WW2 - Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941

[@mircowitch]

Its so difficult to properly show the troop movements in this war with front lines and involved military units often unclear. You have done a great job here!

[@Eastory]

Yes, it took me 3 months to do so.

[@interestingengineering291]

@@Eastory wow 🤩 thanks man I really love your work and your voice is soo smooth 😘

[@Burner.Account..]

​@@Eastory How did you manage to gain access to Chinese and Japanese sources tho? And how do you know what to look for?

[@jerryx3253]

@@Burner.Account.. I assume he has Patreons who could reas both Chinese and Japanese.

[@FDNY101202]

Facts

[@ShortHax]

When you invade a collapsing nation that’s been embroiled in a civil war and battle them to a draw for 9 years

[@ZemanTheMighty]

Sadly the tooth and nail defence of China by the nationalists allowed the communists to win the civil war

[@ISCARIOTSHIELD]

@@ZemanTheMighty why sadly

[@naruoze]

@@ISCARIOTSHIELD Because the CCP prove to be a totalitarian regime later. It slaughtered Chinese civilians and intellectuals even more than the Japanese army.

[@BlackpilledNihilist]

sigma movement

[@ISCARIOTSHIELD]

@@naruoze wtf I love the CCP?!!

[@ekszentrik]

The Chinese front was the ultimate whack-a-mole sunk cost fallacy of WW2.

[@purpleemerald5299]

Stalin: “SHIT, THEY’RE TRYING TO BEAT MY HIGH SCORE! *YOU FUCKERS!!!”*

[@mac2857]

@@purpleemerald5299 educate yourself

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@mac2857 Stalin: *_”BITCH DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!!!!”_* If anyone got that reference, I’ll be shocked.

[@memer7987]

@@purpleemerald5299 Mr-popo

[@Lawrance_of_Albania]

@@purpleemerald5299 you will eat rice one day

[@gargravarr2]

It's strange to see Chinese Army Groups being the equivalents of Japanese Divisions.

[@decimusdecius7858]

Chinese used a lot of manpower to stop Japan, they had more units than Japan but as its mentioned in the video the effectiveness of their army was bad. Important thing to note was warlordism in china. The country unified only because of Japan threat. Their army was patched together from various warlord forces at the start of the war. Together with civilian casualties, china had second biggest casualties in WWII, over 20 million people. Only fraction of their forces was close to western military standard. It was called 60 division plan. "In 1934 General Hans von Seeckt, acting as advisor to Chiang, proposed a '60 Division Plan' for restructuring the Chinese Nationalist Army into 60 divisions of highly trained, well-equipped troops along German doctrines." Only few divisons was restructured, and their potential has been wasted in battle of Shanghai (1:31 in video those units were part of 9th army group, the circle with number "9" you can see what happened to them at 2:18 time stamp.) Also china, not only produced its own arms and equipment, it bought alot from foreign countries before the war. Mainly from Nazi Germany and Czechoslovakia. After start of the war, they started getting support from allies which helped them to stay in the war.

[@jerryx3253]

A Japanese division possessed more artillery, machine guns and support units than an entire Chinese army corp. Sometimes even an army group did not have the comparable supporting arms than a Japanese first-class division.

[@looinrims]

Chinese units were small

[@Nathan-jh1ho]

Most Chinese units were poorly trained, lack artillery, also many units weren't full

[@rayray6490]

The Japanese division can be 15-20k men. A typical Chinese division can be anywhere from 5000 - 10000 due to many commanders pocketing from “empty rosters” on paper for what a full-strength division (9-10k) should be. 2-3 divisions make up a corp, while the 2-3 corps would make up a army group. I think the Chinese army corp is roughly the strength of a Japanese division but on paper only. Like other people mention, there’s simply not a lot of heavy weaponry and equipment to spare on the Chinese side. I think in some divisions, even the better ones…2-3 soldiers might share a rifle. Malnutrition is also a major issue especially in the latter years of the war. Limited ammo production for small arms also mean less ammo for target practice. All this means that other than the best divisions, the average Chinese infantryman is disadvantaged from the start

[@sporemaster18]

Absolutely awesome summary of the first stages of the war in China.

[@ethanyiu491]

Yes

[@jayg6138]

terrible. Taiwan island was under Chinese control until Japan invaded.

[@sporemaster18]

@@jayg6138 What? Taiwan had been under Japanese control since 1895. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_under_Japanese_rule

[@妮姆芙-o3z]

@@jayg6138 Taiwan is China's territory, according to the Cairo Declaration

[@fargr5926]

@@妮姆芙-o3z yeah, agreed, but Japan grabbed Taiwan in 1895, not during ww2.

[@dingusdean1905]

It’s great to finally see a good, in depth video about the 2nd Sino Japanese war. There’s almost nothing on the subject despite the intensity of the combat, the suffering of the people and the single minded resolve of the brave NRA defenders. Almost every city the Japanese stormed was its own Stalingrad. Lacking anti tank weapons, heroic young students *volunteered* to be fitted with grenade vests to take out the Japanese tanks as suicide bombers. It’s astonishing how none of this gets any real attention

[@norwegianboyee]

We always hear stories about concentration camps in Europe and the USA. Barely if ever do we hear stories of events such as the formation of Unit 731 or battles such as the battle of Shanghai. I remember being the only one in my history class to talk about Imperial Japan when we were making presentations about events in WW2.

[@chozer1]

@@norwegianboyee probably because we dont live in asia. if you want to focus on that its probably gonna be on some chinese site. is what i would say if it wasnt a dictatorship lol

[@aaroncabatingan5238]

Information about the 2nd Sino-Japanese War is unreliable at best and pure propaganda at worst.

[@dingusdean1905]

@@aaroncabatingan5238 which is exactly why it’s so hard to research yeah

[@lc9245]

Two folds, information about the war is still shrouded in bias and uncertainty. Half of that was due to the Japanese able to conceal their archive because they were not occupied by a foreign nation intending to dismantle it, so information would be able to be systematic change or destroy. The American occupation was also lenient and amiable rather than an effort in dismantling like others, thus the Japanese had more control over what they will provide to the public. Not only that, the successor state was exactly the same, and not one that was hostile to the previous one. Then, there's the Chinese records. This is even worse due to the KMT record being lost during the chaotic civil war. In addition, the CCP also pick and choose the information it wants to publish to glorify their contribution and diminish the KMT's. Thus, the information available have been through 2 governments, 2 wars, a few purges. Then, the nature of the war leaves a lot in doubt. While the first few years might have been action packed, with lots of interesting events and battles. After that, other than 2 major offensives, were mostly skirmishes and minor battles, as the front becoming static and the frontline confusing. From a military standpoint, the war became, boring. The Japanese themselves shifted from the IJA to the IJN, as war with the U.S. heated up. The war ended without the Chinese retaking China, but with the Japanese surrendering. Such as the situation in China, that if you live in Shanghai for the time, your life would be uncertain, but continue mostly normally after the titanic battle. The Japanese managed the economy badly, but there was still demand and supply, so people buy, sell, trade with each other and the Japanese as normal. The IJA can even be considered cushy military jobs, and many commanders made riches in China. Only the IJN was badly battered.

