This war is often overshadowed or even completely ignored in European and American schools, so not many people know of it’s importance. Thank you Eastory for showing this war in such detail.
I just learned the Battle of Britain, the evacuation of Dunkirk, pearl harbour Stalingrad and D day. Even the European theatre is neglected by schools but that might be different from country to country.
Not much better on our side. This portion of Chinese history is often taught in a very patriotic way which emphasize on the suffering of the people, the aggression of the Japanese and the struggle of the communist guerilla, but not so much about the Nationalist regulars. You see the CCP makes movies about the communist 8th Route Army, but rarely about the regulars.
@@Sahd079 My son went to school in America and they completely brushed over most of the war, like the eastern front and the Chinese front was almost completely ignored. They focused more on d-day and 1944-5 and very specific battles in the pacific, such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
@@yatsumleung8618 The Americans do more or less the same thing. Only the events in the entire war that could be used for propaganda are taught, such as d-day and the battle of Okinawa or midway. The eastern front is almost completely ignored and so too is the Second sino-Japanese war.
There is a strategic mistake in this video. Not all the best KMT military units were abroad, from the top 5 military units of the KMT (1st Army, 5th Army, 6th Army, 18th Army, 74th Army) the 18th Army and the 74th Army (the most decorated unit of the KMT) were never abroad.
It is also a very important event for decades to come as it still shapes politics in China. As we enter a new cold war it would be useful to learn about this event to understand future geopolitical dynamics.
Well done. Currently, the only video of the Sino-Japanese war that has been so precise and accurate shows the deployment of divisions. I hope you can make a video about the civil war and the Korean War in the future. Those two wars shape the geopolitics of East Asia until now.
Thank you for the kind words! Glad to be able to contribute. As for the upcoming videos, it took a lot of time to research the Second Sino-Japanese war, which hurt the upload schedule and I feel that I must do some less research intense content before we can visit East Asia again.
Well done Eastory for this well explained summary of the Chinese theatre of WWII. I had followed you for nearly 2 years now, but was still very excited when you started to make a series on this important war that shaped the history of modern China. You even touched on event that I wasn’t aware, like the nationalists’ planned offensive to re-take Guangzhou. Look forward to the next episode about the Chinese Civil War and your take on it.
@@CrasusC well the ruler still matters cos it is and likely will continue to be a major geopolitical issue for many decades Also the dude above is just copy pasting the same subcomment in every comment
@@CrasusC Good point. Ruling such a large and diverse country that has hundreds of million people would be very challenging. I don't think KMT would able to abandon authoritarian policy in 50 years. China tried democracy long before KMT's rise to power, but it was a huge failure that made China crumbled into many factions.
As always, best videos on war history I've ever seen on RUclips are on this channel. Clear story line, animation that goes perfectly in line with the story, no overcomplicated language. Thanks a lot and keep doing like that, dear Eastory!
Thank you, this was a great series and must have been hell to research. One of the most interesting and important fronts of the war, but nobody until now has mapped and summarized it this well.
Well thank you for teaching and uploading this video. I’m a Chinese-American and I also learned something new from this video. My teacher expects me to tell my whole class about my family’s experience in this war
Stirling effort mate, it does make sense to present the war from a Japanese strategic viewpoint rather than getting mired in the strategies of the Nationalists and the Communists.I also like how you grasp that the real target of Japans 1944 offensive in China was the railway transport system not just the capture of airfields alone, many historians fail to understand this. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression 1931-1945 is indeed a fascinating, misunderstood and often ignored (in the west) part of what would become WW2. Cheers
Appreciate you acknowledging these details. It's an honor to have an educated audience. I would have gone more into the strategies of the Chinese, but there was too much conflicting information and I felt that I did not understand the situation well enough to speak about it.
@@Eastory Conflicting,contradictory and confusing are all good words to use to understand the difficulty of comprehending the war from the Chinese viewpoint. Ive been exploring and studying Chinas war (as an armchair general and wargamer) for over a dozen years now. You might find my channel interesting although my production standards are nowhere near yours. Cheers
@@Eastory A good entry point is to understand Chiang's strategies and targets of the war, his pre-war preparation and diplomatic relation with Germany. Communists' strategies were not really against Japan, rather to survive behind enemy line and build up its own army.
Great work as always, also brillant commentary as usual. I have not been aware of this part of history, because focus always was on pacific war and the final nukes. Thanks for presenting this in the most entertaining way !
Thank you so much for this. As someone who is very familiar with the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1941, it’s great to see someone talk about the remaining 4 years as they were important in tying down the Japanese and hamstringing their manpower in the Pacific War. This definitely should be covered more and I love seeing your take on how it played out geographically.
I believe Eastory should take a well deserved break before moving on to other wars, personally I’d like to see the Napoleonic Wars done but I’m not to decide that, either way, whatever comes out I’m sure will be amazing!
You brought up some really good points that western literature has a tendency to overlook, including the fact the Chinese received a minuscule of Allied military aid, that much of that aid was used to reinforce American airfields and not the Chinese army, and that the best Chinese army were in Burma to open up a land route, instead of in China proper where they could've been used to fight the Japanese in 1944. Your video is so good. It is such a breath of fresh air from the usual "Chiang was hoarding supplies to fight the communists instead of the Japanese" from most other western literature. Well done sir.
He still kinda tried to deal with the communists, both sides knew they need to fight afterwards, biggest problem was jian jieshi accepting the use of Japanese officers into his army, this was not well received within his army and he lost popularity Contrary to popular belief jiang jieshi was stronger than the communists after the war but after the first year armies of the kmt started to defect in mass to the communists
Even in this video though, it's pretty clear that China's involvement in the "Sino"-Japanese war was surprisingly minor considering that it was right in the middle of it all.
Chiang was still hoarding supplies, hence why they didn't conduct large counter offensives against the Japanese, because the Americans will force them to surrender.
Well, they were recognized as one of the Big Five for three main reasons: 1. America said so. 2. The Allies needed a big friendly Asian power to replace defeated, unfriendly Japan and fill up the western Pacific shoreline with something other than chaos. 3. China IS huge and sooner or later its size and population would count. Still didn't work out the way the Allies hoped.
So all three reasons not include the war effort ? 🤔 But the whole video is about the their war so how can you missed that 😳 Edit, the UN is created to communicate between super powers to prevent future world wars. It's a direct result of WW2. It's not some community created in peacetime for chant or something...
Eastory, as always, brilliant job!!! Your maps are absolutely the best and they are still evolving! It is thanks to you, that I have managed to wrap my head around the eastern front of ww2. Every video is worth the wait. Keep' em coming
From all theatres in WW2 the Pacific is the one where I know the least about, in particular the 2nd-Sino-Japanese war. The only thing I knew was: Japan attacked China, China stronk, stalemate, Japan gets nuked, China wins. Now I know a lot more about why it was a stalemate, what the Japanese plans were, and why China wasn't crushed by the Japanese. Thank you Eastory, for educating me and many others about this forgotten, but interesting topic!
