PLA Party History and Military History Research Center of the Academy of Military Sciences: Drawing Lessons from the History of the War of Resistance to Advance the Political Building of the Military [1]
Eighty years ago, after 14 years of arduous and bloody struggle, the Chinese people defeated the atrocious Japanese militarist aggressors, winning the first complete victory against foreign invasion in modern Chinese history. Under the firm leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the people's anti-Japanese armed forces, such as the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese invaders and became the backbone that sustained the protracted war and secured final victory. During this period, our Party integrated the prevailing situation and tasks to continuously deepen its systematic understanding of political army building. It provided a series of theoretical answers and adopted a series of revolutionary initiatives, providing a powerful political guarantee for our military to defeat the strong from a position of weakness and to grow from weak to strong. The light of faith transcends time and space, and the power of truth remains ever new. Currently, as complex and profound changes occur in the global, national, Party, and military situations, political army building faces major contemporary questions such as how to strengthen it, in which direction to advance, and how to take action. Looking back at the history of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and properly inheriting and promoting our Party’s glorious theories and practices of building and governing the military is of vital significance for the in-depth advancement of political army building on the new journey.
I. "War cannot be separated from politics for a single moment": The epic of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression profoundly reveals the relationship between military affairs and politics; on the new journey, advancing political army building must always involve thinking about and handling military issues from a political height.
War is the continuation of politics; this is a basic tenet of Marxist military theory. In On Protracted War, Comrade Mao Zedong further profoundly elucidated that "war is politics with bloodshed," and that "war itself is an action of a political nature; since ancient times, there has never been a war without a political character." When the September 18th Incident [1] broke out, Japanese imperialism vainly attempted to "completely conquer China." At the critical moment of national survival, the Chinese Communists—with thorough theoretical clarity, a high degree of political rationality, and profound national sentiment—conducted a comprehensive and scientific analysis of the international and domestic situations facing China. They made the major political judgment that "the contradiction between China and Japan has become the primary contradiction, while domestic contradictions have dropped to a secondary and subordinate position." They clearly defined the political objective of the War of Resistance—to expel Japanese imperialism and establish a free and equal New China—and proposed to "appropriately adjust those domestic and international contradictions that can and must be adjusted at present, so as to suit the general task of uniting for resistance against Japan." Our Party successively issued the August 1st Declaration, adopted the "Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Current Political Situation and the Tasks of the Party," and published the "Letter of the CPC to the Chinese Kuomintang" and the "Telegram of the CPC Central Committee to the Third Plenary Session of the Kuomintang," among other important documents. Proceeding from national righteousness and the overall situation, the Party facilitated cooperation between the Kuomintang and the CPC and advocated for the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. At the same time, it pointed out that the most central task of the Party at this stage was to "mobilize all forces to strive for the final victory of the War of Resistance," requiring the Red Army to "adapt to the circumstances of the War of Resistance" and complete important tasks such as "reorganizing into the National Revolutionary Army" and "becoming a model corps in the War of Resistance." Under the Party's advocacy, the people's army set aside all old feuds and animosities, demonstrating the sincerity of "brothers quarreling within the walls but joining forces to resist the insult of the outsider" [2] to "join hands with the Kuomintang army to save the country together," creating the "first necessary condition" for the realization of the Party's tasks. During the War of Resistance, wherever the task of national liberation was, there the Party's task lay, and thither the military was directed, vividly illustrating the essential attribute of the military's political nature.
Today, China is at a critical stage of developing from being big to being strong, and the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is the highest interest of our country and people. Our military is an armed group for executing the Party's political tasks. In grasping military construction, one must first look at it from a political perspective, insisting that military affairs are subordinate to politics and strategy is subordinate to policy. This inherently dictates that the building and employment of the entire military force must be understood and planned under the grand goal of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. On the new journey, the in-depth advancement of political army building must adhere to centering on the core and serving the overall situation, always thinking about and handling military issues from a political height. The "Five Adherences" in military outlook and methodology proposed by President Xi Jinping—namely, adhering to political guidance, adhering to using force to stop conflict, adhering to proactive initiative, adhering to holistic planning, and adhering to the courage to fight and win—constitute the way of building a strong military and winning wars in the New Era and serve as the "master key" for researching and solving military problems. Among these, "adhering to political guidance" stands at the forefront and plays a commanding role; it must be understood deeply to ensure that direction is always clear, minds are sober, responses are appropriate, and actions are powerful. Currently, the complexity and difficulty of the national security issues we face have increased significantly, and various predictable and unpredictable risks and challenges have multiplied, especially with intensified external containment and suppression. The more turbulent the winds and waves, the more we must maintain strategic sobriety and strengthen strategic resolve. We must persist in using the yardstick of politics to measure military issues, always planning and arranging military actions within the overall situation of national politics and diplomacy and the general framework of the national security strategy, ensuring absolute subordination and service to the Party's central task at all times. This requires being mindful of the "top priorities of the country" [3], continuously improving political judgment, political understanding, and political execution. We must be both courageous and skilled in struggle, moving and staying still in an orderly fashion, advancing and retreating according to the rules, and striving to win dual advantages in both politics and military affairs to create a favorable environment for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
II. "Our principle is that the Party commands the gun": The epic of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression profoundly reveals the relationship between the political party and the military; on the new journey, advancing political army building must unswervingly adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military.