[@100thdragoon]

When Sugiyama and Nagano presented themselves, the emperor, observed historian Eri Hotta, “displayed the incisiveness he was capable of when utterly compelled-which did not happen often.” How long would war last with the United States?, he demanded. Sugiyama volunteered only three months. The emperor rejoined that Sugiyama had told him the China Incident would end in about one month, and now four years later it still raged. Sugiyama haltingly replied that China proved to have a vast hinterland. A clearly riled emperor retorted: “If the hinterland of China is vast isn’t the Pacific Ocean even more immense?” - Tower of Skulls, Richard B. Frank

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

Did this really happen? It’s insane that his excuse was that China was big. Did he not know that before?

[@olegdemianenko3054]

@@maxthexpfarmer3957 I can certainly imagine it happening. I have heard/read several times that Japan was overly optimistic and even delusional about successfully subduing their opponents and that a lot of crucial information was witheld from reaching their top brass, further reinforcing the optimistic outlook. Perhaps their consecutive victories over the course of 30 years have clouded their judgement and they actually believed they were unstoppable.

[@maxthexpfarmer3957]

@@olegdemianenko3054 They lost the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.

[@olegdemianenko3054]

@@maxthexpfarmer3957 They certainly did. I was saying that in general Japan was still quite successful in their conflicts and it may have given them the wrong impression that they were "the bigger fish".

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@olegdemianenko3054 Oh, it most certainly did. Their army’s “everything must die” mentality and lack of self preservation stemmed from a deep-seeded belief that their empire was a godly force of nature worth sacrificing *_everyone and everything_* for. It would have been hard to achieve such cultish devotion from anything _but_ a long string of decisive victories against larger nations. To this day my mind is still blown by how quickly all that shit went out the window after the war. For a _relatively_ peaceful occupation, America really seemed to make Japan its submissive bitch in that time, which I find to be a fitting punishment for their psychotic “death before surrender” soldiers to have bore witness to.

[@Ksensei41]

Never understood how large the offensive was before. Thanks

[@naruoze]

Thank you for having interest in knowing about this history. Didn't Japanese textbooks teach this history in detail? I wish they could remember and acknowledge the history as the Germans do.

[@jerryx3253]

@@naruoze Nah.

[@kaga-yh3ue]

@KSG In fact, when Soviet troops invaded Berlin, a large number of mixed-race people were born, but none of them have been identified in Nanjing.

[@warawara-o9t]

IN DETAIL?You can't find this in Japanese textbooks AT ALL

[@主人-u5z]

@@naruoze only in Chinese history textbooks

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

Evil Eastory be like: "Hello, I'm Westory, and today we will be talking about how I want Estonia to be annexed by Russia."

[@tankart3645]

I think you meant "Hello, I'm Westory, and today we will be talking about how I want Estonia to be annexed by East Estonia"

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

@@tankart3645 you mean southern Finland?

[@tankart3645]

@@SpaceMonkeyBoi I want to start a petition to rename Russia to East Estonia, and then the big chunk up there in north to East Finland.

[@sussymussydude]

@@tankart3645 ну нихуя ты замахнулся, проще переименовать Финляндию в северную Эстонию

[@filipinordabest]

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesti

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

I do hope you do a full series for the Chinese Theatre. It’s a very overlooked theatre of war.

[@googane7755]

Why do i see your comment everywhere?

[@AI-ih5or]

In fact, there is no need. From the Japanese occupation of Wuhan in 1939 to 1944, the Chinese and Japanese armies were basically in equilibrium on the front lines of the battlefield. Although the war is still very fierce, it has not changed much. In 1944, Japan was cut off by the U.S. military on the sea transportation route, and Japan regrouped its army to open up the land transportation route to Southeast Asia. At this time, China's elite troops were on the battlefield in Myanmar, so Japan was able to quickly occupy more territory, and the war situation changed.

[@owo5869]

@@AI-ih5or The elite troops are technically under western command and logistics I believe. 1944 ROC army is a shell of its former self, recruitment and conscription of local populace are somewhat common. Logistics isn’t a thing anymore. There was a report that 93% of U.S supplies that went to China went to the American semi military personal stationed in China. That means yes U.S is supplying something but contrary to belief propagandize by Stilwell, McCarthyist , and CCP the supplies wasn’t disappeared due to corruption there’s simply not enough going into the front. Japanese in their fashion launches their operation and you know the rest both ROCA and IJA damaged each other so hard CCP won.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@owo5869You are so wrong, the ROCA and CCP both had quite some time to prepare after the Japes surrendered. If anything the ROCA was better equipped compared to the start. There were way more stuff from the US to the KMT than USSR to CCP. I have no idea why people can't accept the KMT was a incompetent facist warlord state, even if you are anti-ccp, so what you want to support someone worse? Chiang was so incompetent the US couped him 5 fxing times, twice during the Japanese invasion. Because with the equipment he was given, the Americans were struggling to understand why isn't the Chinese armies kicking Japanese ass????

[@itjustjuan5148]

The Chinese theater is one of the most interesting aspects of the second world war. Glad you're covering it!

[@XMehrooz]

And the most brutal!

[@stoneruler]

Yes, it was absolutely devastating. The Japanese did the most unthinkable atrocities to China. Including using civilians as live samples for bio weapon experiments.

[@auzk2js71]

@@stoneruler 731

[@Bullet-Tooth-Tony-]

Chinas eastern front

[@西瓜-b7q]

@@stoneruler 來自台灣的分享日本有人體實驗和生化病毒鼠疫，死亡行軍對帶戰俘沒有依照國際公約和紅十字會基本人權，現在日本政府絕不承認慰安婦等問題還有屠殺的證據，正大光明參拜紀國神社⛩️

[@jirkakubec98]

I think the translation might be confusing, sometimes units like 集团军 are translated as 'group armies', while it's rather a (combined arms) corps, similarly 军 as an army, while it is a corps, and so on. So it might not be an XXXXX unit, but maybe an XXX unit, with smaller components than the Japanese corps, therefore equivalent to a division.

[@nathannaite0709]

It is more complicated as just few of 軍 and 集團軍 are in full strength

[@joewu7534]

Chinese集团军 is equivalent to a CORP. For example, CCP control 18th集团(corp) which has 3 divisions attached to it

[@jirkakubec98]

@@joewu7534 Thank you for the clarification! I know that 集团军 is correctly a corps, but unfortunately, most western analysts and so on translate it as a "group army" (not to be confused with an army group)... To be honest I really dislike that.

[@sakaijin7270]

@@jirkakubec98 This is a problem for both side. For me. I studied about Chinese army first. So when I first learn about european theater of WW2. I thought the east front was not that big. Because there were only three armies group under Hitler's command..... Then I realized I was totally wrong. There was more than one million personnel for only one single army group. While Chinese army group have no more than 100,000 personnel. The translation is pretty accurate. It's just the same word has been used to named different size of unit. In the west army group is the highest army unit. In China the highest unit is野战军 field army. Which similar to army group in west and consist of more than one million personnel. And both the two units doesn't exist in peace time due to the massive size and components.

