*** World War II-- China Shanghai








World War II: China--Cities

World War II Shanghai
Figure 1.--.

The Nationalists once gaining control of China after World War I ended the Treaty Port system. Two Western outpots remained, the Internatiional Settlements (SIS) at Shanghai and the Hong Kong Crown Colony. Shanghai was the commercial and business center of China, rather like a Chinese New York. The struggle for Shanghai began with the Japabese invasioin of Marchuria (1931). Anti-Japanese protests in Sghanhai resuilted in Japanese intervention nd the first bombing of a major city in the prelude to World War II. Japan invaded China proper launching the Second Sino-Japanse War (1937). The Japanese invasion began just north of Beijing. Tianjing in norther China was one of the first Chinese cities occupied by invading Japanese troops. There was serious fighting in the initial campaign. The Nationalists put up a serious fight for Shanghai, but after that one Chinese city after another fell to the Japanese. After Bejing fell, the Natioinalists moved the capital to Nanking further south. The Japanese rape of Nanking was one of the greatest atrocities in world histoty. It is at this time the Japanese attacked and sank the American gunboat USS Panay near Nanking. The Japnese seized port cities, largely cutting China off from foreign assistance. The SIS and British Hong Kong for the time remained untouched. The Nationalists retired to the interior, setting up a war-time capital at Chungking (Chongqing). There the Japanese Army because of the rugged territoiry and primitive infrastructure was unable to reach them, but began to bomb the city. The city had no effective air defense until the Ameriucan Flying Tigers arrived (1941). The British withdrew their garrison from the International Settlement (August 1940). The U.S. Marine contingent as a result of Magic intercepts was evacuated (November 1941). As part of their offensive begun at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese seized the SIS (December 8, 1941). The cruiser Izumo began hostilities by capturing the American gunboat USS Wake and the British gunboat HMS Petrel. USS Wake (PR-3) was berthed at the port. The crew attempted to scuttle the boat, but failed. The captain was forced to surrender to the Japanese. Wake was the only United States Navy ship to surrender during the War.> Japanese soldiers stormed into the SIS. There was no resistance. Only the small separate French sector was respected. The French Vichy Government at the time was occupied by the Germans, an Axis Ally, and thus not targeted by the Japanese. The British and Dutch were already at war with Germany. Pearl Harbor brought America into the War. The civilians of the Allied nations (primarily British) were not allowed to continue working or to frequent places of entertainment like movie theaters. They had to wear a numbered red arm-band with a letter code indicating their nationality so they could be easily identified. A Chinese tailor was contracted to supply the British with clothing, which was a corduroy lumber jacket and trousers in two shades! So the British soon were all dressed alike. The Chinese underground actively shot Japanese soldiers so Japanese set up street barricades all over the city. [Shaw] There was no naval defense of Hong Kong. The British Royal Navy did not have strength to defend Singapore, its primary bastion. Thus the Imperial Navy dominated the sea lanes. The Imperail Army had substantial forces in Canton faced thge British Crown Colony. Thec Japanese bombed Hong Kong (December 8). The few aircraft were quickly destroyed. The British battalions on Hong Kong Island reiforced by the Canadians were strong enough to prevent the Japanese from just marching in as they did in Shanghai. The British surrendered Hong Kong after an 18-day struggle (December 25). The Europeans in Sanghai were not immediately interned. The Europeans in Hong Kong were. U.S. submarines manage to prevent the Japanese from using Hong Kong as a staging area for assaults further into East Asia.

Beijing (1937)

The Japanese invasion of China began just north of Beijing at the Marco Polo Bridge. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident occured a few miles north of Bejing, the Chinese capital. Chaing had been preparing for war since the Japanese seizue of Mannchuria, but he did not want to fight on the flat plain around Beijing. This terraine was advnatageous to the more mechanized and better equipped Japanese Asmy. Instraed he decided to make a stand in shangahi. Fifgrung in an urbab envirioment played more to Chinese strengths. (The ame was true of the Stalingrad battkle vis a ni the Germans and Soviets.