Turning through the pages of modern Chinese history, the successive struggles against imperialism and feudalism were indeed fervent, yet they repeatedly met the fate of failure. A major reason for this was the lack of leadership by an advanced political party. The CPC, born and raised amidst internal turmoil and external threats, shouldered the historical mission of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation from its very inception with thorough revolutionary and populist character; it was the most resolute in defending national independence, the most determined in upholding national interests, and the most courageous in resisting foreign aggression. As a people's army founded and led by the Party, our military has held high the Party's banner and resolutely followed the Party's command since its first day. During the War of Resistance, the officers and soldiers of the Red Army took off their red-starred octagonal caps and put on the "Blue Sky and White Sun" [4] insignia, but their rock-firm conviction of loyalty to the Party never wavered. Back then, Chen Geng, commander of the 386th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army, wrote in his diary: "The Red Army will always be the Red Army. No matter what name it is called by or what hat it wears, we will always fight for the glory of the Communist Party." After the establishment of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, facing "unprincipled tendencies of accommodating the Kuomintang within the united front," our Party maintained its independence and autonomy, and the fundamental principle of the Party's leadership over the military never wavered. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Communists do not fight for personal military power... but they must fight for the Party's military power and the people's military power. Now that there is a national war of resistance, we must also fight for the national military power," taking a clear-cut stand to keep the "barrel of a gun" firmly in the hands of the Party. During this period, our Party carried out much creative work based on the realities of the War of Resistance to ensure the military followed the Party's command. After the reorganization of the Red Army, the CPC Central Committee decided to establish the Front Branch of the Central Military Commission and the New Fourth Army Branch to strengthen specific leadership. In February 1941, the Central Military Commission promulgated regulations stipulating the establishment of Military-Political Committees in units above the regiment and sub-district levels, perfecting the organizational structure of the Party's leadership over the military. In April 1944, Tan Zheng, then Deputy Director of the General Political Department of the Central Military Commission, was entrusted by the CPC Central Committee to deliver the "Report on the Question of Political Work in the Army," which reaffirmed the Party’s absolute leadership over the military and clarified it as the basic principle for handling "military-Party relations." History fully proves that the CPC is a Marxist party and our military is a new type of people's army of a proletarian nature. Only by resolutely listening to the Party's words and following the Party's lead can we fundamentally preserve our nature, purpose, and character, and always forge ahead in the right direction.
Holding high the banner and following the Party's command is the fundamental political requirement of the Party and the people for the military. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi Jinping, with an eye toward realizing the Party’s goal of strengthening the military in the New Era, has closely grasped the absolute leadership of the Party over the military—the very root of army building and the soul of a strong military—leading the great transformation of the people's military in the New Era through revolutionary political forging. On the new journey, the in-depth advancement of political army building must highlight holding the banner and casting the soul, strengthening the roots and consolidating the foundation, and unswervingly adhering to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military. Political steadfastness stems from theoretical clarity. In adhering to the Party's absolute leadership over the military, the primary task is to deeply plant the ideological roots of absolute loyalty to the Party throughout the military. We must persist in using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to cast the soul and educate people, fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, and strengthen systematic and academic research and interpretation. We must systematically elucidate the truths, academic logic, and philosophy contained therein, engraving the genes of loyalty of the officers and soldiers onto their internal identification with scientific theory. The Chairperson of the Military Commission responsibility system is the fundamental system and fundamental form of realization for adhering to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military; it is also an important institutional guarantee for the "Two Establishments" to take root in the people's military. We must take the comprehensive and in-depth implementation of the Chairperson of the Military Commission responsibility system as the highest political requirement to follow and the highest political discipline to observe, ensuring that we follow President Xi's command, are responsible to President Xi, and set President Xi's mind at ease. High-level Party committees hold important positions and bear great responsibilities, and senior cadres carry a thousand pounds on their shoulders with ten thousand troops behind them; they especially need to strengthen training in political ability, enhance political sensitivity and political discernment, and maintain particularly clear minds, particularly clear-cut attitudes, and particularly resolute actions on major issues of principle and position, inspiring and leading the troops through their exemplary conduct.
