China:

A Big Battle

The Invasion

Japan’s next step was to conquer China. In 1932, the Japanese armed forces entered China near Shanghai, but they later withdrew because the Japanese military decided it would be easier to fight a war if it took control of the Japanese government. After they withdrew, the Japanese stopped buying goods from and selling goods to China.

The Japanese and Chinese started fighting again on July 7, 1937 after Japan occupied an area near northeast China. The war spread mostly to eastern China. Most of the battles near the beginning of the war were located near Shanghai. The bloodiest battle fought, was when Japan tried to reach Nanking, northwest of Shanghai.

The Strategy

The Chinese army suffered defeat after defeat. Though the Chinese won some battles, the Japanese were winning the war. After capturing Hankow, the first phase of the war came to an end. Now the Japanese controlled the east coast of China.

In the second phase of the war, the Japanese again won most of the battles, but the Chinese had some success. The Japanese did all they could in capturing Nanning. They wanted Nanning under their control because south of Nanning was French Indochina, now called Vietnam. Nanning had China’s last communication line to French Indochina. Capturing Nanning would leave French Indochina open to attack by the Japanese.

By the third phase of the war, the Japanese had several countries that surrounded China under its control, including Malaya, Singapore, and the DutchEast Indies. Their plan was to take over all the countries around China, and then use all their force in capturing China.

Most countries outside of Asia ignored the war going on in China because they were concerned about the depression. Some countries felt sorry for China, but most still sold war materials to Japan. By the end of 1938, the Japanese had most of the eastern part of China under its control. (see map)

"China Operations." The Simons and Schuster Encyclopedia of World War II, 1978.

Jeff Wurst. Japanese Aggression. <www.snu.edu/syllabi/history/597projects/ww2/japanese.htm> Last Visited: January 2001.

Militarism and WW2 (1912-1945). <www.japan-guide.com/e/e2129.html> Last Visited: December 2001.

Ropp, Theodore. "War In The Modern World." World Book Encyclopedia, 1982.

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