The Initial Period of the Sino-Japanese War 1937–1939

Abstract

The article provides political assessments of the attitude of German military spe-
cialists to the processes of the initial period of the Sino-Japanese War. The authors are based
on previously little-known documents from the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of
Russia, some of these documents are put into circulation for the first time. The article reflects
the struggle of ideologies on the territory of China during its military clash with Japan. The
authors, based on German documents, show the harsh anti-communist nature of Japanese poli-
cy in the occupied Chinese territories, and also address the problem of Japanese chauvinism in
the late 1930s. The complexity of relations between the Japanese military and representatives
of the political and economic elites of China at the initial stage of the Sino-Japanese War led to
the support of the Chinese bourgeoisie for the Kuomintang regime, which weakened the posi-
tion of Chinese collaborators. The article shows the failure of the strategy of the Japanese oc-
cupation authorities aimed at splitting the Chinese society. The article reflects the role of Alexander von Falkenhausen at the initial stage of the Sino-Japanese War. The authors highlight the
issues of strategic miscalculations of the Japanese high command and shortcomings in the
strategy of Chiang Kai-shek.