime of their idol during the Second World War. And if you tell them about it, they will surely deny it furiously. Another trick is that it was Kuomintang China, anti-communist.

The victory parade over Japan, held for the first time by the PRC authorities, gave rise to guesswork by some "analysts" about whether Beijing is thereby claiming the legacy of the Kuomintang regime. In particular, are the PRC authorities going to integrate the island of Taiwan in the near future on the principle of "two systems - one country", as was done with Macau and Hong Kong. In principle, the greatest reason to hold a victory parade on September 3 this year. were precisely in Taiwan, that is, the Republic of China - the direct successor of the one, the Kuomintang. But - again, the irony of history: this Republic has found refuge on the island, which during the Second World War belonged to Japan!

However, we are now not interested in these fortune-telling about future relations between Beijing and Taipei. Our task in another way is to show few people (especially neo-Soviet "patriots") the well-known role of China in World War II. After all, mainly the heroic resistance of China, which fettered about two-thirds of all ground forces of Japan, did not allow the latter to strike at the Far East of the USSR in 1941-1942. This, in turn, allowed Stalin, at critical moments in the battles for Moscow and Stalingrad, to freely transfer divisions from the Far Eastern military districts to the Soviet-German front.

The Soviet Union owed much of its survival in World War II to Kuomintang China, its then 450 million people.

Unknown World War II

When full-scale hostilities began between Japan and China on July 7, 1937 (Japan had already controlled Manchuria and most so-called Inner Mongolia), then the total population of the warring countries exceeded that of the countries of Europe that started the Second world war September 1-3, 1939 (excluding the population of the British and French colonies). Based on this fact, some historians prefer to consider 07/07/37 as the date of the start of World War II, and not 09/01/39.

However, most Chinese historians are more modest. They even call this war, which can fairly be called the Chinese “Great Patriotic War”, only the “Japanese War of Resistance”. However, most likely, the main deterrent role is played by the fact that China at that time was headed by the Kuomintang party and its leader, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

War 1937-1945 raged entirely on Chinese soil, in its most populated parts - in East and Southeast China. Almost the entire population of what was then China, about 400 million people, lived in the Chinese theater of operations (taking into account the territories subjected to regular Japanese air raids). Huge masses of people were involved in the war, especially from the Chinese side. Exactly how many people were put under arms by the government of Chiang Kai-shek, as well as by the Chinese Communists, who then waged a civil war against the Kuomintang, but from time to time concluded a truce to jointly resist the Japanese invaders, is not known exactly. The Japanese army in China during periods of the highest tension totaled 3.2 million, and about 900 thousand more fought at the same time in Chinese collaborationist formations.

It is also very likely that we will never know exactly the extent of the losses on the Chinese side. If the Japanese did not lose so much (although here the data differ - from 380 thousand to 1.1 million only killed; the Chinese collaborators lost up to 1.8 million killed, that is, the combat strength of the pro-Japanese Chinese troops went through a threefold rotation of death ), then anti-Japanese Chinese armed forces lost, according to various estimates, from 2 million to 3.2 million killed (while the communists accounted for about one tenth of these losses).

The relatively small losses of the Japanese are explained by superiority over the Chinese in the quality of weapons, the level of organization and tactical skill. In addition, the Japanese army often used weapons against the army of Chiang Kai-shek, as well as against the military formations of the communists. mass destruction— chemical and bacteriological. On this theater of operations, horrors were happening, even by the standards of the Second World War, overshadowing everything else. But Europeans and Russians know almost nothing about it.

However, taking into account the losses among Chinese collaborators, the losses of both sides in the war in China were almost equal. The Japanese, with their skillful occupation policy, managed to place the brunt of the losses in the war with China on their own Chinese allies. Given the number of Chinese fighting on the side of Japan, this war became largely a civil war within China between Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang and Wang Jingwei's Kuomintang, in addition to the civil war waged by the Communists against both Kuomintangs.

However, the bulk of the Chinese losses were civilians. It was dying in masses not only from air raids, shelling, occupational terror, tripartite civil war but also from the defensive measures of their own government. So, in the summer of 1938, the Japanese offensive in the Zhengzhou area was stopped only by the destruction of the dams that held back the Yellow River flood. As a result, not only the Japanese army lost a lot of people and equipment. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of unknown victims of this action were Chinese residents of both sexes and all ages.