[@owo5869]

@@sakaijin7270 All these military also have different systems for chain of command. We can’t find many good accurate translations for ww2 German command structure too qwq Are you a naruto fan?

[@superpacocaalado7215]

Japan: *invades China* China: I won't surrender Japan: He is smarter than I thouth

[@armandovaiandando6472]

Just like Hitler thought that the USSR would collapse/surrender

[@typegreen3434]

France：You embarrassed me

[@mkjyt1]

US literally helped China not to be conquered by Japan

[@ckjl7704]

@@mkjyt1 Not until they got bombed in Hawaii

[@sb17899]

@@ckjl7704 The embargo was basically direct help from the US to China lol. Not that the US actually cared about China I guess, they just didn't want Japan to get more powerful as it would be a threat to overseas US territory like the Philippines.

[@mollye]

"the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" -Hirohito's surrender broadcast on August 14th 1945

[@andrewlynch4126]

The greatest understatement of all time

[@czarson6694]

He's right tho

[@apalahartisebuahnama7684]

Because Japan's main enemies supposedly China and USSR, by giving themselves to Uncle Sam it would give them more advantage than fighting him.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@apalahartisebuahnama7684 What? Their main enemy is the US, which is literally invading the mainland

[@ОлегКозлов-ю9т]

"Majority of the population perished" Very calm way of describing something even historians used to call "rape of Nanjin"

[@noanyabizniz4333]

Eastory has far right sympathies and refused to denounce Trump and endorse BLM during a Q&A. I'm not surprised he is justifying the massacre of PoC.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

@@noanyabizniz4333 eastory did in no way justify the massacre in this video. And claiming that he is far-right because he didn't denounce trump is a bit of a joke. As an European my understanding of US domestic politics is limited, but i know that both Democrats and Republicans had more voters in 2020 than ever before. Claiming that all Republicans are far-right is just as unsubstantiated as claiming all Democrats are far-left. When you have only 2 parties in such a large country, it is natural that they serve as a pool for many different people.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

@lati long it is a bit surprising that there are actually denialists, since the massacre is very well documented.

[@autokrator_]

@@noanyabizniz4333 9/10 bait.

[@darklysm8345]

Historians call the invasion of belgium "rape of belgium" when only a few thousand died

[@Minboelf]

Japan: We can conquer China in 3 months Also Japan: Took them three months to secure Shanghai

[@XCal]

Specifically, it took the veteran Imperial 3rd army about that long to finally defeat the rearguard of about 300+ of China's greenest, freshest recruits with half their equipment displaced because said recruits refused to vacate a warehouse. It was too close to a British embassy to just bomb, blowing holes into the wall just gave them more spots to return fire from and Japan's finest kept getting out-melee'd when they try to storm the place. These guys were so stubborn, they refused to even budge from claiming they were actually 800 dudes flat (which became a meme, and then how they were remembered by) or from flying their flag. They also way overshot the time they were originally ordered to stall, and when they finally withdrew from the warehouse the ones too injured to retreat died fighting on their gun emplacements. Later in the Burma Road campaign, seemingly clear cut Japanese superiority would see attacks stalled because half-dead Chinese soldiers from units believed to be obliterated would climb out of the rubble of bombarded positions and begin counterattacking. If we could retroactively name countries, I'd have just called the place Cadia.

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@XCal China and the USSR sure seemed to have had a lot in common when it came to the disarray and incompetence of their leadership counter-acted by the sheer stubbornness and perseverance of their massive population.

[@owo5869]

@@purpleemerald5299 Yeah about the leadership part. Do you mean the leadership that lead a preindustrial society that is at civil war for the past 100 years and won a war against the 4 or 5 leading nation in the world? While having not yet integrated military power like communists and certain cliques both of them setting up self-governing zones all across the country? Also balancing internal politics, foreign diplomacy, and goals of western colonial powers? Furthermore stopping betrayers settling terms with Japan while evacuating the industries and central command centers (capital) and rectifying military command? Yeah dude easy job.

[@owo5869]

@@purpleemerald5299 dude educate yourself

[@purpleemerald5299]

@@owo5869 I never thought I’d see someone named OwO come to the defence of a bunch of Chinese warlords and dictators who were more than willing to sacrifice their civilians in the name of a nation that they themselves had willingly divided and weakened with their own political conflicts, but then again, I’ve had people come to the defence of Stalin, so I guess this isn’t too surprising. But thanks for reminding me just how much praise leaders around the world can get for dragging their populace out of crises they helped to exacerbate. I was starting to forget how depressing it all was…

[@cactusgreen4449]

wasn't china also in a civil war, until they formed the Chinese united front to defeat the Japanese.

[@jerryx3253]

United Front happened in 1936 I think after the Xi’an Incident. The communist and nationalist practically agreed for a temporary ceasefire.

[@James-uu6xs]

Yeah, after 1911 there were many warlords. All the way until the Kuomintang united china. But in 1927 they purged the communists and sparked continuous civil war until the Japanese full invasion.

[@Warsie]

There were still KMT and CCP crossfire incidents even *while* they were fighting Japan in their "8 years war of resistance" part of WWII

[@mxn1948]

@@James-uu6xs well, the KMT united china in name only. many warlords still held onto their private armies, only now they got a new title as a general of the RoC. this directly affected how ineffective the KMT armies would be later on in the civil war.

[@Kabutoes]

If I’m mistaken, Soviet general Zhukov was studying the battle of Wuhan and learned to prepare for what’s later known as Stalingrad

[@india-curry]

"I can conquer China in 3 months" -someone who cannot conquer china in 4 years

[@ccdsds3221]

They pretty much did...

[@axelNodvon2047]

8 years*

[@axelNodvon2047]

@@ccdsds3221 They did? How come the Chinese government never surrendered their country?

[@thejudge6453]

Sounds like "I can conquer Soviet Union in 3 weeks" -someone who cannot conquer Soviet Union in 5 years

[@ccdsds3221]

@@axelNodvon2047 controlling all of the country’s industry and all ports is not winning? That’s like saying the communists did not win the war because the government fled to taiwan and never surrendered... or germany conquering france in ww2?

[@jason8923]

Note on the map at 4:30 : Hefei was not an extremely important city then and it wasn't the provincial capital of Anhui (it only had a population of 30,000 in the 30s and was a relatively small town). The provincial capital of Anhui Province was Anqing until 1945. Also note that many areas of China were only nominally under Japanese control but the Japanese weren't able to exert their full authority over the entirety of the areas they occupied.

[@WBCY2024]

I guess he was trying to visualize the front lines. But you are right. The 100 regiment offensive couldn’t have been conducted if Japan controlled all of the territories

[@mxn1948]

@@WBCY2024 they controlled cities and major strategic points with forts/strong point they built. but they never really controlled the countryside.

[@Akkise]

Wasn't Hefei just a castle?

[@jason8923]

@@Akkise it was a smallish town.

[@vmerkwurdigliebe3751]

@@Akkise it was a county, so to speak.

