‘Enemy of the People’

Chiang Kai-shek, China’s most important leader during the long war with Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, was different things to different people. While he was often portrayed in the west as … Continue Reading →

Fall of Beijing, 1937

On July 29, 1937, China’s old imperial capital Beijing fell to Japanese forces. The image to the left shows the emperor’s troops marching through Qianmen gate into the city, officially … Continue Reading →

Japan’s War In 102 Volumes

Every nation feels a need to record its wars. It’s considered a moral obligation to those who suffered and died. But at a practical level, it also shows a concern about … Continue Reading →

Chinese in the Spanish Civil War

In the late 1930s, while the heartland of China was being ravaged by war with Japan, a small number of Chinese were fighting a different battle 10,000 kilometers away. About … Continue Reading →

The Chinese ‘Fritz’

One of the most conspicuous features of the elite units of the Chinese army that went to war with Japan in 1937 was their widespread use of German equipment, and, … Continue Reading →

Deadly Clash at Marco Polo Bridge

Seventy-six years ago, on July 7, 1937, Chinese and Japanese soldiers clashed at Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing. It was the start of an eight-year war in which millions would die, … Continue Reading →

Hitler Youth in China

In the inter-war years, China and especially Shanghai had a large number of German expatriates. Anecdotal evidence suggests that more than a few were initially highly skeptical of Adolf Hitler, but in the end, … Continue Reading →

War Poems

To express the essence of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre in 104 poems—that is the mission which Honolulu businessman and writer Wing Tek Lum embarks upon in a new collection of poetry. He succeeds marvellously. … Continue Reading →

Soldiers in WWII in Asia Radicalized by Own Diaries

Soldiers in World War II responsible for violent atrocities in the Far East may have been partly radicalised by their own dairies, new research shows. Dr Aaron William Moore, from The University … Continue Reading →

Weapons of Mass Destruction, 1930s Style

Nations always go to war expecting to fight the war of the previous generation. The Second Sino-Japanese War was no exception. When hostilities broke out between China and Japan in 1937, … Continue Reading →