China's immense sacrifice in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression played a crucial role in the global fight against Fascism, said a historian.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945).
Looking through the whole process of the world’s fight against Fascism, before the world turned its attention to Normandy or Pearl Harbor, a fierce yet often overlooked war broke out the earliest in the East.
On September 18, 1931, Japanese aggressor troops blew up a section of the railway in Shenyang and accused the Chinese military of doing it. Using the blast as a pretext, Japanese forces bombarded Shenyang on the same night, launching a full-scale invasion of northeast China.
"For a long time, the prevailing view was that the second World War started with the outbreak of war in Europe. However, research shows that the conflict in China began as early as September 1931. There were two hotbeds of the war -- Germany and Japan. Japan began its aggression the earliest -- it started its invasion of China in 1931. Therefore, China’s resistance which began in 1931 was the prologue to the global anti-Fascist war,” said Wang Jianlang, president of the Academy of History of Chinese Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Global media unanimously denounced Japan's invasion as calculated imperialist aggression, exploiting turmoil to seize Chinese territory.
On July 7, 1937, Japanese aggressor troops attacked Chinese forces at the Lugou Bridge near Beijing, marking the beginning of Japan's full-scale invasion of China and China's whole-nation resistance against the Japanese invaders.
Data from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that during the full-scale war, battle lines stretched more than 1,800 kilometers, with fighting raging across over ten provinces of China, covering 1.6 million square kilometers. Around 400 million people in China lived under the shadow of war.
Japan's invasion and China’s nationwide resistance quickly drew global attention. Major international newspapers like The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Pravda reported on the conflict. Then U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt implicitly criticized Japan’s aggression, and noted that the Chinese people were the first to stand up and fight against the aggressors in this war.
During the 14-year war, a total of 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians lost their lives, of which more than 3.8 million were military casualties, accounting for one-third of the total casualties of all countries.
"Among all occupied countries, China suffered the longest invasion and paid the heaviest price. This is simply because our strength then was no match for Japan's. But our will to resist was. Surrender might have spared lives but we chose to fight. Outgunned, we fought with spirit and resolve. We fought fiercely even knowing the cost," Wang said.
Wang said China’s 14 years of resistance also has a bigger impact on the entire course of the war.
"The fight wasn’t just about China’s defense and survival -- it tied down Japanese forces and drained their war resources, playing a key role in the global victory against Fascism," he said.
China also served as a crucial base for Allied Operations in the Asia-Pacific theater. It provided vital support by offering air-bases, military intelligence, and other assistance. These supports gave the Allies significant manpower, military and financial resources.
China's fight against Japanese aggression crucial in entire WWII process: historian