[@Birdman369]

There was a minor battle against the Japanese that took place near the village that my dad came from. The battle for a crossing over a nameless river cost 300 lives. The names of those that could be identified were carved into the faces of the battle monument, those that could not were simply noted as "nameless martyrs". 300 doesn't sound like a lot but when you see the names on the monument it hits differently. Their sacrifices and the price paid in blood and lives ensured the continuation of our people and nation. No matter the flag, the Chinese soldiers that fought for us are all heroes and martyrs.

[@great8319]

Ya no matter the flag , Chinese is Chinese

[@waltuh2.3bviews3secondsago3]

I think numbers like 300 put into scale how huge the millions were in battles like stalingrad

[@lovelylavenderr]

As they say in war, "1 death is a tragedy, 1 million deaths is a statistic." We take for granted that when we hear that so and so many people died in a battle or in a war, each one of those who died had loved ones, and had a story. They all mattered to someone. Lest we forget, and glory to the heroes of China who fought bravely for her resistance against a ruthless and cruel enemy. Love from the United States. 🇺🇸💖🇹🇼🇨🇳

[@hiyukelavie2396]

Why would they be nameless though? Wouldn't they know who was missing after the battle?

[@kv4648]

​@@great8319 🤔 Uyghurs aren't Chinese

[@punanchnay]

Chiang was holding Shanghai in the hope of gathering Western sympathy and demonstrating China's ability to fight. Though the losses were large it wasn't a total mistake in my opinion. The IJA thought the whole of China would be captured in 3 months and Wuhan in 1 month and were shocked by the defence. Defending Shanghai for as long as possible also gave time for the vital industries and people to evacuate inland, critical to the continued resistance of China.

[@stoneruler]

But personally I think the battle would have been better made in Nanking. It was a far more defendable city. Shanghai was not in immediated danger at the time, and they could have relocated the industries westward before the final showdown.

[@punanchnay]

@@stoneruler I agree but Chiang chose Shanghai because of the international settlements, so it would happen closer to the eyes of the Westerners. Since the battle did not have the intended political effects, the sacrifice in military value was not worth it and can be regarded as a mistake. Though Chiang knew that China alone would not be able to defeat Japan so he took the gamble.

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@stoneruler nanjing is a indefensible city actually, defending downtown nanjing was a death trap for the defenders, and pre war there were actually extremely defensible bunker lines in the Wuxi, Suzhou, line. If chiang told the German trained units and the elite “ tax regiments” units to the Wuxi Suzhou lines, the elite Japanese army (3rd, 6th, 9th, 10th 18th Japanese divisions etc) would be stuck there for possibly 6 months and suffer greater casualties than just 100000 maybe up to 250k+

[@stoneruler]

@@iamcoolboi111 it’s really down to comparison. Nanjing has a river on one side and mountains on the other, which limits the direction an invading army can strike. Shanghai on the other side is flat, which makes it easy to surround, which was exactly what the ija did. Also shanghai is right on the coast, which meant Japan could easily supply their army with ships, and bombard the defenders with navy guns.

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@stoneruler Japanese could also use the rivers to bring their ships in to bombard Chinese troops, so it would also be a good idea to go cause river traffic to prevent Japanese from using the rivers.

[@SgtAndrewM]

when the world needed Eastory most....he returned, thanks for the great content

[@choysakanto6792]

Japan invaded China because of the following reasons: 1. *Food.* Japan has been dealing with food shortages since the Great Kantou Earthquake of 1923, even worsened by the Great Depression. Hundreds of thousands subsequently died due to hunger and malnutrition due to these tragedies. Japan as you can see is a small country of mostly mountains with an even smaller arable land from which they get their food, mostly rice, from. Not even their colonies in Korea and Taiwan were able to keep up with the demand. China meanwhile has the world's largest rice farming area which is just enough, if not more than enough, to feed Japan's population. 2. *Resources.* Japan once again is resource poor hence it's not surprising they invaded Korea decades earlier for its massive metal and coal deposits. And as mentioned in this video, they also needed oil. They even resorted to importing scrap metal (yes, like discarded metal) if they could not find proper metal just to keep their steel mills running. They have to import nearly all of their needed raw products from other countries at sometimes exorbitant prices. 3. *Great Depression.* Despite being an industrial country, the GDP of Japan is very small. Their only main export that time was silk. When the economic disaster came, it hit Japan to a hilt and got even poorer. However, China in reverse despite all its internal problems got a bit wealthier during the Depression due to its massive export of tea and silk and international demand for Chinese silver (the era before the war was called the Golden Decade). The massive influx of Chinese silk in the world market, which Japan couldn't match in quantity, eventually killed Japan's already fragile economy so much that its military leaders finally felt motivated to invade its neighbors for resources. 4. *Geopolitical threats.* The Russia of 1930's was not the Russia that they defeated (with great effort and hiding behind the blanket of international mediation otherwise the tsarist gov't would have continued the war and possibly even win it back) in 1905. The nearby Soviet Union was only growing day by day, even more so in its armed forces. Soviet technicians and advisers are assisting the Chinese in building a strong army, and there was even a talk of an alliance between the USSR and Chiang Kai Shek's China in the 1920's, one that would militarily steamroll Japan's presence in Korea and perhaps even reach the Home Islands itself. As if they were not enough, Japan being a tiny nation turned paranoid when it felt encircled not only by USSR and China but also Britain to the south and America to both the south and east. Japan felt it needed to act quickly before the tentacles of the imperial powers groped it. 5. *Religious belief.* Japan's military leaders thought of the Great Kantou Earthquake of 1923 that killed hundreds of thousands of their own people as a curse from the gods due to the decadence and excess of Japan's noveau riche and political elite as well as mimicking Western styles too much. They felt that to appease the gods they have to spread Japan's power overseas to show how they are the 'chosen people' of goddess Amaterasu. It didn't help that most military leaders were sons or grandsons of samurai who believed the gods endowed them the right to defend the land of the Rising Sun. So there goes, the reason of Japan's imperialism.

[@josten8044]

Thousands of years of Japanese history and even those of the Empire it all fascinates me. While the Empire crushed the shoguns, the military stilled honored them, going as far as modeling their military after the samurai, and even behaving as separate clans fighting for influence.

[@choysakanto6792]

@@josten8044 they modelled their army after Prussia and Imperial Germany and their navy after Britain but the culture and their outlook is pretty much still samuraic.

[@3dcomrade]

Nah, its militarists due to the success of mukden incident(in video 1931 Japanese invasion) China is used as a sunk cost fallacy. As for the public, if they just fell that easily. All in expansion if logical

[@choysakanto6792]

@@3dcomrade my points 1 to 5

[@3dcomrade]

@@choysakanto6792 the invasion of Manchuria is done without the green light of Tokyo. The time the news reached the capital. Kwantung army have scored some victories securing public support

[@onetwothreefour3957]

first time i've seen this time of the war be so clearly described thanks so much, every video you make i get reminded why you are one of my best subscriptions

[@oasis1282]

Ask

[@Kylesaystuff]

As Chinese, This war (we treated as part of WWII, and it truly is) always make me sad, not because of the war itself or the second-highest human casualties of WWII, is that after years of suffering, genocide, human experiment from the Japanese. After Japan surrendered, the end of WWII when the world was celebrating, the Chinese civil war will continue, the Chinese people will keep suffering, and forever divided the nationalist(Taiwan) and the communist (mainland China) till this day. We are all Chinese, but power and greed forever divide us.

