China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression Occupies an Important Position in the World Anti-Fascist War

On September 2, 1945, the Japanese government signed the instrument of unconditional surrender on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, marking the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and also proclaiming the great victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Although it has been 80 years since the victory of this just war, the "Western determinism" and "European main battlefield theory" of the victory of World War II still occasionally emerge in today's world, claiming that the United States was the greatest contributor to the victory of World War II, while the important status of the Eastern main battlefield is deliberately downplayed and ignored. The important role and strategic position of China's War of Resistance in World War II are beyond doubt. The huge national sacrifices and outstanding contributions made by the Chinese nation on the Eastern main battlefield cannot be obliterated. The great spirit of resistance forged by the Chinese military and civilians in the World Anti-Fascist War will endure for generations.

1945年9月2日，日本政府在东京湾密苏里号战列舰上签署无条件投降书，这是世界反法西斯战争胜利的标志，也宣告了中国人民抗日战争最终取得伟大胜利。尽管这场正义之战的胜利距今已80年，当今世界仍不时冒出二战胜利“西方决定论”“欧洲主战场论”，并声称美国是二战胜利的最大贡献者，东方主战场的重要地位被刻意淡化和忽视。中国抗战在二战中的重要作用和战略地位毋庸置疑，中华民族在东方主战场上付出的巨大民族牺牲与作出的卓越贡献不容磨灭，中国军民在世界反法西斯战争中凝聚的伟大抗战精神必将世代长存。

China's War of Resistance Unveiled the Prelude to the World Anti-Fascist War

中国抗战揭开世界反法西斯战争序幕

China was the first country in the world to resist the fascist aggression of Japan, with the longest duration, the greatest sacrifices and the largest consumption. Starting from September 1931, the prelude to the World Anti-Fascist War was unveiled in Northeast China, and the first shot of the World Anti-Fascist War was first fired on the land of the White Mountains and Black Waters [1]1 White Mountains and Black Waters: a traditional Chinese literary reference to the Changbai Mountains and the Heilong River, symbolizing the Northeast region of China (Manchuria).. China's War of Resistance lasted 14 years, 8 years earlier than the European anti-fascist battlefield and 10 years earlier than the Pacific battlefield. During the period of China's partial War of Resistance from 1931 to 1937, under the constraints and influences of various factors, the anti-fascist partial wars in Europe and Africa suffered successive defeats. The reactionary arrogance of the fascists of Germany, Italy and Japan, who vainly attempted to swallow the world, was extremely rampant. However, the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army led by the Communist Party of China persisted in the War of Resistance. The Communist Party of China elevated protracted war and guerrilla warfare [2]2 Protracted war and guerrilla warfare: key strategic concepts of Mao Zedong's military thought, emphasizing a long-term war of attrition and the use of irregular forces to wear down a stronger enemy. to strategic guidelines, played a role as the mainstay [3]3 Mainstay (中流砥柱): a four-character idiom meaning a pillar or mainstay that plays a crucial supporting role, here referring to the CPC's leading role. in the all-nation War of Resistance, and became the political leadership core of the all-nation War of Resistance through political innovation, strategic innovation, tactical innovation, mass mobilization and guerrilla warfare practice.

中国是世界上最早抗击日本法西斯侵略、持续时间最长、牺牲最大和消耗最多的国家。从1931年9月起，世界反法西斯战争的序幕在中国东北拉开，世界反法西斯战争的第一枪在白山黑水土地上率先打响，中国抗战持续了14年，比欧洲反法西斯战场早了8年，比太平洋战场早了10年。在1931年至1937年的中国局部抗战时期，在种种因素的制约与影响下，欧洲和非洲反法西斯的局部战争接连失败，德、意、日法西斯妄图吞并世界的反动气焰极为嚣张，而中国共产党领导的东北抗日联军一直在坚持抗战。中国共产党将持久战、游击战上升为战略方针，在全民族抗战中发挥了中流砥柱作用，通过政治创新、战略创新、战术创新、民众动员和游击战争实践，成为全民族抗战的政治领导核心。

China's War of Resistance was persisted in and ultimately won under the situation of the enemy being strong and ourselves being weak. The Chinese military and civilians made huge national sacrifices in the War of Resistance, with casualties as high as over 35 million people. Calculated at the exchange rate of 1937, China's direct economic losses amounted to more than 100 billion US dollars, and indirect economic losses more than 500 billion US dollars. Large areas of Chinese territory were occupied, and cities, factories and arable land were severely damaged.

