The Sihang Warehouse Defense Memorial in Shanghai is the site where over 420 Chinese soldiers defended against the Japanese army as Chinese forces withdrew from Shanghai from Oct 26 to Nov 1, 1937. The frontage of the memorial preserves the marks of eight shells and more than 430 bullets left during the battle. Photo: TUCHONG

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The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, which lasted for 14 years from 1931 to 1945, constituted a significant part of the World Anti-Fascist War. In this monumental war—one that held profound implications for the survival of the Chinese nation and the future of humanity—the Chinese people were the first to rise in resistance against fascist aggression. Through remarkable perseverance and an unyielding spirit of defiance, they not only altered the course of Chinese national history but also reshaped the trajectory of the World Anti-Fascist War, contributing significantly to the ultimate victory of the international anti-fascist effort.

First to resist, longest to endure 

On Sept. 18, 1931, Japan launched the Liutiaohu Incident, also known as the September 18 Incident, marking the beginning of its war of external aggression. At the time, most countries remained unaware of the growing threat posed by fascism, pursuing appeasement in a misguided bid to maintain peace. In stark contrast, the Chinese people decisively embarked on a national liberation war against Japanese aggression, initiating the first active resistance against fascist expansion and becoming the earliest participants in the World Anti-Fascist War. By the time war broke out in Europe in September 1939, China had already been fighting alone for eight years; by the time the Pacific War began in December 1941, it had been resisting independently for more than a decade.

Following the Lugou Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge) Incident on July 7, 1937, the Chinese nation entered a phase of full-scale resistance, making the Chinese battlefield the primary theater in the fight against Japanese fascism and the Eastern Front of the World Anti-Fascist War. Even after the outbreak of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany and the Pacific War, China remained the principal battleground against Japanese forces. During the period of full-scale resistance, over 200 major military engagements and nearly 200,000 smaller-scale battles occurred between Chinese and Japanese forces. The Chinese military killed and injured more than 1.5 million Japanese troops and over 1.18 million puppet army soldiers, effectively containing and engaging over two thirds of Japan’s ground forces as well as a substantial portion of its naval and air power.

The human and material costs borne by China were immense. Over 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded, including more than 3.8 million military casualties. Direct economic losses and wartime expenditures are estimated to have exceeded $100 billion. By contrast, US casualties in the war against Japan totaled around 320,000, while Soviet losses numbered approximately 32,000.

Throughout the war, the resilience and determination demonstrated by the Chinese military and civilian population underscored the Chinese nation’s firm commitment to safeguarding national sovereignty and independence. Despite being a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, China refused to capitulate. Instead, it mounted a sustained and determined resistance that ultimately led to victory. This experience offered invaluable lessons for other oppressed nations in their own anti-fascist struggles. It not only boosted their morale and resolve but also strengthened the global anti-fascist alliance and advanced the broader movement against fascist aggression worldwide.

Actively advancing formation of global anti-fascist alliance

China was not only the earliest nation to suffer from fascist aggression but was also a committed advocate and proactive facilitator of the establishment of an international anti-fascist coalition.

As early as 1933, the Communist Party of China (CPC) first proposed the formation of a national united front against Japanese aggression. This proposal included the possibility of agreements with all armed forces, including those under the Kuomintang (KMT). In response to the 7th Comintern Congress’s call for the creation of the United Front Against Fascism, the CPC actively supported and promoted the formation of a national united front against Japanese aggression. After the outbreak of the full-scale war against Japanese aggression in 1937, the CPC set aside previous conflicts and worked to facilitate cooperation with the KMT, ultimately leading to the establishment of the national united front—a historic turning point in China’s war effort.

Throughout the evolution of this united front, the CPC maintained an independent and autonomous approach, adhering to a strategy of both cooperation and principled struggle. This enabled the united front’s continuous consolidation and expansion, lasting until the eventual victory.  

