In the ten years before and after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, due to the appeasement and wait-and-see policy adopted by the United States and Britain toward Japan's invasion of China, the Republic of China Government, against the background of the strategy of "waiting for change", and under the circumstance that many parties sought support without success, China and Germany established close relations in the economic and military fields based on their respective interests and needs. Because of this "honeymoon" relationship, the Government of the Republic of China used German funds and arms to seize the opportunity and actively prepare for war, achieving strategic objectives and laying the foundation for the victory of the all-out War of Resistance.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >01 internal and external troubles, the background of the era of international helplessness</h1>
The republic of China government, established in 1927, is rooted in China's traditional agricultural society, the industrial base is weak, and the agricultural economy still dominates the national economy. As Huang Renyu said, "The National Government is driving economic modernization with political modernization." The establishment of a modern national economic system, especially the establishment of an industrial system dominated by heavy industry and military industry, is imminent, but the large amount of funds and advanced equipment required was extremely difficult for the Government of the Republic of China at the beginning of its establishment, and only by using foreign funds can we solve the problem.
In April 1927, Yoshiichi Tanaka became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Japanese government, forming a new cabinet. Actively pursuing a tough policy toward China, advocating the occupation of northeast China by force, and throwing out the infamous "Tanaka Fold." Soon, the Japanese Military Department and the Kwantung Army launched the "September 18" incident that had been planned for a long time to occupy the northeast.
At this time, Britain and France weakened their strength after World War I, were busy with European affairs, had no time to look east, and the United States was full of isolationist ideas, and was unwilling to meddle in The affairs of the Far East, and all adopted an attitude of indifference and connivance toward Japan's invasion of China. In order to seek self-preservation, the Soviet Union tried its best to avoid war on the German and Japanese fronts, hoping to promote a Sino-Japanese conflict to reduce its own pressure and implement the policy of "diverting water from the east" in the East.
The Nationalist government actively engaged in diplomatic activities that sought support from many sides, but the failure followed by failure, humiliation followed by humiliation. Faced with a precarious situation, the National Government, under the premise of Germany's repeated overtures, developed diplomacy with Germany and achieved gratifying results. It won limited and valuable support for the arduous and protracted War of Resistance, and realized the strategy of "waiting for change".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >02 Do what you need, and cooperate win-win</h1>
During the Weimar Republic, Germany and China re-established diplomatic relations, and the relations between the two sides developed initially, but no major progress was made in exchanges, and with the rise of Hitler to power in 1933, Sino-German relations took a turn for the better.
Li Hongzhang and Bsmarck
In order to realize his desire to dominate the world, Hitler actively expanded his armaments, but Germany's war preparedness raw materials such as tungsten, antimony, tin and other resources were seriously insufficient, and 90% relied on foreign imports. The European market was dominated by Britain and France, and it was difficult for Germany to obtain these strategic materials; Germany's industrial and military products needed to be exported in large quantities, coupled with the shortage of foreign exchange in Germany, so China, which has rich resources and a broad market, has become one of the key targets of Germany's foreign cooperation.
In fact, Chiang Kai-shek was extremely interested in German military education in his early years, and twice prepared to go to Germany to study military affairs in 1913 and 1918. He once published an article in the magazine "Voice of The Army" praising Germany's military education and military training system; secondly, Chiang Kai-shek believed that Germany was bound by the "Treaty of Versailles", "oppressed by imperialism", "equal to my status", "expressed good feelings toward China after the war", China and Germany had a "common position against imperialism", and the possibility of unity between the two countries.
In August 1933, the two countries signed the Sino-German Goods Swap Contract, the economic and trade relations between the two countries were formally determined, and the following year, Germany and the National Government secretly signed the "Sino-German Mineral Raw Materials and German Industrial Products Exchange Implementation Contract" (hereinafter referred to as the "Sino-German Barter Agreement"),the biggest achievement of Sino-German economic cooperation was the Sino-German Goods Credit Loan Contract signed in April 1936. The contract stipulated that Germany would provide a loan of DM 100 million to China, which China "could withdraw at any time to pay for the amounts required for German industry and other products". The signing of the contract led to a rapid increase in the value of German arms exports to China.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="40" >03 Imported munitions contributed greatly to the War of Resistance</h1>
In 1935, the value of German arms exports to China accounted for 8.1% of its total exports, and by 1936 it had increased to 28. 8%, up to 37% of the total by 1937. According to the figures provided by the Yearbook of 1937 of the German Industrial Group, Germany exported armaments to China in 1936 at 23.748 million marks, in 1937 it was 82.788 million marks, and the actual figure in 1937 increased by 3.5 million marks over the previous year. 48 times. From the implementation of the Sino-German contract for the exchange of goods in August 1934 to August 1938, China ordered arms from Germany at a total value of DM 389 million.
After the July 7 Incident in 1937, China and Japan fought large-scale battles in the north china and Shanghai areas. In particular, in the Battle of Songhu, the Chinese government used German-style equipment to fight against Japan, and the two sides invested nearly one million troops, the war continued to expand, and the demand for arms was very urgent.
