Japanese Invasion of China: The Battle of Shanghai 1937 (Sino-Japanese War Documentary)

Get Nebula with 40% off annual subscription with my link: go.nebula.tv/realtimehistory
Watch Red Atoms on Nebula: nebula.tv/redatoms
In 1937 Japan invaded the Republic of China after already annexing Manchuria in 1931. With the international settlements in Shanghai, the military support through Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and the general escalation of the war, many argue that 1937 marked the start of the Second World War in Asia.
» SUPPORT US
/ realtimehistory
nebula.tv/realtimehistory
» THANK YOU TO OUR CO-PRODUCERS
Konstantin Bredyuk, Lisa Anderson, Brad Durbin, Jeremy K Jones, Murray Godfrey, John Ozment, Stephen Parker, Mavrides, Kristina Colburn, Stefan Jackowski, Cardboard, William Kincade, William Wallace, Daniel L Garza, Chris Daley, Malcolm Swan, Christoph Wolf, Simen Røste, Jim F Barlow, Taylor Allen, Adam Smith, James Giliberto, Albert B. Knapp MD, Tobias Wildenblanck, Richard L Benkin, Marco Kuhnert, Matt Barnes, Ramon Rijkhoek, Jan, Scott Deederly, gsporie, Kekoa, Bruce G. Hearns, Hans Broberg, Fogeltje
» SOURCES
Fröhlich, Elke. Der Zweite Weltkrieg. 2014.
Mitter, Rana. China’s War with Japan 1937-1945: The Struggle for Survival.
Paine, SMC. The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949.
Frank, Richard. Tower of Skulls. A History of the Asia-Pacific War. July 1937-May 1942.
www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/op...
»CREDITS
Presented by: Jesse Alexander
Written by: Jesse Alexander
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Above Zero
Editing: Toni Steller
Motion Design: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: above-zero.com
Research by: Jesse Alexander
Fact checking: Florian Wittig, Mark Newton
Channel Design: Simon Buckmaster
Contains licensed material by getty images
Maps: MapTiler/OpenStreetMap Contributors & GEOlayers3
All rights reserved - Real Time History GmbH 2023

[@realtimehistory]

Get Nebula with 40% off annual subscription with my link: go.nebula.tv/realtimehistory Watch Red Atoms on Nebula: nebula.tv/redatoms

[@lightyami5934]

PLEASE DO A DOCUMENTARY ON ONE OF THE WW2's (Semi-Forgotten) PACIFIC BATTLES KNOWN AS "THE BATTLE OF/FOR TARAWA"...but please give some detailed info on the equipment,vehicles,ships,etc. used from both sides...bc. It'd be AWESOME to have it covered!!!✌

[@dimas3829]

The western cleptocracies will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. Ponyal?

[@762mm_shinrine_tsudo]

The United States, Great Britain, and South Korea fought against Japan as allies.

[@Armageddon13121]

I heard that Japan conquerd Çhina. but can Japan do that again in Çhina? lol hahhaha Çhina might turn Japan into dinner now. when you have a lot of really powerful weapons. nothing is impossible you can conquer another country

[@dimas3829]

@@Armageddon13121 yeah, it can, judging how pathetic China lost to Vietnam after Vietnam dealt with American invasion.

[@bingzhewang3097]

My grandfather was a Nationalist army Veteran, who fought in the battle of Wuhan. He had very bad ptsd after the war as he always panics when he hears jet planes even at the age of 103. He was crippled because of grenade blast and even now there is a piece of shard in his right knee. My grandmother on my mom’s side was an orphan because her entire family was murdered by Japanese and she was raised up by her sister.

[@canman5060]

Not very much to the communists , they retreated all the way to the far interior where the Japanese never reached and getting their needed aids from both the Japan and Soviet Russia to defeat the Nationalists when Japan about to surrender to the American.

[@canman5060]

Chiang Kai Shek has a lot to answer for your grandfather and grandmother.

[@rexrabbiteer]

My respect to your grandfather for defending his homeland and people to the best of his ability.

[@Someoneishere114]

Respect to your family!!!

[@jeromebesson]

谎言：骗人的假话。Are not you confusing the battle of Wuhan with the battle of Chosin Reservoir or other battles of the Korean War? There were no jet planes in 1938, AQ. The Chinese first looted, raped, killed and burned down, fleeing. That was Chiang's scorched earth policy to yield ground and gain time, waiting for his American backers to send more aid. That aid served to line the pockets of the clique he served, the Zhejiang clique around the corrupt Song bankers family.

[@9999889]

China wasn't great at winning their battles, but they were incredible at not losing the war. How they didn't break under the circumstances is just amazing.

[@jxmai7687]

Chinese used their bodies to build the wall against the Japanese invaders.

[@destined0645]

Japan surrendered, so clearly China won this war

[@juanlu3958]

Two steps, the first step: disperse the direction of the Japanese army's attack. So they chose to start the war in Shanghai. The second step is to use the strategic depth to hold back the Japanese army. Wait for the big fish to join the fray. The Japanese are stupid, they chose to start war in Shanghai instead of withdrawing from Shanghai.

[@juanlu3958]

Only one person in the entire Japanese General Staff saw through Chiang's strategic intentions. But that person was also marginalized.

[@yenmeng]

@@juanlu3958who was that?

[@Masada1911]

Personally I think that the period between 1914 and 1945 is best understood as a second thirty years war.

[@ibrry4273]

Thirty years global war

[@sisleymichael]

Absolutely.

