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The CPC Was the Mainstay of the Entire Nation’s War of Resistance

曹子洋:中国共产党是全民族抗战的中流砥柱

· · CPC History & Party Building · Economic Daily, 28 May 2025, p. 11 · 11 min read

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has taken the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as its historical mission. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, at a critical moment of national peril, the CPC held high the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, resolutely upheld, consolidated, and developed the united front, adhered to independence and self-reliance and united resistance, and safeguarded the overall situation. Chinese Communists fought bravely on the front lines of the War of Resistance, propping up the hope of the Chinese nation for survival from national subjugation, and became the mainstay of the entire nation’s war of resistance. This was mainly reflected in their strong leadership in political thought, organization and mobilization, strategy and tactics, and military struggle.

中国共产党自成立之日起就把实现中华民族伟大复兴作为自己的历史使命。在抗日战争时期,在民族危亡的历史关头,中国共产党高举抗日民族统一战线的旗帜,坚决维护、巩固、发展统一战线,坚持独立自主、团结抗战,维护了大局。中国共产党人勇敢战斗在抗日战争最前线,支撑起中华民族救亡图存的希望,成为全民族抗战的中流砥柱。这主要体现在政治思想、组织动员、战略策略、军事斗争等方面的坚强领导。

Taking the Lead in Raising the Banner of Armed Resistance, Becoming the National Vanguard in Seizing Victory in the War

率先高举武装抗日旗帜,成为夺取战争胜利的民族先锋

On September 20, 1931, the third day after the September 18th Incident broke out, the CPC Central Committee issued the “Declaration of the Communist Party of China on the Violent Occupation of the Three Eastern Provinces by Japanese Imperialism,” calling on all workers, peasants, and toiling masses in China to “unanimously mobilize and arm themselves, and give a severe response to the Japanese bandits and all imperialists.” [1]1 The September 18th Incident (1931) was a staged event by Japanese troops, used as a pretext to invade and occupy Northeast China. On April 15, 1932, Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Provisional Central Government of the Chinese Soviet Republic, issued the “Declaration of War Against Japan,” formally declaring the Soviet government’s declaration of war on Japan, calling on all workers, peasants, soldiers, and all toiling masses in the country to unite in a national revolutionary war, drive Japanese imperialism out of China, oppose imperialist partition of China, and thoroughly win the true independence and liberation of the Chinese nation. After the September 18th Incident, the CPC, proceeding from the interests of the entire nation, issued a series of proclamations and declarations, reflecting the Chinese nation’s unwavering will never to submit to Japanese imperialist aggression, and solemnly proclaiming the Chinese people’s firm determination to fight Japanese imperialism to the end.

1931年9月20日,九一八事变爆发后的第三天,中共中央就发表了《中国共产党为日本帝国主义强暴占领东三省事件宣言》,号召全中国工农劳苦民众“一致动员武装起来,给日本强盗与一切帝国主义以严重的回答”。1932年4月15日,中华苏维埃共和国临时中央政府主席毛泽东发布《对日战争宣言》,正式宣布苏维埃政府对日宣战,号召全国工农兵及一切劳苦大众,一致起来进行民族革命战争,驱逐日帝国主义出中国,反对帝国主义瓜分中国,彻底争得中华民族真正的独立与解放。九一八事变后,中国共产党从全民族利益出发,发布一系列文告、宣言,反映了中华民族对日本帝国主义侵略决不屈服的坚定意志,庄严宣告了中国人民与日本帝国主义战斗到底的坚强决心。

The CPC not only participated in and actively promoted the development of the anti-Japanese national salvation movement in various places, but also directly led the armed struggle of the people in the Northeast. In 1933, when the armed struggle of the Northeast Volunteer Army turned from a period of high tide to a low ebb, the armed forces directly led by the CPC continued to grow in strength through struggle, pushing the Northeast people’s anti-Japanese guerrilla war to a new stage. From the spring of 1936 to October 1937, the Northeast People’s Revolutionary Army and other anti-Japanese armed forces were successively reorganized into the 1st through 11th Armies of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army. They fought a life-and-death struggle against the Japanese aggressors under extremely harsh conditions.

