After 14 years of bloody struggle, the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression finally defeated the Japanese aggressors, which was the first great victory in China's anti-aggression war in its nearly one-hundred-year history. There have long been different views on why victory was possible. Some emphasize that the United States used atomic bombs to force Japan to surrender; some say that because the Soviet Union sent troops to northeast China and eliminated the Japanese Kwantung Army, Japan had to lay down its weapons. Opinions differ on this.
How to view the reasons for the victory or defeat of the war was discussed by Mao Zedong in the "Theory of Contradictions". He said: "The two armies are in contention, one victory and one defeat, so victory or defeat depends on internal causes." The winner may be strong or because his command is correct, the loser may be because he is weak, or because his command is inappropriate, and the external cause causes the effect through the inside. "China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression experienced a very difficult and tortuous development process. History proves that the Chinese people will certainly be able to defeat the Japanese aggressors on their own. The fundamental reason and decisive factor for China's victory in the war are the unremitting will of the Chinese people to struggle and the united resistance of the people of all nationalities throughout the country. However, it should also be noted that the situation caused by the balance of forces between the two sides in the early stage of the war determined that the Chinese people must go through a long-term process of struggle if they want to change their weakness and win the final victory in the war.
As part of the world anti-fascist war, China resisted most of the main forces of the Japanese invading army for a long time. When the Pacific War broke out in late 1941, 70 percent of the Japanese Army's strength and about 35 divisions were pinned down on the Chinese battlefield. China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression inflicted great casualties and attrition on Japan's military strength, which not only made Japan unable to attack the Soviet Union, but also effectively curbed Japan's policy of advancing south, alleviated the military pressure of the Japanese army on Britain, the United States, and other countries in the Pacific Theater, and supported and cooperated with the allied combat operations in both strategy and campaign. There is no doubt that the people of Chinese made an indelible historical contribution to the victory of the world anti-fascist war.
The changes in the international war situation, especially the development of the situation in the Far East and the support and assistance of the people of various countries to China's War of Resistance Against Japan, played an important role in accelerating China's victory in the war of anti-aggression.
The outbreak of the Pacific War brought a favorable international situation to China's War of Resistance Against Japan. The United States was forced to abandon its long-standing two-sided policy toward Japan's war of aggression against China and became the main supporter of China's War of Resistance Against Japan.
After Chinese people persisted in the serious attrition inflicted on Japan by the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression for a long time, coupled with the military strikes inflicted on Japan by the United States in the Far East, by 1944 The political and economic situation in Japan was deteriorating: there was a serious shortage of food, production had plummeted, labor and military resources were very scarce, the overall war system was on the verge of bankruptcy, the country was full of chaos, hunger, and panic, and there was a movement against the Tojo Cabinet in the upper echelons of Japan. In the Pacific, the US military successively captured the Marshall Islands, Saipan and other places, and began to attack the Philippines, cutting off Japan's ties with South Asia. In May 1944, in order to rescue the troops invading South Asia, the Japanese army began to open up the operation of the mainland communication line in the Chinese battlefield, although it was successful for a time, but due to the vast area of operation and the thin strength of the occupied area, in May 1945, the Chinese army launched a pursuit operation to the Guiliu area, successively recapturing Nanning, Liuzhou and Guilin. The Eighth Route Army also began to turn into a full-scale counteroffensive. On June 23, the Japanese garrison of Okinawa was completely destroyed under attack by the American army. Japan's defeat is a foregone conclusion. At this time, the Japanese militarists expressed their continued adherence to the war. On June 8, the Imperial Council decided to "unite the whole country and adapt to the decisive battle of the imperial homeland" and seek to continue to resist the Japanese mainland after the overseas territories were captured by the Allies. On the other hand, a group of Japanese vassals hoped to make peace under favorable conditions and end the war. On July 10, the Emperor attempted to appoint former Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe as a special envoy to visit the Soviet Union, expecting the Soviet Union to mediate and end the war with dignity, but the Soviet Union rightfully refused.
Obviously, by July 1945, Japan was in a very difficult situation on all fronts, and it was desperate for the future of the war.
On July 26, The United States, the United States, and the United Kingdom jointly issued the Potsdam Proclamation, urging Japanese militarism to surrender. Although there were differences of opinion within Japan, the Japanese government still issued a statement rejecting the Potsdam Proclamation. On August 6, U.S. forces dropped their first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. On August 8, the Soviet Union declared war against Japan and said that it would send troops to northeast China the next day. At this time, although the Japanese military felt that the situation was serious, it still had no intention of accepting unconditional surrender. On August 9, the U.S. military dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, and on the morning of the same day, Japan held various meetings, and after constant quarrels, on August 15, the Japanese emperor issued the "Edict of the End of the War", officially announcing unconditional surrender.
From the above analysis, we can see that the atomic bomb dropped by the US military and the Announcement of the Soviet Union to send troops to Northeast China played a role in promoting Japan's rapid decision to surrender. It is inappropriate to exaggerate and disparage both. The protracted war of aggression has exhausted Japan's national strength, and there is no more manpower or material resources to continue the war. China's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and Japan's unconditional surrender were the inevitable result of historical development.