[@andrewstevenson118]

Oh, nice. I hadn't thought of it that way before. Don't know if it totally comparable though, except for the period.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

You can start from 1911 with Italy ottoman war and Balkan wars

[@elijahh3103]

Km😮😅

[@chris09891]

16:04 firing an AA gun with no trousers or underwear on is wild...reflects the panic they must have felt

[@skullsaintdead]

He might of been on the loo, poor chap, imagine getting your 5 mins of shitting time interrupted by bombings, people trying to kill you & sink your ship.

[@harrisongrant2507]

Was coming to comment about this, bro was literally balls out for the fight

[@CLARKE176]

China played an important role in the Allied victory by tying down the bulk of Japanese forces which would have inflicted far more casualties on the Western Allies. Chinese casualties in the war was second to that of the USSR and were the meat grinders of the far east. The Chinese contribution was however downplayed by the Western Hemisphere in the Cold War period after Chairman Mao and communist party gained power.

[@DezRoey]

因为真正抵抗日本的是国民党而不是共产党。

[@mopiko]

その通りだ。抗日の名を借りて中国軍閥はあちこちで中国人を大量虐殺していた。 だがそもそも、清国人が満洲国に侵入しなければ、日中戦争は無かった。 日本は同盟国である満洲防衛のためにやむを得ず清国人と戦った。

[@dkwhattouseasusername1012]

​​@@mopikoWhat? Manchuria was part of the Qing dynasty, it was literally where the Qing dynasty started from, it only became Manchukuo after Japan invaded and illegally occupied it (under international law, the League of Nations condemned it, tho Japan simply ignored them) , not to mention the heaps of war crimes committed there. The Japanese education system regarding history is failing you...

[@mopiko]

@@dkwhattouseasusername1012 盛大に間違ってますよ。 そもそも中国人も日本人も歴史授業で北京条約での満洲の扱いを正しく教えられてない。だから「満州は清国領、と誤解」し、「満州は日本が侵略、と誤解」して永遠にバカみたいに歴史問題化して騒いでいる。 もう一度、満洲の領有は、 満州族領（万里長城の北；中華の外） ＞清国領（満州族の清国）★１ ＞ロシア領（北京条約による） ＞日本領（ポーツマス条約による） ＞満州国（満州族；日本が投資と軍事顧問）★２ ★１）清国領となる以外は条約による。清国の中国大陸は「国際連盟主要国による侵略」で崩壊し軍閥割拠の内戦無法地帯となった。 ★２）戦前の中国大陸において「市民が飢えない近代国家」、「緩衝地帯となる国際的な平和国家」、は満州国だけであり、そういう貢献をした国家は日本だけである。

[@justin-pv6ff]

@@mopiko you were decedents of imperialist, lying, scheming & manipulating to expand only to bend the knee when the Russians took Manchukuo. Make a wrong move and the Chinese will make you bend the knee again. Even your Master USA cannot do a thing. The call for war & support for an invasion of Japan in modern days have always gotten huge majority people’s support of China, only to be restrained by the Chinese government. So please, tell your politicians to not make another mistake. 😉

[@rexrabbiteer]

I’m American but respect to the Chinese soldiers for holding on against 600,000 well trained Japanese troops which was more than half of japans military at the time. I can never discredit what those men went through, most of them were likely just farmers with no combat experience but they choose to do what they could for their country. No matter what I give my respect to them

[@VinnyUnion]

Yea that's prolly why Xi is keeping farmers under the watch.

[@qimengzhang2836]

At peak Japan deploy over a million troops to China

[@VinnyUnion]

@@qimengzhang2836 they also have a few samurais.

[@strawberrydragon6252]

There are many stories of Chinese units fighting to the death defending city pockets and inflicting completely disproportionate casualties. The Chinese were capable soldiers who were not properly equipped, trained, or supplied, and yet they held off the Japanese war machine for a whole decade. Those quality soldiers that the Chinese did have were a force to be reckoned with. Never underestimate the power of a Chinese Army.

[@VinnyUnion]

@@strawberrydragon6252 Under "Chinese Army" for some reason i'm imagining those green plastic soldiers from Toy Story - idk.

[@kittomottootto]

I'm a Japanese high school student. As a Japanese, I apologize for the war crimes committed by Japan to a lot of countries.

[@syufunguk1373]

Not of your faults but it's sad to say that the Japan-China war is the reason why Vietnam and Republic of China fail to fight against Communism latterly - which kill much more people than fascism.

[@xelkim9666]

As Chinese, you as an average person like me, have done nothing wrong, you do not need to apologize, similarly, I cannot accept apologies on behalf of our ancestors. My own wish is to stop pouring wasted water, it affects both you and me. I go to Japan often and never once was I disappointed, hope you may have a chance to do the same and visit China. You will see we love and respect you even if you are Japanese. Sincerely, A stranger from youtube

[@okayurright5846]

You don't need to. It is those invaders staying in Yasukuni Shrine that are responsible, and it is the Japanise politicians worshipping the shrine that should apologize.

[@Rockko06]

日本に住んでいる韓国人です。 歪曲した情報でかわいそうな考え方持っている人もたまに会うけど高校生なのに偉いです 尊敬する気持ちをお伝いたいです

[@mopiko]

君は無知な日本人だな。韓国人か？ 南京市民は日本軍が来るまでに何度も中国軍閥に襲撃されてい流入してて、結果的に日本軍が南京市民を助け、安全な南京城へ人口が増えたことは知っておいてくれ。

[@epicazeroth]

Just commenting to say Nebula is very worth it and RTH's videos there are great

[@Bob.W.]

Thanks for this.