中国共产党不仅参加并积极推动了各地抗日救亡运动发展,而且直接领导了东北人民的抗日武装斗争。1933年,当东北义勇军的抗日武装斗争从一度高涨转向低潮时,中国共产党直接领导的抗日武装力量却在斗争中不断壮大,把东北人民抗日游击战争推向一个新的阶段。1936年春至1937年10月,东北人民革命军及其他抗日武装先后被改编为东北抗日联军第1军至第11军,他们在极其艰苦的环境中,同日本侵略者进行了殊死搏斗。

After the North China Incident of 1935, facing the severe situation of further deepening national crisis, the CPC Central Committee again called in the “August First Declaration” that “everyone should stop the civil war in order to concentrate all national strength (manpower, material resources, financial resources, military force, etc.) to strive for the sacred cause of resisting Japan and saving the nation.” [2]2 The North China Incident (1935) refers to a series of Japanese aggressions in North China aimed at establishing a puppet regime. The August First Declaration (1935) was a CPC appeal for a united front against Japan. On September 1, 1936, the CPC Central Committee, in its “Instructions on the Question of Forcing Chiang Kai-shek to Resist Japan,” abandoned the slogan of “opposing Chiang” and put forward the policy of “forcing Chiang to resist Japan.” On December 12, patriotic generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng launched the Xi’an Incident. The CPC Central Committee, proceeding from the greater good of the nation, facilitated the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident, creating the necessary prerequisite for establishing the second round of Kuomintang-CPC cooperation and waging a nationwide War of Resistance Against Japan.

1935年华北事变后,面对民族危机进一步加深的严峻形势,中共中央在《八一宣言》中再次呼吁,“大家都应当停止内战,以便集中一切国力(人力、物力、财力、武力等)去为抗日救国的神圣事业而奋斗”。1936年9月1日,中共中央在《关于逼蒋抗日问题的指示》中,放弃“反蒋”口号,提出“逼蒋抗日”方针。12月12日,爱国将领张学良、杨虎城发动西安事变。中共中央从民族大义出发,促成了西安事变的和平解决,为建立第二次国共合作、进行全国性的抗日战争创造了必要前提。

On July 7, 1937, the Japanese army created the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and China’s entire nation’s War of Resistance thus broke out. The day after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the CPC Central Committee issued a telegram to the whole country, emphasizing that “only if the entire nation wages a war of resistance will there be a way out for us,” and calling for “building an impregnable Great Wall of the national united front to resist the Japanese bandits’ invasion.” [3]3 The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937) was a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops near Beijing that triggered the full-scale Sino-Japanese War. On July 9, the commanders of the People’s Anti-Japanese Red Army, on behalf of all officers and soldiers, telegraphed the National Government, expressing their willingness to “immediately change their name to the National Revolutionary Army and request to be appointed as the vanguard of the anti-Japanese front, to fight a decisive battle with the Japanese bandits.” On July 15, CPC representatives delivered the “Declaration of the CPC Central Committee on the Publication of Cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party” to the Kuomintang. On September 22, this declaration was publicly published by the Kuomintang Central News Agency; the next day, Chiang Kai-shek issued a “Statement on the Communist Party’s Declaration.” This marked the formal formation of the second round of Kuomintang-CPC cooperation with resistance to Japan as the common goal. History tells us that it was the correct propositions and heroic actions of the CPC that led and promoted the rise and development of the nationwide War of Resistance.

1937年7月7日,日军制造卢沟桥事变,中国全民族抗战由此爆发。卢沟桥事变发生第二天,中共中央向全国发出通电,强调“只有全民族实行抗战,才是我们的出路”,号召“筑成民族统一战线的坚固长城,抵抗日寇的侵掠”。7月9日,人民抗日红军将领率全体指战员致电国民政府,表示“愿即改名为国民革命军,并请授命为抗日前驱,与日寇决一死战”。7月15日,中共代表将《中共中央为公布国共合作宣言》交付国民党。9月22日,该宣言由国民党中央通讯社公开发表;次日,蒋介石发表《对中国共产党宣言的谈话》。这标志着以抗日为共同目标的第二次国共合作正式形成。历史告诉我们,是中国共产党的正确主张和英勇行动,领导和推动了全国抗战的兴起和发展。

Advocating, Facilitating, and Maintaining the Anti-Japanese National United Front, Becoming the Core of the Entire Nation’s United Resistance

