ZHU Chengshan: China’s War of Resistance Occupies a Vital Position in the World Anti-Fascist War
On September 2, 1945, the Japanese government signed the instrument of unconditional surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. This marked the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and declared the final, great victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Although 80 years have passed since the victory of this just war, the contemporary world occasionally sees the emergence of "Western determinism" and the "European main theater theory" regarding the victory of World War II. These claims suggest that the United States was the greatest contributor to the victory, while the vital status of the Eastern Main Theater is deliberately downplayed or ignored. The significant role and strategic position of China’s War of Resistance in WWII is beyond doubt; the immense national sacrifice and outstanding contributions made by the Chinese nation on the Eastern Main Theater must not be erased; and the great Spirit of Resistance forged by the Chinese military and civilians shall endure for generations.
China’s War of Resistance Raised the Curtain on the World Anti-Fascist War
China was the first country in the world to resist Japanese fascist aggression, sustaining the fight for the longest duration, suffering the greatest sacrifices, and enduring the heaviest depletion of resources. Starting in September 1931, the curtain of the World Anti-Fascist War was raised in Northeast China. The first shots of the global struggle were fired across the "White Mountains and Black Waters" [1]. China's resistance lasted 14 years, beginning eight years earlier than the European theater and ten years before the Pacific theater. During the period of China’s partial war of resistance (1931–1937), constrained by various factors, regional anti-fascist wars in Europe and Africa suffered successive defeats. The reactionary arrogance of German, Italian, and Japanese fascists in their attempt to annex the world was extremely blatant. Meanwhile, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, led by the Communist Party of China (CPC), persisted in its struggle. The CPC elevated protracted war and guerrilla warfare to the level of strategic policy, playing the role of the "mainstay" [2] (zhongliu dizhu) in the national resistance. Through political, strategic, and tactical innovation, as well as mass mobilization and the practice of guerrilla warfare, the Party became the political leadership core of the entire nation’s resistance.
China’s War of Resistance persisted and ultimately triumphed under conditions where the enemy was strong and we were weak. During the war, Chinese military and civilians made immense national sacrifices, with casualties exceeding 35 million people. Calculated at 1937 values, China suffered direct economic losses of over US$100 billion and indirect losses of over US$500 billion. Vast tracts of Chinese territory were occupied, and cities, factories, and farmland were severely devastated.
China was the first to break the "frozen ice" of fascism. With an indomitable spirit of struggle, it inspired the morale of the global anti-fascist camp and became a backbone force in the World Anti-Fascist War. Mao Zedong pointed out: "Our enemy is a world-wide enemy; China’s War of Resistance is a world-wide war." Stalin also once stated: "The Chinese people have made a huge contribution to the anti-fascist war, and the Chinese theater is one of the important theaters in the victory over Japanese fascism." A vast array of historical archives and evidence proves irrefutably that the Chinese theater pinned down and combated the main forces of Japanese militarism for a long period, playing a crucial role in defeating the Japanese aggressors and significantly advancing the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
The Chinese Theater was the Eastern Main Theater of the World Anti-Fascist War
The World Anti-Fascist War was the largest and most destructive global conflict in human history, spanning Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania. Approximately 2 billion people across more than 80 countries and regions were embroiled in the flames of war, with economic losses exceeding US$4 trillion. In this conflict, the "Eastern Main Theater" and "Western Main Theater" are the two core war zones divided based on geographical location, strategic role, and the core antagonistic relationships of the participants. The Eastern Anti-Fascist Theater (Asian Theater), centered on China, was the primary battlefield for resisting Japanese aggressors and a vital component of the global war. Through strategic coordination, the Eastern and Western main theaters jointly disintegrated the Axis alliance, forming the cornerstone of victory.
Through protracted resistance, China shattered the fascist dream of "quick victory" and became the Eastern pillar of the World Anti-Fascist War. During the 14 years of arduous struggle, the Chinese military and civilians engaged in large-scale protracted warfare, pinning down between 54% and 94% of the Total Japanese Army's strength. For instance, in 1938, out of 34 Japanese divisions, 32 were deployed to the Chinese theater, accounting for 94% of their total divisions. The Chinese theater eliminated over 1.55 million Japanese troops, accounting for 70% of total Japanese casualties in WWII. Anti-Japanese armed forces in the Liberated Areas [3] eliminated 1.18 million puppet troops [4]. After Japan’s defeat, a total of 1.283 million Japanese soldiers surrendered to the Chinese people.
The national spirit of unity against foreign aggression and fearlessness in the face of brutality manifested in this war provided the indispensable spiritual support for the final victory over fascism. In the preface to the English edition of On Protracted War, Mao Zedong wrote: "The great Chinese War of Resistance is not only the affair of China or the East, but also the affair of the world." He had long integrated China’s struggle into a holistic strategic plan for the World Anti-Fascist War. In October 1937, during a meeting with a British journalist, he noted: "China's resistance is not only for self-salvation but has also fulfilled its great responsibility within the global anti-fascist front." The most important strategic value of China’s resistance lay in providing a "triple strategic support" of time, space, and morality, which altered the course of the war, restored world peace, and elevated China’s international status.
China’s War of Resistance was a Core Factor in Crushing Fascist Global Strategy
The World Anti-Fascist War was a catastrophe brought upon humanity by the fascists led by Germany, Italy, and Japan. It was a decisive battle where light triumphed over darkness, justice over evil, civilization over barbarism, and progress over reactionary forces. The Chinese theater forced the Japanese army to disperse its strength to deal with a war of attrition, depleting massive war resources and causing Japan to abandon its plans for simultaneous "Northward" expansion against the Soviet Union and "Southward" expansion into the Pacific. This provided a strategic buffer for the Soviet Great Patriotic War and the Pacific War.
China’s struggle served as the critical support for the Allies' "Europe First" strategy. Until the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Chinese theater consistently tied down the main force of the Japanese army. During the Zhanggufeng Incident (1838) and the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (1939), the Japanese army was forced to contract its lines because of the constraints within the Chinese theater. In 1941, when German troops reached the outskirts of Moscow, Japan abandoned its "Northward" plan because it was mired in the war in China, allowing the Soviet Union to redeploy its forces to reinforce the defense of Moscow. From the outbreak of the Pacific War until the winter of 1943, the proportion of Japanese army divisions in China reached as high as 69%. The Chinese theater continued to pin down 1.1 million Japanese troops, preventing them from cooperating fully with Germany to attack Britain and the United States from both sides, which objectively maintained the anti-fascist alliance's front in the Asia-Pacific.
As a core member of the international anti-fascist alliance, China promoted the integration of global anti-fascist forces through the China-Burma-India Theater coordination, the provision of strategic intelligence, and participation in international conferences. Marshal Chuikov, former Soviet military attaché to China, noted that Japan's failure to attack the Soviet Union was a result of being pinned down by the Chinese theater. The post-war Japanese official military history, The Army Department of the Imperial General Headquarters, admitted that the mainland Chinese theater was the core theater for the Japanese army and that its failure determined the outcome of the entire war, substantiating the theater's importance.
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt fully affirmed the vital role of China’s resistance, particularly in buying time for the Allied counter-offensive. He remarked: "If there were no China, if China had been defeated, just think of how many divisions of Japanese troops could have been transferred to other fronts to fight? They could have immediately taken Australia and India..." The victory of China’s War of Resistance not only ended the aggressive plans of Japanese fascism but also propelled China to participate deeply in international affairs as a builder of world peace. By participating in the reform and construction of the global governance system, China has injected "Eastern wisdom" into the maintenance of the post-war international order and become an important force for safeguarding world peace.