[@oliversherman2414]

It's a shame that the Second Sino-Japanese War doesn't get much recognition in popular media. Great video as usual 👍

[@canman5060]

I think they assess it base on the impact of this war to the rest of the world. The medias in those saw it as a territorial expansion rather than global threat.

[@dunkey7739]

Even the eastern front doesn’t get that much media attention from the west

[@oliversherman2414]

@@dunkey7739 true

[@jason200912]

It was too depressing and one sided.

[@achtungbaby2009]

Popular media is western media controls by the west. Only follow the western narrative and their agenda on china.

[@bigsarge2085]

Incredible documentary as always, I always learn something new.

[@PollyCot]

The footage in these is incredible.

[@nvelsen1975]

It's nice to see Rana Mitter's book used as a source here. Personally I enjoyed reading it, well-written.

[@micahistory]

interesting video, I have never known too much about the details of the early part of the war other than the Massacre so it was nice having this explained

[@thenakedsingularity]

I am from NanJing. I'll never forget what happened to my city.

[@zenosama9989]

You are not even there at that time😅😅

[@horseman217]

What does that matter? Maybe he had relatives who were. You horrible person.@@zenosama9989

[@kzern]

@@zenosama9989 The parents, ancestors were there. They survived to tell the story. One that can never be forgotten.

[@floridblade]

@@zenosama9989 and you should use your mind and brain before comment.

[@monopalisa619]

@@zenosama9989 It's like saying the buses all over American have no right to put up sign says "never forget never forgive" every year at 9/11 because they were not in NYC. What a dumb argument to make.

[@genaro5766]

I understand 😁 I love the humor at the end of the videos , with the historical references ... this time with current history applied . Great video , always my favorite channel . Thank you .

[@micahistory]

It really is horrific what China went through during this time

[@arsnova1321]

Wasn't much worse than what took place before, or would happen after. The Cultural Revolution & Great Leap Forward are in fact arguably worse.

[@user-dt6zl8ff7f]

​@@arsnova1321 I'm a Chinese, don't talk like that irresponaibly, Japanese invasion is much, much more horrific and inhuman.

[@micahistory]

@@arsnova1321 agreed

[@geediosman6415]

@@arsnova1321yeah no it wasnt and you also have to consider that japan didnt just do it in china but all over the pacific with the greatest slaughter in china. to say that an event like nanking is the same like a massacre of mao is crazy

[@jiaerui1680]

@@user-dt6zl8ff7f Yea im also chinese. Cultural Revloution and Great Leap Forward were arguably only bad due to famines (which were happening before Mao, but never after him) They were also happening during the War of Resistance. They try to demonise Mao and in doing so justify japanese invaders

[@kidd32888]

Thank you for doing this!

[@sebastianhalmagean7037]

Another great vid, cheers!

[@carsonpopo8734]

Japanese always remember that American drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and forgot who's invasion China

[@afchehiro]

Thank you, really! And I think most of us understand something after every upload of you!!! Thank you again

[@t2av159]

amazing

[@alexlo7708]

What world people have never known is Japan army was supported by the US oil fuel and all logistic materials in this war until several years passed by, American just said it will stop supplying Japan war. When the Japanese felt they were betrayed by the US , they attacked Pearl Harbor.

[@hmoobmeeka]

That's a little fact bot many people know or ignore. Japan and US had diplomatic relations and when Japan and UK were at war, the US said it's staying neutral, but stopped selling oil to Japan to help UK. This angered the Japanese and what led to pearl harbor

[@alexlo7708]

@@hmoobmeeka "Japan and UK were at war"?? Japan and the UK were at war on the same day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor!!! Why?? Before The Americans had sanctioned Japan on oil, It guessed Japan would invade British Malaya to receive oil to replace the Americans. So, the US stopped selling oil to Japan and quoted that any war Japan was going to make with its allies, would be assumed to declare war on the US.

[@HWDragonborn]

​@@alexlo7708Japan invaded Malaya hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor due to time differences, so technically Japan was at war with the UK before starting another war with the US.

[@sw9276]

张纯如女士永垂不朽！！Ms. Zhang Chunru will live forever in our memories!

[@jeromebesson]

@sw9276 Zhang Chunru (张纯如女) committed suicide. She was suffering from depression and had discovered to what extent she had been used as tool of Chinese propaganda. The brainwashing she had been subjected to in the Chinese Nationalist environment of her upbringing had made her prone to swallow hook, line and sinker the anti-Japanese narrative of the communists. She died extremely disappointed with the Chinese.

[@Phlegethon]

I assure you the Chinese haven’t forgotten nor have the Koreans and it’s just the US that glosses over it and Japan that denies it

[@kennedy072]

What's that can't hear ya for being nuked twice

[@oki148]

@@pinkpenzu Tiananmen massacre was as real as Iraq's WMD, you should read the actual accounts of western reporters on the ground,

[@user-GTTW]

​@@pinkpenzu They don't deny 1989.6.4. Check it from Chinese government website--www.gov.cn/gongbao/shuju/1989/gwyb198911.pdf

[@stuglife5514]

@Phlegethon you are wrong about that. We remember. Our most common statute across the nation is that of a few marines raising a flag over Iwo Jima. We remember.

[@mikloridden8276]

You can blame Cold War politics. The US warmed up to Fascist regimes real quick

[@TomFynn]

I heard a joke from China: "Who was the best US president? Truman, since nuked Japan twice. Who was the worst US president? Truman, since he nuked Japan *only* twice."