@user-pn3im5sm7k this kid is in every sino-Japanese video glorifying the horrendous actions done by IJA while being racists towards Chinese people. What a pitiful individual.
Finally, someone posted a documentary using animated maps and time combined to give me a better understanding of how these historical events occurred. Thank you!
Nice informative videos of the Sino-Japanese wars, surprising to know that even if late 1945 Japanese still hold many Chinese territories even as its front in Pacific were collapsing
@lati long As expected to be honest. In the end, the US is the one that lords over them while China and Russia completely blocked their future chance to rise to power militarily for the next century. That surely makes them pick the "right" target they want to bark against while waving tails to the master.
On September 2nd, 1945, at Tokyo Harbor, Japan, USS Missouri, General MacArthur gave a small speech, "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice." Godspeed to those who perished in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War Two.
This 11 minute 53 second video contains more detailed information than a history book . I can imagine the hardwork to collect all the troop movements on both sides , must be hell of a research.
France got in the SC because De Gaulle made a deal with Stalin (Dec 1944). France was supposed to act as a deterrent to US-UK in Europe, because De Gaulle had discrepancies with them. And anyway, there had to be a country in the SC representing continental Europe.
Why? France remains a great power despite their failure in world war 2, they still maintained their presence in Africa, they still have the largest army in Western Europe and they quickly became a nuclear power too.
The French were very important in the defeat of the Germans they fought in every front and by the end of the war had one of the largest armies in the world
Anyone notice that Thailand is the only country not conquer by Japan? Because of their hospitality to Japan and open door to Japan, Japan was able to go into Malaysia from Thailand.
It’s interesting to see how Japan, as a maritime power, adopted a strategy a typical land power would use to try to secure resources due to its defeat on the sea and America’s unrestricted submarine warfare. Back in 1942, the proposed Operation Number 5 which aimed more at making the ROC capitulate was the priority on the continent.
Your videos are a lifesaver. I have to write a paper on this war. You made it entertaining and easily laid out for me to understand. You're going to the top of my references, lol. It's crazy to think how dominant Japan was in this war and it quickly went south for them.
I'm Chinese American, and despite the fact my family was bouncing around different parts of China during the war, this is the first time I've ever seen the map for this theater illustrated so clearly. If more Chinese folks in China proper understood what the situation was in 1944, they might have a very different perception of how important American intervention was in preventing China from being completely conquered in the 1940s.
Don't let Chinese propaganda misguided you my man. A lot of Chinese I know, including myself and my family still thinks it is the US prevented China from failing. Indeed, a lot Chinese took it as a matter of national pride and insisted that China could fought alone. I personally dobt think so, and dont think it is a problem to rely on a foreign ally in a time such as this.
@@caseblue2232 Chinese people may have a different opinion on the matter than the Chinese government, but it's the governments view that gets promoted on the international stage. Right now China is seen by the world as hostile to the outside world and certainly towards USA and to a some degree to Europe as well. It's good to know there are Chinese that value Allied help during the war. However, until Chinese people are able to freely voice their mind I doubt China as a country will be perceived favorably on the world's stage. It's a shame because China seems like a great country of mostly wise people.
I am sure they knew that before the cultural revolution. Let's not forget that the China that fought so valiantly against the Japanese empire only exists now as a vestigial state in an island.
Be careful making those assumptions because China got caught in a civil war where a significant portion did not fight. The Communists had the Japanese sieged in towns and cities and controlled the countryside (majority of China).
The following Chinese civil war is full of unexpected turns and surprises, where Americans helped the communist not suffering a total defeat. Can’t wait to see the video about that one. As always, you did an outstanding job! Thank you!
This will be new teaching of history for sure. Who knows that US would dump China through Yalta treaty, left China in communism dire disaster, and rushed in Korean War and Vietnam war itself.
Thank you for this wonderful illustrated timeline of the war. My grandfather fought for the ROC and my other grandparents fled to HK so it’s a very personal history.
As a Chinese, thank you for making this video. I haven't seen a high quality and highly detailed video about our war of resistance on RUclips for a long time. Thanks again!
Imagine invading a country that is actively fighting itself, faces missive corruption, and are behind in technology for at least two decades and still loses.
War is expensive and Japan didn't have the money for a protracted war. The experiance of getting the Russians to give up in the Russo-Japanese War seems to have poisoned the Japanese military with wishful thinking of always being able to repeat that result.
They lost due to the Americans obliterating their fleet, encroaching on their home territory, throwing atom bombs on 2 of their cities and the soviets invading Manchuria with a massive army. China would never have been able to kick out the invaders themselves.
Thank you Eastory for another well-made video on China's role in WW2! I suppose the main reason for the historical neglect in this area is the Communist victory in China in 1949 and America needing a new cold war ally in Japan. The latter also successfully rebranded itself as a pacifist nation after the war.
I had no idea that Japan was still doing so well in China until so late in the war. And I had NO idea that they had established a land corridor through China. Fascinating. Thank you for this. ☮
Because the Northeast Army and the Central Army never dared to engage the Kwantung Army, Japan's self-confidence swelled! The result of entering Hunan and Hubei is different! The kwantung army in Wuhan, Xianning, Changsha, Changde and Yichang suffered more than 500,000 casualties, and most of them were expelled from Hubei province within two months ~
The Japanese army is not strong, but the Central Army and the Northeast Army are weak and cowardly.If the Hunan-Hubei army engaged in the war with Japan in the northeast at first, there would be no follow-up Japanese invasion! In history, the killing of Mongo Khan by Hubei army led to the split of Mongolian empire, and then it continued to defeat the Mongolian army for 50 years! Until Kublai Khan converted to Han culture and United the Northern Han Federation to establish the Yuan Empire! It is a pity that the Manchu army was defeated by the Han army every time. The Han army breached Xiangyang in the Yuan Dynasty and Xinyang in the Eight Banners of the Han nationality in the Qing Dynasty. Due to the rise of modern nationalism, the Japanese army could not recruit the Han army who had surrendered, and it was defeated by Hunan and Hubei.
I am Chinese American, my father served in the U.S. Army, Signal Corp. Based in Kunming, China 🇨🇳. So I heard some stories from my father of what he did in China 🇨🇳 during WWII. The video you did is great because now I get to see what really happened in China 🇨🇳 during WWII.🇺🇲🇨🇳🇯🇵👍
Yea becase before japan invaded china in 1937 there were two factions in japan they were debating what to do in the future. Prepare for war with the soviet union or go to war with china
Amazing to think Japan thought they could pull that off. Still, given what their 1944 offensive achieved in the southeast, if they had also managed their hoped for Sichuan offensive, that would have pretty much reduced Chinese forces to underpopulated, remote albeit vastly large backwaters like Tibet and Xinjiang, or some holdouts in Yunnan mountains. In that sense, Japan was tantalizing closer to their goal than Germany would ever be in Russia.