倡导促成维护抗日民族统一战线,成为全民族团结抗战的核心

The CPC deeply understood that the War of Resistance Against Japan was a war in which the enemy was strong and we were weak, and that the Chinese people could defeat Japanese imperialism only by establishing an Anti-Japanese National United Front and waging a comprehensive, entire-nation war of resistance. Therefore, the CPC regarded advocating, facilitating, and maintaining the Anti-Japanese National United Front as the foundation and political guarantee for victory in the War of Resistance, and took it as its own major responsibility. The Wayaobu Conference held in December 1935 clearly stated that the Party’s basic strategic task was to establish a broad Anti-Japanese National United Front. [4]4 The Wayaobu Conference (December 1935) was a key CPC Politburo meeting that formally adopted the policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. In December 1936, the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident became the pivot for the transformation of the situation. As Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out, “If in the past there had been no Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region sincerely coming forward to advocate stopping the civil war and resisting Japan in unison, then there would have been no one to initiate the Anti-Japanese National United Front, no one to lead the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident, and thus no way to implement the war of resistance.” [5]5 The Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army were the main CPC-led military forces during the war. The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was the CPC’s main base area, with its capital at Yan’an.

中国共产党深刻认识到抗日战争是一场敌强我弱的战争,中国人民只有建立起抗日民族统一战线,实行全面的全民族的抗战才能打败日本帝国主义。因此,中国共产党把倡导、促成、维护抗日民族统一战线,视为抗日战争胜利的基础和政治保证,并以之作为自己的重大责任。1935年12月召开的瓦窑堡会议,明确提出党的基本策略任务是建立广泛的抗日民族统一战线。1936年12月,西安事变和平解决,成为时局转换的枢纽。正如毛泽东同志所指出的,“过去如果没有共产党、八路军、新四军和陕甘宁边区真心实意地出来主张停止内战一致抗日,那就无人发起抗日民族统一战线,无人领导和平解决西安事变,那就无从实行抗日”。

From the very beginning, China’s Anti-Japanese National United Front had three distinct characteristics: broad national character and complexity, the coexistence of two regimes and two armies, and the absence of a unified organizational form and a common political program. In the early period of the entire nation’s War of Resistance, the Kuomintang showed a certain degree of enthusiasm for resistance, successively waging campaigns such as Beiping-Tianjin, Songhu, Xinkou, Xuzhou, and the Defense of Wuhan, and achieving victory in the Battle of Tai’erzhuang. After the War of Resistance entered the stage of stalemate, the Kuomintang gradually adopted a policy of passive resistance to Japan and active opposition to the Communist Party. In January 1939, the Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang determined the anti-Communist policy of “melting the Communists,” “preventing the Communists,” and “restricting the Communists.” [6]6 The Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang (January 1939) marked a shift in KMT policy toward greater suppression of the CPC. In mid-November, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang passed a new policy focusing on military restriction of the Communists, supplemented by political restriction. Under the guidance of this policy, the anti-Communist activities of the Kuomintang diehards rapidly expanded, from creating small-scale military frictions to developing into large-scale armed attacks on anti-Japanese armed forces and anti-Japanese base areas.

中国抗日民族统一战线从一开始就具有三大鲜明特点:广泛的民族性和复杂性、两个政权两支军队并存、没有统一的组织形式和共同的政治纲领。全民族抗战初期,国民党表现出一定的抗日积极性,先后进行平津、淞沪、忻口、徐州及保卫武汉等战役,并取得台儿庄战役的胜利。抗日战争进入相持阶段后,国民党逐渐实行消极抗日、积极反共的政策。1939年1月,国民党五届五中全会确定了“溶共”“防共”“限共”的反共方针。11月中旬,国民党五届六中全会又通过以军事限共为主、政治限共为辅的新方针。在此方针指导下,国民党顽固派的反共活动迅速扩大,由制造小规模的军事摩擦,发展成针对抗日武装和抗日根据地的大规模武装进攻。

On July 7, 1939, the CPC Central Committee issued its “Statement on the Current Situation for the Second Anniversary of the War of Resistance,” proposing: “Persist in resistance to the end – oppose halfway compromise! Consolidate internal unity – oppose internal splits! Strive for national progress – oppose turning back the clock!” [7]7 This statement is known as the “Three Persistences and Three Oppositions” slogan. In response to the dual nature of the Kuomintang, the CPC put forward the policy of uniting with and at the same time struggling against it, and took this as the general policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. On March 11, 1940, in a report delivered at a senior cadres’ meeting in Yan’an, Comrade Mao Zedong put forward the strategic policy of “developing the forces of progress, winning over the intermediate forces, and opposing the diehard forces,” and established the principles of struggle: “on just grounds, to our advantage, and with restraint.” [8]8 The principles “on just grounds, to our advantage, and with restraint” (you li, you li, you jie) guided CPC struggles against KMT diehards to avoid all-out civil war while defending CPC interests.