[@tianhaoju4634]

One of the officers in Nanjing during its fall was Qiu Qingquan, who has been previously studying in Germany and was one of the first armored forces commanders of China. The rape of Nanking has arguably scarred him for life, only barely surviving disguised as a normal soldier, finally returning to the command in 1938 During the Kunlunguan campaign, the 200th division under his command decisively crushed the Japanese forces in a blitz-styled move, killing a general and forcing Japanese forces, completely out of supplies to literally eat tree skins before their destruction

[@davidz7858]

Tragically, he died several years later in civil war.

[@tianhaoju4634]

@@davidz7858 Qiu's corps was given a command to relief an encircled division at Chenguan Zhuang, but untimately, it only turned out to be a worse fiasco with three whole armies encircled His death is enevitable. The nationalists has lost the support of the civilian population long before huaihai campaign, and the poor command from high command only made it easier for the communists

[@Huben57]

@@user-kq9wv5xs1g Imperial Japan Try your hardest not to shrink your casualty counts in your battle reports. difficulty: impossible🤡

[@tianhaoju4634]

@@user-kq9wv5xs1g I dont know, maybe not in the middle east

[@afwasshortonwater4335]

@@user-kq9wv5xs1g 日本のナチスに人権があるかもしれない😁

[@user-cj8dj2td8w]

結構中立的で素晴らしいと思う。

[@mushroompiggy346]

During that time, Japan has Unit 731 in China use Chinese to do all kind human experiments include biology weapon. Japan government never have official apology to their crime.

[@marcogarcia4197]

Excelente video y saludos desde Lima Perú

[@ClaireR3]

Are you gonna do a video/series on the Spanish CW?

[@rimax82]

@16:11 the gunner on the right forgot his trousers 😅

[@wlwangwlwang]

已经看见了两个原子弹。😂

[@Artur_M.]

Ah, shoot! I was about to write that I get what you did there at the end, but then you explained it yourself. Seriously though, great video!

[@micahistory]

bro, how do i see you everywhere?

[@Artur_M.]

@@micahistory Hi! I could ask the same. 😅

[@JiakunLi]

感谢能制作这样真实详尽的英文视频。🙏

[@popopopooo1453]

wwwwww

[@4T3hM4kr0n]

German military support for china is a very fascinating subject that most people don't know about. The german trained divisions suffered massive attrition in the battle for shanghai.

[@icewaterslim7260]

Very accurate narrative of the conflict sourcing relatively more up to date information declassified in the '90s and after. Too many other documentaries on the 'Tube' were from the proverbial fog of wartime with the accompanying misconceptions that get to be assumed as what's available from limited sources and viewpoints that might be slanted for any number of reasons. . . .

[@mammuchan8923]

I put off watching this one for a few days as I knew how hectic it would be, and it was. I recall reading in Niall Ferguson’s The War of the Worlds how no one was spared. He wrote about what happened at a maternity hospital, the Japanese even raped women who were in labour and the nuns attending to them. There are many horrifying stories in war, but this one always shocks me anew.

[@ThatFlagGuyy]

Jit its been 1 dqy

[@mammuchan8923]

@@ThatFlagGuyy it felt longer because I always watch immediately 🤨. That would be the Covid brain effect

[@arsnova1321]

Sounds made up. The shocking brutality in Nanjing has unfortunately led to plethora of completely fabricated stories to enter the historical narrative. Many were killed and raped, so people feel its okay to just start making up absolutely ludicrous stories such as: "babies being beheaded, raped, and bayonetted". Many of these such stories turn out to be popular myths, invented by people who were never there, or without even speaking to someone who was there. Not to mention how the Communist Chinese government has inflated the atrocities that occurred there for propaganda purposes for the last 80 years.

[@mammuchan8923]

@@ThatFlagGuyy Ok I realised that it came up earlier on Patreon 😇. Jesse and team still make great videos, love this channel. Take care 🌞

[@ThatFlagGuyy]

@@mammuchan8923 oh sorry i forgot they release vids earlier on patreon and i dont have it so for me the comment didnt make sense

[@patrickmullen273]

I have so much respect for this channel and for Jesse and his team, so I say this with nothing but love and respect... But as someone who can only speak two languages with any amount of proficiency, it's kind of refreshing to see Jesse tackle a language - Mandarin Chinese - that he doesn't pronounce absolutely perfectly and beautifully 😂

[@ioanbota9397]

Its interestyng this video

[@jenniferlfm1876]

Hi, great content as usual. Not a complaint, but a suggestion on the editing front for names that are in the order surname-first name. I noticed that the fontsize for the surname-first names were small surname and large for the first name. Perhaps reversing this would make sense for names in the Eastern naming order.

[@jessealexander2695]

Thanks for the tip.

[@Athrun82]

This is almost like a modern version of the 2nd Punic war: one opponent nearly wins every battle but can't win the war because the other opponent simply shrugs and keeps on fighting

[@jonsong4592]

i didnt hear no bell

[@amotaba]

I really would like to see more sino-japanese war videos here! That front is very unkown

[@erikr007]

um, fighting like a true Scotsman - right gunner at 16:03

[@rimax82]

i thought i'm the only one who noticed... i think he was in a hurry.

[@bojose1004]

不论是国军还是共军，抵御外强保卫祖国都是值得尊敬的。

[@indianajones4321]

Yes

[@joeywheelerii9136]

Dude I've been seeing you comment on various history channels since the early days of The Great War Channel. Ngl thought you were Indy Neidell for awhile as well lol.

[@indianajones4321]

⁠@@joeywheelerii9136always glad to see another Great War viewer… never been mistaken for the great Indy Neidell though lol

[@aa2339]

17:16 headmistress of a girl's college was most likely Minnie Vautrin. She ended up killing herself back in the States, very likely due to PTSD.

