Yu Pei: Upholding and Promoting a Correct Perspective on the History of World War II
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War, as well as the World Anti-Fascist War. The achievements of the victory in World War II are not to be challenged; upholding a correct historical outlook on World War II and defending the fruits of victory is the "strongest voice of the times." Currently, as the "changes unseen in a century" [1] accelerate their evolution, the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. Amidst the current international situation where instability and chaos are intertwined, it is all the more necessary for us to profoundly understand the epochal significance of upholding and promoting a correct historical outlook on World War II and defending historical justice.
History gradually recedes into the distance, but historical memory must not be erased. The historical memory of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War belongs not only to the people of China and Russia but to all of humanity. When historical truth is transformed into the consensus of human society, a correct historical outlook on World War II increasingly becomes the consensus of the international community. It is not only a summation of history but also a guide for the future. A correct historical outlook on World War II is a precious component of human historical memory and a practical guarantee for guiding human civilization toward a bright future.
First, World War II was a global war of aggression deliberately launched by the fascist states of Germany, Italy, and Japan through the promotion of extreme nationalism, racism, and expansionism. It was a severe trampling of world peace, justice, and human civilization. The fascist aggressors were the primary culprits of the war; in the face of fascist aggression and expansion, the policy of appeasement adopted by countries such as Britain and France accelerated the onset of the war. The World Anti-Fascist War was a just war to defend human dignity and maintain world peace; it was a great struggle by peace-loving countries and peoples to save human civilization and resist aggression.
Second, the victory of World War II was the result of the joint struggle of the member states of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance. When humanity faced a common threat and a common enemy in the form of fascist aggressors, countries with different social systems and ideologies cast aside their differences and established a World Anti-Fascist Alliance with clear and consistent goals. These goals were to destroy fascist regimes, stop aggression, and restore world peace. This effectively promoted international cooperation and left behind profound historical experiences and valuable historical enlightenment for later generations.
Third, as the main battlefields in Asia and Europe respectively during the Second World War, China and the Soviet Union were the mainstays [2] in the fight against Japanese militarism and German Nazism, making decisive contributions to the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. The Soviet Union resisted the main force of the German army and achieved key victories such as the Defense of Stalingrad and the capture of Berlin. The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression began the earliest, lasted the longest, and involved the greatest sacrifices. As a great nation with over 5,000 years of civilization—characterized by magnanimity, inclusiveness, benevolence, and a continuous pursuit of "Great Unity Under Heaven" [3] (Tianxia Datong)—the Chinese nation sustained the Eastern main battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War at the cost of immense national sacrifice. The Communist Party of China took the lead in raising the banner of resistance against Japan, explicitly proposing the platform of "reclaiming lost territory and resisting Japan to save the nation," and driving the movement for national salvation across urban and rural areas. It served as the mainstay of the entire nation’s war of resistance.
Fourth, historical documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation established the basic norms of post-war international relations, promoted the reshaping of the international order, led to the establishment of the United Nations, and solidified the post-war peace system. The judgments of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and the International Military Tribunal for the Far East were the just liquidation of fascist crimes of aggression by the international community after the war. These trials included "crimes against humanity" within the scope of international law for the first time, forever nailing fascist war criminals to the pillar of historical shame.
A correct historical outlook on World War II is both a scientific historical cognition based on highlighting facts, guided by upholding truth, and aimed at defending peace; it is also a dialectical unity of history and reality, providing empirical historical evidence for a clearer understanding of the present and a vision of the future. The reason a "correct historical outlook" is "correct" is that it respects historical facts, historical laws, and historical dialectics; it represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of people and reflects the irreversible historical trend of human civilizational progress.
Defending historical truth and promoting a correct historical outlook on World War II is, in essence, guarding the bottom line of history and human civilization. We must ensure that historical truth is not covered up or forgotten, and even more, that the concept of "opposing aggression and defending peace" becomes a human consensus that transcends time and space. These consensuses are formed based on irrefutable historical facts and the common memory of humanity, forged with the blood and lives of tens of millions of people.
The aggressive crimes of fascism cannot be denied, distorted, or beautified. Any advocacy of historical revisionism or historical nihilsm [4], any form of neo-Nazi clamoring or militaristic restoration, and any attempt to downplay or beautify fascist crimes, blur war responsibilities, overturn the verdicts on acts of aggression, or exonerate aggressors, constitutes a betrayal of historical justice. Any distortion of historical truth and any challenge to human conscience will inevitably be spat upon by history and the people.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "History is history, and facts are facts. No one can change history or facts. The Chinese people, who have made immense sacrifices, will unswervingly defend the history written with blood and lives." Today, on the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, humanity stands at a crossroads between confrontation or dialogue, and win-win or zero-sum outcomes. Looking back at the process of world history over the 80 years since the war, we must remain ever vigilant and closely monitor the severe challenges facing the world today. We must clearly recognize that only through a shared future [5] and win-win cooperation can we move toward a bright future. "Peace instead of war, cooperation instead of confrontation, and win-win results instead of zero-sum games are the eternal themes of peace, progress, and development in human society."
The peoples of all countries should join hands, draw wisdom and strength from a correct historical outlook on World War II, ensure that the concept of peace takes deep root in the hearts of the people, and jointly maintain a fair and just multi-polar world order. We must strive for lasting world peace and common prosperity, making new contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity and the progress of human civilization.
(The author, Yu Pei, is the chief expert of the National Social Science Fund Major Project "20th Century Historiography and Historians" and a researcher at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) Source: Guangming Daily, August 27, 2025, Page 11 Web Editor: Tongxin