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Diplomatic Relations during the Prewar Years: 1927–1936 33

Chapter 1 Diplomatic Relations During the Prewar Years: 1927–1936

1 International Context

The decade leading up to the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II was marked globally by economic turmoil and the rise of radical political move- ments. The that evolved from the US stock market crash of October 1929 caused severe unemployment and poverty in various countries around the globe, especially in the industrialized West. One major ramification was the rise of fascism and militarism, such as in Germany, where under Hit- ler’s leadership the Nazis instituted a massive program of economic recon- struction and rearmament to end unemployment. In the , where its direct effects were limited, the Great Depression nevertheless helped Stalin to solidify his authoritarian grip by instituting a system of political repression and state terror. In Asia, Japanese militarists seized control of their national government and invaded , ’s resource-rich northeastern lands, where the puppet state of Manzhouguo () was established in 1932. The invasion of Manchuria revealed the ineffectiveness of the recently es- tablished in pursuing its primary objective of global security and peace. When the league in February 1933 labeled Japan – one of its four original Council members – an aggressor and urged it to remove its troops from Manchuria, Tokyo responded by withdrawing from the league, ignoring its calls. Absorbed in their own affairs, the Western powers refrained from tak- ing any real action to check Japan’s expansionist drift in China, despite grow- ing concerns among the colonial powers, including the Dutch, about the future security of their overseas possessions in Southeast Asia.1 This failure was fol- lowed in October 1933 by Germany’s withdrawal from the World Disarmament Conference, and ultimately from the League of Nations, over disagreement on

1 There has been some debate about when exactly the Dutch began to become concerned about Japanese expansionism in the region and whether it was the Mukden (Manchurian) Incident or worries over Japan’s growing trade with the Dutch East Indies that prompted this. It appears that it was not until 1935–36 that the Dutch authorities began to take concrete actions with these concerns in mind. See Tarling, “‘A Vital British Interest,’” 197; De Jong, Koninkrijk der Nederlanden, vol. 9, 233; Bussemaker, “Paradise in Peril: The Netherlands, Great Britain and the Defence of the Netherlands East Indies,” 117–118; Braat, “Dutch Neutrality in the Pacific,” 123; and section 2.3 of this chapter on G.H.C. Hart’s visit to China.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004410923_003 34 Chapter 1 the issue of disarmament in Europe. The Abyssinian crisis of 1935–36 further underlined the inability of the international community to prevent unilateral use of force. In March 1936, the Nazis began a massive military buildup and remilitarization of the Rhineland in defiance of international agreements. Lat- er that year, Germany and Japan joined hands under the Anti-Comintern Pact, laying the foundation for the future Axis alliance.

1.1 Consolidation of Nationalist Rule in China In China, the decade between 1927 and 1937 has often been viewed as a rela- tively stable interlude between the preceding era and the War of Resis- tance against Japan. Known as the “ Decade,” this period saw the at Nanjing (Nanking) seeking to lay the basis of a mod- ern, unified nation-state through economic reconstruction, modernization, and international cooperation. Nevertheless, this period was also character- ized by conflict both domestically and internationally. Civil strife between the Nationalists and Communists continued unabated throughout the entire ten- year period from the collapse of the First in mid-1927 until the formation of the Second United Front in September 1937. It was the era of the Long March, the epic trek by Red Army soldiers across China from 1934 to 1936 that marked the ascent to power of 毛泽东. This was also the time of the Xi’an Incident, which saw Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi 蒋介石) in late 1936 being kidnapped at gunpoint by his own generals and being forced to accept a truce with the Communists. In the background of these events was the ever-growing Japanese threat, resulting in the of 18 September 1931 and subsequent invasion of Manchuria and the attack on in 1932. Amid a massive purge of the Chinese Communists, Chiang Kai-shek estab- lished his new Nationalist government at Nanjing on 18 April 1927. In June the next year, after the Northern Expedition had led to the defeat of the Beiyang 北洋 regime, the Nationalists proclaimed China’s unification and announced the relocation of China’s national capital to Nanjing. Despite concerns in dip- lomatic quarters over the force of the Nationalist movement sweeping across China, the Nanjing government had little difficulty in securing international recognition. In late July, the United States was the first to de jure recognize the Nanjing government by initiating negotiations on a new tariff treaty. The fol- lowing month, the League of Nations accepted a Nanjing-designated head of the Chinese delegation to the Assembly. On 20 December 1928, Sir Miles W. Lampson, the British minister hitherto accredited to the at Beiping (as the Chinese Nationalists called ), was the first foreign dip- lomatic envoy to present his credentials to Chiang Kai-shek, who by then had