[@peterlynchchannel]

16:04 I don't always fight half naked, but when I do, it's the bottom half.

[@Ealdorman_of_Mercia]

I stopped watching movies and TV series, I now prefer historical documentaries, like this channel :) Thank you !

[@mammuchan8923]

I agree, cancelled my satellite once I discovered how many brilliant YT channels there were during the pandemic lockdown

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

Same😅. I watching lot of shows and movies during corona 😅. But now i watch history videos only

[@mammuchan8923]

@@ShubhamMishrabro My history inner nerd is living its best life 😇

[@user-xt2rv2td4p]

U better watch kanchana and must know about shankumugm beych🙂😌😡🐯☠️

[@user-xt2rv2td4p]

Shangai yangsi Nanjing Shangumugym kanyakymare nanjeynado

[@talleman1]

We do not give China the props they deserve. China, like Russia, took the brunt of the war. We also shunned them after the war.

[@adeepseafish1238]

Not only that, the Americans covered up war crimes (human experiment, torture, etc.) of unit 731 and exonerated the perpetrators :(

[@901Sherman]

'Over in 1 month' Well, it's no 'Home by Christmas' but it'll do...

[@richardkeilig4062]

It is hard to imagine how all of the people suffered and died. War is a tragedy, and no nation has clean hands. Pray for peace and freedom.

[@omenapuulta]

Wrong wording on Mao. It was not Mao " agreed to fight the Japanese together", but rather Chiang agreeing. The communist called for a united frontier to fight Japanese for a long time, but Chiang insisted on "to fight outward , one must first finish the battle inside" thus continued the civil war. It was until Chiang general's mutiny which forced him to cease fire on Mao and turn his gun to Japan

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

That would be the Xian Incident where Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chiang and coerced him to form a united front with Mao since his home province of Manchuria had been occupied by Japan since 1931. He lived to be 100 years old and died in Hawaii. Zhang and General Sun Li Jen are two of China's forgotten heroes.

[@realtissaye]

It was the KMT who started the civil war, let's not forget. They were the ones who massacred communist party members in 1927 and broke the alliance the two sides had until that point.

[@jeromebesson]

@@LIbertyorDeath419 Zhang Xue-liang-liang was a Hanjian (漢奸)。The culprit and traitor was Zhang Xue-liang. To satisfy his own ambition and get rid of Chiang Kai-shek , Zhang delivered Chiang to Chou En-lai, believing the communists would eliminate him, thus opening the way for his own power grab. Unfortunately Yan'an hosted Soviet commissars who came up with Moscow's plan to get Tokyo and Washington at each other throat over the issue of Manchukuo. Chaing was the puppet of Stalin first and then of FDR.

[@snowlee-ml7rr]

U R RIGHT!smart guy.

[@snakes3425]

My grandfather served in the China-Burma-India Theater, in India.

[@LIbertyorDeath419]

Part of Stilwell's forces? That was where Gen. Sun Li Jen's expeditionary armies and Merrill's Marauders fought against the Japanese.

[@snakes3425]

@@LIbertyorDeath419 I believe so, he was baised in India (specifically what is now modern day Bengladesh) as part of the Army Air Corps. he wasn't front line, he was a mechanic fixing equipment on the base, he reached the rank of Sergent before he left the service at the end of the war. Still I take a lot of pride in his service

[@hlynnkeith9334]

5:00 How do you measure 'combat power'? I do not doubt that it can be done, but I do not know how to do it.

[@mensch1066]

Military History Visualized did a video on Italy in World War II back in 2016 and the sources he found that showed Italian divisions having a great deal less combat power than German divisions based their findings on the weight of ordinance that both divisions could fire off. Do a search for "Italian Forces and Industry in Early World War 2" and watch his video to see how one can try to quantify combat power.

[@googleisspyingonyou598]

A division with tanks and vehicles has more combat power vs a division with only infantry.

[@mensch1066]

@@googleisspyingonyou598 True, though in terms of weight of fire artillery is even more important, and NRA units were notoriously short of artillery (and warlord and CCP forces even more so). I've heard stories of Chinese artillery having tubes that were so worn out that they were effectively smoothbore guns that were ineffective for anything other than direct fire. But there were no replacements, so these tubs continued to be used.

[@hlynnkeith9334]

@@mensch1066 Thank you. I shall. @googleisspyingonyou598 I understand that. I suppose my question was not clear. How do you quantify combat power? In 1940, the French and the Germans both had tanks and vehicles. One for one, French tanks were superior to German tanks. But it is an historical fact that the Germans defeated the French. How do you measure the 'combat power' of Germans units and French units in 1940? If you cannot give combat power a number, you know nothing useful about it.

[@Benzi514]

That zinger at the end...ouch. Just got a feeling that the little bunker man doesn't watch real time history.

[@jkwo2007]

Dude, the channel Nebula you are representing is the most audacious, bold, candid, and sincere media to reveal what we Chinese people went through during that dark period. Europeans always remind the world of the atrocities committed by Nazies. But they don't know much even today about what Chinese people went through around the same time might be 10 times as much. Japanese today even try to erase this history from their school textbooks. I appreciate your channel's honesty and moral courage to mention this to the world.

[@pinkpenzu]

Then mao decides to kill more chinese

[@marcthomasrudolf4210]

And where the world reminds of the atrocities committed by the Allies, the world's greatest invaders, murderers and destroyers in all time? World's memory is worthless. Nothing but a result produced by war winners in current propaganda activities which dominate brains of a breeding mass.

[@edena276]

Propaganda are hard in our days :( but the western world, media and people won't admit it

[@user-nq9bw7jx4s]

あなたの言っている事は間違っているよ😅

[@Melvorgazh]

YES!

