Japan launched a war against China in 1931. In 1937, China officially began its war of resistance against its full-scale invasion of China. However, the National Government only declared war on Japan in 1941. Why?
The Nationalist Government’s Declaration of War on Japan
- After Japan launched the September 18th Incident in 1931, the Nationalist Government’s focus was still fighting the civil war. Because of the policy of “span 1span and Chiang Kai-shek _span 2span, we must settle for internal affairs”. , The three northeastern provinces all fall. During the Xi'an Incident from 1931 to 1936, the focus of the entire National Government was fighting the civil war. China's civil war did not give the Nationalist government more time and energy to fight the war, let alone declare war on Japan.
- After the Xi'an Incident, the domestic joint war of resistance has been formed. In 1937, Japan launched the Lugou Bridge Incident , and the full-scale war of aggression against China began. The National Government, Yan'an and other warlords began to resist Japanese aggression by means of resistance, but the National Government considered The international situation still does not declare war on Japan, because once war is declared, China and Japan will become official belligerents. According to international law, countries that have not participated in the war are not allowed to provide help to the belligerents. Therefore, the National Government adopted war to obtain the help of the United States and the Soviet Union. Unannounced way.
- After the outbreak of the all-out war of resistance, the high level of the Nationalist government still wanted to resolve the Sino-Japanese war through peace talks. Under the mediation of Germany, the National Government and Japan negotiated, but the Japanese authorities charged too high a price. Chiang Kai-shek knew that once Japan’s conditions were accepted, China would be subjugated. This made Chiang Kai-shek not accept Japan’s conditions and China continued to resist the war. Beginning in 1939, the Nationalist Government once again negotiated with Japan while resisting the war. The entire negotiation did not stop until 1940. During this period, the Nationalist Government still dreamed of negotiating to resolve the war issue, but Japan's goal was to invade the entire China. This made the negotiations between the Nationalist Government and Japan never reach an agreement. Due to the intermittent negotiations between the National Government and Japan,The National Government did not declare war on Japan until 1940.
- Chiang Kai-shek hopes that the United States will be involved in World War II and China will fight against Japan together. The United States will not declare war on Japan, and China will naturally not declare war on Japan. If China declares war on Japan and the United States does not declare war on Japan, the United States will use international law to stop aid to China, and China needs U.S. aid, which makes Chiang Kai-shek reluctant to declare war on Japan before the United States declares war on Japan.
Chiang Kai-shek
On December 7, 1947, the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan, and the National Government also declared war on Japan the day after the United States declared war.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
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