Wang Fengqing: China’s War of Resistance Changed the Course of the World Anti-Fascist War
The fourteen-year-long War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression waged by the Chinese people was a vital component of the global anti-fascist war. In this great conflict, which concerned the life or death of the Chinese nation and the future destiny of humanity, the Chinese people were the first to raise the banner of resistance against fascist aggression. With an indomitable national will and a spirit of heroic and tenacious resistance, they not only thoroughly transformed the historical destiny of the Chinese nation but also altered the course of the global anti-fascist war, making an inestimable contribution to its final victory.
The First to Raise the Anti-Fascist Banner and the Longest Duration of Resistance
On September 18, 1931, Japan brazenly launched the September 18th Incident [1], beginning its criminal war of external aggression and expansion. At that time, most other countries in the world lacked sufficient vigilance regarding the fascist threat, attempting to trade temporary peace for a policy of appeasement involving compromise and concession. The Chinese people resolutely threw themselves into a war of national liberation to resist Japanese aggression, firing the first shot against fascist invasion and becoming the first nation to begin the global anti-fascist war. By the time the anti-fascist war broke out in Europe in September 1939, the Chinese people had already conducted an independent war of resistance for eight years; by the time the Pacific War broke out in December 1941, China’s independent resistance had persisted for over a decade.
Following the Lugou Bridge Incident [2] on July 7, 1937, the all-nation war of resistance waged by the Chinese people made the Chinese theater the primary battlefield for resisting Japanese fascist aggression and the main eastern theater of the global anti-fascist war. Even after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War and the Pacific War, China remained the primary battlefield against Japanese fascism. During the period of the comprehensive war of resistance, more than 200 major campaigns and nearly 200,000 battles of various sizes took place between China and Japan. These actions eliminated over 1.5 million Japanese troops and over 1.18 million puppet troops [3], resisting and pinning down more than two-thirds of Japan’s army strength and the majority of its naval and air forces. The Chinese military and civilians paid a tremendous price in this process, suffering over 21 million casualties (including over 3.8 million military casualties), accounting for two-fifths of the total casualties of all belligerent nations in World War II. Property losses and war expenditures amounted to more than 100 billion USD. In contrast, the United States suffered approximately 400,000 casualties in operations against Japan, while the Soviet military suffered over 36,000 casualties.
The unyielding will demonstrated by the Chinese military and civilians during the war vividly illustrated the firm conviction and potent strength of the Chinese nation in defending its national independence and sovereignty. In the process of resisting fascist aggression, many small and weak nations suffered severe setbacks. Although China was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country [4], it did not succumb to the enemy's despotic power; rather, it conducted resolute resistance with a strong will and ultimately achieved victory. This provided precious experience for the anti-fascist struggles of oppressed nations and peoples, greatly inspiring their confidence and determination to resist aggression, strengthening the anti-fascist camp, and driving the development of the global anti-fascist movement.
Actively Advocating and Promoting the Establishment of the Global Anti-Fascist Alliance
China was the first country in the world to suffer fascist aggression, and it was also an active advocate and powerful promoter of the international anti-fascist alliance.
As early as 1933, the Communist Party of China (CPC), with forward-looking strategic vision, was the first to propose the United Front [5] concept of preparing to sign anti-Japanese agreements with any armed forces, including the Kuomintang military. Subsequently, it actively responded to the proposal of the Seventh Congress of the Communist International regarding the establishment of an anti-fascist united front, continuously promoting the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. After the outbreak of the full-scale war of resistance, the CPC set aside past grievances and worked hard to facilitate cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, finally bringing about the establishment of the domestic Anti-Japanese National United Front and achieving a historic turning point in the all-nation war of resistance. During the development of the United Front, the CPC upheld the principle of independence and maintained a strategic policy of both unity and struggle, ensuring that the Anti-Japanese National United Front was continuously consolidated and expanded until the victory of the war. This also provided valuable experience for the establishment of the global anti-fascist united front.
With a broad international perspective, the CPC actively promoted the establishment of a global anti-fascist united front. In July 1936, during a conversation with Edgar Snow, Mao Zedong pointed out that for China to win the war of resistance in the shortest possible time and at the minimum cost, it must first achieve a domestic united front while simultaneously extending this united front to include all countries with a stake in the peace of the Pacific region.
