"The Great War of Resistance" and "Little War of Resistance" stamps
▲The Eighth Route Army liberated Zhangjiakou City
On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender. On August 23, the Jin-Cha-Ji troops of the Eighth Route Army liberated Zhangjiakou City, the capital of the puppet Mongolian Xinjiang Autonomous Government.
In order to solemnly commemorate the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Stamp Administration of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region issued the "Commemoration of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan" in Zhangjiakou in accordance with the instructions of the superiors.
▲ "Great War of Resistance" stamps
This set of stamps has been issued in two varieties, the design is exactly the same, the width of the ticket is very different, the first issue is a larger stamp size (35 mm×42 mm), a full set of 8 pieces, by the collectors called the "Great War of Resistance"; Four months later, a smaller stamp (20 mm × 21.5 mm) was issued, a set of 15 stamps, which the collectors called the "Little War of Resistance".
At that time, because the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border District Postal Administration had just been established in Zhangjiakou, there was no mature stamp design team, after receiving the task, the director Cheng Anyu decided to conduct a "sea audition" in the border area and some schools, brainstorming, and widely soliciting stamp design artwork.
As soon as the news was released, everyone was happy and enthusiastic about participating. After all, this is a great thing to celebrate our Chinese's defeat of Little Japan, but you have to do your best! Therefore, after several rounds of review and evaluation by the selection team, among more than 10 submitted manuscripts, the "Eight Road Athletes Killing the Enemy" map created by the teachers and students of North China United University was unanimously praised and became the final winner.
▲ The "blue sky and white sun" flag appeared on the artwork
The stamps depict the heroic killing of the cavalry and infantry of the Eighth Route Army, which is a true record of the history of the war. However, when the selection team sent the design of this stamp to the leaders of the Postal Administration for final review, the soldier in the picture felt that it was inappropriate to hold a flag of "Blue Sky and White Sun", which was the national flag of the Republic of China under the rule of the Kuomintang and the symbol of the Kuomintang and the Nationalist Government. On the postage stamps issued by the Communist Party in the liberated areas to commend the Kuomintang for their military exploits, the leaders of the postal department felt that this matter was not trivial and could not make a decision, so they immediately reported the matter to Nie Rongzhen, the leader of the border area.
▲Marshal Nie Rongzhen, who worked in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei border region
The historical reality at that time was that the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party had not yet completely broken down, and in order to maintain the anti-Japanese national united front, win over the Kuomintang government, and avoid the outbreak of civil war in China. Soon, Nie Shuai's reply was issued: "We should objectively admit history; In addition, considering that the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had just been won, in order to take into account the overall situation of the anti-Japanese national united front, the drawings could be adopted. In this way, this stamp of the liberated area, which publicized the Kuomintang's anti-Japanese exploits, was printed and issued as scheduled, becoming a historical record of the anti-Japanese national united front.
This stamp was first issued with a large format (the Great War of Resistance), during which the area of the liberated areas continued to expand and the postal service increased rapidly. By February 1946, more than 700 postal agencies had been opened throughout the region, and the demand for stamps had increased significantly, often in short supply. At this time, some people pointed out that the "Great War of Resistance" stamp size is too large, and it would be too wasteful to print it according to its original version. It is better to reduce the size of the ticket when printing and save paper.
Finally, the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region Stamp Administration took the "Great War of Resistance" as a blueprint to reduce the size of the ticket and reissued the "Little War of Resistance" stamps were born.
▲The actual proportion of stamps of "Great War of Resistance" and "Little War of Resistance".
The issuance of stamps of the "Great War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" and "Little War of Resistance" is an effort and expression made by the Communist Party to maintain the relationship between the two parties and prevent the outbreak of civil war after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. However, on April 1, 1946, the Armistice Agreement was unilaterally torn up by the Kuomintang. In September 1946, the Kuomintang gathered 70,000 troops and headed directly at Zhangjiakou. In October, our army was ordered to take the initiative to evacuate Zhangjiakou City, and the Postal Administration of the border area also withdrew to Quyang County with the army. At this point, the stamps of the "Great and Small War of Resistance" also stopped being issued with the inevitable outbreak of the civil war.