What was the source of conflict between Japan and China from 1931 to 1945?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER:
Students should recognize that the economic dislocation of the Great Depression and growing militarism in Japan led to this military confrontation. When the Great Depression hit, China and the United States erected tariff barriers against Japanese imports. The collapse of demand for rice and silk ruined Japanese farmers; to survive, many sold their daughters into prostitution while their sons flocked to the military. Ultranationalists viewed a colonial empire as a solution to Japan's dependence on foreign trade. Although most of Asia's potential colonies had been claimed, China with its vast population and resources was not colonized. The confrontation of the Second World War began with the Japanese seizure of Manchuria by junior officers in the military. They renamed the region Manchukuo. When Chinese students, workers, and housewives boycotted Japanese goods, Japanese troops briefly took over Shanghai and the area around Beijing. During the next few years the Japanese sped up their rearmament, especially the building of warships. In 1937, Japanese leaders once again considered options for solving Japan's economic problems. Some proposed conquest of China, while others advocated war with the Soviet Union. But once again, junior officers took matters into their own hands. On July 7, 1937, Japanese troops attacked Chinese forces near Beijing. Within weeks, Japanese troops seized Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and other coastal cities, and the Japanese navy blockaded the entire Chinese coast. The United States and the League of Nations denounced the Japanese atrocities but were too preoccupied with economic problems and events in Europe to risk military confrontation. The Chinese armies were large and fought bravely, but they were poorly led and armed and lost every battle. Japanese planes bombed Nanjing, Hankou, and Canton while on the ground soldiers broke dikes and burned villages, killing thousands of civilians. In spite of Japanese organizational and fighting skills, the attack on China did not bring the victory Japan had hoped for. The Chinese continued to resist. Japan's periodic attempts to turn the tide by conquering more of China only pushed Japan deeper into the quagmire. For the Japanese people, life became harsher and more repressive as taxes rose, food and fuel became scarce, and more young men were drafted. Japanese leaders realized that the war with China was a drain on the Japanese economy and manpower and that their war machine was becoming increasingly dependent on the United States for steel and machine tools and for nine-tenths of its oil. Warfare between China and Japan was incredibly violent. In the winter of 1937-1938, Japanese troops took Nanjing, raped 20,000 women, killed 200,000 prisoners and civilians, and looted and burned the city.