Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War
The Republic of China had been fighting Japan intermittently since the 1931 Mukden Incident, when Japan annexed Manchuria. On 7 July 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident led the two countries to full-scale war. With this and civil conflict between the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) and the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Nationalist Government's full attention was within its borders. However, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek still managed to send troops to Britain's aid in Burma, in early 1942. More than 1.5 million Japanese military personnel were bogged down in China with casualties estimated at 1.1–1.9 million. At the start of the war, the Chinese army had 2.6 million soldiers; by end of the war it had grown to 5.7 million (excluding communist soldiers).
The war cooled China's formerly warm relations with Germany (see Sino-German cooperation), and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, China formally joined the Allies and declared war on Germany on 9 December 1941.
Many of China's urban centers, industrial resources, and coastal regions were occupied by Japan for most of the war. China suffered a large death toll from the war, both military and civilian. The Chinese Nationalist army suffered some 3.2 a million casualties, and 17 a million civilians died in the crossfire. After the war, China gained one of the permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.[34]
After the war ended, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Nationalists and the Communists. The Nationalist government was defeated by the Communists in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan, while the communist People's Republic of China was established on the mainland.
The Republic of China had been fighting Japan intermittently since the 1931 Mukden Incident, when Japan annexed Manchuria. On 7 July 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident led the two countries to full-scale war. With this and civil conflict between the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) and the Communist Party of China, the Chinese Nationalist Government's full attention was within its borders. However, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek still managed to send troops to Britain's aid in Burma, in early 1942. More than 1.5 million Japanese military personnel were bogged down in China with casualties estimated at 1.1–1.9 million. At the start of the war, the Chinese army had 2.6 million soldiers; by end of the war it had grown to 5.7 million (excluding communist soldiers).
The war cooled China's formerly warm relations with Germany (see Sino-German cooperation), and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, China formally joined the Allies and declared war on Germany on 9 December 1941.
Many of China's urban centers, industrial resources, and coastal regions were occupied by Japan for most of the war. China suffered a large death toll from the war, both military and civilian. The Chinese Nationalist army suffered some 3.2 a million casualties, and 17 a million civilians died in the crossfire. After the war, China gained one of the permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.[34]
After the war ended, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Nationalists and the Communists. The Nationalist government was defeated by the Communists in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan, while the communist People's Republic of China was established on the mainland.