Operation August Storm 1945

Operation August Storm 1945

On August 8, 1945, after refusing to mediate a Japanese surrender with the United States and its allies, the USSR declared war on Japan. On August 9, 1945, Russian troops invaded the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Operation August Storm. On August 14, 1945 a...

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WWII China

WWII China

It is reasonable to say that WWII began, not with the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, but with a battle on the outskirts of Beijing in July 1937. After occupying Manchuria in 1931, Japan began a wider invasion of China in 1937. By the end of WWII in 1945, ~13-20 million...

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Inside Asia – John Gunther

Inside Asia – John Gunther

In the late 1930s, John Gunther's popular "Inside" series described the national characteristics of Europe and Asian nations through personal anecdote, biography of important individuals and overall analysis.

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Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

Since the invasion of Manchuria and the creation of the puppet state Manchukuo in 1931, an uneasy truce existed between Japan and China. The Marco Polo Bridge, linking Beijing to Chinese-controlled areas in the south, became the flashpoint for renewed warfare between...

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Mao Fights Japanese Imperialism

Mao Fights Japanese Imperialism

  "To win independence and freedom for China is a great task. It demands that we fight against foreign imperialism and the domestic counter-revolutionary forces. Japanese imperialism is determined to bludgeon its way deep into China. As yet the domestic...

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Pu Yi – Puppet Emperor of Manchukuo

Pu Yi – Puppet Emperor of Manchukuo

The Last Emperor, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, was a lush epic film of Pu Yi's life. Pu Yi, the abdicated Xuantong Emperor of China's last (Qing) dynasty, was declared the emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo by Imperial Japan in 1934. His rule lasted until...

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Japan Extends Annexation of China

Japan Extends Annexation of China

In 1933, citing security issues in Manchukuo, the Japanese attacked the Great Wall region, annexing Rehe province and a demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beiping-Tianjin region. The result was creation of a buffer region between Manchukuo and the Chinese...

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Japan leaves the League of Nations

Japan leaves the League of Nations

When the League of Nations issued a statement admonishing Japan for aggression in Manchuria, the Japanese delegation stunned the world by walking out of the Geneva assembly in February 1933.  The exit of Yosuke Matsukoa and his staff was met with mingled hisses and...

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Japan Invades Manchuria

Japan Invades Manchuria

Midst minimal dissension (soon vigorously suppressed by the government) the average Japanese may have had these thoughts on the matter: 1. In an economic depression, with inadequate resources for a growing population, we need more land. 2. Manchuria is a backward...

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Manchuria

Manchuria

Manchuria is an historical name given to a large region (of variable size depending on its definition) in today's northeast Peoples Republic of China that has over time been claimed by China, Japan and Russia.   In 1931, disingenuously claiming provocation by...

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