You have to think about the terrain. The Sichuan Basin in China is one of the most important bastions of fertile land with 60 to 70 million people, and the basin is surrounded by extremely steep mountains. What the Japanese could achieve in central China could not be replicated in Sichuan.
I don’t understand why the imperial Japan didn’t try to produce oil in Manchuria. AFAIK, Manchuria produces oil, coal, and iron ore. Then, they didn’t have to invade South Asian European colonies, which led to the empire’s downfall.
@@deadby15 The oil fields in northeast China were unexploitable in the 1940s because of a lack of technology. It took China 20 years to successfully mine it with Soviet technology.
@@deadby15 In fact, the Japanese were so backward in their oil industry that even if they conquered Indonesia, they would not be able to take advantage of the oil fields.
It’s a shame China is often a side note when studying wwII, I had no idea that the Chinese mobilised forces for the 1941 Burma invasion! It paints a more complete picture on just how important the Burma road was and the cooperation between Chinese and allied forces that I previously thought only went as far as American air volunteers
China played very minor role in defeating Japan. 99% of POWs in China was captured by Soviets. Soviet destroyed more Japanese army in two weeks than Chinese did in 8 years. KMT had reached tacit truce with Japanese after the start of WWII, Chinese Communist were secretly collaborating with Japanese. V-J Day was never big in China for a very good reason.
@@XuguangLeng That is true to a degree, but not 99%. China was unable to do jack shit for 8 years because their industry was captured, it was only after the allies started sending large amounts of supplies did China get the heavy equipments to beat Japan. It was literally said in the video, I am not sure about you but I'm pretty sure V-J day is also very big in China, although since China at the time was controlled by the KMT, CCP wouldn't allow such things That truce was probably because the Chinese couldn't attack nor does the Japanese, if Japan attacked they'd be over extended, the Chinese couldn't attack It wasn't the Communists who were working with Japan it was Wang Jingwei
@@artanisplays3982 Roosevelt and Churchill are decent men, they gave Soviet a lot of materials, and showed a lot of respect for Stalin. Because Russian fought bravely. On the other hand, they excluded China and unilaterally decided at Yalta to restore Russia’s privileges and interests in Manchuria, including lease of Port Arthur and railway, in exchange for Russia joining the war against Japan, then forced down Chiang Kaishek’s throat. Why? Because they were disgusted by the performance of both KMT and CCP.
Good to hear about Burma. My greatgranda was a draftsman under the British and had a house in Myitkyina, Burma. When Japan invaded him and his family had to abandon their lives and scurry back home to India through jungles, burning currency for lighting cooking fires to make tea for warmth in events of rain. His son, my grandpa, enlisted in RIAF in WW2, followed by USAAF and then RIAF again as an aircraft mechanic, transferring to IAF after Indian Independence in 1947, fighting for India in '48, '62 and '65 wars before retiring as a Warrant Officer from IAF.
I really appreciate when people have personal stories to share. I have usually gotten to know the context and it is always interesting to read personal perspectives of the events described in the video.
TYSM. In India servicemen who served under the British in WW2 are rarely ever mentioned with respect, as they are potrayed being stooges for a colonial power fighting against Indian interests as opposed to Bose's INA , the fact that the former later formed the core of Indian military in the post WW2 wars notwithstanding. I hope in future people are able to view history with a more informed opinion.
10:33 the 4 nation to be given permanent seats in the UNSC is actually USA, UK, USSR and China, not France, because France lost the war and surrendered. The four mentioned nation are called 4 police men, you can look it up. France was only added because UK feared europeans would have too little power in the new world order.
Originally it was supposed to be Brazil not France. But the soviets thought France would be more of an ally to them while Brazil was too aligned with the US.
Just because they lost the initial fight and surrendered shouldn’t bar France from being a power on the world stage. That’s like saying Russia should’ve been considered not a major power in its defeat after WW1, also that France should’ve never been risen again to power status after Napoleon’s defeat, or that Britain’s power status should’ve left after the American Revolution. France after the war quickly bounced back to being a strong European power.
As always a 10/10. Some folks love to leave the Red Army out of the equations of why japan surrendered. The US probably wouldn't commit a full scale invasion due to the expected high mortality, but the Japanese new better about the Russians. Not one reason to surrender, just a compounding factor among many.
when Japan realized that theres nothing waiting for them but utter defeat, they choose to accept US surrender terms rather than wait for more nukes and consequently the brunt of Russia. no one knows what will happen if Russia is the one made them surrender, there will probably no monarchy in Japan today. US probably offered a better candy to the Japan monarch
America was well and truly prepared to launch a naval invasion of Japan of over five million men plus another 1 million mean of Britain under the name of operation Downfall. It would’ve started in November of 1945 for the invasion of Kyushu and in early 1946 for Tokyo itself. Purple Hearts for wounded were being mass produced at the time, which is why the hearts given to this day are all from 1945. They expected many casualties from both sides. Thankfully this option didn’t happen, and the war ended sooner.
Operation Ichi-Go is an operation conducted by the Japanese Army on the Chinese mainland from April 17th to December 10th, 1944 during the Sino-Japanese War. It was the last major offensive of the Japanese Army, which caused the National Revolutionary Army to be hit hard and affected during the Chinese Civil War. However, on the other hand, the United States is also mediating the conclusion of the Double Tenth Agreement with Chiang Kai-shek in order to avoid a civil war. According to a study by Barbara W. Tuchman, the results of this operation had a more significant impact on the subsequent war situation than the Japanese had imagined, and had a decisive impact on Japan's fate. According to it, Franklin Roosevelt has consistently strongly trusted and supported Chiang Kai-shek since the beginning of the war, and encouraged him in the war against Japan so that he would not drop out of the Allies in a single peace with Japan during the Cairo Conference. However, he said that he changed his mind because the front of Chiang Kai-shek collapsed due to this operation. In fact, Chiang Kai-shek has not been invited to important Allied conferences ("Yalta Conference" and "Potsdam Conference") since then. According to the Stilwell document, Roosevelt said, "Can China win?" Stilwell said, "There is no choice but to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek." During the 1944 Hengyang battle, he could not sleep at night and twice. He says he thought about suicide. The American side also planned to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, and three methods of "poisoning", "aircraft incident", and "pretending to be suicide" were considered, but it was canceled in 1944 due to changes in the international situation such as Burma. The successor that the United States envisioned is Sun Fountain. As Roosevelt's Chief of Staff George Marshall and General Joseph Stilwell have long insisted, Chiang Kai-shek's army is actually a demoralized and corrupt organization that does not form an army. It became clear that he had no desire or ability to fight with the United States and other Allied forces. As a result, President Roosevelt changed the scenario of the operation against Japan from the conventional bombing of Japan and other countries from the air bases of mainland China to the one that MacArthur and others claimed to occupy the islands of the Pacific Ocean one after another. China was dismissed at the Yalta Conference, and the Allied nation's footsteps were disturbed, with angry Chiang Kai-shek presenting a peace plan to Japan against the will of the United States. The Japanese Operation Ichi-Go attack left the National Revolutionary Army with 750,000 casualties. This caused the Kuomintang to lose to the Communist Party in the civil war. China would not have been dominated by the dictatorship Communist Party if it had made peace with Japan and cooperated in protecting it from communism.
