Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Under various pretexts, Japan moved southward and in 1937 began a full-scale inva-
sion of China. Japan was now at war with China, and in December of that year, Japan's
anger at China's resistance turned to vengeful hate. The city of Nanking (Nanjing) was put
to sword and fire. Best estimates are that in six murderous weeks, 300,000 civilians were
killed. Systematic looting, arson, and rape, along with summary execution of civilians were
carried out by the Japanese in the Rape of Nanking. [221] Chiang's Nationalist army retreated
south and westward to establish a national capital at Chungking, while victorious Japan set
about creating its Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. After December 7, 1941 (Pearl
Harbor), China became an ally of the United States and Great Britain, with the Allies at-
tempting to turn the Japanese flank with men and supplies carried over the Burma Road or
flown into Chungking from bases in India. When the Second World War ended in August
1945, the Nationalists and the Communists resumed their fight for China.
PATH TO COMMUNIST VICTORY
The Communists under Mao had several advantages. One was a disciplined military (the
People's Liberation Army), with leaders self-taught in guerilla warfare and an ideology
that left no doubt that communism was destined to rule the world. Equally important was
the support of the Soviet Union. Soviet Russia entered the war with Japan late. As an ally
of Britain and the United States, the Russian army accepted the surrender of the Japanese
in Manchuria. And shortly thereafter, Russia rearmed the Chinese Communists with sur-
rendered Japanese weapons.
The Nationalists under Chiang were allies of the United States. During the war, Amer-
ican support of Chiang turned on an overriding objective: defeating Japan. After the war,
American foreign policy turned on what was to become a major objective of the Cold War:
to contain the spread of communism.
But long before the war ended, Americans fighting in China had become disillusioned
and angry over Nationalist graft and corruption and, more important, over Chiang's failure
to mount a strong assault on the enemy, presumably to spare manpower for the post-war
struggle with the Communists. [222] As the civilian population became fearful of Nationalist
looting, rising inflation, and summary execution of suspected Communists, and as battles
turned into routs, Chiang and the Nationalist leaders fled mainland China, imposing them-
selves on Taiwan in late 1949.
In the United States, the Communist victory provoked fierce debate. “Who lost Ch-
ina?” became an accusatory question of American politics. Clouds of suspicion hung over
“old China hands” in the State Department, and whispers of “treason” were heard in Con-
gress and in the press. In Peking, on October 1, 1949, a triumphant Mao proclaimed the
birth of the Peoples Republic of China.
 
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