[@宜之物]

You are right, I also hope China and Taiwan can be unified, we have been divided for too long

[@TheLocalLt]

@@宜之物 yes but only under the Republic of China not under the Communist regime

[@wanqingluo7991]

@@TheLocalLt I suspect the present administration in TW would come to rule all of China, given the opportunity, say when China is democratized.

[@TheLocalLt]

@@wanqingluo7991 that’s the outcome we certainly have to hope for

[@Kylesaystuff]

@n Zeppeli No, it has nothing to do with it, but I mean the thing is, China has been suffering from war and death for 40years, millions of death each decade, and the Japanese came, making things even worse. Civil war 2, millions of death, then the Korean War, millions of death, the Vietnam war, the cultural revolution, Chinese people suffering from 1840 to 1980 is truly a tragedy. Also, one of the reasons why the Qing empire fell was the war with Japan and the British and the Taiping rebellions in the first place. Second, if Japan didn't invade, the nationalist would have won.

[@magnapinna7169]

Can't believe how China can last long with all the external and internal threats it had at this time period. China didn't hear no bell.

[@魚金-o4d]

The different factions in China did stay united when Japan invaded, you can't have a civil war if your country is taken by someone.

[@dariuszgaat5771]

@@魚金-o4d There were still minor clashes between nationalists and communists.

[@stoopidphersun7436]

@@dariuszgaat5771 quite a few actually

[@Jake-dh9qk]

@@魚金-o4d If only the same can be said for the middle east.

[@魚金-o4d]

@@Jake-dh9qk I don't know much about the wars in the middle east.

[@asianperson104]

Japan: We have conquered your capital, most of your industry, and commuted war crimes on your civilians, surrender now or be annihilated!!. China: I DIDN’T HEAR NO BELL

[@gonavygonavy1193]

When you take on Britain (largest colonies) USSR (most territory) USA (greatest industry) and China (highest population) at the same time, and only admits defeat when 2 atomic bombs are dropped on you.

[@condty3123]

japan >= Britain (largest colonies) USSR (most territory) USA (greatest industry) and China (highest population)

[@maolo76]

China lost to Japan was the results of Manchu weak leadership during Qing dynasty. The inward looking Manchus was late to modernized. This gave Japan the edge. The Manchus was horseman. They were not accustom to large scale land battles. Now the Han Chinese have regain power and China is powerful again. Japan dont dare to invade china again.

[@NotFinnish]

There’s like nothing on this how!!! I’m very proud of my country for their effort! Fun thing: at Xuzhou, the 5th division, one of Japan’s best divisions, got held up because the local farmers cut their communications

[@leahcimmmm]

The common folk sure are awesome too

[@iamcoolboi111]

Not only that the best Japanese 5th division was also beaten at Kunlun pass, suffered heavy casualties and never returned to china after that battle.

[@Kingkhan-og8xw]

@@leahcimmmm well what do you expect when the Japanese massacred civilians.... You expect them not to resist

[@skywind9524]

@@iamcoolboi111 Yeah and they even lost a...旅团长？

[@iamcoolboi111]

@@skywind9524 Massao Nakumura yep

[@alehaim]

I kind of feel you did injustice with the initial explanation by just mentioning stagnation, when in my opinion it would have been a vetter way to say that China had been throguh civil war and reunited at last or something like that. The explanation of the battle for Shanghai was quite underwhelming and a bit incorrect. The battle of Shanghai was a bid to buy time for the Nationalist China to relocate industry and people to the west, open a second front against the Japanese to ease the pressure on the northern front and show the international settlement in Shanghai that the Chinese are no push overs in order to hopefully gain aid. Besides that, this is amazing!

[@Eastory]

Your explanation was in one of the original versions, but I decided to make it more simple.

[@三十而立立不立]

@@Eastory 我可以理解视频的制作者，你已经做的很好了

[@abukafiralalmani]

Next time I will play China or Japan in Hearts of Iron 4 - Not a step back

[@sghasas]

I played China and it is not easy, as better equipped Japan and the early start of the war manage to negate the massive manpower advantage of China. I needed to get a specific focus tree that early centralizes and annexes the communists in order to be better prepared

[@albertchan8798]

@@sghasas I usually just spam infantry outnumbering the Japanese by 5-1 it works fine but I haven't tried this strategy in multi

[@theobsidiangaming5381]

@@sghasas It is easy tho. Reply to me if u want me to tell you how I did it? Cuz I don't wanna type the entire guide and having it ignored.

[@Snp2024]

If you wanna win make better equipped bigger division (fully trained and stall Japan in North and lots of bigger cavalry division and let Japan land and quickly kill them outnumbering them at landing position rinse and repeat . It's always work for me better than spamming lots of underequipped division.

[@arturocevallossoto5203]

I remember doing that but in Darkest Hour for HOI2. There was an event "Setting Sun" that if you managed to hold out and push into Korea then the Japanese surrender.

[@m.r.daniel5395]

I learned a lot of new things about the Chinese-Japanese war from this video, and I think I learned the main cause for Japan declaring war on America. Thank you for sharing these things with us. We can't wait to see the next part of this video. Keep up the good work!

[@theskycavedin]

You put Tibet in "China" even though it was independent at the time...just saying

[@histoky2010]

It becomes easier for the map animators

[@naruoze]

Thank you for refering to the Nanking Massacre. Although I'm not a Chinese nationalist and will soon move to Japan, I hope the Japanese could remember and acknowledge what horrible things they've done in that war. Japan is now a nice country, but they could only get full respect if they acknowledge and reflect on their warcrimes like the Germans do.

[@nielslach9343]

It's unbelievable that the japanese still don't recognize the massacre. You can't learn from history if you don't acknowledge it.

[@jerryx3253]

Appreciate your thoughts. However most of Chinese knew that Japanese would never acknowledge the fact. (Just like the Turks would never acknowledge the Armenian Massacre)

[@Snp2024]

You don't have to be nationalist to acknowledge one of worst warcrimes .

[@aokiboo0419]

There are so small amount of time for school education of modern history in Japan. Shameful govments have been cutting education and hiding their past invasions and war crimes. Feeling very sorry. But welcome you, thanks for coming.

[@naruoze]

@@aokiboo0419 Yes Japanese government is so right-wing and it seems like the majority of Japanese people are right-wing inclined. It surprised me that in a democratic country a left-wing party which supports same-sex marriage got only 20% votes. Thank you for your welcome:)

[@calisthenicsnoob9990]

The brave Chinese that fought to protect the nation are forever heros.

[@-frogmanontheisland7525]

While focusing on the war, I'll tell you a story about my family. Whenever the Japanese troops occupied a village, if they found a beautiful young woman in the village, they would take the girl and use her as a prostitute inside the army. My grandmother escaped because she made herself up as a man.