Very detailed and well-made video on this topic, really appreciate it especially since this is an area that's neglected in Western media but hugely important in shaping the modern world. I hope you make more on Asia in the last century. There are a couple of details that aren't quite accurate, however (I'm an American who's read a fair bit on this topic). 1. The Atomic bombings were not done in preparation for Operation Downfall (the planned invasion of the home islands), but rather were an attempt to avoid it. President Truman in particular very much wanted to avoid the bloodshed and destruction that would result from invading Japan and hoped the bombings would be enough to "shock and awe" Japan into surrendering. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because they had some strategic value but weren't the most populous or important cities that Japan had. The bombings were about sending a message rather than inflicting damage. 2. The Japanese attack on Midway was not in response to the Doolittle Raid but rather had been planned since Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor did not go nearly as well as Japan hoped, since its main objective was to destroy or cripple American carriers, which, as it happened, weren't there at the time. So Japan sent its main fleet to Midway in the hope of hunting down and destroying them as well as taking over the air base on Midway island itself, which was quite important and would allow them to attack American targets more directly, especially Hawaii.
Man actually visualizing how large the conquered territories were it’s no wonder Japan got stuck in China. Even if they got the natural resources they needed would they have been able to hold on long term?
This war is often overshadowed or even completely ignored in European and American schools, so not many people know of it’s importance. Thank you Eastory for showing this war in such detail.
I just learned the Battle of Britain, the evacuation of Dunkirk, pearl harbour Stalingrad and D day. Even the European theatre is neglected by schools but that might be different from country to country.
Not much better on our side. This portion of Chinese history is often taught in a very patriotic way which emphasize on the suffering of the people, the aggression of the Japanese and the struggle of the communist guerilla, but not so much about the Nationalist regulars. You see the CCP makes movies about the communist 8th Route Army, but rarely about the regulars.
@@yatsumleung8618 以前的教材是那样的，但现在正面抗战和敌后抗战篇幅一样多了
@@Sahd079 My son went to school in America and they completely brushed over most of the war, like the eastern front and the Chinese front was almost completely ignored. They focused more on d-day and 1944-5 and very specific battles in the pacific, such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
@@yatsumleung8618 The Americans do more or less the same thing. Only the events in the entire war that could be used for propaganda are taught, such as d-day and the battle of Okinawa or midway. The eastern front is almost completely ignored and so too is the Second sino-Japanese war.
I’m so glad you covered the 2nd sino japanese war because it meant a lot to my people and not many RUclipsrs talk about this war
Glad to learn about it !
Bing chillin 👍
There is a strategic mistake in this video.
Not all the best KMT military units were abroad, from the top 5 military units of the KMT (1st Army, 5th Army, 6th Army, 18th Army, 74th Army) the 18th Army and the 74th Army (the most decorated unit of the KMT) were never abroad.
It is also a very important event for decades to come as it still shapes politics in China. As we enter a new cold war it would be useful to learn about this event to understand future geopolitical dynamics.
@@GEO_ANIMATOR i know about the meme but, this is inapprioate since its one of the China dark history and this is taIKins about both roc and prc
Thank you for showing such detailed information on the history that is often overlooked.
Well done. Currently, the only video of the Sino-Japanese war that has been so precise and accurate shows the deployment of divisions.
I hope you can make a video about the civil war and the Korean War in the future. Those two wars shape the geopolitics of East Asia until now.
Thank you for the kind words! Glad to be able to contribute. As for the upcoming videos, it took a lot of time to research the Second Sino-Japanese war, which hurt the upload schedule and I feel that I must do some less research intense content before we can visit East Asia again.
Though it should be noted that Japanese divisions are 5-8 times larger than Chinese ones.
You are my favourite when it comes to large operations
times changes.
Well done Eastory for this well explained summary of the Chinese theatre of WWII.
I had followed you for nearly 2 years now, but was still very excited when you started to make a series on this important war that shaped the history of modern China. You even touched on event that I wasn’t aware, like the nationalists’ planned offensive to re-take Guangzhou.
Look forward to the next episode about the Chinese Civil War and your take on it.
Imagjne if CHINA wouldn't become a COMMUNIST
.
Well just IMAGINE
@@CrasusC well the ruler still matters cos it is and likely will continue to be a major geopolitical issue for many decades
Also the dude above is just copy pasting the same subcomment in every comment
@@CrasusC Good point. Ruling such a large and diverse country that has hundreds of million people would be very challenging. I don't think KMT would able to abandon authoritarian policy in 50 years. China tried democracy long before KMT's rise to power, but it was a huge failure that made China crumbled into many factions.
@@XhuwagKangEpal Chiang Kai shek in Taiwan was also a dictator regardless
@@CrasusC Who knows if the warlords/factions would rise up against Chiang again after he united the mainland...
Wau, really great. This was really blank spot of history for me.
Glad to hear that these little videos can actually educate 🙂
@@Eastory You made the video after 3 months, congratulations from Spain
@@Eastory what do you use to draw?
Yes! As others have said, this topic is not nearly discussed with the importance it had during the war.
Thanks for the vid Eastory!
As always, best videos on war history I've ever seen on RUclips are on this channel. Clear story line, animation that goes perfectly in line with the story, no overcomplicated language. Thanks a lot and keep doing like that, dear Eastory!
You are too kind :) Thank you! Happy to keep doing it.
nice
Thank you so much for covering this theater of the war. I'm now really looking forward to the Civil War part.
同胞耶，我觉得up可以了解一下敌后战场
Excellent as always - concise, well presented, beautifully animated, highly educational.
Just like your comment :)
Thank you, this was a great series and must have been hell to research. One of the most interesting and important fronts of the war, but nobody until now has mapped and summarized it this well.
Wow, your recent videos is much more elaborate and aesthetically attractive. It's always great to see the quality rising with each release
I completely overhauled, how the map overlays work for this one. I am happy that it worked out well!
