Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

==Background==
{{main|China–Japan relations}}

The origins of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced to the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895), in which China, then under the rule of the Qing dynasty, was defeated by Japan and forced to cede [[Taiwan]] and recognize the full and complete independence of [[Joseon|Korea]] in the [[Treaty of Shimonoseki]]. Japan also annexed the [[Senkaku Islands]], which Japan claims were uninhabited, in early 1895 as a result of its victory at the end of the war. Japan had also attempted to annex the [[Liaodong Peninsula]] following the war, though was forced to return it to China following the [[Triple Intervention]] by France, Germany, and Russia.<ref name="Economist-2012-12-empty-space">{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568696-behind-row-over-bunch-pacific-rocks-lies-sad-magical-history-okinawa-narrative |title=The Senkaku or Diaoyu Islands: Narrative of an empty space |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=22 December 2012 |issue=Christmas Specials 2012 |location=London |issn=0013-0613 |access-date=26 February 2014  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226002234/http://www.economist.com/news/christmas/21568696-behind-row-over-bunch-pacific-rocks-lies-sad-magical-history-okinawa-narrative |archive-date=26 February 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/joyman-lee/senkakudiaoyu-islands-conflict|title=Senkaku/Diaoyu: Islands of Conflict|work=History Today|access-date=13 August 2016|archive-date=1 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201151322/https://www.historytoday.com/joyman-lee/senkakudiaoyu-islands-conflict|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139|title=How uninhabited islands soured China-Japan ties |work=BBC|access-date=13 August 2016|date=10 November 2014|archive-date=8 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108101023/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11341139|url-status=live}}</ref> The Qing dynasty was on the brink of collapse due to internal revolts and the imposition of the [[unequal treaties]], while Japan had emerged as a [[great power]] through its efforts to modernize.{{sfn|Wilson|page=5}} In 1905, Japan defeated the [[Russian Empire]] in the [[Russo-Japanese War]], gaining [[Dalian]] and southern [[Sakhalin]] and establishing a [[Korean Empire|protectorate]] over Korea.

===Warlords in the Republic of China===
{{Main|1911 Revolution|Warlord Era}}

In 1911, factions of the Qing Army uprose against the government, staging a [[1911 Revolution|revolution]] that swept across China's southern provinces.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Liew |first1=Kit Siong |title=Struggle for democracy: Sung Chiao-jen and the 1911 Chinese revolution |last2=Sung Chiao-jen |date=1971 |publisher=Univ. of California Pr |isbn=978-0-520-01760-3 |location=Berkeley [usw.]}}</ref> The Qing responded by appointing [[Yuan Shikai]], commander of the loyalist [[Beiyang Army]], as temporary prime minister in order to subdue the revolution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nihart |first1=F. B. |last2=Powell |first2=Ralph L. |date=1955 |title=The Rise of Military Power in Modern China, 1895–1912. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1983349 |journal=Military Affairs |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=105 |doi=10.2307/1983349 |jstor=1983349 |issn=0026-3931}}</ref> Yuan, wanting to remain in power, compromised with the revolutionaries, and agreed to abolish the monarchy and establish a new republican government, under the condition he be appointed president of China. The new [[Beiyang government]] of China was proclaimed in March 1912, after which Yuan Shikai began to amass power for himself. In 1913, the parliamentary political leader [[Song Jiaoren|Song Jiaoren was assassinated]]; it is generally believed Yuan Shikai ordered the assassination.<ref>{{Cite web |title=谁是刺杀宋教仁的幕后元凶?_资讯_凤凰网 |url=https://news.ifeng.com/history/zl/xz/jinmanlou/200903/0330_5763_1083398.shtml |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=news.ifeng.com}}</ref> Yuan Shikai then forced the parliament to pass a bill to strengthen the power of the president and sought to [[Empire of China (1915–1916)|restore the imperial system]], becoming the new emperor of China.

However, there was little support for an imperial restoration among the general population, and protests and demonstrations soon broke out across the country. Yuan's attempts at restoring the monarchy triggered the [[National Protection War]], and Yuan Shikai was overthrown after only a few months. In the aftermath of Shikai's death in June 1916, control of China fell into the hands of the Beiyang Army leadership. The Beiyang government was a civilian government in name, but in practice it was a [[military dictatorship]]<ref>《时局未宁之内阁问题》, 《满洲报》1922年7月27日, "论说"</ref> with a different warlord controlling each province of the country. China was reduced to a fractured state. As a result, China's prosperity began to wither and its economy declined. This instability presented an opportunity for nationalistic politicians in Japan to press for territorial expansion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shehui.pku.edu.cn/upload/editor/file/20191007/20191007171957_7532.pdf|title=北洋军阀时期中华民族共同体的构建路径与效应分析|website=shehui.pku.edu.cn|language=zh}}</ref>