[@Chinesenow]

我的天啊...感觉日本真的过分😡😡

[@cheng3580]

My ancestors fought in these battles. Each side of my family played a part on both sides. (I'm both Japanese and Chinese)

[@TapOnX]

so your like a korean?

[@rorychivers8769]

@@TapOnX No that's a different country. You can look where it is on a map if you like.

[@ganfy465]

@@TapOnX what

[@citytianyu]

@@TapOnX LOL, what a bad joke.

[@lochunlam811]

@@TapOnX lol

[@estiarosenkreuz6628]

As a Chinese, this video is so good, but, probably the video would mislead the understanding of people on the condition of china at that time, in 1930s China was not such a united one like what video showed, not like Soviet Union, but actually was controled by many independent warlords and factions, and they were fighting each other. Not all the Chinese military were fighting Japanese. That's why we see Chinese army far outnumbered Japanese but still lost again and again.

[@superpowerdragon]

finally, I left a comment about doing sino-japanese front in the other ww2 videos, never thought you are going to do it, so glad you did!

[@jaichind]

Part of the ROC strategy of attacking Shanghai is to turn the war from one of Japan advancing South from Northern China to one of the Japanese advancing West from Eastern China. The more West you go the more mountainous it is which negates the Japanese advantage of mechanization and firepower.

[@thereynaldosan7695]

well... """mechanization""" more like horses and paper tanks

[@jerryx3253]

I mean Shanghai Campaign is not the worst idea. It’s just what follows after in the defense of Nanjing was a total shamble. (The entire Fortified line was abandoned without much resistance, not much formations were intact after the Shanghai Campaign)

[@kamovka2317]

@@thereynaldosan7695 well mechanized compared to the chinese who air tanks and human leg instead of horse

[@thereynaldosan7695]

@@kamovka2317 yes, that's why japanese was so efective againts them but so weak againts the US

[@thereynaldosan7695]

@KSG You just have to see the amount of casualties that the Japanese suffered when facing the United States compared to those suffered by the United States

[@howardhughes3026]

Japan still has shrines where murderers are found

[@leefromshanghai4456]

I hope you will not forget that China has also made great contributions and sacrifices to World War II 我希望大家不要忘记中国人民也为二战作出巨大贡献及牺牲

[@lintulv9486]

Eastory has officially become my favourite channel on this site. I only have one question. How do you make these videos? Where do you get the information needed, what program do you use? I appreciate all anwsers i get!

[@李怡宁-v5y]

My grandmother's father was bombed to death by the Japanese when she was not born yet. She has never met her father. She was supposed to have a good life considering how poor my country was back then while her father could make enough money to support the family. We are taught from primary school to not hate Japanese people today because they weren't the criminals who had done it and we should treasure the peace our ancestors fought so hard for. But we are sad and furious to see that some Japanese politicians, especially right-wing politicians and citizens are trying to cover this all up, denying the truth. They even changed the history books of the younger generation.

[@dr.woozie7500]

The land they covered was so the vast Japanese had no way of asserting complete control over it. They mostly just held the frontline areas and strategic forts and cities. They had no control over the countryside and that’s why pockets always developed.

[@sethheristal9561]

Why Japan attacked USA? Another possible answer: Japan continued on a road already full of mistakes, hoping that somehow the situation would get better.

[@joselee9605]

The choice was between the Soviet Union and the USA, I guess they thought the US was too far away to car

[@WBCY2024]

@@joselee9605 soviets hadn’t no developed oil field in the Far East, whereas the SE Asia had many built by the Europeans and Americans.

[@jamesjamison3463]

It was literally explained in the video.

[@marcogh]

First :)

[@Killerbee4712]

"I can take China in 3 months" - Someone who cannot take China in 3 months

[@민-c3t]

As a Korean, I personally call that 'Independence bomb' I feel sorry for the Japanese civilians who died in that bomb, However people need to see the numbers of civilians that Japanese soldiers killed during that time. I must say that bomb was necessary and it saved at least 20x more lives considering that Imperial Japan never wanted to stop doing Asian holocaust. So I feel sorry for the civilians who died and I thank for the bomb which stopped Asian nazis. Japan's historical distortion, historical revisionism, is too absurd Every country has a dark history. That's one thing. Whether they are ashamed and regret the wrong doings in the past and not cover it up is another

[@khoneyboeaku5847]

我觉得你说的很有道理

[@mingandtao]

很有道理。When I see the movie Oppenheimer and the bombs felt into Japan, I felt completely relaxed, thought Oppenheimer seemed to be guilty

[@mingandtao]

Though, not thought

[@민-c3t]

@@khoneyboeaku5847 Japan was a serious demonic empire at the time. I'm neutral to history, too.

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

Lu Xun (鲁迅) once wrote: "For all of ignorant people of a nation, even if their body is somehow strong, somehow grand, even then they can only make meaningless displays of this "strength". As for the multitude of constituents and observers, however many may die from this sickness, this is still not to be considered as unfortunate"

[@slkjvlkfsvnlsdfhgdght5447]

and what does it mean? it seems pretty opaque

[@winstonsp4689]

Is it Lu Xun from Chinese three kingdoms era?

[@GandalfGreyhame]

Amazing video as always! Some constructive criticism: don't display movement with arrows, but with the armies themselves like you've done before. It makes for much cleared and easily understandable animation, and it looks a lot better! :)

[@badbob9596]

Why China ended up becoming a communist nation is one of the great, mostly untold stories of that time period. It all started with what you have shown in this video and i would love to see more.

[@魚金-o4d]

@KSG It was a lie who many believed due to the heavily corrupted KMT also.

[@CrasusC]

@KSG It's not as simple as that. Yes KMT was wore out, but at the start of the civil war, it is still stronger than the CCP forces, as NRA had the elite X and Y corps trained in Burma Theatre, and KMT had more numerous soldiers. That's why CCP forces lost many battles and had to give up so much territory in 1946. CCP forces only become stronger later in the war, when various policies, such as Land Reform, gave them manpower and material advantages, and CCP generals employed guerilla and maneuver warfare to wear down the KMT forces. It was true that KMT was much less popular than the CCP at that time, because of perceived non-resistance during the initial Japanese invasion, during that of the stalemate period and the loses during Operation Ichi-Go. This perception was NOT true, as NRA did all they can to slow down Japanese advance. However the perception was there, and CCP capitalised on its propaganda values. The other reason KMT was unpopular was because of corruption. This is true though. I can give two well documented examples: 1) many generals in the NRA registered "phantom units" with the central government in order to get more funding, 2) many ordinary people were press-ganged into the NRA, resulting in resentment. A further reason that KMT was unpopular was because of the mismanagement of economy during the war years. The hyperinflation in Free China during the war years is well documented. One result of hyperinflation is that ordinary people's savings were wiped out and they were stuck in poverty, which did not help the KMT to garner support.

