The Second Sino- Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War
Why are we talking about this?
• Next case study is the Nanjing Massacre
• Context: Second Sino-Japanese War
JAPAN
CHINA (prefix: “Sino-”)
Nanjing
The Chinese Civil War
• Dates: 1927-1936 and 1945-1950• War between Communists and
Nationalists for control of China• Interrupted by Japanese invasion and
WWII
Communists and Nationalists
Kuomintang (KMT)
• Goals: reunify China; establish republic
• Leader: Chiang Kai-shek
Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
• Goals: reunify China; start socialist revolution
• Leader: Mao Zedong
Japan Invades
• 1931: Japan invades Manchuria
• KMT ignores the Japanese to focus on the Communists
• Japan establishes a puppet state called Manchukuo
Now who wants China?
1. Communists
2. Nationalists
3. Japan
The Second United Front
• Date: 1937-1945• Communists and Nationalists unite to
drive out the Japanese• Nationalists do most of the fighting;
Communists take time to regroup
Second Sino-Japanese War
• Date: 1937-1945• Japan rapidly advances • Chiang’s strategy: trading space for
time • 1940: stalemate• 1945: Japan surrenders in WWII and
withdraws from China
The Nanjing Massacre
• Date: 1937• Japanese troops slaughter 300,000
Chinese civilians, mostly women and children, in Nanjing
• Widespread rape – estimated 20,000• “The Rape of Nanjing”
Exit Ticket
2 quiz questions + answers about this lecture content