1939年7月7日,中共中央发表《为抗战两周年纪念对时局宣言》提出:“坚持抗战到底——反对中途妥协!巩固国内团结——反对内部分裂!力求全国进步——反对向后倒退!”针对国民党的两面性,中国共产党提出又联合又斗争的政策,并将其作为抗日民族统一战线的总政策。1940年3月11日,毛泽东同志在延安党的高级干部会议上作的报告提出“发展进步势力、争取中间势力、反对顽固势力”的策略方针,确定了“有理、有利、有节”的斗争原则。

Between 1939 and 1943, the Kuomintang diehards launched three anti-Communist high tides, and in January 1941 they even created the shocking Southern Anhui Incident. [9]9 The Southern Anhui Incident (January 1941) was a KMT attack on the CPC’s New Fourth Army headquarters, killing or capturing thousands of its troops. In a situation where the War of Resistance faced a serious crisis, the CPC, with its outstanding political leadership and correct strategic policies, guided the direction of China’s War of Resistance, unswervingly promoting the entire nation’s persistence in resistance, unity, and progress, and opposing compromise, splits, and retrogression. The CPC held high the banner of the Anti-Japanese National United Front, resolutely upheld, consolidated, and developed the united front, adhered to independence and self-reliance and united resistance, and safeguarded the overall situation of united resistance. It was the well-deserved core of united resistance.

1939年至1943年间,国民党顽固派掀起三次反共高潮,1941年1月更是制造了骇人听闻的皖南事变。在抗战局面出现严重危机的情况下,中国共产党以卓越的政治领导力和正确的战略策略,指引了中国抗战的前进方向,坚定不移推动全民族坚持抗战、团结、进步,反对妥协、分裂、倒退。中国共产党高举抗日民族统一战线的旗帜,坚决维护、巩固、发展统一战线,坚持独立自主、团结抗战,维护了团结抗战大局,是当之无愧的团结抗战核心。

Formulating the General Line of an Entire Nation’s War of Resistance and the General Strategic Policy of Protracted War, Pointing the Way for Victory in the War of Resistance

制定全面抗战路线和持久战战略总方针,为抗战胜利指明方向

After the outbreak of the entire nation’s War of Resistance, the CPC, based on the basic characteristics of both China and Japan, unequivocally put forward the general line of an entire nation’s comprehensive war of resistance, as well as the strategic policy of protracted war and active defense, pointing the correct direction for seizing victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan.

全民族抗战爆发后,中国共产党根据中日双方的基本特点,旗帜鲜明地提出全民族的全面抗战路线以及持久战和积极防御战略方针,为夺取抗日战争胜利指明了正确方向。

Chinese Communists recognized at the very beginning of the nationwide War of Resistance Against Japan that “the deepest roots of the great power of war lie in the masses of the people.” [10]10 The Luochuan Conference was a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Luochuan, Shaanxi Province, in August 1937, which formulated the Party’s line for the War of Resistance and adopted the Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation. The Luochuan Conference, convened in August 1937, proposed: “The central key to winning victory in the War of Resistance today lies in developing the already-launched War of Resistance into a comprehensive, whole-nation War of Resistance. Only such a comprehensive, whole-nation War of Resistance can bring final victory to the War of Resistance.” The conference adopted the Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation, which pointed out the concrete path for persevering in a protracted war and winning final victory. Chinese Communists firmly believed that mobilizing the entire nation’s common people would create a vast ocean in which the enemy would be drowned, create conditions to compensate for deficiencies in weaponry and the like, and create the prerequisites for overcoming all war-time difficulties. History has proven that the comprehensive, whole-nation line of the War of Resistance advocated and implemented by the Communist Party of China was the only correct line that had to be followed to defeat the national enemy.