[@pocketmarcy6990]

Mao cheated

[@extra9690]

@KSG KMT with 4M army VS CCP with 2M army. Guess who win? excuse is useless. KMT's corruption is the main point. that's all.

[@ciaclee]

@KSG lol, looks like you still don’t understand why the communist party won.

[@idontgetit8325]

The amount of time and effort it must take to properly represent the lines of the chinese united front in a simple way that’s easy to understand is a lot more than one would normally think.

[@linero7760]

但他在描述这段历史的时候夹带了太多主观观点。 说一个点，二战前国民党作为政府时，台湾就在其控制范围内，地图上缺失了这个点。 其他还有很多，如果你们对中国反侵略战争的历史感兴趣，可以看现在大陆和 台湾的的教科书。我都看过我自认为大陆的没太夹带私货，只看大陆的就行了，如果信不过就都看看，有不理解的地方可以一起聊聊。 总结:这不是一个好的视频😅

[@danirafi6430]

5:08 HOI4 Tactics lmfao

[@耿永凯]

The Japanese have never apologized for their crimes until today，山川异域，不共戴天

[@HaIodust]

As a Chinese, they teach this war very in dept at school, and I feel very sad knowing my ancestors suffered through this much

[@luishernandezblonde]

China was second after the USSR to have the highest amount of casualties fighting for the Allies against the Japanese. Shame they lacked recognition.

[@mastermirror3888]

I would like to add that although Chinese partisan troops(mostly Communists) did not inflicted much casualties to Japanese troops, the guerilla warfare caused much difficulty for Japanese to gain profit from its occupied territory, and Japan had to mobilize some of its forces against the partisan troops instead of using them to attack KMT's regular forces. Japan could not gain what it wanted, and had to invade Southeast Asia, which caused the Pacific War.

[@altacc0604]

Also contrary to popular belief, CCP didn't get most of manchuria. They only took the outskirts while the KMT took the important parts such as Shengyang and the machu capital(forgot name). They had 1.25million people armed with old siezed japanese weapons while the NRA has 4 million with western aid. CCP certainly did not get a free win unlike what most ppl think

[@mastermirror3888]

@@altacc0604 Indeed. I think you are refering to Changchun (Hsinking of Manchukuo). By the end of 1946, KMT forces had already taken most of the major cities and railways of Manchuria. CCP were also receiving aid from USSR but it was much less than what KMT got from USA

[@mastermirror3888]

@@altacc0604 And it's ridiculous that many ppl believe CCP won because of Soviets' help. The initial victory of PVA against UN forces proved that PLA at that time was not a common rag-tag third world army, but a efficient and formidable army that may rival even US army to some extent.

[@lolasdm6959]

@@mastermirror3888 I think you are ignoring the fact that the vanguard 39th army PVA units making the first offensive in Korea were armed with Springfields, Leenfields and Type99 rifles. If PVA were just using local weapons, PVA would have just failed. If you look at Chinese ww2 rifles sold overseas, half of them don't have rifling, and get stuck a lot. Which explains the absurdly bad performances of the general Chinese forces against the Japanese, when compared to completely British armed KMT divisions which demolished the Japanese in Burma. It's rivalling the US army to some extent because it sometimes literally use the same weapons, like the Soviets didn't even have heavy artillery during the Korean war. Mao boasted once that the all 50 heavy artillery China had were all American made. Mao also started several new plants which made American designed guns in Manchuria because the PVA soldiers were telling him the Thompson machine gun was better than the Soviet PPh.

[@mastermirror3888]

@@lolasdm6959 I'm talking about communist partisans during WW2. At that time, chinese communist forces did not have much modern weaponary(guns and ammunition were far from sufficient, and very few artillery). The US-made weapons you are talking about were first given to KMT for fighting Japs, and then were seized by PLA during Chinese civil war, so you are speaking of the truth, but you got the time wrong.

[@HistoryHustle]

Great production again, Eastory. I also admire your work for the WW2 channel.

[@stoopidphersun7436]

Nice to see you here

[@音楽-s7b]

なんかつじつまの合わない部分がありますね。

[@theinternetacademy.4678]

Just want to say that China wasn't united like in the video. It was a mess of Warlords,Communists and Nationalists (the most powerful group). Btw don't take this as a hate comment this is a great channel its just a pretty big mistake.

[@abukafiralalmani]

I am so excited 😁

[@leaaae4638]

I can't believe all these wars only happened 80ish years ago. Looking around the world now. We have advanced so far.

[@tongmu5881]

At that time, the entire regular army of the Chinese army had only 400 cannons, 132 bofors 75mm howitzers, 48 ​​German 150mm cannons, and 60 105mm cannons. It was completely dependent on the lives of soldiers to fight modern tanks and aircraft for 4 years. Although politically incorrect, we are still very grateful that Hitler sold us these cannons. Without these cannons, the situation would be even worse.

[@n1nj4sp4rt4n]

And soviet supplied air and equipment

[@weareeverywhere8851]

A national socialist also set up a safe zone in Nanjing, saving 100000 civilians from being captured by Japan.

[@johnb.8687]

Must have been before the axis treaty.

[@lessthanpinochet]

That's crazy considering that the Germans and Japanese were supposed to be allies.

[@andrewfyip]

@@johnb.8687 yes, Germany only withdrew their support of China after allying themselves with Japan.

[@flagassault9715]

Would the US still be involved if Japan didn't attack Pearl Hwrbour but still seized European oilfields in south East Asia?

[@gisg9700]

Philippines was colonized by US at the time, so I believe that even if that happened, the tensions created in south East Asia probably would've ended up US to be involved anyway.

[@mxn1948]

probably, though it might take a bit longer. that said japan couldn't leave itself super open to the americans, given that if they had taken the european colonies but not the Philippines, then the US would certainly have fortified it and presented a major danger as all materials japan takes from the colonies would have to pass by the philippines.

[@wojtekpolska1013]

id like if you shown things like marco polo bridge incident but its a cool video

[@lipschitzlyapunov]

Japan: Invades a collapsing country in the midst of a civil war without winning while weakening it so much to allow the communists to win shortly afterwards Also Japan: hey guys I'm the victim here

[@Cahrssomething]

It’s kinda sad that nukes were basically necessary, no one remained unscarred in the pacific after ww2, warcrimes thrown out like a contest

[@fyrdman2185]

They did win though, it only lost due to American interference, Japan had barely any resources and China was getting lend lease from the US.

[@taoliu3949]

​@@fyrdman2185 First of all, China barely received any lend lease. Japan had essentially cut off all major ports of entry into China which made it near impossible to ship lend lease materials into China. What little did make it into China were flown over the Himalayas and mostly consisted of aircraft flown by the USAF. Second, Japanese offensives into China had essentially stalled after 1938 and would see very little gains until 1944 with Operation Ichigo.

[@fyrdman2185]

@@taoliu3949 This is cope, Roosevelt extended Lend-Lease to China on 6 May 1941, and thereafter China received considerable Lend-Lease assistance ($846 million), though this was dwarfed by that given to Commonwealth nations and Russia. Of this, some $820 million was in the form of outright grants. This was in addition to $643 million in credits outside the Lend-Lease program from 1938 onwards. Also the fact that the US outright sent troops in the form of a "volunteers" such as the Flying Tigers and coupled with the fact that Japan itself was cut off from necessary resources to bolster the war effort with the oil embargo and other things.