中国抗战是在敌强我弱的形势下坚持并最终取得胜利的。中国军民在抗日战争中付出巨大的民族牺牲，伤亡人数高达3500余万人。按1937年的比值折算，中国直接经济损失1000多亿美元，间接经济损失5000多亿美元，大片中国国土被侵占，城市、工厂和耕地遭到严重破坏。

China's War of Resistance first broke the frozen ice of fascism, inspired the fighting will of the global anti-fascist camp with its indomitable spirit of struggle, and became the backbone force in the World Anti-Fascist War. Mao Zedong pointed out, "Our enemy is a worldwide enemy, and China's War of Resistance is a worldwide war of resistance." Stalin also said, "The Chinese people have made tremendous contributions to the anti-fascist war, and the Chinese battlefield is one of the important battlefields for defeating Japanese fascism." A large number of historical archives and historical materials irrefutably prove that during the World Anti-Fascist War, the Chinese battlefield long pinned down and resisted the main forces of Japanese militarism, played a crucial role in defeating the Japanese aggressors, and to a large extent advanced the victory process of the World Anti-Fascist War.

中国抗战率先打破了法西斯凝固的坚冰，以不屈不挠的斗争精神鼓舞了全球反法西斯阵营的斗志，成为世界反法西斯战争中的中坚力量。毛泽东指出，“我们的敌人是世界性的敌人，中国的抗战是世界性的抗战”。斯大林也曾表示：“中国人民在反法西斯战争中作出了巨大贡献，中国战场是战胜日本法西斯的重要战场之一。”大量历史档案与史料无可辩驳地证明，在世界反法西斯战争中，中国战场长期牵制和抗击日本军国主义的主要兵力，对战胜日本侵略者起到了至关重要的作用，并在很大程度上推进了世界反法西斯战争的胜利进程。

The Chinese Battlefield Was the Eastern Main Battlefield of the World Anti-Fascist War

中国战场是世界反法西斯战争的东方主战场

The World Anti-Fascist War was a global war of the largest scale and the most destructive in human history. The flames of war spread across Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania, involving more than 80 countries and regions and about 2 billion people, with economic losses exceeding 4 trillion US dollars. In this World Anti-Fascist War, the "Eastern Main Battlefield" and the "Western Main Battlefield" were two core war zones divided according to geographical location, strategic role and core confrontation relations of the participating forces. The anti-fascist Eastern battlefield (Asian battlefield) with China at its core was the main battlefield against the Japanese aggressors and also an important part of the World Anti-Fascist War. The Eastern main battlefield and the Western main battlefield jointly disintegrated the Axis alliance through strategic coordination, forming the cornerstone of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.

世界反法西斯战争是人类历史上一场规模最大、破坏最惨重的全球性战争，战火遍布亚洲、欧洲、非洲和大洋洲，80多个国家和地区约20亿人口被卷入战火，经济损失超4万亿美元。在这场世界反法西斯战争中，“东方主战场”和“西方主战场”是依据地理位置、战略作用及参战核心对抗关系划分的两大核心战区。以中国为核心的反法西斯东方战场（亚洲战场）是抗击日本侵略者的主战场，也是世界反法西斯战争的重要组成部分。东方主战场和西方主战场通过战略协同共同瓦解轴心国联盟，构成世界反法西斯战争胜利的基石。

China's War of Resistance broke the fascist dream of a "quick victory" through protracted resistance and became the Eastern pillar of the World Anti-Fascist War. During the 14 years of arduous resistance, the Chinese military and civilians launched a large-scale protracted war. The Chinese battlefield pinned down 54% to 94% of the total strength of the Japanese Army. Among them, in 1938, the Japanese Army had a total of 34 divisions, of which 32 divisions were deployed to the Chinese battlefield, accounting for 94% of the total divisions. The Chinese battlefield annihilated more than 1.55 million Japanese troops, accounting for 70% of Japan's total casualties in World War II. The anti-Japanese armed forces in the liberated areas annihilated 1.18 million puppet troops. After Japan's defeat, a total of 1.283 million Japanese troops surrendered to the Chinese people.

