By Wu Minchao
The year 1945 marked a great turning point in history. After 14 years of resistance in China, nine years in Ethiopia, six years in Britain, France, and other Western European countries, and four years in the Soviet Union, the United States, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, the world finally secured victory in the World Anti-Fascist War.
Eighty years on, commemoration and reflection of this triumph must not only recall its historical significance, but also revisit the background in which the war began. Only through such analysis can we fully understand the profound sacrifices made by the forces of justice and draw lessons for safeguarding peace and development today.
The war had two epicenters: Europe and Asia. For English-speaking countries, the European story is more familiar. Yet in Asia, Japan was the engine of aggression, casting its long shadow over the region.
After the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, Japan embarked on the path of external expansion. In 1894, it launched the First Sino-Japanese War, seizing Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. It later encroached upon China’s northeastern territories and sovereignty through the Russo-Japanese War. In 1931, Japanese militarists brazenly staged the September 18 Incident, igniting the first flames of fascist aggression worldwide. China thus entered a phase of partial resistance, which also marked the opening of the World Anti-Fascist War.
In 1936, Japan and Germany signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, with Italy joining the following year. This convergence linked the Eastern and Western sources of conflict.
A year later, Japanese militarists deliberately provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident, unleashing a full-scale invasion of China. From that moment, the entire Chinese nation mobilized in total resistance, opening the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War.
From a global perspective, China was the first country to confront fascist aggression. While many nations, including the United States and the UK, were still pursuing policies of appeasement toward Germany, Italy, and Japan, China had already opened a large-scale anti-fascist front. By the time war broke out in Europe in 1939 and in the Pacific in 1941, China had already withstood Japanese militarism for eight and ten years, respectively.
Corresponding to the two epicenters of war were two main theaters: the European theater and the Asian theater. Japan’s invasion of China was the defining feature of the Asian theater. The Chinese battlefield effectively thwarted Japan’s strategy of a swift conquest and delayed its overall war of aggression in the Asia-Pacific. It was not only the main battlefield in Asia but also the main Eastern battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War – an indispensable pillar of ultimate victory.
Throughout that arduous war, the entire Chinese nation fought for survival, national rejuvenation, and the cause of justice for humanity, making immense sacrifices and tremendous contributions. Over 14 years of resistance, China suffered from more than 35 million military and civilian casualties, with direct and indirect economic losses exceeding $600 billion. Chinese forces tied down and fought the bulk of Japan’s military strength, killing more than 1.5 million Japanese troops. At the same time, China’s protracted resistance greatly depleted Japan’s national power and resources, becoming a decisive factor in the eventual downfall of Japanese fascism.
The Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was of global significance. It strategically coordinated and supported the Allies’ strategic actions in Europe and the Pacific, while constraining Japan’s strategic cooperation with German and Italian fascism.
By resisting the main forces of Japanese militarism for 14 years, China dragged Japan into a prolonged quagmire. This endurance thwarted Japan’s “northward advance” against the Soviet Union, sparing the latter from a two-front war, and delayed Japan’s “southward advance” into Southeast Asia, undermining its scheme to unite with Germany and Italy in pursuit of world domination.
Former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt acknowledged China’s pivotal role, stating: “Without China – or if China had been defeated – countless additional Japanese divisions would have been deployed elsewhere. Japan could have seized Australia and India unimpeded, then advanced into the Middle East.”
In January 1942, China, the United States, the UK, the Soviet Union, and 22 other anti-fascist countries jointly signed the Declaration by United Nations, marking the establishment of the international anti-fascist united front and laying an important foundation for final victory.
China’s struggle was part of a global effort. Peace-loving nations provided vital support, including Soviet and American aviators who fought courageously in Chinese skies – many making heroic sacrifices. Anti-fascist fighters from North Korea, Vietnam, and even Japan joined the Chinese people in battle. Canadian surgeon Norman Bethune and Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis gave their lives treating the wounded. John Rabe of Germany and Bernhard Arp Sindberg of Denmark saved thousands of refugees during the Nanjing Massacre, recording and exposing Japanese atrocities. The noble character and sacrifice of these international friends, together with the Allies’ decisive role in hastening the end of the war, will always be remembered by the Chinese people.
Seen from the perspective of the global fight against fascism, the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression holds an irreplaceable place in history.
More importantly, through this life-and-death battle between justice and evil, light and darkness, freedom and enslavement, China reestablished itself as a major country in the world. The Chinese people won the respect of all peace-loving nations, and the Chinese nation earned a noble reputation. It demonstrated China’s unshakable determination to pursue independence, freedom, and liberation.
Victory in the World Anti-Fascist War belonged collectively to China and all the Allies. Today, as 80 years ago, China remains committed to working with all peace-loving nations and peoples to defend global peace, stability, and development.
(Wu Minchao is a special research fellow at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.)