[@taoliu3949]

@@fyrdman2185 It is not "cope". You've even said yourself, most consisted of grants, not weapons. The truth of the matter is the NRA received very little in the form of military aid from the United States. This was one of the main points of friction between Chiang and the US. Japan being "cut off" of its oil supply by the US through embargo was due to Japanese aggression in French Indochina in 1940, prior to which the US could care less about Japanese operations in China.

[@nby333]

Eastory: Covers the eastern front. Eastory: We must go even more east!

[@floodercw]

My grandfather joined the Chinese (ROC) military trying to protect his home country when he was 16, 17 years old. I was lucky to hear him sharing the story of fighting against the Japanese troops and communists when I was young o7 to those great warriors and those who sacrificed their lives 😭😭

[@NYG5]

Dude must have had crazy stories, man. Jeez like 25 years of war

[@啦啦啦啦-y1u]

致敬

[@fargr5926]

向国军将士敬礼🫡

[@haisee1671]

Cool!

[@aussiemilitant4486]

The true start of WWII. Awesome video as always Eastory.

Chang Kai-shek’s holding of Shanghai was to put a show to foreigners that China was determined to defend itself in order to attract foreign aid

[@baozili5674]

They found oil in Manchuria in late 1950s and soon became the largest oil source of China. This brings a great pain to the Japanese because if they had carefully surveyed the land they had taken, there is no need to go to war with the US.

[@greg5028]

Excellent work as always! Really hoping to see the Soviet Union vs Japan especially on Sakhalin island in 1945.

[@LogicalReasons]

Amazing!

[@s.r.asocialistalbanianmapp2055]

we wanting for video about balkan

[@Design--om2zx]

Yeah that would be cool

[@exoels]

Kosovo is serbia

[@briketacerny3181]

Tibet was a neutral state and was not part of the Republic of China

[@Noobmaster-ch7hr]

The sheer amount of divisions and movement of those divisions must have taken a hell lot of resources.

[@viracocha6093]

It did

[@Reddy_Santhosh_]

African campaign next please

[@chrisklitou7573]

0:15 it began in 2011? Hur I didn't know that

[@MjaDeal]

13😊

[@aimooncancer3823]

The one that win WW2 is the Chinese people and the National Revolutionary Army from ROC🇹🇼

[@PakBallandSami]

Other men are the carving knife and serving dish; we are the fish and the meat. -Dr. Sun Yat-sen

[@garmonplays]

This is an amazing video, PLEASE MAKE MORE CONTENT,I've been waiting for more uploads from this channel for ages.

[@lancetheking7524]

Hmm Wuhan, that sounds like an interesting city, I hope that it prospers and doesn't cause any worldwide problems!

[@luckyme5063]

Hmm u bet

[@AustrianChaos]

Very well done, I love how this channel presents military history in a much more organic, comprehensive way!

[@jack_apo]

4:15 100,000 Chinese people drowned in the flood.

[@WBCY2024]

3 main factors of the war that made it impossible for Japan to fully conquer China: #1. The Chinese decision to escalate the war: The Chinese knew its only advantage over japan is its vast population and land. Japan, like Germany against Russia, wanted a quick and decisive victory over China to sign a treaty and focus on other areas. The Chinese were fully aware of these. The decision to go into a war of attrition instead of suing for peace had profound impact on the course of the war. The escalation also caught international attention and the eventual blockade by the USA. #2. The decision to open the ShangHai front: This is extremely important. It is not simply to trade territory. Historically speaking, Chinese civil wars are mostly fought north to south. This is because of the lack of natural barriers along this path. It is easy to mobilize troops from north to south, canton to Beijing, for example. Very flat terrain. (This is also why the Great Wall was build to add barriers along this vulnerable path). Opening a front in Shanghai meant Japan had to attack from the east to the west. The inner mountainous region of China presents a natural barrier to any east-west advance. The Japanese supply line would be constantly under attack from high ground, and any advance into SiChuan is met with all kind of organized counter attack from unfavourable grounds. The Burma road kept the nationalist supplied to the bare minimum, but the lend lease was enough given that China fought on favourable high grounds for the later stages of the war. #3. The Japan’s inability to secure the country-side: while the frontlines favours the Japanese, and the nationalist takes the brutal spearhead of IJA, the country side that is supposedly conquered by the Japanese were often in communist control or contention. Other than Manchuria (which the Japanese stabilized), the majority of conquered territory had communist presence. They would disrupt supply line, conduct spy operations and fight skirmishes with the Japanese constantly. Japan’s culture value are simply not compatible to Chinese culture. People were not content with Japanese rule (especially when massacre happens). This cost Japan a whole lot of resource as they need to constantly put down communist uprisings. Basically mirrors how the soviets were able to defend against the Germans.

[@zealord9399]

They did well until they decided to attack the western colonies and start genociding chinese people.Had they do the opposite then maybe at least they could get much larger territory or get less resistance in the occupies territory

[@宜之物]

As a Chinese, I am really excited to see such detailed videos about the Sino-Japanese War on KZbin

[@DTermination71]

Japan: why would the Chinese let u shave Wuhan without a fight, do they know we are still going to commit war crime's? China: you just triggered my trap card *covid 19 intensifies*

[@viracocha6093]

4:09 poor 24th

[@lagrangewei]

this video totally miss the soviet involvement in the east which is important to understand why Japan did not join Germany in the attack of the USSR to capture the oilfield in Russia instead of striking at US.

[@kc5226]

Looking back from now, Changsha fire and yellow river flood was a terrible operation by Chiang.

[@halyup]

Delayin tactics that proves futile

[@karuneshmehta9161]

Amazing 😄

[@chadchad2483]

Nice work. It’s very difficult to reasonably visualize the troop movements in this war, because informal forms of war including guerrilla warfare and mobilizing/anti-mobilizing civilians in occupied areas( which counts for a huge portion of Chinese people) were so important. Japanese forces could always advance barely opposed if they want, but their unsafe supply route and manpower drain( more compared to that in USSR, because of the rough terrain, poor infrastructure and population) due to occupation could not be neglected. Usually, a few guerrilla units led by communists can threaten many territories, while formal KMT Chinese armies are mostly undermanned and ill equipped. So I feel both military units and territorial change should be visualized for a comprehensive work. There are some attempts on territorial change during the war, which may exhibit the power of the battles ‘behind the line’, in Chinese websites for reference.

[@johnanon372]

Nationalists hold the front line and partisans pin down as much Japanese force as possible.

[@alexandrualex1085]

Finally someone make a video about the "easter from" in ww2

[@さんさか]

I am Japanese.This explains us Japanese history so understandable.This video is good!

[@rijnvanessen7359]

Can you also make an episode about the Korean War And Chinese Civil War. Good work Eastory👍😁

[@GurtMan100]

I love the combination of animation and commentary, it shows everything in context so well!