The Warlord Era and the First United Front 68 Hoover Institution LeftiSt LeaderS at ZhengZhou June 13, 1927 Milly Bennett papers, hoover institution archives 1927 年寧漢分裂前期國民黨左派份子於鄭州集會 after Chiang kai-shek purged Communist party members from the left wing <strong>of</strong> the kMt, leftist leaders met <strong>to</strong> consider their options. from left <strong>to</strong> right: xu Jian, Sun fo, tang Yankai, feng Yuxiang, Yu Youren, wang Jingwei, tang Shengzhi, and Vassily k. Blücher, the russian adviser. The Sino-Japanese War and the Second United Front 對日抗戰與第二次國共合作 JapaneSe troopS SCaLing the CitY waLL <strong>of</strong> taiYuan, november 8, 1937 frank dorn papers, hoover institution archives 侵華日軍丈量山西太原城門 (see the full-frame version <strong>of</strong> this image on page 96)
The Sino-Japanese War and the Second United Front As <strong>China</strong>’s process <strong>of</strong> nation building progressed, in the early 1930s Japan began its military encroachments on the country. Manchuria was the ancestral homeland <strong>of</strong> the Manchu Dynasty, which had governed <strong>China</strong> since the seventeenth century. Although Japan and Russia had investments there, Manchuria was considered part <strong>of</strong> <strong>China</strong>. After the Boxer Rebellion, however, the Russians occupied a section <strong>of</strong> Manchuria <strong>to</strong> secure their investments in the Far Eastern Railway. The alarmed Japanese then triggered the Russo-Japanese War, resulting in a Japanese vic<strong>to</strong>ry. After that they began stationing troops and investing in Manchuria, with the Western nations turning a blind eye. (As Japan had played a major role in subduing the Boxers, many Western governments viewed Japan as a stabilizing influence in the area.) On September 18, 1931, an explosion in Mukden, a Chinese railroad <strong>to</strong>wn, killed many Japanese soldiers. Claiming that the Chinese had fired on them intentionally, the Japanese returned fire. By morning the entire city <strong>of</strong> Mukden and its arsenal were in Japanese hands; by the end <strong>of</strong> the day all the <strong>to</strong>wns along the railway had been captured. Within six months the Japanese army reached the Great Wall, and later that year Manchuria became Manchukuo, a puppet state <strong>of</strong> Japan. In December 1936, Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped in Xi’an by Zhang Xueliang and northwestern warlord Yang Hucheng on the grounds that he had not fought wholeheartedly against Japan. After Chiang was released, both the KMT and the CCP agreed <strong>to</strong> form a second united front that would focus their efforts against the Japanese. Sun Yatsen’s political philosophy and legacy helped bind the hostile parties <strong>to</strong>gether. For the Chinese, World War II began in 1937 (the second Sino-Japanese War), when the Japanese occupied the major cities <strong>of</strong> eastern <strong>China</strong>. After disastrous military defeats at Shanghai and Nanjing, the Nationalists relocated their government a thousand miles west, out <strong>of</strong> reach <strong>of</strong> the Japanese ground forces. By 1938, <strong>China</strong> had been divided in<strong>to</strong> several puppet states under Japanese control; a CCP-controlled area in the west, with its center in Yan’an; and an area in the southwest, centered around Chongqing in Sichuan Province, controlled by Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT. The bombing <strong>of</strong> the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, allowed the Japanese army <strong>to</strong> operate freely in French Indochina and Thailand, but it also gave Chiang the ally he was hoping for: the United States. <strong>China</strong>, joining the United States, Britain, and Soviet Russia in their war against the Axis nations, was now recognized as one <strong>of</strong> the Big Four powers. 對日抗戰與第二次國共合作 二十世紀三十年代,正當中國內部建設漸有起色之際,日本卻開始以軍事手段進犯中國領土。中國東北地區,是 滿清統治王朝的故土,自十七世紀清帝國開展之際,即為中國領土之一部。儘管日本與俄國皆在東北投資享有利 益,但雙方仍將該地區視為中國領土的一部分。然而,庚子拳亂後,俄國為了確保其在中東鐵路的利益,佔領了 東北一部分領土。日本對俄國在該地區高度地警覺,隨後觸發了兩國之間的戰爭,最後日本戰勝。此後,日本開 始在東北駐軍,並大量投資,西方列強則對此一態勢視而不見,原因之一,在於日本於鎮壓義和團之亂過程中, 曾扮演一重要角色,這讓西方列強體認到日本作為東北地區一股穩定力量的事實。 1931年9月18日,瀋陽地區發生爆炸,炸死許多當地的日本關東軍。日方宣稱中國軍隊故意開火,因而展開反擊。 清晨時刻,日軍已控制整個瀋陽以及市裡的軍火庫;到了當天晚上,日軍更佔領了中東鐵路沿線的所有城鎮。接下 來的六個月內,日軍已自東北南下進逼長城,翌年,整個東北地區已為日本人所扶持建立的滿洲國偽政權所統治。 1936年12月,張學良和西北軍閥楊虎城,以蔣介石未盡全力抗日為由,挾持蔣介石,是為 「西安事變」。蔣介石 最後獲釋後,國民黨與共產黨展開第二次國共合作,同心協力對抗日本。此時,孫中山的政治哲學與資產,得以 讓國、共雙方化敵為友。 對中國人而言,第二次世界大戰的爆發,始在1937年七七蘆溝橋事變,日軍開始大規模佔領華東沿海各重要城市。 國民政府經歷上海與南京慘烈的軍事失利後,經武漢撤往西南大後方。 1939年之際,整個中國已因日本侵華,而由數個不同政治體制與政權所統治;東北、華北、華中與華南由若干日 本幕後操縱的偽政權所控制;西北以延安為中心的陝、甘、寧地區,由中國共產黨所統治;而由蔣介石所領導的國 民政府,則以四川重慶為陪都,統領中國西南大後方。1941年12月7日,美國太平洋艦隊在珍珠港遭到日軍偷襲, 太平洋戰爭爆發,日軍在中南半島與東南亞等地區勢如破竹,然而另一方面,日美開戰同時也讓蔣介石得到他所盼 望的:與美國結為盟邦。此後,中、美、英、蘇成為同盟國,共同對抗軸心國,中國也開始被視為四強之一。 70 Hoover Institution A <strong>Century</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Change</strong>: <strong>China</strong> <strong>1911</strong>–<strong>2011</strong> 71
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