East Asia, 1931-1945

1. East Asia, 1931-1945 Monday, April 4th

2. Introduction • When the depression hit, the drop in demand for rice and silk ruined thousands of Japanese farmers • To survive, some resorted to selling their daughters into prostitution and many young men joined the military • Many in Japan resented the fact that their nation had become so dependent on foreign trade and wanted to acquire colonies that would relieve this burden • However, most potential colonies were held by Europeans or Americans • Many saw the conquest of China, with its vast population and resources, as the solution to their countries problems

3. The Manchurian Incident, 1931 • The Japanese wanted to take control of the Manchuria region of China and many junior officers in the Japanese army were frustrated that action was not being taken to secure this region • In September of 1931, the Japanese army blew up part of a railroad track as an excuse for invading the province • The U.S. and the League of Nations condemned this action and urged the Japanese to remove their troops • In response, Japan left the League of Nations

4. The Manchurian Incident, 1931 • Over the next several years Japan built railways and heavy industries in Manchuria • At home, Japan concentrated on building up their military, especially their warships • The government grew more authoritarian and many were put in jail for questioning the decisions of the leadership

5. The Long March • The Guomindang, the authoritarian ruling party of China from 1928 – 1945, was led by Chiang Kai-shek • The primary challenge to the government of Chian Kai-shek was the rising power of Communists in China • After many communists were hunted and down and executed by the government in 1927, those that were left fled to the remote mountains of southeast China

6. The Long March • Their leader was Mao Zedong, a farmers son who had studied philosophy and the works of Karl Marx • Unlike Russian communism, that largely ignored peasants and concentrated on industrial workers, Mao Zedong’s communist revolution was based around the peasant class • Mao was an advocate of women’s equality, advocating for the end of arranged marriages and foot binding • The Guomindang pursed the Communists into the mountains but, thanks to guerilla tactics, Mao’s forces were not defeated • Additionally, Mao made sure that his soldiers help the peasants they encountered and treated them with respect, unlike the government troops

7. The Long March • The Long March was a 6000-mile journey that the Chinese communists, led by Mao Zedong, took from southeastern China to the northwest of the country • During the one year trip they were continually attacked by government forces and aircraft • They had to travel across mountains, swamps, and through deserts • Of the 100,000 who began the journey only 4,000 survived

8. The Sino-Japanese War • Junior Japanese officers, again taking matters into their own hands, began the war with China (in 1937) and eventually gained the support of their superiors • Within weeks they had taken Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and other coastal cities • Once again the U.S. and the League of Nations denounced these actions but did nothing because they were preoccupied with events happening in Europe

9. The Sino-Japanese War • The Chinese armies were large but they were poorly led/armed and lost almost every battle • Despite this, occupying China was a huge burden for Japan because of constant resistance from the Chinese population • Because of this, taxes rose, food and fuel became scarce, and more and more men were drafted in Japan

10. The Sino-Japanese War • In the winter of 1937-1938, Japanese troops took the city of Nanking and committed terrible atrocities (“The Rape of Nanking”) • 20,000 women were raped • 200,000 prisoners and civilians were killed • In response, the Chinese government ordered the destruction of the dikes that held the Yellow River • This destroyed 4,000 villages, killed 890,000 people, and made millions homeless

11. The Sino-Japanese War • The Chinese government escaped to the mountains in the middle of the country • They were able to create a three million man army but they only had one million guns and barely enough food or clothing for the soldiers • The Communist forces presented themselves as the only group in China who were serious about fighting the Japanese • Additionally, they distributed lands to poor peasants and listened to their grievances unlike the government forces

12. Collapse of the Guomindang and Communist Victory • When the Japanese surrendered and ended World War II, the U.S. gave millions of dollars of aid and weapons to the Guomindang, hoping for peaceful national unity between them and the communists in China • However, Chiang Kai-shek used these resources to fight a civil war against the Communists • Despite having an army half the size of the government’s, the communist forces were able to win this war due to the support of the peasantry • When Chiang Kai-shek’s forces entered villages formerly held by the Japanese, his forces did not treat the citizens much better than the Japanese did • By contrast, the Communist forces redistributed land and gave women more rights • Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st, 1949