中国抗战以持久抵抗打破了法西斯“速胜”的迷梦，成为世界反法西斯战争的东方支柱。在长达14年的艰苦抗战中，中国军民展开大规模持久战争，中国战场钳制日本陆军兵力总数的54%～94%。其中，1938年日军共有34个师团，投入中国战场32个师团，占师团总数的94%。中国战场歼灭日军155万余人，占日军二战伤亡总数的70%，解放区抗日武装歼灭伪军118万人，日本战败后向中国人民投降的日军共128.3万人。

The national spirit of unity against foreign aggression and defiance of brute force manifested in this war was an indispensable spiritual support for ultimately defeating fascism. In the preface to the English translation of On Protracted War [4]4 On Protracted War (《论持久战》): a seminal military treatise written by Mao Zedong in 1938, outlining the strategy for China's long-term resistance against Japan., Mao Zedong said: "The great Chinese War of Resistance is not only a matter for China, for the East, but also a matter for the world." He had long incorporated China's War of Resistance into the overall thinking and planning of the World Anti-Fascist War. In October 1937, when meeting with a British journalist, he pointed out: "China's War of Resistance is not only for self-salvation, but also fulfills its great responsibility in the global anti-fascist front." The most important strategic value of China's War of Resistance was that it provided "time, space, and morality" triple strategic support for the World Anti-Fascist War, changed the course of the war, restored world peace, and enhanced China's international status.

这场战争彰显的团结御侮、不畏强暴的民族精神，是最终战胜法西斯不可或缺的精神支撑。毛泽东在《论持久战》英译本序言中说：“伟大的中国抗战，不但是中国的事，东方的事，也是世界的事。”他早就把中国抗战纳入世界反法西斯战争进行总体思考和谋划。他在1937年10月会见英国记者时指出：“中国的抗战不但为了自救，且在全世界反法西斯阵线中尽了它的伟大责任。”中国抗战最重要的战略价值在于为世界反法西斯战争提供了“时间、空间、道义”三重战略支撑，改变了战争进程，恢复了世界和平，提升了中国的国际地位。

China's War of Resistance Was a Core Element in Smashing the Fascist Global Strategy

中国抗战是粉碎法西斯全球战略的核心要素

The World Anti-Fascist War was a great catastrophe brought to mankind by fascism led by Germany, Italy and Japan, and a great decisive battle in which light triumphed over darkness, justice over evil, civilization over barbarism, and progress over reactionary forces. The Chinese battlefield forced the Japanese army to disperse its forces to fight a war of attrition, consumed huge amounts of war resources, and forced Japan to abandon its simultaneous expansion plan of "northward advance" against the Soviet Union and "southward advance" into the Pacific, buying strategic buffer time for the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War and the Pacific War. China's War of Resistance was the key support for the "Europe first, Asia later" strategy of the anti-fascist alliance. Up to the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Chinese battlefield always pinned down the main forces of the Japanese army, constituting the core battlefield of the Eastern anti-fascist war. In the 1938 Zhanggufeng Incident [5]5 Zhanggufeng Incident: a border clash between Japan and the Soviet Union in July-August 1938 near Lake Khasan, which ended with a ceasefire after Japan's defeat. and the 1939 Battle of Nomonhan (Khalkhin Gol) [6]6 Battle of Nomonhan: also known as the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a major border conflict between Japan and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, resulting in a decisive Soviet victory and influencing Japan's strategic decisions., the Japanese army was forced to shrink its front due to the constraints of the Chinese battlefield. In 1941, when the German army approached Moscow, Japan abandoned the "northward advance" plan because it was deeply mired in the Chinese war, enabling the Soviet Union to transfer troops to support the defense of Moscow. From the outbreak of the Pacific War to the winter of 1943, the proportion of Japanese army divisions in China to the total Japanese army divisions reached as high as 69%. The Chinese battlefield continued to pin down 1.1 million Japanese troops, preventing them from fully cooperating with Germany to attack Britain and the United States, and objectively maintained the Asia-Pacific front of the anti-fascist alliance.