Canton


Chungking

The Nationalists retired to the interior, setting up a war-time capital at Chungking/Chongqing (1937-46). There the Japanese Army because of the rugged territoiry and primitive infrastructure was unable to reach them, but began to bomb the city. The Japanese began a 5 year effort to bomb the Nationalists into sunmission (1938-43). Chunking was the primary target. This was a massive Japanese terror bombing operations conducted by both Imperial Army and Navy air units. Chungking had minimal air defenses. There were some 270 Japanese air raids, with boming forces ranging from 25-150 bombers per raid. Only with arrival of the American Flying Tigers did the Nationalists construct an effective air defense. [Incrediblt the Wiki page when we accessed it (June 2022) had no mention of the Flying Tigers, but a mention of Soviet assistance. We suspect this is an exmple of Wiki bowing to communist Chinese pressure to distort history. We also see similar examples in Google search results."] Air-raid shelters were constructed in the mountainous surrounding the city. Chungking was acclaimed to be a 'City of Heroes' because of stadfast resistance. Factories and universities were relocated from eastern China as the Japanese advanced. Refugees surged to the city. Tragically the Natiuinalists barely had the food needed to fed the pre-War population let alone he refugeess that hugely expnded the populsarion. Supplies reached Chungking over the Burma Road until the Japanese conquered Burma (1942). After that, Allied aid was limited to flying The Hump. Alied operations in the CBI were aimed at driving the Japanese out of Burma and reopenming the Burma Road. This was finally bone with byuilfing of the Ledo Road from India to link up with the Burma Road (February 1945). Kumming south of Chungking, amother Japanese target, was cthe terminus of the Burma road.

Hangkow (1937-38)

The Chinese city of Hankow is now known as Wuhan. It was one of the Yangtze River cities first opened up to foreign trade by the Treaty of Tienstin (1858). It was a city of major commercial importance. Hankow was also a major river port on the Yangtze River. The famous China clipper shipss, such as the British Cutty Sark, loaded tea at Hankow in the late 1860s and early 1870s. During the Yangtze high-water season oceangoing vessels even during the early 20th century could reach the port. he middle and lower Yangtze had not been bridged and Hankow was a major ferry point for north-south commerce across the wide Yangtze River. Hankow at the time of the battle was a city of 1.2 million Chines and 0.3 million foreigners. It was the industrial heart of China. Steel works at Hanyang accounting for most of China's steel production. After the horific fall of Nanking, the Chinese government moved to Hankow. Hankow thus became the war-time capital of China and thus s Japanese military objective. The Communists and the Kuomintang briefly formed a united front against the Japanese agressor. The Chinese Goverment operated in Hankow for 10 months. One historian writes, "While it lasted, Hankow became a world center for the democratic struggle against fascism,and became almost a tourist stopoff for writers and demi-diplomats who swooped through to visit the front." [Hayford] The Chinese were not equipped or prepared to fight a modern war. Thus the general practice was to retreat in the face of a Japanese offensive. For Hankow, the Chinese fought. The Battle of Wuhan longest and one of the most importabt of the War. It largest four and half months (June-October 1938). Hankow finally fell to the Japanese (October 25, 1938).

Hong Kong (1941)

Kong Kong and Shanghai were along with Sngpapre were the the three great Pacific ports on the Asian mainmland. Hong Kong and Shnghai were the only Treaty Ports left in China at the time of World War II. After the fall of the China coast to Japan (1937-38), Hong Kong was the only major Chinese port that allowed strategic supplies to reach mainland China. As war pproached, there was no naval defense of Hong Kong. The British Royal Navy did not evem have strength to defend Singapore, its primary bastion. Thus the Imperial Navy dominated the sea lanes. The Imperail Army had substantial forces in Canton faced thge British Crown Colony. The Japanese struck Hong Kong the same morning as their attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor (December 8, 1941). The Japanese bombed Hong Kong. The few aircraft were quickly destroyed. The British battalions on Hong Kong Island reiforced by the Canadians were strong enough to prevent the Japanese from just marching in as they did in Shanghai. Though badly outnumbered, the British garrison mounted a tenacious defense but were soon forced from the mainland. Pursued by the Japanese, the defenders were ultimately overwhelmed. Overall, the garrison succeeded in holding out for over two weeks before finally surrendering. The British surrendered Hong Kong after an 18-day struggle (December 25). The Europeans in Shanghai were not immediately interned. The Europeans in Hong Kong were immediated interned. Japanese occupiers terrorized the local population as well. The Japanese converted the hospitals and othe healthcare facilities to military hospitals meaning that the Chinese population had little access to medical care. Food was severely rationed and difficult to obtin. Much of the ciy residents were deported to China, cutting the populatiuo by more than a half--to about 0.6 million. the Japanese seized control of media and education. The internt was to Japanese the population. Two armed resistance groups formed: the East River Force and the Hong Kong-Kowloon Brigade which united into the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Force (December 1943). Hong Kong was of some strategi importance. There were imprtant port and repair facilities Japan used Hong Kong to establish firm control over the South China Sea, essentially a gateway to Southeast Asia. This was soon lost as a result of American naval victories beginning at Midway (June 1942). American submarines became increasingly effective (1943). This prevented the Japanese from using Hong Kong as a staging area for operations into East Asia. Reverses at sea and the inability to transpot oil and other resoirces by sea, prompted effots to establing land transport lines. This was part of the notivtiion for the Ichi-Go offensive (1944). Hong Kong was still occupied when the Emperor surrendered (August 15, 1945). A British battle squadron led by the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable entered Hong Kong to reoccupy the territory (August 30). A priority was to rescue the British, Indian, Canadian, and Dutch POWs and internees who because of abuse and lack of food were beginning to die in large numbers. If the Americans had not forces Japan to surrebder, few of these people would have survived. The Japanese formally surrendered (September 16). President Roosevelt had promised that Hong Kong would be returned to Chinese control, but Britain retained control as a Crown Colony.