Well thank you for teaching and uploading this video. I’m a Chinese-American and I also learned something new from this video. My teacher expects me to tell my whole class about my family’s experience in this war
This is by far the best video covering the Second Sino-Japanese war
Stirling effort mate, it does make sense to present the war from a Japanese strategic viewpoint rather than getting mired in the strategies of the Nationalists and the Communists.I also like how you grasp that the real target of Japans 1944 offensive in China was the railway transport system not just the capture of airfields alone, many historians fail to understand this. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression 1931-1945 is indeed a fascinating, misunderstood and often ignored (in the west) part of what would become WW2. Cheers
Appreciate you acknowledging these details. It's an honor to have an educated audience. I would have gone more into the strategies of the Chinese, but there was too much conflicting information and I felt that I did not understand the situation well enough to speak about it.
@@Eastory Conflicting,contradictory and confusing are all good words to use to understand the difficulty of comprehending the war from the Chinese viewpoint. Ive been exploring and studying Chinas war (as an armchair general and wargamer) for over a dozen years now. You might find my channel interesting although my production standards are nowhere near yours. Cheers
@@Eastory A good entry point is to understand Chiang's strategies and targets of the war, his pre-war preparation and diplomatic relation with Germany.
Communists' strategies were not really against Japan, rather to survive behind enemy line and build up its own army.
Great work as always, also brillant commentary as usual.
I have not been aware of this part of history, because focus always was on pacific war and the final nukes.
Thanks for presenting this in the most entertaining way !
Wow, this is really so good and insightful! Thank you!
This is the best history channel I've ever seen, explained every detail, keep the good work
Thank you for uploading this video. This part of ww2 is often overlooked by many, but you managed to make it interesting and understandable.
Thank you so much for this. As someone who is very familiar with the Second Sino-Japanese War between 1937 and 1941, it’s great to see someone talk about the remaining 4 years as they were important in tying down the Japanese and hamstringing their manpower in the Pacific War. This definitely should be covered more and I love seeing your take on how it played out geographically.
Love to see how this channel has evolved over the last couple of years. Awesome!
I believe Eastory should take a well deserved break before moving on to other wars, personally I’d like to see the Napoleonic Wars done but I’m not to decide that, either way, whatever comes out I’m sure will be amazing!
Your faith is encouraging. But a break?! That is unheard of in the land of RUclips! The show must and will go on!
@@Eastory thats sad
Love it, especially the details in your maps
Actually is not that detailed, just in the nutshell, but I still got the idea
You brought up some really good points that western literature has a tendency to overlook, including the fact the Chinese received a minuscule of Allied military aid, that much of that aid was used to reinforce American airfields and not the Chinese army, and that the best Chinese army were in Burma to open up a land route, instead of in China proper where they could've been used to fight the Japanese in 1944. Your video is so good. It is such a breath of fresh air from the usual "Chiang was hoarding supplies to fight the communists instead of the Japanese" from most other western literature. Well done sir.
He still kinda tried to deal with the communists, both sides knew they need to fight afterwards, biggest problem was jian jieshi accepting the use of Japanese officers into his army, this was not well received within his army and he lost popularity
Contrary to popular belief jiang jieshi was stronger than the communists after the war but after the first year armies of the kmt started to defect in mass to the communists
Even in this video though, it's pretty clear that China's involvement in the "Sino"-Japanese war was surprisingly minor considering that it was right in the middle of it all.
@@BachelorChowFlavour Yep. The Chinese didn't do much. The 2.5 million casualties taken by Japan were all own goals.
@@SaintlyAussie I think more Chinese people were massacred by the Japanese than that. I am referring only to military importance.
Chiang was still hoarding supplies, hence why they didn't conduct large counter offensives against the Japanese, because the Americans will force them to surrender.
it's an automatic like when a new video is out. Cheers from Italy!
Thank you for the vote of confidence! Cheers from Eastonia!
I was blown away by how much you've improve keep it up bro.
Will do! Thank you for the acknowledgement!
Well, they were recognized as one of the Big Five for three main reasons:
1. America said so.
2. The Allies needed a big friendly Asian power to replace defeated, unfriendly Japan and fill up the western Pacific shoreline with something other than chaos.
3. China IS huge and sooner or later its size and population would count.
Still didn't work out the way the Allies hoped.
That is a pretty good summary.
Check Yalta treaty.
But after china was overrun by communist, there was talk of offering the seat to india but india thought that was being unfair to china so rejected it
@@LinuxLuddite 印度付出了什么？印度甚至都不是靠自己的力量独立的。。。
So all three reasons not include the war effort ? 🤔
But the whole video is about the their war so how can you missed that 😳
Edit, the UN is created to communicate between super powers to prevent future world wars. It's a direct result of WW2. It's not some community created in peacetime for chant or something...
Damn. This is fantastic content. You do a very good job at writing and presenting these events. To you and anyone that helps you, I say 'Bravo"
This comment makes me feel warm :)
Eastory, as always, brilliant job!!! Your maps are absolutely the best and they are still evolving! It is thanks to you, that I have managed to wrap my head around the eastern front of ww2. Every video is worth the wait. Keep' em coming
Excellent work with the animation and detailed narrating.
Covered the whole topic in 12 minutes with great maps! Amazing job!
What a wonderful video - you cut through the chafe and focused on the strategy. Everything makes sense. Very well done.
From all theatres in WW2 the Pacific is the one where I know the least about, in particular the 2nd-Sino-Japanese war. The only thing I knew was: Japan attacked China, China stronk, stalemate, Japan gets nuked, China wins. Now I know a lot more about why it was a stalemate, what the Japanese plans were, and why China wasn't crushed by the Japanese. Thank you Eastory, for educating me and many others about this forgotten, but interesting topic!
中国之所以没有被击垮 我个人觉得有三点 第一中国士兵的英勇抵抗 不怕牺牲
第二中国的国土辽阔争取了很多时间
第三 战争中后期的国际援助 当时盟军意识到中国战区的重要性 如果中国垮了 日本将有更多的军力投送到其他战场 当然不管援助的出发点是什么 都是好的极大的帮助中国抗战 只不过我们需要讲出客观事实
@@user-pn3im5sm7k You just re-defined the word "Near Dies" it is in Danger, but not dear to die.
@@user-pn3im5sm7kthis kid goes to every sino-Japanese war video to glorify japan and spread hatred to China. Classic sinophobia
@user-pn3im5sm7k this kid is in every sino-Japanese video glorifying the horrendous actions done by IJA while being racists towards Chinese people. What a pitiful individual.
Can’t express how happy I am to see you upload
Truly good work Eastory. I always await your videos eagerly.
Finally, someone posted a documentary using animated maps and time combined to give me a better understanding of how these historical events occurred. Thank you!
I love these short stories with so much vital information
Thank you for sharing this to let more people know about this history. We have to learn something from history, that’s very important
Beautifully done, thank you!
Thank you for making this, look forward to seeing your videos always!
Excellent video. Every time I've studied the pacific theatre of WW2, nothing was ever mentioned about China's role.