中国共产党人在全国抗战爆发初期就认识到,“战争的伟力之最深厚的根源,存在于民众之中”。1937年8月召开的洛川会议提出:“今天争取抗战胜利的中心关键,在使已发动的抗战发展为全面的全民族的抗战。只有这种全面的全民族的抗战,才能使抗战得到最后的胜利。”会议通过《抗日救国十大纲领》,指明了坚持长期抗战、争取最后胜利的具体道路。中国共产党人坚信,动员了全国的老百姓,就造成了陷敌于灭顶之灾的汪洋大海,造成了弥补武器等缺陷的补救条件,造成了克服一切战争困难的前提。历史证明,中国共产党倡导和实行的全面的全民族的抗战路线,是战胜民族敌人所必须遵循的唯一正确路线。

In order to scientifically explain the prospects of China’s War of Resistance from a theoretical standpoint, refute the theories of national subjugation and quick victory, and inspire the confidence and fighting spirit of the entire nation, Comrade Mao Zedong published in 1938 *Questions of Strategy in the Anti-Japanese Guerrilla War* and *On Protracted War*. These works scientifically expounded why China’s War of Resistance was a protracted war, fully set forth a complete set of specific operational principles and policies for waging a protracted war, and clearly pointed out the strategic position of guerrilla warfare. Comrade Mao Zedong scientifically predicted that the War of Resistance would pass through three stages—strategic defense, strategic stalemate, and strategic counter-offensive—and regarded the stalemate stage as the “pivot” for turning protracted resistance into final victory. Comrade Mao Zedong elevated guerrilla warfare, which in past war history had usually been treated as an auxiliary form of combat, to a strategic position, and delved into the specific strategic issues of the Anti-Japanese guerrilla war. This played a huge role in unifying and raising the understanding of the entire Party and the entire army regarding the strategic position of the Anti-Japanese guerrilla war, and in promoting the development of the Anti-Japanese guerrilla war across the vast enemy rear areas.

为了从理论上科学地说明中国抗日战争的前途,驳斥亡国论、速胜论,鼓舞全国人民的信心和斗志,1938年,毛泽东同志发表《抗日游击战争的战略问题》《论持久战》,科学阐述了中国抗战为什么是持久战的问题,完整提出了实行持久战的一整套具体的作战方针与原则,明确指出游击战的战略地位。毛泽东同志科学预见抗日战争将经过战略防御、战略相持和战略反攻三个阶段,并将相持阶段视为持久抗战转到最后胜利的“枢纽”。毛泽东同志将以往战争史上通常作为辅助作战形式的游击战提高到战略地位,并深入阐述抗日游击战争的具体战略问题,对统一和提高全党全军关于抗日游击战争战略地位的认识,促进抗日游击战争在广大敌后战场的发展,起了巨大作用。

The enemy rear area battlefield led by the Communist Party of China gradually became the main battlefield of the War of Resistance and was the backbone force that persevered in the War of Resistance.

领导的敌后战场逐渐成为抗战主战场,是坚持抗战的中坚力量

During the whole-nation War of Resistance, the armies of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party fought against Japan on two battlefields: the frontal battlefield and the enemy rear area battlefield, respectively. The two battlefields were not isolated; rather, they needed each other, coordinated with each other, and assisted each other. Without the heroic fighting of the main forces on the frontal battlefield, it would have been impossible to smoothly carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines; conversely, guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines pinned down a large number of enemy troops and coordinated with the fighting of the main forces on the frontal battlefield.

在全民族抗战中,国共两党军队分别在正面战场和敌后战场两个战场对日作战。两个战场并不是孤立的,而是互相需要、互相配合、互相协助的,没有正面主力军的英勇抗战,便无从顺利开展敌人后方的游击战争,而敌后游击战争又钳制了大量的敌军,配合了正面主力军的抗战。

After the fall of Taiyuan in November 1937, the regular war in North China, in which the Kuomintang was the main body, basically came to an end, and guerrilla warfare, in which the Communist Party of China was the main body, occupied the dominant position. As the Japanese army’s strategic offensive deepened and the Kuomintang army retreated in defeat step by step, the people’s armed forces led by the Communist Party of China seized the opportunity, boldly penetrated deep into the enemy rear, extensively waged guerrilla warfare, and established anti-Japanese base areas. The military and civilians in the enemy rear areas created many highly effective methods for annihilating the enemy, such as sparrow warfare, mine warfare, sabotage warfare, water guerrilla warfare, etc., and also created forms of struggle such as establishing armed work teams, thereby developing the strategy and tactics of people’s war.