III. "The army and the people are the foundation of victory": The epic of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression profoundly reveals the relationship between the military and the people; on the new journey, advancing political army building must consolidate and develop the unity between the military and the government and between the military and the people in the New Era.
Looking back at that darkest and most humiliating period of history, the reason why Japan dared to invade the vast China of 450 million people with a population of less than 100 million was due to many factors, but the primary one "lay in the unorganized state of the Chinese masses." The political corruption, lack of popular cohesion, and "tray of loose sand" [5] state of Old China gave Japanese militarism an opportunity. In the face of grave national peril, the CPC, armed with Marxism, did not shrink back or become despondent. Instead, it planted the roots of expelling the Japanese invaders deep into the vast land of China, drawing inexhaustible strength from all the masses with the will to serve and save the country. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out: "Such a great national revolutionary war cannot be won without universal and deep political mobilization." Under our Party’s call for "the whole army and the whole people to rise up and struggle," countless sons and daughters of China from north and south of the Yangtze River and from inside and outside the Great Wall shared a bitter hatred for the enemy and went to the national rescue together. Hand in hand, the military and the people created highly ingenious guerrilla tactics such as tunnel warfare, landmine warfare, and "curtain-raising" warfare. Mothers sent their sons to fight the Japanese, and wives sent their husbands to the battlefield, composing the symphony of resistance: "Four hundred million people dancing with vigor, one set of military clothes for one heart and one mind." The Flower Drum Song lyrics popular in Yan'an at the time sang: "The army is the common people carrying guns, the common people are the Eighth Route Army not wearing uniforms; the military is the sharp arrow and the people are the shield, unite closely to protect the mountains and rivers," vividly depicting the touching scene of the military and the people "becoming one." Throughout the War of Resistance, all political parties, ethnic groups, classes, strata, and organizations in China united, and overseas Chinese also supported the war in various forms, such as returning home to join the army and kill the enemy, organizing anti-Japanese national salvation groups, and donating money and goods. It was precisely because the people's hearts and minds were aligned, their will returned, and their strength gathered that through this war, we not only defeated Japanese imperialism, but the Party and the people's military also grew and expanded. During the War of Resistance, our military always stood firm on the people's standpoint and won the sincere support of the broadest masses, which was a vivid practice of the Marxist view of the people in the military field and became powerful proof of the scientific conclusion that "the roots and veins of the people's military are buried deep in the profound earth of the people."
For an army to win battles, the people are its backbone [6]. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, Chairman Xi Jinping has repeatedly demanded that our military keep in mind its sacred duty of "carrying the gun for the people and fighting for the people." Proceeding from the high vantage point of the overall work of the Party and the state and the comprehensive situation of national defense and military construction, we must develop rock-solid relations between the military and the government and between the military and the civilians [7]. On the New Journey, to deeply advance the political building of the military, we must persist in centering on the people and continuously consolidate and develop the unity between the military, the government, and the civilians in the New Era. We must carry forward the fine tradition of maintaining close ties with the masses; persist in coming from the people, working for the people, and relying on the people; always place the people at the highest position in our hearts; and maintain a relationship with the masses that is as inseparable as "fish and water" [8] and as shared as life and death. We must fully utilize our own resources and advantages, take practical actions to benefit the people, and continuously enhance the "fish-and-water" deep affection and "flesh-and-blood" ties with the masses.
We must firmly establish combat effectiveness as the sole and fundamental standard. We should vigorously crack down on falsification and superficiality in combat effectiveness construction, comprehensively strengthen military training and war preparedness, and ensure that if anything happens, we can be deployed, get into position, and win the fight. We must resolutely defend the peaceful labor and lives of the people, forever remaining the defenders of the people's interests and the "Sons and Brothers of the People" [9] whom the people trust. We must persist in military-civilian integration and peace-war integration, strengthen the integrated fusion of strategic layouts in various fields, the integrated consolidation of strategic resources, and the integrated application of strategic forces. We must accelerate the enhancement of strategic capabilities in emerging fields, promote the highly efficient fusion and mutual driving force between new quality productive forces and "new quality combat capabilities," and consolidate and improve the integrated national strategic system and capabilities. We should innovate and develop the strategic tactics of people's war, and under the "new-type whole-of-nation system" [10], promote the modern transformation of local support for the front, transforming the extraordinary creativity of the masses into a vital victory-securing force in modern warfare.
IV. War's "decisive factor is people, not objects." The majestic epic of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression profoundly reveals the relationship between spirit and matter. On the New Journey, advancing the political building of the military must strengthen the cultivation of the fighting spirit.