One of the channels where the wait is well worth my while
Nice informative videos of the Sino-Japanese wars, surprising to know that even if late 1945 Japanese still hold many Chinese territories even as its front in Pacific were collapsing
@lati long As expected to be honest. In the end, the US is the one that lords over them while China and Russia completely blocked their future chance to rise to power militarily for the next century. That surely makes them pick the "right" target they want to bark against while waving tails to the master.
@lati long That's like saying Germany lost to USSR and not USA/UK lol...😆
He made a video on 1895?
Germany lost WWI despite not being occupied itself and still occupying French soil
因为我们没有能力做到反攻日本😅我们的装备武器太落后了，不是我们不想打，20多万日本人进攻70万中国人，请注意，是20多万日本人进攻，是进攻，进攻70万的中国人，用1到2个月的时间，轻松击败中国军队😅
Man, your videos are next level. Never stop
On September 2nd, 1945, at Tokyo Harbor, Japan, USS Missouri, General MacArthur gave a small speech, "It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past - a world founded upon faith and understanding - a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish - for freedom, tolerance and justice." Godspeed to those who perished in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of World War Two.
Eastory returns!! Beautiful animations as usual! Keep up the AMAZING work!!
Thank you for a great video! I learned alot of new things especially how undersupplied the Chinese forces were.
When we needed you most, Eastory came back!
I’m a simple man. I see an Eastory video, I stop paying attention to the road and watch immediately.
I’m a simple man. I see a David Clark comment and I thank him for it.
Keep up with the videos!! You literally the best mapper there is
This 11 minute 53 second video contains more detailed information than a history book . I can imagine the hardwork to collect all the troop movements on both sides , must be hell of a research.
Eastory no doubt one of the best war documentary YT channels ♥️🔥
now i finally understand the chinese front! it's amazing how little people talk about such a front of epic scale
Loved your explanation....subscribed! This Channel will be huge.
10:28 France having a place in the UN security council was just an insult to other Allied nations.
France got in the SC because De Gaulle made a deal with Stalin (Dec 1944). France was supposed to act as a deterrent to US-UK in Europe, because De Gaulle had discrepancies with them. And anyway, there had to be a country in the SC representing continental Europe.
Why? France remains a great power despite their failure in world war 2, they still maintained their presence in Africa, they still have the largest army in Western Europe and they quickly became a nuclear power too.
@@hikkivillain6009 France got in the SC because Britain wanted a fellow colonial power with them. They didn't want to be left alone.
The French were very important in the defeat of the Germans they fought in every front and by the end of the war had one of the largest armies in the world
What were they going to do instead, give it to one of the Germany’s or somewhere else like Brazil?
Finally you upload the part 2🔥🔥
Awesome, keep up the good work!
Great video as always, cant wait for the next one
Anyone notice that Thailand is the only country not conquer by Japan?
Because of their hospitality to Japan and open door to Japan, Japan was able to go into Malaysia from Thailand.
it was called Malaya during those times not Malaysia yet
@@basedneutral1173 you r right !
They picked the wrong team and have to give up land at the end.
Didn't Japan invade Thailand and forced it into joining its side?
Favorite history RUclipsr by far
It’s interesting to see how Japan, as a maritime power, adopted a strategy a typical land power would use to try to secure resources due to its defeat on the sea and America’s unrestricted submarine warfare. Back in 1942, the proposed Operation Number 5 which aimed more at making the ROC capitulate was the priority on the continent.
japan will be bigger soon.
@@alexalex-om9ic in your imperialist dream. China has nukes now.
@@alexalex-om9ic Keep dreaming
If only they didn't sent their whole aviation to Midway
The commonwealth, Dutch and others played a part in the submarine war as well.
Your videos are a lifesaver. I have to write a paper on this war. You made it entertaining and easily laid out for me to understand. You're going to the top of my references, lol.
It's crazy to think how dominant Japan was in this war and it quickly went south for them.
I'm Chinese American, and despite the fact my family was bouncing around different parts of China during the war, this is the first time I've ever seen the map for this theater illustrated so clearly. If more Chinese folks in China proper understood what the situation was in 1944, they might have a very different perception of how important American intervention was in preventing China from being completely conquered in the 1940s.
Don't let Chinese propaganda misguided you my man. A lot of Chinese I know, including myself and my family still thinks it is the US prevented China from failing. Indeed, a lot Chinese took it as a matter of national pride and insisted that China could fought alone. I personally dobt think so, and dont think it is a problem to rely on a foreign ally in a time such as this.
@@caseblue2232 Chinese people may have a different opinion on the matter than the Chinese government, but it's the governments view that gets promoted on the international stage. Right now China is seen by the world as hostile to the outside world and certainly towards USA and to a some degree to Europe as well.
It's good to know there are Chinese that value Allied help during the war. However, until Chinese people are able to freely voice their mind I doubt China as a country will be perceived favorably on the world's stage. It's a shame because China seems like a great country of mostly wise people.
I am sure they knew that before the cultural revolution. Let's not forget that the China that fought so valiantly against the Japanese empire only exists now as a vestigial state in an island.
Be careful making those assumptions because China got caught in a civil war where a significant portion did not fight. The Communists had the Japanese sieged in towns and cities and controlled the countryside (majority of China).
China is a member of Allied, who contained majority of Japanese land force. You could also say without US, GB and France would be destroied by German.
Thanks for highlighting the campaigns in the Pacific Theater. Keep up the great efforts.
The following Chinese civil war is full of unexpected turns and surprises, where Americans helped the communist not suffering a total defeat. Can’t wait to see the video about that one. As always, you did an outstanding job! Thank you!
It's great to see the excitement over this topic. We'll do our best to give it justice. And your kind words are always appreciated :) Cheers!
日本人としてもこの戦争を取り上げて貰えた事は非常に教育的だと思います。I think it is very educational for Japanese people to take up this war.
This will be new teaching of history for sure. Who knows that US would dump China through Yalta treaty, left China in communism dire disaster, and rushed in Korean War and Vietnam war itself.
@@焼肉師匠-m3u Don't they learn it at school?
@@death5913 Of course I will learn
Thank you for this wonderful illustrated timeline of the war. My grandfather fought for the ROC and my other grandparents fled to HK so it’s a very personal history.
Passionating summary! And it even had the Doom guy in it haha
Aitäh!
Yeah, we try to keep things lighthearted while talking about the bloodiest global conflict in history :) . But really, thank you!
Been waiting for this. Nicely done!
I hope that in a year you'll do detailed video about current events, army movements and strategies, and hopefully it won't be very long
I was thinking the same, but the events must settle somewhat before there is any hope to do it.
Love the visual. Enjoy the pertinent content. Solid timing. Thanks a ton. Just found you.