[@deutschthomas2751]

I hope that in the next episode there will be talks on the JP-Soviet battle on the Manchuria border which has a great impact to the both side: The battle result to a JP lost, and for JP they realized that the Red Army is too strong to fight against, supporting the idea to attack the West, and for Soviet it shows that the JP is not a great threat that the military there can be moved to the west side, and Zhukov and other new commanders are tested by this battle PS: there is a fun fact in this battle: JP's infamous 731 division secretly pours cholera to the river which the both army take the drinking water, but as this action is kept as secret even to other JP armies, a lot of JP soilders has drunk the water and became ill and die, while the Soviet military doctors quickly realized what happened and Zhukov simply ask trucks to bring clean water to the frontline comrades, at the last the cholera kills much more JP than Soviet

[@Speciale.Sdkfz__181]

コレラの話は初めて聞いたな、本当か？

[@mikloridden8276]

Wow I had no idea they did their operations there. But it makes sense since heaps of IJA soldiers surrendered because of sickness, I assume the doctors found out through them

[@taoliu3949]

​@@mikloridden8276IJA soldiers surrendered because the Emperor ordered them to.

[@stefanspett7790]

@@taoliu3949 They are talking about 1939.

[@moodswingy1973]

This could not have been more timely. Turns out a lot of people in the Oppenheimer debate have no idea what Japan was up to from 1937 to 1941.

[@thelastdefenderofcamelot5623]

I read an article when Obama visited Hiroshima years ago, that said more Americans now say bombing was wrong.

[@Sebstian342]

​@@thelastdefenderofcamelot5623 Dude your really trying to remove your filthy past that your ancestors have created, right? Face reality, facist.

[@mikloridden8276]

People have more sympathy for Japan and have no clue what they did that lead up to that point. Cold War politics suck.

[@wenliu9571]

In my hometown, millions of people took part in the Zhongtiao Mountain Defense War on the east bank of the Yellow River, which lasted for several years and caused countless casualties.In the Guanzhong Plain, the heartland of China, if the resistance failed and the Japanese army entered central Shaanxi, Sichuan in the southwest and Chongqing, the temporary capital, would be threatened.

[@Anzallos]

Love that stinger, Jesse 😉

[@priatalat]

Just call both world wars, World War. The inter war period was essentially a temporary armistice.

[@jonsong4592]

and a commercial break for last minute team changes

[@Kenny-Alpha]

It's interesting because years ago, I never knew that Japan and China even had wars and conflicts. We had some Chinese and Japanese men on my island (in the Caribbean) doing construction about 15 years ago. Whenever we would mistakenly call a Chinese a Japanese (because we thought they all looked alike), the Chinese would get really offended. Likewise, whenever we locals would mistakenly call a Japanese, a Chinese, the Japanese would get really upset and offended. We- at least I- never knew why both sides got offended, and why both sides hated each other. I just got my answer from watching this documentary.

[@21goikenban17]

Japan's enemies in mainland China were the Chinese version of IS and the Chinese version of the Taliban, which frequently committed terrorist acts against Japan. The Chinese knew that the Anglo-American puppet regimes had fought against Japan and started the Manchurian invasion, so they did not ask for any compensation from Japan. Of course, there are no stories of Japanese soldiers killed, burned, and hung by unarmed Chinese civilians like the Chinese Communist soldiers in the Tiananmen Square incident.

[@stefanspett7790]

Live and learn!

[@user-wd9uf1yx5x]

That’s true. I am a Chinese,don’t call me Japanese.Japan has always been China‘s enemy.

[@user-ct9lw1uk7n]

No one wants to be mistaken for Chinese 😂

[@shiyian]

@@user-ct9lw1uk7n thinly veiled racism

[@JobberBud]

"The Fuhrer won't leave me in the lurch." Meanwhile, the Fuhrer...well, you know that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio holding a brandy glass and chuckling?

[@anyonename8067]

With the historical hatreds and tense relationships, Eastern Asia may be destroyed once another war breaks out between China and Japan.

[@cpawp]

Ich möchte ein Projekt vorschlagen, das in der Vor-WW1-Phase liegt/ läge. Wie entwickelten sich die Beziehungen zwischen Deutschland, Frankreich, GB und Russland zwischen 1871 und 1914...? Danke für Ihre gute Arbeit.

[@dxelson]

Not forgotten, it is purposely surpressed to vilify China and project a cute image of Japan

[@popopopooo1453]

www

[@lightyami5934]

PLEASE DO A DOCUMENTARY ON ONE OF THE WW2's (Semi-Forgotten) PACIFIC BATTLES KNOWN AS "THE BATTLE OF/FOR TARAWA"...but please give some detailed info on the equipment,vehicles,ships,etc. used from both sides...bc. It'd be AWESOME to have it covered!!!✌

[@austin9988]

Agreed! I have researched the battle and have a lot of Japanese sources on it. I'd love to help with a vid if it was ever made.

[@lightyami5934]

@@austin9988 if you really do,let's try to contact the channel through more comments of yours,in hopes they answer...bc. THAT'D BE AWESOME AF to get an accurate documentary on the Battle... Either way,wish you the best and hope you menage to share the info with this and other channels who would do a documentary on it...

[@qingyangzhang6093]

17:00 My grandparents, great-grandparents and historians used to say that the Japanese soldiers would bring sweets and gifts, play with the children, and appear well-disciplined one day, and bayonet everyone and spread chemical weapons the next. It all depends on the whims of their officers.

[@alfrancisbuada2591]

No one talks about the Second Sino-Japanese War. Thank You for talking about this.

