Lu Xiaona: Why the September 18th Incident marks the beginning of the Second World War
The September 18th Incident [1] marked the beginning of both the Chinese War of Resistance and the Second World War. Japan’s invasion and occupation of Northeast China broke the "Versailles-Washington System" [2]; the resistance led by China and other nations carried the multi-layered significance of defending national dignity, maintaining world peace, and reconstructing the global order. Discussion regarding the starting point of World War II is not merely a question of a chronological node; rather, it concerns the international status of China’s War of Resistance and the international discourse power [3] of Chinese research on the history of the Second World War.
Proclaiming the Collapse of the Old Order and the Incubation of a New Order
When reflecting on the global conflicts between 1931 and 1945, scholars often distinguish between the "World Anti-Fascist War" and the "Second World War," believing the two to have different beginnings. In fact, they are two sides of the same war. WWII was a global conflict resulting from the collapse of the post-WWI international landscape. Fascist aggression was both the cause and the result of the disintegration of the world order: rifts in the international system provided opportunities for fascist aggression, while fascist aggression, in turn, thoroughly destroyed the world order.
Japan’s invasion and occupation of Northeast China was the first assault by fascism against the "Versailles-Washington System." Western powers hoped to ensure the survival of the international landscape through a policy of appeasement. Subsequently, Japan’s withdrawal from the League of Nations, its termination of the Washington Naval Treaty, and its withdrawal from the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference all demonstrated its complete departure from "coordinative diplomacy" and its acceleration toward establishing its own hegemony. If Japanese aggression was a destruction of the international landscape, then the Western powers’ "watching the fire from the opposite bank" [4] was a betrayal of the world order. The indifference of the League of Nations and the United States toward acts of aggression produced bitter fruits; they were ultimately backbitten themselves and drawn into the fascist global strategy. It can be said that the League of Nations' so-called "collective security" collapsed following the September 18th Incident.
While the September 18th Incident broke the old order, it also promoted the reconstruction of a new one. The Atlantic Charter explicitly proposed building a world of universal security and peace on the basis of eliminating fascism. After the September 18th Incident, international forces for peace gradually moved toward unification. Colonial countries sought national independence and popular self-determination through anti-fascist resistance and anti-imperialist movements. A new international system was incubating—the downfall of fascist forces, the weakening of imperialist countries, the disintegration of the colonial system, and the rise of nation-states led to a surging tide of global revolution and reform.
Embodying the Continuity of Aggressive War and the Universality of Resistance Movements
WWII was a war of foreign aggression by fascist states and a rise to resistance by anti-fascist states. From the perspective of the former, Japan’s occupation of Northeast China issued an early warning of the fascist threat to the entire world. The September 18th Incident accelerated Japan’s political fascistization and paved the way for its launching of a larger-scale war. Japanese aggression also provided Germany and Italy with a paradigm for destroying the international order. Furthermore, by leading diplomacy toward Germany, Japan laid the foundation for the Axis of fascist aggression. Between 1931 and 1939, fascists provoked multiple localized wars in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Hidden beneath these military actions was the malicious intent to carve up the world; they were not the enemies of a few specific countries, but the enemies of the entire world. Taking the September 18th Incident as the starting point allows for a clearer view of the pace of expanded fascist aggression.
The September 18th Incident raised the curtain on the world's forces of peace sharing a common hatred of the enemy and resisting the violent foe together. Before Britain and France entered the war, although the countries suffering from fascist harm were far apart, their shared national crises created consistent demands. They learned from each other's resistance experiences and inspired one another in their spirit of struggle. Fascist atrocities stimulated the humanitarian activities of international peace forces; they devoted themselves to the great cause of resisting aggression through direct participation in combat, medical aid, and public opinion support. Although the anti-fascist struggle of the world's people during this phase was regional and staged, it also manifested persistence and connectivity. Sometimes, although military struggles were dismantled, the resistance at the political, cultural, and economic levels never ceased. As a resistance movement in which the people of the world jointly defended peace and justice, if this war were only dated from the entry of Britain and France, its world significance could not be embodied.
Reflecting on the Responsibility Great Powers Should Bear for World Peace
After the September 18th Incident, the impotence of the League of Nations was due on the one hand to institutional defects, and on the other hand to the fact that countries such as Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union each had their own ulterior motives, attempting to "divert the disaster toward others" (huòshuǐ tā yǐn). Britain hoped to trade a compromise with Japan for a guarantee that Japan would not expand into Britain’s core interest zones in China. To pursue economic interests, the United States continued to export oil and steel to Japan. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Britain also attempted to induce Japan to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union, seeking self-preservation and to avoid being caught in a pincer attack by Germany and Japan, announced "non-interference" in the Sino-Japanese conflict. This policy of appeasement stemmed from the short-sighted, self-interested thinking of the great powers. In the subsequent Spanish Civil War and especially in the "Munich Conspiracy" [5], the behavior of great power governments—watching the fire from the opposite bank and "helping the tyrant do evil" [6]—was even more vividly displayed.
The absence of great power responsibility buried hidden dangers for the escalation of the war. If these countries could have timely identified the global aggressive ambitions of fascism and demonstrated a firm anti-aggression posture, perhaps the spread of the flames of war could have been contained. Reflecting on history with the September 18th Incident as the start of WWII serves as a warning to people today that, when faced with aggressive war, no country can remain immune. When modern great powers face acts of aggression, they must never indulge or appease, let alone "beggar-thy-neighbor" [7] or sacrifice the interests of small and weak nations. Instead, they should undertake the responsibilities of great powers, uphold justice, and implement powerful sanctions against aggressive states.
Highlighting the Historical Agency of All Nations
The September 18th Incident profoundly changed the course of Chinese history and stimulated the consciousness of resistance among oppressed nations, promoting their practice as subjects in world history. From the beginning, China's War of Resistance carried the significance of defending national dignity, maintaining world peace, and inspiring oppressed nations to strive for liberation. The growth and strength of newly independent countries after the war provided the fundamental strength for building a community with a shared future for humanity. Reviewing history with the September 18th Incident as the start of WWII allows for an understanding of the sacrifices made by the people of all nations in this catastrophe, and their contributions to maintaining world peace and reconstructing the international order.
For a long time, the international discourse power over the history of WWII has been held by countries such as Britain and the United States, forming a "Western-centric" historical narrative. China was the first country to resist fascist aggression, the country that fought the fascists the longest, and the country that made the greatest sacrifices. China's War of Resistance shattered Japan’s global strategy, supported the Allies’ "Europe First" strategy, and promoted the establishment of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance. However, as the main eastern battlefield of the anti-fascist struggle, China has been placed on the margins of Western historical writing, while Africa and Oceania have fallen almost into a state of "aphasia" (loss of voice). Anti-fascist history was written jointly by the people of the world fighting for freedom; the contribution of every nation should be remembered, and the voice of every nation should be heard.
(This article is a phased result of the National Social Science Fund of China project "Research on American Observers’ Perception of the CPC and America’s Strategic Adjustment Toward China During WWII" (24CSS015)) (The author is a lecturer at the School of History and Culture, Shanxi University) Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net – Chinese Social Sciences Today, June 30, 2025. Online Editor: Tongxin