As a Chinese, thank you for making this video. I haven't seen a high quality and highly detailed video about our war of resistance on RUclips for a long time. Thanks again!
How do you have youtube?
@@dominx1741 I live in Hong Kong. And I value myself as a Chinese.
@@caseblue2232 Do you support your current government?
@@pepehimovic3135 as a Chinese, support the government with suspect, as they are not communism enough
Man, I just love this channel so God damn much!!
Imagine invading a country that is actively fighting itself, faces missive corruption, and are behind in technology for at least two decades and still loses.
War is expensive and Japan didn't have the money for a protracted war. The experiance of getting the Russians to give up in the Russo-Japanese War seems to have poisoned the Japanese military with wishful thinking of always being able to repeat that result.
the allies did all the heavy lifting lmao. China was dogshit
They lost due to the Americans obliterating their fleet, encroaching on their home territory, throwing atom bombs on 2 of their cities and the soviets invading Manchuria with a massive army. China would never have been able to kick out the invaders themselves.
@@Fronzel41 It was mostly a matter of manpower for the Japanese, they don't have enough to occupy China even if they can win the battles.
@@hazzmati That wasn't the point, the Japanese would struggle to occupy China even had they won.
Great video from Japan!
I think this video is one of the most detailed and easy to understand!
Thank you Eastory for another well-made video on China's role in WW2! I suppose the main reason for the historical neglect in this area is the Communist victory in China in 1949 and America needing a new cold war ally in Japan. The latter also successfully rebranded itself as a pacifist nation after the war.
True. Japan loves to potray itself somehow to be the victim. Quite sick.
Yeah it's either not remembered or remembered as being victims.
@@stoneruler And that's why East Asia will never forgive Japan
What, Japan is a "model of pacifism"? Do you mean that the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan is still dedicated to war criminals from World War II?
@@hexingcan I am Taiwanese and I hate Communist China more than Imperial Japan.
You are the best RUclipsr ! That’s exactly what i wanted to see!! Add some fotos and videos and it’s perfect !
I had no idea that Japan was still doing so well in China until so late in the war.
And I had NO idea that they had established a land corridor through China.
Fascinating.
Thank you for this.
☮
Because the Northeast Army and the Central Army never dared to engage the Kwantung Army, Japan's self-confidence swelled! The result of entering Hunan and Hubei is different! The kwantung army in Wuhan, Xianning, Changsha, Changde and Yichang suffered more than 500,000 casualties, and most of them were expelled from Hubei province within two months ~
The Japanese army is not strong, but the Central Army and the Northeast Army are weak and cowardly.If the Hunan-Hubei army engaged in the war with Japan in the northeast at first, there would be no follow-up Japanese invasion! In history, the killing of Mongo Khan by Hubei army led to the split of Mongolian empire, and then it continued to defeat the Mongolian army for 50 years! Until Kublai Khan converted to Han culture and United the Northern Han Federation to establish the Yuan Empire! It is a pity that the Manchu army was defeated by the Han army every time. The Han army breached Xiangyang in the Yuan Dynasty and Xinyang in the Eight Banners of the Han nationality in the Qing Dynasty. Due to the rise of modern nationalism, the Japanese army could not recruit the Han army who had surrendered, and it was defeated by Hunan and Hubei.
Great job, very well explained. Thank you!
The neutrality in Eastory’s videos is so good
I am Chinese American, my father served in the U.S. Army, Signal Corp. Based in Kunming, China 🇨🇳. So I heard some stories from my father of what he did in China 🇨🇳 during WWII. The video you did is great because now I get to see what really happened in China 🇨🇳 during WWII.🇺🇲🇨🇳🇯🇵👍
WWII can’t be fully understood without proper understanding Russia/Soviet’s role. I have a lot respect for Eastory being Russia neutral.
Yea becase before japan invaded china in 1937 there were two factions in japan they were debating what to do in the future. Prepare for war with the soviet union or go to war with china
I am allways blown away by how much i love your vids
Amazing to think Japan thought they could pull that off. Still, given what their 1944 offensive achieved in the southeast, if they had also managed their hoped for Sichuan offensive, that would have pretty much reduced Chinese forces to underpopulated, remote albeit vastly large backwaters like Tibet and Xinjiang, or some holdouts in Yunnan mountains. In that sense, Japan was tantalizing closer to their goal than Germany would ever be in Russia.
You have to think about the terrain. The Sichuan Basin in China is one of the most important bastions of fertile land with 60 to 70 million people, and the basin is surrounded by extremely steep mountains. What the Japanese could achieve in central China could not be replicated in Sichuan.
I don’t understand why the imperial Japan didn’t try to produce oil in Manchuria. AFAIK, Manchuria produces oil, coal, and iron ore. Then, they didn’t have to invade South Asian European colonies, which led to the empire’s downfall.
@@deadby15 The oil fields in northeast China were unexploitable in the 1940s because of a lack of technology. It took China 20 years to successfully mine it with Soviet technology.
@@胡育昆 thx! I didn’t know that…
@@deadby15 In fact, the Japanese were so backward in their oil industry that even if they conquered Indonesia, they would not be able to take advantage of the oil fields.
Brilliant video, Eastory. Thanks.
Fantastic as always. I only wish you would produce more content :)
Well done! Could you do an episode of Chinese civil war which happened 2 years later?
Many thanks for you to cover that part.
It’s a shame China is often a side note when studying wwII, I had no idea that the Chinese mobilised forces for the 1941 Burma invasion! It paints a more complete picture on just how important the Burma road was and the cooperation between Chinese and allied forces that I previously thought only went as far as American air volunteers
China played very minor role in defeating Japan. 99% of POWs in China was captured by Soviets. Soviet destroyed more Japanese army in two weeks than Chinese did in 8 years. KMT had reached tacit truce with Japanese after the start of WWII, Chinese Communist were secretly collaborating with Japanese. V-J Day was never big in China for a very good reason.
@@XuguangLeng 来源呢？张口就来？😅
That guy is a troll and liar. Don't mind him
@@XuguangLeng That is true to a degree, but not 99%. China was unable to do jack shit for 8 years because their industry was captured, it was only after the allies started sending large amounts of supplies did China get the heavy equipments to beat Japan. It was literally said in the video, I am not sure about you but I'm pretty sure V-J day is also very big in China, although since China at the time was controlled by the KMT, CCP wouldn't allow such things
That truce was probably because the Chinese couldn't attack nor does the Japanese, if Japan attacked they'd be over extended, the Chinese couldn't attack
It wasn't the Communists who were working with Japan it was Wang Jingwei
@@artanisplays3982 Roosevelt and Churchill are decent men, they gave Soviet a lot of materials, and showed a lot of respect for Stalin. Because Russian fought bravely. On the other hand, they excluded China and unilaterally decided at Yalta to restore Russia’s privileges and interests in Manchuria, including lease of Port Arthur and railway, in exchange for Russia joining the war against Japan, then forced down Chiang Kaishek’s throat. Why? Because they were disgusted by the performance of both KMT and CCP.
