At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan, as a newly rising imperialist country in the east of the world, tried to monopolize China's interests and exclude the forces of Britain, the United States, and other countries in China in the struggle of the great powers for the partition of China. In the 1920s, Yoshiichi Tanaka's cabinet proposed a new "mainland policy." The main thrust of this policy is not only to monopolize the interests of China and separate Manchuria and Mongolia from China itself, but also to annex all of China and eliminate the Chinese nation. The 918 Incident launched in northeast China in 1931, as well as the subsequent North China Incident, the July 7 Incident, and the large-scale invasion of Chinese mainland, were all concrete steps in Japan's attempt to realize this conspiracy.
Japan's military aggression seriously threatens China's survival and traps the Chinese nation in the desperate situation of subjugation and extinction. Saving the nation from peril has become the unshirkable responsibility of every Chinese. All nationalities, classes, political parties, organizations, and overseas Chinese compatriots in China must attach importance to the general national righteousness, put the preservation of the survival of the Chinese nation in the first place, unite to form a mighty anti-aggression army, and drive the Japanese aggressors out of China. This is the overall situation of the Chinese nation, and it is also the only criterion for testing whether all sectors of society and every Chinese are loyal to the motherland.
In the face of the atrocities of Japanese imperialism's aggression against China and the loss of a large part of the country's territory, except for a very small number of traitors and traitors, the people of all walks of life throughout the country took action one after another and joined the ranks of the anti-Japanese struggle. Throughout the period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, the nationwide anti-Japanese upsurge continued, with one wave higher than the other.
Young students were the vanguard of the Anti-Japanese Salvation Movement. They continued to assemble, demonstrate, and issue telegrams and declarations denouncing the crimes of Japanese imperialism in invading China and demanding that the National Government in Nanjing rise up against Japan. The 129 Movement is a glorious page in the history of the Chinese student movement. Students in Pingjin and Shanghai formed propaganda groups to go deep into the countryside along the Pinghan and Beijing-Shanghai lines to propagate the principle of resisting Japan and saving the country. After the July 7 Incident, the Youth National Salvation League in Wuhan grew to 20,000 people in seven months, of which 7,000 or 8,000 members went to eastern Henan and the Fifth Theater to participate in guerrilla warfare. Guangxi's student army was also active like Tieliu in the battlefields of Suzhou, Anhui, Henan, and Hubei.
In the national people's struggle against Japan, the working class stood in the forefront. As soon as the September 18 Incident broke out, 35,000 dock workers in Shanghai first launched an anti-Japanese strike and refused to load and unload goods for Japanese ships. Subsequently, 800,000 workers in Shanghai established the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Federation. Workers in Beiping, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and all over the country constantly shut down their cars, went on strike, or organized league strikes, general strikes, etc., and participated in the anti-Japanese struggle with practical actions. After the Lugou Bridge Incident, the railway workers in Changxindian transported a large number of rails and sleepers to the front line for soldiers to build fortifications.
Patriotic industrialists and businessmen from all over the country also participated in the upsurge of resisting Japan and saving lives. The industrial and commercial circles of many large and medium-sized cities, such as Beiping, Tianjin, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Hankou, have successively put forward the idea of severing diplomatic relations with the Japanese economy and boycotting Japanese goods, and refused to communicate with Japanese businessmen.
In the vast rural areas, the enthusiasm for resisting Japan was also very high. Farmers near Peiping automatically donated grain, sent out migrant workers, carried the wounded, and transported supplies. After the fall of North China, the people's spontaneous anti-Japanese struggle rose one after another. They destroyed railways and power lines everywhere, constantly attacked small groups of Japanese troops, and fought with the regular army. When the Japanese army invaded the Huanghuai area, the people automatically rose up to join the guerrillas and constantly ambushed the Japanese army. In the Soviet, Lu, Anhui and other combat areas, the development of the Peasants' Red Gun Society made the Japanese army restless.
The flames of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ignited the patriotic enthusiasm of the vast number of cultural workers. In all major and medium-sized cities across the country, various cultural salvation groups continue to emerge. Many writers and journalists went to the front line and wrote a large number of reportage and field communications that praised the anti-Japanese heroes and exposed the atrocities of the Japanese army. Mass rescue operas, singing activities, anti-war films, and fine arts have inspired the national spirit and inspired the fighting spirit of the broad masses of the people.
The anti-Japanese struggle of the various ethnic minorities, especially the Mongolian, Korean and Manchu peoples in the north, has been continuous since the September 18 Incident. The Mongol people scattered in the northeast, Chahar, Suiyuan and other places were not willing to be enslaved by the Japanese invaders, and together with their Han compatriots, they formed the Northeast Anti-Japanese Army's Mongolian Cavalry, the Anti-Imperialist Grand Alliance, the Mongolian-Han Anti-Japanese Alliance Association, and the Anti-Japanese Allied Army. The famous Lark Temple Uprising gave the Japanese army a great shock. The guerrilla units formed by the Korean people in northeast China were the main force in the anti-Japanese guerrilla war in Eastern Manchuria and Southern Manchuria. In the Manchu-populated Liaodong and Southern Liaoning regions, many outstanding Manchu sons and daughters became commanders and fighters of the anti-Japanese guerrillas active in this area. Many Manchu college and middle school students in Harbin walked out of class and rushed to the anti-Japanese battlefield. In the torrent of the anti-Japanese struggle, the people of all nationalities in our country have strengthened their unity and established a deep feeling of life and death and the connection between flesh and blood.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, more than 10 million overseas Chinese living in various parts of the world paid close attention to the safety and security of the motherland, and they set up rescue groups one after another to carry out rescue work. Under the impetus of Chen Jiageng and others, 45 overseas Chinese associations in Southeast Asia jointly established the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Relief Association for Refugees in the Motherland. In European countries, more than 40 overseas Chinese salvation groups jointly established the All-European Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Federation. The General Committee for Relief of Overseas Chinese has also been established in New York, USA. By the end of 1940, there were 649 large national salvation groups organized by overseas Chinese around the world. They extensively carried out the work of raising relief, donated money and materials for the motherland, and some returned to China to directly participate in the anti-Japanese struggle; only the Overseas Chinese of Cantonese nationality in Nanyang, the Americas, Australia, and other places, more than 40,000 people returned to China to join the army and participate in the war, some formed various service teams and rescue teams to gallop on the battlefield and were active in the rear, and many overseas Chinese heroically sacrificed their lives to defend the motherland.
To sum up, it can be clearly seen that in this war of aggression, which has a bearing on the independence and survival of the Chinese nation, the people of all nationalities and all strata in China have actively contributed their strength. Of course, as the main force of the anti-aggression war, the Chinese army's major contribution is even more indelible. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression was a great war of national liberation that mobilized the most extensively and had the most far-reaching impact, and it was a song of praise for the anti-aggression of the whole nation composed by the people of all nationalities and all walks of life throughout the country with their own tragic and heroic actions. In this war, compatriots of all ethnic groups have paid a huge price and sacrifice. It has promoted the new awakening of the Chinese people, enhanced the cohesion of the people of the whole country, and enhanced the national self-esteem and self-confidence of the broad masses of the people. The War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression played a special position and a major role in the history of China's anti-aggression struggle in modern times and in the Chinese revolutionary movement. Historians must clear their narrow concepts, broaden their research horizons, and conduct in-depth investigations of the War of Resistance Against Japan as a nationwide war against aggression in order to draw a correct understanding that conforms to historical reality.