1937年11月太原失守后,在华北以国民党为主体的正规战争基本结束,以中国共产党为主体的游击战争占据主要地位。随着日军战略进攻的深入和国民党军的节节败退,中国共产党领导的人民武装抓住战机,大胆深入敌后,广泛开展游击战争,创建抗日根据地。敌后军民创造了很多颇为有效的歼敌方法,如麻雀战、地雷战、破袭战、水上游击战等,还创造了建立武装工作队等斗争形式,发展了人民战争的战略战术。

The opening up of the enemy rear area battlefield disrupted the Japanese army’s division between the combat front line and the rear, turning the strategic interior line into a strategic exterior line, turning passivity into initiative, and creating a favorable strategic posture of a pincer attack on the enemy. By the end of the War of Resistance, the people’s army had grown to approximately 1.32 million people, and the militia had grown to over 2.6 million people; the anti-Japanese democratic base areas under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, i.e., the liberated areas, numbered 19, covering an area of nearly 1 million square kilometers, with a population of nearly 100 million people. The enemy rear area battlefield not only became the main battlefield of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance but also played an important strategic role in the anti-fascist war in the Asia-Pacific region. It can be said that without the Communist Party of China and the heroic struggle of the military and civilians in the anti-Japanese base areas under its leadership, the War of Resistance could not have achieved a comprehensive and thorough victory.

敌后战场的开辟,打乱了日军作战前线与后方的划分,变战略内线为战略外线,变被动为主动,对敌人构成了两面夹击的有利战略态势。到抗战结束时,人民军队发展到约132万人,民兵发展到260余万人;中国共产党领导的抗日民主根据地即解放区已有19块,面积达到近100万平方公里,人口近1亿人。敌后战场不仅成为中国人民抗日战争的主战场,而且在亚太地区反法西斯战争中发挥了重要的战略作用。可以说,没有中国共产党及其领导的敌后抗日根据地军民的英勇斗争,抗日战争就不可能取得全面、彻底的胜利。

The victory of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance Against Japan was a historical turning point for the Chinese nation from the deep crisis it had fallen into since modern times to its great rejuvenation. Eighty years have passed, and the Communist Party of China, which is committed to its original aspiration and founding mission, will remember history, create the future, and unite and lead the Chinese people in realizing the great goal of building a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.

中国人民抗日战争胜利是中华民族从近代以来陷入深重危机走向伟大复兴的历史转折点。80年过去了,矢志践行初心使命的中国共产党将铭记历史、开创未来,团结带领中国人民实现强国建设、民族复兴的伟大奋斗目标。

(The author is Deputy Director and Researcher of the Second Research Department of the Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China)

(作者系中央党史和文献研究院第二研究部副主任、研究员)

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑:同心

Notes

  1. The September 18th Incident (1931) was a staged event by Japanese troops, used as a pretext to invade and occupy Northeast China. ↩
  2. The North China Incident (1935) refers to a series of Japanese aggressions in North China aimed at establishing a puppet regime. The August First Declaration (1935) was a CPC appeal for a united front against Japan. ↩
  3. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937) was a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops near Beijing that triggered the full-scale Sino-Japanese War. ↩
  4. The Wayaobu Conference (December 1935) was a key CPC Politburo meeting that formally adopted the policy of the Anti-Japanese National United Front. ↩
  5. The Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army were the main CPC-led military forces during the war. The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was the CPC’s main base area, with its capital at Yan’an. ↩
  6. The Fifth Plenary Session of the Fifth Central Committee of the Kuomintang (January 1939) marked a shift in KMT policy toward greater suppression of the CPC. ↩
  7. This statement is known as the “Three Persistences and Three Oppositions” slogan. ↩
  8. The principles “on just grounds, to our advantage, and with restraint” (you li, you li, you jie) guided CPC struggles against KMT diehards to avoid all-out civil war while defending CPC interests. ↩
  9. The Southern Anhui Incident (January 1941) was a KMT attack on the CPC’s New Fourth Army headquarters, killing or capturing thousands of its troops. ↩
  10. The Luochuan Conference was a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in Luochuan, Shaanxi Province, in August 1937, which formulated the Party’s line for the War of Resistance and adopted the Ten-Point Program for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation. ↩