Losses of the civilian population of China in 1937-1945. Western historians estimate at 17-22 million. Together with the Chinese military killed on both sides of the front line, this amounts to 21-27 million, which is approximately equal to the losses of the USSR in World War II. Some Chinese historians estimate total number dead Chinese in 1937-1945. in 35 million. If this is so, then in terms of the absolute number of human casualties, it is the most severely affected country in the Second World War.

In terms of population, China's losses were greater than those of the Russian Federation, counted separately from other republics of the USSR. But the Russian public is not aware of these huge Chinese sacrifices, thrown on the altar of the common victory in World War II.

At the same time, the Chinese army, according to the conditions of armament, was forced to wage only a defensive war. Her morale was not warmed by major victories, similar to the victories of the Red Army near Moscow and Stalingrad. Japanese aviation constantly dominated the air. The general course of hostilities for all eight years was unidirectional - successive Japanese offensives in one place or another, the constant expansion of the occupied territory. The Chinese army of Chiang Kai-shek was sometimes capable of local counteroffensives, no more (the only exception was 1945). All the more striking is her resilience, which did not allow the Japanese to crush the last pockets of Chinese resistance.

The Japanese army captured Beijing in July 1937, Shanghai in November, and Nanjing, the then capital of China, in December. The government of Chiang Kai-shek moved to Wuhan, which, after a long defense, fell in October 1938. The new seat of the Kuomintang leadership was Chongqing, which was no longer taken by the Japanese.

By December 1941, the moment of their attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese occupied a territory in China (including Manchuria) with a population of about 225 million people. Half (and later even more) of the human potential of then China fell under the control of the invaders and their local accomplices (the Republic of China of Wang Jingwei). In addition to the vast territories in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and the Yellow River and the wide coastal corridor that connected them, the Japanese also captured Guangzhou in southern China and the vast area adjacent to it, as well as the important ports of Shantou and Xiamen.

The attack on American and British possessions in the Asia-Pacific region forced the Japanese to temporarily reduce their offensive activity in China. But this did not bring much relief to China, since at the same time the United States was forced to cut military aid China at After the Japanese troops, having captured Burma in early 1942, cut off the road, which was the only transport artery along which goods from the Western allies were delivered to China, the situation of the Republic of China became especially critical. However, Chiang Kai-shek's army repulsed all Japanese attempts to invade South China from Burma and continued to hold a tight defense.

A new intensification of hostilities in China came in 1944. At this time, the Japanese Empire was almost unable to withstand the mighty onslaught of the American fleet and aviation. On the other hand, the Chinese theater of war represented the only field where one could somehow recoup for failures and get additional resources. As a result of offensive operations in the first half of 1944, the Japanese broke through an additional corridor between their troops in the Huang He and Yangtze valleys.

At the same time, the troops of the 10th military region of the Republic of China were cut off from the rest of Chiang Kai-shek's army. In the second half of 1944, Japanese troops completely captured the Changsha-Liuzhou-Pingxiang railway line, thus establishing a land connection with their troops in Indochina, and along the Xijiang River valley with their bridgehead around Guangzhou. A large grouping (3rd, 7th and 9th military regions) of Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang troops in Southeast China was cut off from the rest of the country and, at the same time, was divided in two. Even earlier, the Japanese captured the ports of Fuzhou and Wenzhou, Hainan Island and the Leizhou Peninsula.

But this was not yet the peak of Japanese success in China. Almost until the very end of the war, the imperial land army continued to conduct offensive operations. True, the winter (January-February 1945) Japanese offensive against the cut off Kuomintang troops in Southeast China ended in complete failure. The Japanese were forced to withdraw to their original positions. But in the spring of 1945, the Japanese carried out successful offensive operations in Central China, and they managed to capture two large airbases of American bombers.

True, already in May 1945, Chiang Kai-shek's army launched a counteroffensive against the Japanese corridor Changsha - Indochina, and by the end of the month this corridor was cut. By the end of July 1945, the Japanese had left almost the entire territory occupied here at the end of last year, with the exception of the Changsha area. The Chiang Kai-shekists also recaptured the ports of Fuzhou and Wenzhou.

Such was the situation at the time of the announcement of Japan's surrender (August 15, 1945). However, the conditions for the organization of the Japanese army were such that the allies had to accept the surrender of each of its individual groups in different theaters. Only on September 9, 1945, the Japanese troops in China capitulated, and the army of Chiang Kai-shek began the rapid liberation of his country. But she was not allowed into Manchuria - Soviet troops settled here even earlier, and the Soviet leadership decided to make a base on this territory in order to bring it to power throughout China.