[@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz]

It's kind of like fight club.

[@timothy1949]

the initial mistake was to engage the japanese troops in a traditional manner, few chinese divisions had german training and higher quality equipment, and at the same time they mostly didn't have airforce, navy or artillery and tanks support...so the result is the best german trained troops were pretty much all destroyed in the battle of shanghai in 1937, when the war just started.on the other hand, the communist red army thought in the rural area, they engage the japanese in guerilla warfare and in many cases could even the playing field with the more supierior japanese troops. Evans Carlson was in china before and as the war broke out, he then moved to the chinese communist forces and met with people like Mao. he travelled with the communist forces and was impressed with the guerrillas tactics. later he became the leader of the second marine raiders battalion and employed a lot of these guerrilla tactics, they would then fight the japanese at the intial stages of the pacific war, often fighting behind enemy lines and achieve many success. later the marine raiders would be known as the first special operations force of the USA.

[@taoliu3949]

Chiang thought he could defeat and completely push out the local Japanese garrison. That said, Chiangs entire strategy revolved around drawing Japanese troops in away from the North and opening a second front in the south where the terrain was more favorable to him. In that sense he did succeed and forced Japan into a quagmire they did not want to be in.

[@rwdyeriii]

Just so you know, the fighting in China started on September 18, 1931 with the Mukden Incident where they invaded Manchuria.

[@omenapuulta]

But the Kuomintang choose not to fight and give away the land. Only the communists fight back.. Though they were not lead by Mao, and were rather closer to the CCCP. That lead to a political fight after 1949

[@twizz2955]

@@omenapuulta Chiang chose not to fight. The KMT had leaders that fought in 1931-37, like Ma Zhanshan

[@user-cu9kd8ko2i]

1931-1937 are like current 2014-2022 (Manchuria≈Crimea, Mengjiang≈Donbas, and the rest was invaded in the full-scale way by Japanese≈Russian forces).

[@twizz2955]

@@user-cu9kd8ko2i Agreed. Zelenskyy is also doing his best to try and protect the country like Chiang Kaishek did. I may not agree with all of Zelenskyy's policies, but I respect his ability to never surrender to invading russians just like Chiang never surrendered to invading japanese

[@jeromebesson]

This owes to the hare-brained notion that Manchuria should belong to China. But neither Manchuria, nor Inner Mongolia, nor Xinjiang, nor Tibet should belong to China. I omitted Taiwan because non-Chinese Taiwan obviously does not belong to China. In fact, neither Yunnan nor Sichuan, nor Shandong should belong to China.

[@robertjarman3703]

I absolutely say that the world war began in 1937. If a quarter of the world´s population is already at war, in an area that is very obviously so strategically important for the entire world, and is going to keep fighting to 1945, with the war being waged against an international power, and also involves direct combat between more than two states, then it doesn´t seem to make much sense to me to exclude it from a world war. Same as why I don´t see the First World War ending until the early 1920s too, probably with Lausanne.

[@cramanodos]

In order to consider this a beggining of World War 2, it would have to cause a chain of war declarations or, as some say, an intercontinental war. Sino-Japanese War caused neither of these, while Germano-Soviet invasion of Poland did. Germans declared war on Poland, UK and France declared on the Germans, Poland declared war on Japan (which Japanese rejected iirc) etc. So that's why If I got something wrong, correct me, but please go easy on me

[@stefanspett7790]

If the war did not start in 1939, neither did it end in 1945. Because the Vietnam war overlaps at that end.

[@21goikenban17]

To be precise, the World War began when Britain, fleeing the continent, declared that it would not give up its invasion of Germany and took the world with it. Until then, it was nothing more than an ugly territorial dispute between Westerners. And on the Chinese mainland, Japan was conducting armed guerrilla mopping-up operations against armed guerrillas who were frequently committing terrorist acts against Japan. Just as the US was fighting the IS and Taliban in Afghanistan.

[@shiyian]

@@cramanodos thats all in europe

[@HMSCheshire]

so real

[@INSANESUICIDE]

Or Italy in Ethiopia, or Soviet Union in Finland and Baltics?

[@multiversepatriot3148]

In my opinion, yes and no. The Second Sino-Japanese War became part a major part of the 2nd World War, though if it had never happened the mad art student dropout would have still invaded Poland. So to me it can be said to be yes and no at the same time.

[@TacticalGAMINGzz]

Well yes but no.

[@54032Zepol]

Yes because even if the art student didn't get accepted the Japanese still would have bombed pearl harbor, and attack European colonies in the Pacific and south east Asia even without the alliance of said art student the Japanese would have attacked regardless.

[@TheRealDieNamo]

The war only concluded with the defeat of Japan and they don't need to enter the war unless they invade China which also drags the US into the Eastern conflicts, even before Pearl Harbor.

[@chrisriverata1917]

​@@willemsmaNazi Soldiers during the Nuremberg trials:

[@dangreene3895]

If nothing else it was a preview of things to come

[@averagedenysenjoyer3779]

Everybody seems to forget about this part of history.

[@thelastdefenderofcamelot5623]

everybody seems to forget that white ancestors were also responsible for the destruction of the Chinese culture and decline of the Qing dynasty.

[@pinkpenzu]

Cause nobody cares

[@user-m11r49xy]

中国人永远不会忘记。忘记等于我背叛。

[@hannibalyin8853]

@@pinkpenzu "cAuSe NoBodY Carrres" oh you seems to care so much, you alone had 10+ comments on this thread, this video seems triggered your defensive instict, interesting.

