Thesis: The defeat of China in the Second Sino- Japanese War and the subsequent Nanking Massacre was inevitable, because of the strategic errors made by China in the battle of Shanghai, the weakness of China’s military and incompetence of China’s government.
Argument 1: The strategic errors made by China in the Battle of Shanghai caused China’s inevitable defeat and the subsequent Nanking Massacre. The ineffective strategy of Nanking relying on Shanghai as a defence without any other alternative defence method led to China’s inevitable defeat. “The Chinese (appeared) to regard Shanghai as the main theatre of war because Shanghai protects Nanking.”1 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek made a strategic error by positioning the majority and the best divisions of China’s army to resist in Shanghai. This concentrated defence collapsed when Japan attacked on land and water. Jiang Jieshi [Chiang Kai-shek] ordered his best German trained troops- the 87th and 88th Divisions- to resist the Japanese in Shanghai at all costs, which they did heroically for three months. But the defense disintegrated when the Japanese made an Amphibious landing at Hangzhou Bay, to the south of Shanghai.2 The Chinese soldiers lacked the tactics associated with using the new machines in the battle of Shanghai, since Shanghai was the first major city to be attacked by armored columns and bomber armadas in the mechanized warfare of WWII.3 China’s retreat route by going through the safety zone of Nanking gave the Japanese soldiers a motive to enter Nanking, as they were ordered to kill all Chinese military. “The retreating straggling troops were going right through the zone.”4
Counter Argument 1: China’s strategic method of guerrilla warfare led by Mao Zedong helped reduce many of the Japanese forces.5
Argument 2: China’s defeat in Nanking by Japan was unavoidable, since China’s military at the time was too weak. Japan trained its soldiers early in life. As little boys, they were taught how to handle wooden gun models, as they aged they learned how to handle real guns in military schools.6 In contrast, the young boys in China did not have the chance to experience gun handling, since China did not produce such arms in the country at the time.7 The military training class work and study hours of a Japanese officer quadrupled that of an English officer. In contrast, the Chinese officers were poorly trained as the intensity of training did not equal to the level of the English nor Japanese officer. The intensity of the training in Japan surpassed that of most Western military academies: in England an officer was commissioned after some 1,372 hours of class work and 245 hour of private study, but in Japan the standards were 3,382 hours of class work and 2,765 hours of private study.8
1 John, Rabe. The Good Man of Nanking: The Diaries of John Rabe. (New York: Vintage Books: 2000) 92. 2 Zhiyue, Bo. China: The History of Modern China. (New Jersey: Mason Crest Publishers, 2006) 53. 3 Wen-hsin, Yeh,. Wartime Shanghai. (London: Routhledge, 1998) 1. 4 Yasuo, Ohara and Tadao Takemoto. The Alleged “Nanking Massacre”: Japan’s Rebuttal To China’s Forged Claims. (Tokyo: Meisei-sha, Inc, 2000) 48. 5 China Daily. Remember Role in Ending Fascist War. 15 Aug. 2005. 21 Nov. 2007
Counter Argument 2: China possessed the largest army in the world at the time in terms of troop number.12 In addition, the seven thousand remaining soldiers that were ordered to protect Nanking could have prevented the massacre.
Argument 3: China’s incompetent government could not function properly to assist in the Second Sino- Japanese War, leading to China’s defeat and the following Nanking Massacre.
China’s government was financially unstable and was too poor to afford an adequate amount of equipment for its army due to China’s indemnities from previous wars. The Opium war of 1842: China paid 21 million taels to the British government. The first Sino- Japanese war: China paid 200 million taels to Japan and also ceded Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, but China bought back the Liaodong Peninsula for 30 million taels. In the Boxer Rebellion of 1911: China paid an indemnity of 982 million combining the interest and principal over the next 38 years.13 Due to the internal conflicts of China’s government between the Communists and Nationalist, China could not concentrate on the war against Japan. The leader of the Nationalists, Chiang Kai Shek ignored the Japanese invaders and was busy planning the fifth extermination campaign against the Communist Party. This angered his own generals, who arrested him and forced him to agree to form a united front against the Japanese with the Communists.14 There was a lack of good government leaders since there were corrupt political leaders in China, who betrayed the country. Wang Jing –wei, the chairman of the National Party and also the next major leader to Chiang Kai- shek, vied with Chiang for the control of the National government causing many internal conflicts.15 He later collaborated with the Japanese and betrayed his own country by announcing to the Chinese to cease resistance.16
Counter Argument 3: the defeat of China in the Second Sino Japanese War and the Nanking Massacre could have been avoided if Chiang Kai-shek did not concentrate on creating extermination campaigns against the Communists, since this created a climate of fear and confusion for the citizens. There was also an organization, called the “Great Way”, whose purpose was to eliminate people who had collaborated or cooperated with the Japanese.17
9 Bunk, Andy. Forgotten- a Look at the Changing Roles of the Chinese Militia System from Its Inception to the Present. 2007. 2 Oct. 2007