Kumming


Nanking (1937)

The Nationalists moved ther capital to Nanking/Nanjing, TheJapanese moved up the Yanghtze River Valley from Shanaghai. They seized Nanjing and Northern Shanxi. The Japanese Army consisted of a well-equiped force of about 200,000 men. The Nationalist Army was substantially larger, but poorly equipped and led. When reaching Nanjing the Japanese conducted an orgy of killing virtually unrivaled in modern history--the Rape of Nanking. Nationalist soldiers who surrendered and civilians were killed in mass, men, wome, and children. No one knows the total number of victims. Some historians believe that 300,000 people may have been killed.

Shanghai (1937/41)

hanghai was China's principal port and its location close to the capital of Peking made it strategically the most important city in China. The war for Shanghai began about 10 years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The first Japanese attack occurred after the seizure of Manchuria (1932). As a result the Chinese were forced to accede demilitarization of the city. The Japanese air force bombed Shanghai giving the excuse that Japanese residents were endangered. Press reports and wire photos of the devastated city and civilians appeared in newspapers around the world. This profoundly affected the Japanese image both in Europe and more importantly the United States. Thousand of Jews fleeing NAZI persecution found refuge in the city. The first major battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War (The China Incident) was fought over Shanghai (1937). The Japanese were shocked that the Chinese were able to put up such an effective defense. Frustration over the losses suffered were a factor in the subsequent Rape of Nanking. The Japanese seized the International Settlement as part of the Pearl Harbor offensive (1941). The Japanese wanted to turn Sganghai into an oopen city, but the Allies planning to build up air forces in China, refused. The Japanese interned civilians from Allied countries (1943).

Tianjing (1937)

Tianjing in northern China was one of the first Chinese cities occupied by invading Japanese troops. The main city in the Heibi city of northern China was Tianjin. It included both the city of Tianjin and the port of Tanggu. It was formerly called Tientsin. It is an industrial and commercial center, known for handmade silk and wool carpets. The Dagang oilfield is close by. Tianjin was opened to foreign trade in 1860 and foreign contries were awarded concessions there. Given its location in norther China, it was one of the first Chinese cities occupied by invading Japanese troops (July 30, 1937). The Japanese respected the foreign concessions for several years. This was interupted by the Tientsin Incident (April-August 1939). This could have resulted in an Anglo-Japanese naval war, except the British facing NAZI Germany moving toward war could not move the main battle fleet to the Pacific. The Japanese seized the foreign concessions until the outbreak of the Pacific War (December 1941). The Japanese after surrendering to the Allies (August 1945), withdrew from China and the city reverted to Chinese control.

Wanping (1937)

The Japanese 1st Division in northern China, demanded to enter the city of Wanping (July 7). It was an old imperial fortress west of Shanghai. They insisted they were searching for missing Japanese soldiers. Chinese authorities refused permission. Japanese artillery shelled the city until it submitted.






CIH -- WW II







Navigate the CIH World War II Section:
[Return to Main Chinese World War II initial campaign city page]
[Return to Main Japanese invasion of China page]
[Return to Main World War II Chinese-Japanese War page]
[Biographies] [Campaigns] [Children] [Countries] [Deciding factors] [Diplomacy] [Geo-political crisis] [Economics] [Home front] [Intelligence]
[POWs] [Resistance] [Race] [Refugees] [Technology]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Return to Main World War II page]
[Return to Main war essay page]




Created: 5:41 PM 6/26/2022
Last updated: 5:41 PM 6/26/2022