[@flaviomulatojerkin]

The period since the fall of the Qing dinasty until the end of the civil war in 1949 in China is one of the best periods on History if you really like this subject

[@deadpool113]

Maybe it's not really impressive for the westerners but for east asians like me had a big shock and awe. Everyone says German invasion on Poland was the ignition of the world war 2 but for us it's Manchuria invasion 1933 or 32 sth

[@zacharywitt4009]

My Great-Great-Great Uncle's son was on the U.S.S. Panay!!! John A. Dirnhofer. Sea. 1c.

[@NenekAtuk89]

Ren'ya Mutaguchi, the very same commander that led Japanese failed offensive against British India during the Battle of Imphal and Kohima in 1944.

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

The videos are amazing but the statistics are a bit vague

[@jaymudd2817]

Japan first entered China in 1931.

[@amadeus2321]

Now, America confronts China and Rusia. That seems to be so ridiculous situation for most of Japanese people. And Japanese people NEVER hope America involves Japan, Taiwan and other asian countries in the conflict.

[@ghandithesupremeleader9740]

17:02 what word is he censoring?

[@walkingtour79]

Can you make a video on Anglo Nepal war? The history of this war is about to get vanished.

[@soundingbong321]

The amount of weebs defending these atrocities is hilarious 💀 "NOT MY JAPANESE NAKAMAS! IMPOSSIBLE!!"

[@shumyinghon]

China had revised their resistance war against japan from 1937 to 1931

[@popopopooo1453]

Yeoseong gi

[@WarMonkeyOG]

This is one of the best history channels on KZbin

[@popopopooo1453]

精子と卵子

[@user-wi9rf1zx5b]

what you didn't say is that in Nanijng there was a regiment of italian solders fighting with the chinese army to protect that city

[@santiagomorocho327]

Soldados Italianos en la batalla de Nanking?? De verdad?

[@user-wi9rf1zx5b]

Si, is showing in same documentary and pictures. I didn't know myself until I saw in those pictures and facts not known before​@@santiagomorocho327

[@djtruth8425]

The second world war in Asia is still ongoing. The Soviet Union and Japan never formalized. Peace, and Russia and Japan still have territorial disputes in the pacific

[@zd9596]

I still can't believe a lot of the young Japanese think they were the victims of the war. The Japanese government did a "Great" job to cover their sins.

[@sweatybotfn9982]

The Chinese are the real heroes of the pacific war. The stats show that America would have lost 4/5 of it’s entire fleet fighting imperial japan if China hadn’t been fighting and grinding off their powers for 8 years since 1937. It’s amazing how china fought for 8 years aghast the well equipped japan without any advanced technology, invaded by the 8 nations in the past and today, became a superpower. China has a sense nationalism and discipline that is unmatched in the world until now

[@jason200912]

China only fought the kmt which was basically entirely infantry rifle armed with no other weapons. The kmt even complained about their lack of artillery and vehicles and air support which caused their loss against zhukov.

[@Huben57]

@@jason200912 The KMT never fought zhukov

[@jason200912]

@@Huben57 Google kholkin gol

[@sweatybotfn9982]

@@jason200912 are you serious? Japan went for a full invasion with bombing, Air Force, armored vehicles, there was ship sabotage involved

[@jason200912]

@@sweatybotfn9982 they invaded using outdated junk that could barely fight the impoverished soviet vehicles. Their ground vehicles were basically all anti infantry.

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@user-cd4bx6uq1y]

How dramatic do you want your politics? Japan: 3:26

[@morenauer]

Damn, if you look at it from a certain point, China was muddled in wars for pretty much the first half of the 20th century. So much suffering.

[@user-ho2hg1pf3k]

the war in china didn't stop since 1840 England invade china.

[@melonkwol1449]

from 1840 to 1951

[@pinkpenzu]

Then mao was like: its my turn 😂

[@user-ct9lw1uk7n]

They love opium 😂

[@snowlee-ml7rr]

about 100yrs from 1840 to 1953

[@dai5900]

As a Chinese, thank you for exposing these things and let more people know 🙏🏻 Peace

[@WrathoftheHan]

自古以來，他們多次入侵。但我們還是堅持了下來，因為我們都盼望著有 那 一天我們可以還清這筆血債。幾十年過去了，我們變得更強，而他們卻變得更弱。我們的國現在比以往任何時候都更加強大，而他們卻陷入了黑暗。 兄弟們，報仇的時刻到了！這些都是殘忍殺害我們南京兄弟的魔鬼，你們去吧，把你們的種子播撒到這樣一個可惡的民族裡，讓我們把他們徹底消滅掉。這是我們的任务，去享受吧。

[@popopopooo1453]

www

[@toppokiman.japan1]

大日本帝国万歳！！天皇陛下万歳🙌

[@denisvyryschev8888]

21:55, Думаю многие уже поняли

[@kidmohair8151]

in answer to the thumbnail question. yes. and there is an argument to be made that WW1 never really stopped. it just moved around until it got going again, in earnest in 1939.

[@littlefluffybushbaby7256]

The argument of the world wars being one war with a pause is pretty much nonsense once you look at the facts. Both world wars could be looked at as a pretty separate series of wars. The war in China had little to do with the war in western europe. The pacific war didn't have a lot to do with the eastern front. Some beligerents were the same, many were not, some of those that fought on one side in one war fought on the other side in the other war. Some coutries involved in one war didn't even exist in the other. Basically you could string many wars together and say they were just a continuation. The Franco-German war of the 1870's and WW1 for instance. There were similarities, but also huge differences, and the similarities are also shared by other wars. To me it's lazy and dated thinking. Something that, said once, gains credibility through repition.