I was waiting for the day you'd post again.
Good to hear about Burma. My greatgranda was a draftsman under the British and had a house in Myitkyina, Burma. When Japan invaded him and his family had to abandon their lives and scurry back home to India through jungles, burning currency for lighting cooking fires to make tea for warmth in events of rain.
His son, my grandpa, enlisted in RIAF in WW2, followed by USAAF and then RIAF again as an aircraft mechanic, transferring to IAF after Indian Independence in 1947, fighting for India in '48, '62 and '65 wars before retiring as a Warrant Officer from IAF.
I really appreciate when people have personal stories to share. I have usually gotten to know the context and it is always interesting to read personal perspectives of the events described in the video.
TYSM. In India servicemen who served under the British in WW2 are rarely ever mentioned with respect, as they are potrayed being stooges for a colonial power fighting against Indian interests as opposed to Bose's INA , the fact that the former later formed the core of Indian military in the post WW2 wars notwithstanding. I hope in future people are able to view history with a more informed opinion.
Thank you, for your work. Keep it up!
10:33 the 4 nation to be given permanent seats in the UNSC is actually USA, UK, USSR and China, not France, because France lost the war and surrendered. The four mentioned nation are called 4 police men, you can look it up. France was only added because UK feared europeans would have too little power in the new world order.
France was kind of seen as a collaberator for the axis even though it continued the fight under the free france flag and agenda.
Originally it was supposed to be Brazil not France. But the soviets thought France would be more of an ally to them while Brazil was too aligned with the US.
The French had the fourth largest army in Europe by the end of the war
Just because they lost the initial fight and surrendered shouldn’t bar France from being a power on the world stage. That’s like saying Russia should’ve been considered not a major power in its defeat after WW1, also that France should’ve never been risen again to power status after Napoleon’s defeat, or that Britain’s power status should’ve left after the American Revolution. France after the war quickly bounced back to being a strong European power.
its a good day, whenever eastory uploads
As always a 10/10. Some folks love to leave the Red Army out of the equations of why japan surrendered.
The US probably wouldn't commit a full scale invasion due to the expected high mortality, but the Japanese new better about the Russians. Not one reason to surrender, just a compounding factor among many.
when Japan realized that theres nothing waiting for them but utter defeat, they choose to accept US surrender terms rather than wait for more nukes and consequently the brunt of Russia. no one knows what will happen if Russia is the one made them surrender, there will probably no monarchy in Japan today. US probably offered a better candy to the Japan monarch
America was well and truly prepared to launch a naval invasion of Japan of over five million men plus another 1 million mean of Britain under the name of operation Downfall. It would’ve started in November of 1945 for the invasion of Kyushu and in early 1946 for Tokyo itself. Purple Hearts for wounded were being mass produced at the time, which is why the hearts given to this day are all from 1945. They expected many casualties from both sides. Thankfully this option didn’t happen, and the war ended sooner.
I learn about history from this channel thank you!!
Operation Ichi-Go is an operation conducted by the Japanese Army on the Chinese mainland from April 17th to December 10th, 1944 during the Sino-Japanese War.
It was the last major offensive of the Japanese Army, which caused the National Revolutionary Army to be hit hard and affected during the Chinese Civil War. However, on the other hand, the United States is also mediating the conclusion of the Double Tenth Agreement with Chiang Kai-shek in order to avoid a civil war.
According to a study by Barbara W. Tuchman, the results of this operation had a more significant impact on the subsequent war situation than the Japanese had imagined, and had a decisive impact on Japan's fate. According to it, Franklin Roosevelt has consistently strongly trusted and supported Chiang Kai-shek since the beginning of the war, and encouraged him in the war against Japan so that he would not drop out of the Allies in a single peace with Japan during the Cairo Conference. However, he said that he changed his mind because the front of Chiang Kai-shek collapsed due to this operation. In fact, Chiang Kai-shek has not been invited to important Allied conferences ("Yalta Conference" and "Potsdam Conference") since then.
According to the Stilwell document, Roosevelt said, "Can China win?" Stilwell said, "There is no choice but to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek." During the 1944 Hengyang battle, he could not sleep at night and twice. He says he thought about suicide. The American side also planned to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, and three methods of "poisoning", "aircraft incident", and "pretending to be suicide" were considered, but it was canceled in 1944 due to changes in the international situation such as Burma. The successor that the United States envisioned is Sun Fountain.
As Roosevelt's Chief of Staff George Marshall and General Joseph Stilwell have long insisted, Chiang Kai-shek's army is actually a demoralized and corrupt organization that does not form an army. It became clear that he had no desire or ability to fight with the United States and other Allied forces.
As a result, President Roosevelt changed the scenario of the operation against Japan from the conventional bombing of Japan and other countries from the air bases of mainland China to the one that MacArthur and others claimed to occupy the islands of the Pacific Ocean one after another.
China was dismissed at the Yalta Conference, and the Allied nation's footsteps were disturbed, with angry Chiang Kai-shek presenting a peace plan to Japan against the will of the United States.
The Japanese Operation Ichi-Go attack left the National Revolutionary Army with 750,000 casualties. This caused the Kuomintang to lose to the Communist Party in the civil war. China would not have been dominated by the dictatorship Communist Party if it had made peace with Japan and cooperated in protecting it from communism.
Why can’t Japanese trolls stop lying?
Very bright and easy to follow color schemes. Greatly done.
Very detailed and well-made video on this topic, really appreciate it especially since this is an area that's neglected in Western media but hugely important in shaping the modern world. I hope you make more on Asia in the last century. There are a couple of details that aren't quite accurate, however (I'm an American who's read a fair bit on this topic).
1. The Atomic bombings were not done in preparation for Operation Downfall (the planned invasion of the home islands), but rather were an attempt to avoid it. President Truman in particular very much wanted to avoid the bloodshed and destruction that would result from invading Japan and hoped the bombings would be enough to "shock and awe" Japan into surrendering. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because they had some strategic value but weren't the most populous or important cities that Japan had. The bombings were about sending a message rather than inflicting damage.
2. The Japanese attack on Midway was not in response to the Doolittle Raid but rather had been planned since Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor did not go nearly as well as Japan hoped, since its main objective was to destroy or cripple American carriers, which, as it happened, weren't there at the time. So Japan sent its main fleet to Midway in the hope of hunting down and destroying them as well as taking over the air base on Midway island itself, which was quite important and would allow them to attack American targets more directly, especially Hawaii.
I love the depth in your work, I wish to see more about the battles in Myanmar and the Philippines
Man actually visualizing how large the conquered territories were it’s no wonder Japan got stuck in China. Even if they got the natural resources they needed would they have been able to hold on long term?