On November 1, 1937, the Chinese side made additional orders for the German side as follows: 36 10.5 cm howitzers and 36,000 shells; 30 3.7 cm anti-aircraft guns with 198,000 shells; 4 15 cm coastal defense heavy artillery and 900 shells; 2,000 shell fuses and 2,000 units of fuses; 4 8.8 cm coastal defense guns shooting hoisting machines, 320 shells, 1,350 shell fuses gunpowder; and 2 6ME sighting instruments 100 Henschel cars. The order amounted to about 37 million marks, plus previous orders and Kong Xiangxi's orders in Germany totaling 53 million marks.
According to Chen Renxia's "Study of the Triangular Relations between China, Germany and Japan", "In mid-March 1938, the last batch of German arms worth more than 30 million marks was shipped to China. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Germany gave full support to China's emergency ordering of arms, which was urgently pumped to China by the Equipment of the German Wehrmacht, and these military products played an important role in supporting China's War of Resistance.
According to Wu Xiangxiang in the "History of the Second Sino-Japanese War", by the time the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out in full swing, "80% of China's arms against Japan came from Germany." In this regard, the American scholar Ke Weilin once stated in the book "Germany and the Republic of China", "By July 1937, the city defense of Nanjing had been equipped with German-made 88 mm anti-aircraft guns and air defense warning systems; 75 mm Krupp cannons and Henschel and MAN tanks could be seen on the streets of Nanjing; Messerschmitt and Stuka fighters were about to be imported to supplement The Junkers fighters." The Chinese military has also ordered 12 submarines and several warships. The number of troops reorganized using German equipment has reached 300,000, of which 80,000 are elite troops. ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" >04 Sino-German trade is growing rapidly and economic and trade relations are closer</h1>
In addition to arms, Germany's export trade with China is also expanding rapidly. In 1935, the total value of German exports to China ranked fourth in China's import trade, and in 1936, it surpassed Britain and ranked third, behind the United States and Japan. At the same time, Germany's demand for tungsten ore reached 11,372 tons in 1937, more than 2 times higher than in 1933, of which 72% of imports came from China. Archives record that China's antimony production accounted for 60% of the world's production at that time, and tungsten from the Wuling Mountains in Hunan, China, was transported to hard armor plates and armor-piercing shells made of Krupp. These rare metals in China provided Germany with "industrial vitamins" and thus "military diamonds".
By the time the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, Germany's share of China's foreign trade had reached 12 percent, second only to the United States (24 percent) and Japan (13 percent), ranking third. China's economic exchanges with Germany have grown faster than China's economic ties with other Western powers. This shows that after the July 7 Incident, Germany declared its neutrality in name, but in fact still supported the Kuomintang government, not only continued to fulfill the Sino-German trade agreement, but also greatly increased the armament material given to China.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="43" >05 German loans have boosted China's defense and heavy industry</h1>
Heavy industry has always been the weakest link in China's modern industry, and at the beginning of the establishment of the National Government in Nanjing, due to frequent wars and chaos, there was a huge deficit in fiscal revenue and expenditure every year, and just when the National Government was deliberately planning to raise funds to develop industry, the Dehua Credit Loan Contract brought opportunities to China. From 1936 to 1941, China and Germany broke off diplomatic relations, and the Nationalist government successively purchased machinery and equipment worth more than 3.57 million marks from Germany and established a number of relatively advanced industrial and mining enterprises. One of the more prominent is the Central Iron and Steel Plant in Xiangtan, Hunan.
Under the agreement, Germany helped China build a steel plant in Xiangtan with an annual capacity of 100,000 to 150,000 tons of steel ingots. The plant "was designed by the Krupp Gun Factory in Germany, with the architectural department of Siemens responsible for civil works and all the machinery and equipment supplied by Germany". Since then, the German side has sent hundreds of people to China to help with the construction, and the Chinese side has also sent more than 20 technical personnel to Germany for internship. During this period, China's enterprises that used German funds and equipment to build also included China Automobile Manufacturing Corporation, China Aviation Equipment Factory, Jiangxi Tungsten Iron Factory, Central Electrical Equipment Factory, Central Machine Factory, Electrochemical Smelter, Sichuan Oil Mine Exploration Office, etc.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="45" > conclusion</h1>
Looking at the diplomatic relations between China and Germany from 1928 to 1938, economic and trade were the foundation, and military advisers were the connecting links. As Hans Morgenthau put it in his magnum opus, Interstate Politics: In international exchanges, national interests and national forces determine the realist diplomacy of national diplomacy. The Nationalist government in Nanking was in order to obtain arms aid and military advisers, as well as to obtain international support for the needs of the War of Resistance; Germany was in order to obtain the raw materials of the war, excess profits, and allies. This allowed the relationship between the two countries to develop rapidly over the past decade.
With Japan's all-out invasion of China, the rupture of bilateral relations has become inevitable. After the German government announced its recognition of the Wang puppet regime on July 1, 1941, the Nationalist government issued a statement the next day announcing the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany. The day after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Nationalist government declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan, and the Chinese government declared that all treaties, agreements, and contracts with Germany were "abolished together," and Sino-German relations were completely broken.
Resources
1. Ke Weilin: Germany and the Republic of China, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 2006
2. Ma Zhenli and Qi Rugao, A Study of Sino-German Relations between Chiang Kai-shek and Hitler in the Republican Period, Kyushu Publishing House, 2012