In the recently released film Nanjing Photo Studio, the character Wang Guanghai knows in his heart that being a "hanjian" [11] is shameful, yet he would rather bet on the "impossibility of Japan losing" than entertain the thought of "what if Japan loses." Art originates from life and reflects history. After the July 7th Incident [12], facing the overbearing Japanese army, the dark clouds of the "theory of national subjugation" [13] once swept over and shrouded the Chinese people. Many high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang held the pessimistic sentiment that "war must end in massive defeat," and ordinary people also worried about "when the war will end is still unpredictable, and the survival of the nation is hard to determine."
In this exceptionally grave situation, the Chinese Communists demonstrated a firm conviction in ultimate victory and used this conviction to inspire the fighting will of the entire nation and the entire military. Comrade Mao Zedong cautioned the people: "We the Chinese nation have the spirit to fight the enemy to the last drop of our blood, the determination to recover our lost territory on the basis of self-reliance, and the ability to stand on our own feet in the family of nations." He inspired the people by saying that "mobilizing the common people of the whole country" could "create sea-like conditions to compensate for defects such as weapons," and announced to the world that "although Japan's technical conditions are superior, it will ultimately fail." He required our army to "infuse a progressive political spirit into the ranks" to increase its "tremendous combat power."
At that time, a newspaper wrote: "The current spirit of the whole country preparing to defend itself with its life is truly something unimaginable a few years ago. Relying solely on this spirit, we can guarantee that our nation will never perish." Under the inspiration of the Great Spirit of the War of Resistance, nurtured during its majestic process, the "popular morale" of the Chinese people fighting for national survival and ethnic dignity soared to the heavens. All military personnel and civilians followed one another in succession, fearless of sacrifice, at the immense cost of over 35 million casualties, building a "New Great Wall" to defend their homes and the motherland, and erecting another towering, immortal monument for the Chinese nation. Looking back today, the fact that the Chinese military and civilians, relying on the Great Spirit of the War of Resistance, defeated the Japanese army—which was "first-class in the East" at the time—was by no means a stroke of luck or an accident. Rather, it was a historical necessity of "justice must win, peace must win, and the people must win." It was a scientific necessity of correctly grasping the relationship between matter and spirit, and a great practice of the symbiosis and interaction between "spiritual initiative" and "historical initiative" [14].
War is not only a contest of matter but also a competition of spirit. Our military has always relied on "vigor and spirit" to fight. In the past, we relied on that specific "drive" to defeat one fierce enemy after another who were "armed to the teeth." In the New Era, the People's Army has more "steel" (material strength), so it must have even more "spirit," and its "bones" must be even harder. On the New Journey, to deeply advance the political building of the military, we must strengthen the cultivation of the fighting spirit and vigorously promote the spiritual quality of daring to fight and being certain to win, providing a powerful spiritual impetus for accelerating the transformation of the People's Army into a world-class military.
We must grasp the central link of ideological and political education, solidly carry out education on the Marxist view of war, patriotism, and revolutionary heroism, and establish correct views on life and death, hardship and joy, and gain and loss, resolving the fundamental question of "for whom one fights and why one fights." We must highlight core content such as faith, conviction, the "soul of the army" [15], and integrity, deeply advancing the project of "passing on the red gene from generation to generation." We must guide officers and soldiers to vigorously carry forward the dauntless spirit of "fearing neither hardship nor death." We must adapt to the new challenges and tests that future informatized and intelligentized warfare poses to operational capabilities, confidence in winning, and fighting will, integrating the cultivation of fighting spirit into all aspects and the entire process of realistic combat training. We must persist in "leading construction through combat and grasping construction for combat," staying close to combat missions, opponents, and environments, and tempering the troops through arduous and strict training, environments approximating actual combat, and grave and complex military struggles. We should strengthen the cultivation of a combat style, allowing the fighting spirit to be refined and sublimated in realistic combat training. We must fully exert the synergy of "Strong Military Culture" [16] in honing will, tempering style, and enhancing skills, unifying cultural influence with fighting spirit cultivation. We should create cultural products with a combat tone and carry out cultural activities brimming with combat passion, establishing the orientation of "Strong Military Culture" toward tempering for battle and winning, and using cultural power to boost combat effectiveness.
The history of the Chinese revolution is the best textbook and nutrient. The majestic epic of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression demonstrates that adhering to the political building of the military is the fundamental foundation for the People's Army to move from victory to victory. On the New Journey, we must fully draw rich nourishment from the history of the War of Resistance, better adhere to the Party’s absolute leadership over the military, hold fast to the original aspiration and founding mission of the People's Army, and temper the will and spirit of daring to fight and being certain to win. We must forge the heroic People's Army to be even purer, more glorious, and more reliable, providing strong strategic support for comprehensively advancing the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization.
Source: Qiushi, Issue No. 17, 2025 Online Editor: Tong Xin