Episode 63: Japan’s Unofficial War with China

During the early twentieth century, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded and occupied Chinese lands without ever officially declaring war. In 1915, Japan issued the secret Twenty-One Demands to Chinese president Yuan Shikai, with the intent to claim economic and political power over China. ​The Demands were divided into five groups, with the Group Five demands including concessions similar to those Japan had forced on Korea. After twenty-five rounds of negotiations and intense political maneuvering on President Yuan’s part, the Twenty-One Demands were agreed to, except for the Group Five demands. The other Demands, though, reinforced Japanese control of southern Manchuria, Shandong, and eastern inner Mongolia. References Cavendish, Richard. “Pu Yi, Last Emperor of China, Is Pardoned.” History Today, vol. 59, no. 12, Dec. 2009. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Second Sino-Japanese War.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 Dec. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Second-Sino-Japanese-War. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Zhang Zuolin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 31 May 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Zhang-Zuolin. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Marco Polo Bridge Incident.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 30 June 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Marco-Polo-Bridge-Incident. Huang, Yanzhong. “China, Japan and the Twenty-One Demands.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 21 Jan. 2015, www.forbes.com/sites/yanzhonghuang/2015/01/21/china-japan-and-the-twenty-one-demands/. “Invasion of Manchuria and Japanese Aggression.” The Pacific Theater, Lynden Pioneer Museum, 3 June 2014, lyndenpacifictheater.wordpress.com/china-invasion/. The Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs. “The Mukden Incident of 1931 and the Stimson Doctrine.” Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations, U.S. Department of State, history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/mukden-incident. Overy, Richard. “China’s War with Japan, 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival by Rana Mitter – Review.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 June 2013, www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/06/china-war-japan-rana-mitter-review. Roosevelt, Franklin D. “On the Declaration of War with Japan - December 9, 1941.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Marist College, docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/120941.html. Twitchett, Dennis C., et al. “China.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 July 2018, www.britannica.com/place/China/War-between-Nationalists-and-communists. von Stauffenberg, Claus. “World War II: China's Declaration of War Against Japan, Germany and Italy.” Jewish Virtual Library, American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/china-s-declaration-of-war-against-japan-germany-and-italy-december-1941. Wright, Edmund, editor. A Dictionary of World History. 2nd ed., Oxford University Press, 2006 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pacific-atrocities-education/support