After the outbreak of the comprehensive war of resistance, while facilitating the establishment of the domestic Anti-Japanese National United Front, the CPC also issued a public appeal to the world, expressing its willingness to "unite with countries of the peace front, unite with all nations and countries in the world that sympathize with the resistance against Japan, unite with Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union, and especially the need to closely unite with the resolute democratic forces within Britain, the United States, France, etc." After Germany invaded Poland, the CPC became even more active in promoting the establishment of an international anti-Japanese and anti-fascist united front. Following the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Mao Zedong drafted "Concerning the International United Front Against Fascism," further proposing the desire to "unite with all people in Britain, the United States, and other countries who oppose the fascist rulers of Germany, Italy, and Japan to oppose the common enemy." After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the CPC Central Committee quickly issued the "Declaration of the Communist Party of China on the Pacific War," calling once again for the desire to "conclude a military alliance with Britain, the United States, and other anti-Japanese allied friendly nations, implement coordinated operations, and simultaneously establish a united front of all anti-Japanese nations in the Pacific." On January 1, 1942, twenty-six countries, including Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, held a meeting in Washington and signed the Declaration by United Nations, marking the formal formation of the global anti-fascist alliance. This thoroughly changed the balance of power between the fascist and anti-fascist forces, laying an indestructible foundation for the complete victory of the anti-fascist war.
Providing Powerful Support for the Soviet-German and Pacific Theaters
To realize its ambition of world hegemony, Japan made "Northward Advance" (expansion into the Soviet Far East) and "Southward Advance" (expansion into Southeast Asia) its national policies for external expansion, while simultaneously conducting frantic aggression against China. However, whether "Northward" or "Southward," the occupation of China was the prerequisite. Therefore, the situation on the Chinese battlefield played a decisive role in the formulation and implementation of Japan's "Northward" and "Southward" policies.
Facing Imperial Japan's arrogant clamor to "subjugate China in three months," the Chinese military and civilians built a "Great Wall of Steel" with their own flesh and blood, dragging the enemy into the quagmire of a protracted war of attrition. This continuous military pressure greatly exhausted Japan’s military resources and strategic maneuverability, making it difficult for Japan to extricate itself from China. It could neither "advance northward" to interfere in Siberia and form an effective threat to the Soviet Union, nor "advance southward" to seize the resources of Southeast Asia. It was not until the situation on the Chinese battlefield became relatively stable in 1941 that Japan ventured to launch the Pacific War.
After the establishment of the global anti-fascist alliance, China provided powerful support to the Soviet-German and Pacific theaters through its strategic containment of Japan. Between 1941 and 1942, during the most critical moments of the Soviet-German War, Germany requested that Japan attack the Soviet Far East, attempting to form a pincer movement against the Soviet Union. However, because the main force of the Japanese Army was pinned down by the Chinese battlefield, it was unable to extricate itself to coordinate strategically with Germany. This allowed the Soviet Union to transfer its elite Far Eastern troops to the Western Front to confront the German army, enabling the Soviet Union to avoid the dilemma and danger of fighting a war on two fronts. Stalin once remarked: "Only when the hands and feet of the Japanese aggressors are tied can we avoid a two-front war when the German aggressors attack our country." After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the continuous resistance on the Chinese battlefield forced Japan to maintain a massive military force over the long term, which greatly weakened its ability to confront U.S. forces in the Pacific theater. The U.S. military quickly seized this strategic opportunity, winning the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal within just one year of the start of hostilities, successfully completing the strategic turning point of the Pacific theater and accelerating the pace of victory in the Pacific War. Furthermore, the Chinese battlefield attracted a large volume of Japanese air force capability. In 1943, Japan deployed approximately 800 aircraft to the Chinese theater, accounting for more than one-third of its total aviation strength. This significantly alleviated the aerial pressure on the anti-fascist Allied forces in Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, saving them from greater losses.
Mao Zedong pointed out that "China’s great War of Resistance is not only a matter for China and the East, but also for the world." This serves as an accurate interpretation of the irreplaceable position of China's resistance in the global anti-fascist war. Throughout the protracted War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese people, with their spirit of tenacious resistance and immense national sacrifice, firmly pinned down the main Japanese military force. They not only shattered the strategic plots of Japanese fascism but also profoundly altered the course of the global anti-fascist war, becoming one of the decisive factors driving the global anti-fascist war toward victory.
(The author is a professor in the Department of Civilized History and Literature Teaching and Research at the Party School of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee)
Online Editor: Tong Xin Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net - Guangming Daily, May 19, 2025