世界反法西斯战争是以德、意、日为首的法西斯给人类带来的一场大劫难，是世界上光明战胜黑暗、正义战胜邪恶、文明战胜野蛮、进步战胜反动力量的一场大决战。中国战场迫使日军分散兵力应对消耗战，消耗大量战争资源，放弃“北进”苏联与“南进”太平洋的同步扩张计划，换来苏联卫国战争、太平洋战争的战略缓冲期。中国抗战是反法西斯同盟“先欧后亚”战略的关键支撑。至太平洋战争爆发，中国战场始终牵制日军主力，构成东方反法西斯战争的核心战场。1938年张鼓峰事件、1939年诺门坎战役中，日军因中国战场掣肘被迫收缩战线。1941年德军兵临莫斯科城下时，日本因深陷中国战事放弃“北进”计划，苏联得以调集兵力驰援莫斯科保卫战。太平洋战争爆发至1943年冬，在中国的日军陆军师团数量占其陆军师团数量的比例最高达69%，中国战场继续牵制日军110万兵力，使其无法全力配合德国夹击英美，客观上维护了反法西斯同盟的亚太阵线。

As a core member of the international anti-fascist alliance, China promoted the integration of global anti-fascist forces through operations such as the joint campaign in Yunnan and Burma [7]7 Joint campaign in Yunnan and Burma: refers to the Burma campaign (1942-1945) in which Chinese and Allied forces fought together in the China-Burma-India theater., providing strategic intelligence, and participating in international conferences. Marshal Chuikov [8]8 Marshal Vasily Chuikov: Soviet military commander who served as military attaché in China during the early 1940s., former Soviet military attaché to China, pointed out that Japan's failure to attack the Soviet Union was the result of containment by the Chinese battlefield. The post-war Japanese official military history, The War History of the Imperial General Headquarters Army Department [9]9 The War History of the Imperial General Headquarters Army Department (《大本营陆军部》): the official Japanese military history compiled after the war, documenting the operations of the Imperial Japanese Army., acknowledged that the Chinese mainland battlefield was the core battlefield of the Japanese army, and its defeat determined the outcome of the entire war, corroborating the importance of the Chinese battlefield.

中国作为国际反法西斯联盟核心成员，通过滇缅协同作战、提供战略情报、参与国际会议等行动推动全球反法西斯力量整合。曾任苏联驻华武官的崔可夫元帅指出，日本未进攻苏联，是中国战场牵制的结果。战后日本官方战史《大本营陆军部》承认中国大陆战场是日本陆军的核心战场，其失败决定了整个战争结局，佐证了中国战场的重要性。

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt fully affirmed the important role of China's War of Resistance in the World Anti-Fascist War, especially in buying time for the Allied counteroffensive. He commented: "If there were no China, if China were defeated, imagine how many divisions of Japanese troops could be transferred to other fronts to fight? They could immediately take Australia, take India..." The victory of China's War of Resistance not only ended Japan's fascist aggression plan but also promoted China's deep participation in international affairs as a builder of world peace. By participating in the reform and construction of the global governance system, China has injected Eastern wisdom into maintaining the post-war international order and has become an important force for maintaining world peace.

美国总统罗斯福充分肯定中国抗战在世界反法西斯战争中的重要作用，特别是为盟军反攻争取了时间。他这样评价：“假如没有中国，假如中国被打坍了，你想一想有多少师团的日本兵可以因此调到其他方面来作战？他们可以马上打下澳洲，打下印度……”中国抗战的胜利不仅终结了日本法西斯的侵略计划，更推动中国以世界和平建设者的身份深度参与国际事务，通过参与全球治理体系改革与建设，为维护战后国际秩序注入东方智慧，成为维护世界和平的重要力量。

(The author is former director of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders [10]10 Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders: a museum in Nanjing dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937-1938., and director of the Red Culture Research Institute (Institute for the Study of the History of the Communist Party of China and Party Building) of Changzhou University.)

（作者系侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆原馆长、常州大学红色文化研究院（中共党史党建研究院）院长）

Online editor: Tongxin

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