With a broad international perspective, the CPC actively championed the establishment of a global anti-fascist united front. In a 1936 conversation with American journalist Edgar Snow, Mao Zedong emphasized that “In order to achieve victory over Japanese imperialism within the shortest time possible, and with the smallest waste, China must first of all realize a united front within her own borders, and, second, must seek to extend it to all those powers whose interests are the interests of peace in the Pacific.”

Following the outbreak of full-scale war, while continuing to build the domestic united front, the CPC issued public appeals to the international community, expressing willingness to unite with the countries of the peace front, all nations and peoples sympathetic to China’s cause against Japanese aggression, and to unite with Britain, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union, particularly with the democratic forces within countries such as Britain, the US, and France. 

After Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939, the CPC intensified its efforts to promote the establishment of an international united front against Japanese militarism and fascism. Following the outbreak of the Soviet-German War in 1941, Mao drafted “On the International United Front Against Fascism,” proposing to “unite against the common foe with everybody in Britain, the United States, and other countries who is opposed to the fascist rulers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.”

In December 1941, the CPC promptly issued a declaration with regard to the Pacific War, once again calling for the formation of military alliances with Britain, the US, and other allied nations, as well as coordinated action and the establishment of a unified front among all peoples in the Pacific to resist Japanese aggression.

On Jan. 1, 1942, 26 nations—including China, the US, the UK, and the Soviet Union—signed the “Declaration by United Nations” in Washington DC, formally marking the creation of the global anti-fascist alliance. This pivotal development fundamentally altered the balance of power between the fascist and anti-fascist camps and laid a firm foundation for the eventual victory of the global anti-fascist war.

Indispensable contributions to Allied success

In pursuit of its ambition for global dominance, Japan invaded China while simultaneously adopting a dual expansionist strategy: the “Hokushin-ron,” aimed at Soviet territories in the Far East, and the “Nanshin-ron,” directed toward Southeast Asia. However, the success of either strategy depended first and foremost on Japan’s ability to conquer China. As such, the dynamics of the Chinese battlefield played a decisive role in shaping and constraining the formulation and execution of Japan’s broader strategic objectives.

In the face of Japanese imperialism’s early assertion that China could be subdued within three months, the Chinese military and civilian populations mounted a resolute and prolonged resistance, transforming the nation into a formidable bastion of defense. Through this protracted war of attrition, China significantly drained Japan’s military resources and strategic flexibility, thereby preventing it from withdrawing and redeploying its forces—effectively blocking its capacity to move either northward into Siberia to threaten the Soviet Union or southward into Southeast Asia to seize resources there. Only after relative stabilization on the Chinese front in 1941 did Japan take the risk of launching the Pacific War.

Following the formation of the global anti-fascist alliance, China continued to provide vital strategic support to both the Eastern Front and Pacific theaters through its sustained pressure on Japanese forces. During the critical years of 1941–1942, as the Soviet-German War reached its most perilous phase, Germany sought to persuade Japan to attack the Soviet Union from the east, thereby creating a two-front offensive. With its main ground forces tied down in China, however, such coordination was impractical. This allowed the Soviet Union to redeploy elite divisions from its Far Eastern front to the Western front, avoiding the peril of a two-front war. As Joseph Stalin once remarked, only when the Japanese aggressors are restrained can the Soviet Union avoid fighting a two-front war once Germany attacks.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the continued resistance on the Chinese front forced Japan to maintain a substantial military presence in China, severely weakening its capacity to confront US forces in the Pacific theaters. This strategic constraint allowed the US to seize the initiative: Within just one year of entering the war, the US achieved major victories in the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. These victories marked a decisive turning point in the Pacific theaters and accelerated the eventual defeat of Japanese forces.

China played an irreplaceable role in the World Anti-Fascist War. Through sustained resistance and immense national sacrifice, the Chinese people pinned down the core of Japan’s military power, thereby disrupting its broader strategic ambitions. In doing so, China not only greatly influenced the trajectory of the World Anti-Fascist War but also became one of the decisive factors driving the Allied victory.

Wang Fengqing is a professor from the Department of Literature and History at the Party School of Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Edited by REN GUANHONG