Crossing of interests

Many interesting pages of World War II are still waiting for their discoverers. Thus, of great interest is the fact that long before the conclusion of a military alliance between them in 1941, the United States and the USSR in parallel provided military assistance to the regime of Chiang Kai-shek against Japan. It is absolutely impossible, therefore, that this activity should not somehow be coordinated between the two powers at the level of the respective services. Obviously, contacts between the Soviet and American military on the basis of joint activities in China should have started back in the late 30s, if not earlier. However, there is still not a single publication in Russian about this, even if translated.

Further, few people know that until the end of 1936, military supplies to China were carried out by ... Nazi Germany! Only on November 25, 1936, the Anti-Comintern Pact was signed - an agreement on a military alliance between Germany and Japan. Until that moment, Germany had been selling to China some of its weapons and uniforms, which seemed superfluous and outdated for future war. True, in the summer of 1937, when Japan attacked China, these deliveries were no longer made. However, many Kuomintang army soldiers were armed German rifles Mauser and wore German helmets (see photo).

Of particular interest is the fact that the assistance of Nazi Germany to China in 1933-1936. was also carried out simultaneously with Soviet assistance to this country. Was this not used by the secret services of both countries for the subsequent rapprochement in 1939? There is still no clear work on this topic. This page of the history of the pre-war years is still covered with impenetrable darkness...

Soviet attempt to establish control over Western China

Western China or Xinjiang at that time was often called East Turkestan.

After the Xinghai Revolution of 1911, China was a unified country with only a large degree of convention, and after 1937, separatist movements in it intensified.

The Soviet Union firmly controlled Xinjiang in the late 1930s through the Kuomintang but virtually pro-communist governor Sheng Shicai. He felt completely independent from the government of Chiang Kai-shek. At the same time, Xinjiang was used as a supply corridor Soviet weapons army of Chiang Kai-shek.

In 1942, due to military difficulties, the control of the USSR over Sheng Shicai weakened, and he went to subjugate Chiang Kai-shek. Fulfilling the demand of the latter, Sheng carried out repressions against the communists.

He took revenge in 1944. At his direct instigation, an uprising of the Turkic peoples of Xinjiang began, which had long been dissatisfied with Chinese domination. On November 12, 1944, the creation of the East Turkestan Revolutionary Republic was proclaimed in Ghulja. Its government included representatives of the Turkic peoples of Xinjiang, as well as two Soviet military men as a kind of curators of the new republic from the USSR.

However, at the end of World War II, it controlled only a smaller part of Xinjiang. Chiang Kai-shek expressed his willingness to negotiate. On the other hand, Stalin was not yet ready to spoil relations with the United States, and they recognized Chiang Kai-shek as the only legitimate leader of China. The autonomy agreement was signed in June 1946. However, armed clashes soon began again. As in Manchuria, the USSR provided assistance to the anti-Kuomintang forces. Attempts by the Kuomintang army to establish complete control over Xinjiang failed. And in 1948-1949. in the main theater of the civil war in China, the communists won decisive victories.

The USSR at that time changed its strategy regarding East Turkestan. If earlier the Stalinist leadership expected to keep this area for themselves if the Kuomintang retained power over most of China, now, when the CCP took over all of China, the task of liquidating the pro-Soviet puppet republic became the next step. Mao Zedong in August 1949 invited representatives of the VTRR government to Beijing to negotiate the terms of reunification with China, already communist. The plane with the VTRR government delegation crashed under unclear circumstances. All delegates died. It is known that they were ready to defend the broad autonomy of East Turkestan before Mao. The new government delegation of the VTRR agreed to join the PRC on all conditions of Beijing.

The Russian military was reportedly closing the march at the victory parade in Beijing on September 3 this year. Although it is not known exactly for what reasons such an order for the passage of foreign military personnel was established, but if it was so, then this is deeply symbolic. The Soviet Union entered World War II Far East Asia only at the very last moment to take advantage of the fruits of the victory won by others. First of all, of course, a vital role in the defeat of Japan belonged to the United States. But we must not forget the role of China. Against the background of the Japanese and collaborators destroyed by the army of Chiang Kai-shek, the successes of the USSR that defeated the Kwantung Army, the total combat strength of which by August 1945, as established by modern Russian researchers (K.E. Cherevko, A.A. Kirichenko. Soviet- Japanese War: Declassified Archives. - M., 2006), was only 357.5 thousand! The presence of almost 600 thousand Japanese prisoners of war in Soviet troops due to the capture of all support personnel of the Japanese troops, as well as the army of Manchukuo.