We Must Strive for Strength, Learning from History

China’s War of Resistance Against Japan, fought from 1931 to 1945, was a war of national liberation in which the Chinese people resisted Japanese imperialist aggression. It was also an important part of the global war against fascism.

After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Japan occupied northeast China, and localized resistance began. Following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party formed a second alliance and established the United Front against Japanese aggression, bringing the entire nation into a full-scale resistance effort.

Chinese forces mounted countless heroic defenses. Major battles on the main front included the Battle of Shanghai, the Battle of Xuzhou, and the Battle of Wuhan, shattering Japan’s fantasy of conquering China in three months. Behind enemy lines, guerrilla forces established resistance bases and tied down large numbers of Japanese troops.

After the Pacific War broke out in 1941, the Chinese theater became the main front in the East of the global war against fascism. In August 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, and the Soviet Union sent troops into northeast China as Chinese forces launched a full-scale counteroffensive. Japan announced its unconditional surrender on August 15 and signed the surrender document on September 2.

Victory in the War of Resistance was the first complete victory the Chinese people had achieved in more than a century against foreign aggression. It defended China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, strengthened national consciousness, and made a tremendous contribution to the victory of the global war against fascism.