===Twenty-One Demands===
{{Main|Twenty-One Demands}}

In 1915, Japan issued the [[Twenty-One Demands]] to extort further political and commercial privilege from China, which was accepted by the regime of Yuan Shikai.<ref>Hoyt, Edwin P., Japan's War: The Great Pacific Conflict, p. 45</ref> Following [[World War I]], Japan acquired the [[German Empire]]'s [[sphere of influence]] in [[Shandong]] province,<ref>Palmer and Colton, A History of Modern World, p. 725</ref> leading to nationwide anti-Japanese [[May Fourth Movement|protests and mass demonstrations]] in China. The country remained fragmented under the [[Beiyang Government]] and was unable to resist foreign incursions.{{sfn|Taylor|page=33}} For the purpose of unifying China and defeating the regional warlords, the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) in [[Guangzhou]] launched the [[Northern Expedition]] from 1926 to 1928 with limited assistance from the [[Soviet Union]].{{sfn|Taylor|page=57}}

===Jinan incident===
{{Main|Jinan incident}}

The [[National Revolutionary Army]] (NRA) formed by the Kuomintang swept through southern and central China until it was checked in Shandong, where confrontations with the Japanese garrison escalated into armed conflict. The conflicts were collectively known as the Jinan incident of 1928, during which time the Japanese military killed several Chinese officials and fired artillery shells into Jinan. According to the investigation results of the Association of the Families of the Victims of the Jinan massacre, it showed that 6,123 Chinese civilians were killed and 1,701 injured.<ref>Zhen Jiali, ''Ji Nan Can An (Jinan Massacre)'' (China University of Political Science and Law Press, 1987), pp. 238.</ref> Relations between the Chinese Nationalist government and Japan severely worsened as a result of the Jinan incident.{{sfn|Taylor|page=79}}{{sfn|Taylor|page=82}}

===Reunification of China (1928)===
{{Main|Northeast Flag Replacement}}

As the National Revolutionary Army approached Beijing, Zhang Zuolin decided to retreat back to Manchuria, before he was [[Huanggutun Incident|assassinated]] by the Kwantung Army in 1928.<ref>Boorman, Biographical Dictionary, vol. 1, p. 121</ref> His son, [[Zhang Xueliang]], took over as the leader of the Fengtian clique in Manchuria. Later in the same year, Zhang declared his allegiance to the Nationalist government in Nanjing under [[Chiang Kai-shek]], and consequently, China was nominally reunified under one government.{{sfn|Taylor|page=83}}

===1929 Sino-Soviet war===
{{Main|Sino-Soviet conflict (1929)}}

The July–November 1929 conflict over the [[Chinese Eastern Railroad]] (CER) further increased the tensions in the Northeast that led to the [[Mukden Incident]] and eventually the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Soviet [[Red Army]] victory over Xueliang's forces not only reasserted Soviet control over the CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note.<ref>Michael M. Walker, ''The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017), p. 290.</ref>

The Soviet Red Army performance also stunned the Japanese. Manchuria was central to Japan's East Asia policy. Both the 1921 and 1927 Imperial Eastern Region Conferences reconfirmed Japan's commitment to be the dominant power in the Northeast. The 1929 Red Army victory shook that policy to the core and reopened the Manchurian problem. By 1930, the Kwantung Army realized they faced a Red Army that was only growing stronger. The time to act was drawing near and Japanese plans to conquer the Northeast were accelerated.<ref>Michael M. Walker, ''The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017), pp. 290–291.</ref>

===Chinese Communist Party===
In 1930, the [[Central Plains War]] broke out across China, involving regional commanders who had fought in alliance with the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition, and the Nanjing government under Chiang. The [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) previously fought openly against the Nanjing government after the [[Shanghai massacre of 1927]], and they continued to expand during this protracted civil war. The Kuomintang government in Nanjing decided to focus their efforts on suppressing the Chinese Communists through the [[Encirclement Campaigns]], following the policy of "first internal pacification, then external resistance" ({{lang-zh|c=攘外必先安內|links=no}}).

After the defeat of the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]] by the Nationalists, the Communists retreated on the [[Long March]] to [[Yan'an Soviet|Yan'an]].<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}} The Nationalist government ordered local warlords to continue the campaign against the Communists rather than focus on the Japanese threat.<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}} A December 1936 coup by two Nationalist Generals, the [[Xi'an Incident]], forced Chiang Kai-shek to accept a United Front with the Communists to oppose Japan.<ref name=":022" />{{Rp|page=34}}