The Track Of Japan's Policy Of Invading China During WW ?&WW ?(1919-1929)

Japan regarded World War I as "God's blessing for Taisyo" and used its ally with UK as an excuse to declare war with Germany,with the minimum goal of seizing German's base in the Far East and the supreme goal of the dominating position in China by adopting "strong expansionism" strategies on politics and economy in China which was continued until the early postwar period.Shortly after World War I,Japan tried hard to push its idealist diplomacy in Paris Peace Conference and gained all the interests of Germany in Shandong Province.After the Conference,USA and UK swiftly returned to East Asia,and gradually increased their containment of Japan,proposing the Naval Arms Limitation Treaty Conference in 1922.Japan had to make a strategic contraction because of the great disparity in power compared with USA and UK.Meanwhile,Japan intended to practice its diplomatic strategy as a touch stone in the Washington Conference,but in vain.And Japan's strategy space in invading China was greatly compressed due to the containment from USA and UK.Accordingly,Japan had to launch its strategic contraction by shrinking back to Manchuria and intensifying its permeation by fostering Zhang Zuolin in secret.After Washington Conference,Japan shifted its strategy from military expansion to soft expansion,from explicitness to implicitness.This fine adjustment under the frame of Washington System became Japan's main strategies to invade China during this period.Accordingly,Jianddao,located in the interior East Manchuria,presented its increasing strategic importance.Before the Japan-Russia War,Jiandao hardly featured any military value.However,Jiandao witnessed its escalated strategic value soon after the Japan-Russia War and the growingly fierce competition among China,Japan and Russia in this area.For Japan,Jiandao served as the o'nly gateway to enter East Manchuria through Korea.Japan had coveted its sovereignty so long that it was waiting for a chance to take it over.Not long after the Japan-Russia War,Japan infiltrated into Jiandao in terms of military,consulate and politics,illegally setting up an administrative center in Jiandao under the name of Japanese Resident-General of Korea.However,facing the strong attitude and counteraction of Qing Dynasty,Japan realized the impossibility of seizing the sovereignty of Jiandao.Thus Japan decided to shut down the administrative center and established a consulate instead,which means Japan converted an illegal military agency into a consulate abiding by international laws.Besides,Japan established an array of livelihood services as a cover for its expansion.After the March 1st Movement in Korea in 1919,Japan deliberately directed and acted two Hunchun Incidents by taking advantage of the bandits in this area,then imputed these actions to China and commenced a cold-blooded Punitive Expedition to Jiandao in 1920.On the negotiations after the Hunchun Incidents,Japan resorted to both mild and wild measures to deal with Beijing government and Fengtian clique,putting forward varieties of unreasonable demands and intended a long-term military station in East Manchuria.When the negotiations came to a deadlock because of the strong oppositions from China,Japan pretended to retreat,seeking to make a great retreat impression on the international society,but behind the scenes took secrete measures of "retreating while negotiating " and "some(soldiers)retreat while some stay behind".Japan stationed a lot of military forces secretly in each fort of East Manchuria.What's more,Japan expanded its police agencies in East Manchuria by substituting police for soldiers,which laid the foundation for the next invasion to East Manchuria.During the Hunchun Negotiation,the relation between Zhili and Fengtian Cliques kept worsening and a looming war made the negotiation between Japan and Fengtian Clique end up with nothing.On March 29,1922,the first Zhili-Fengtian War broke out.Japanese government adopted an equivocally "Neutralist" policy as the so-called"interests" of Japan in Manchuria were not "jeopardized" by the Zhili Clique who didn't deploy troops outside Shanhaiguan.But the military of Japan was not an advocate of neutralism,and backed the Fengtian Clique with a mild support policy,solely aiming to strengthen the force of the Fengtian Clique in Manchuria and Mongolia.The first Zhili-Fengtian War ended up in the failure of the Fengtian Clique and the increasingly rising Zhili Clique started to unify the whole country.Japanese government deemed their "interests" in Manchuria and Mongolia "severely endangered" and Japanese government began to formulate a policy towards China so much like its military force's,shifting from the equivocal "Neutralism" to the naked"interventionism":aiding the Fengtian Clique to fend the Zhili Clique.Its military force also increased more "efforts" to assist the Fengtian Clique to seek the central power,shifting from the "mild" support to the "wild" support.To collapse the Zhili Clique,Japan took advantage of the interior conflicts within the Clique,and successfully instigated the rebellion of Feng Yuxiang to stage the coup in Beijing by the espionage of its military and civilian organizations in China.Under the influence of the National Revolution of China after the first Zhili-Fengtian War,China witnessed the unquenchable nationwide anti-Fengtian-faction and anti-imperialist movements.The Zhejiang-Fengtian Factional Warfare,the Anti-Fengtian-faction Warfare of Guo Songling,and the Feng Yuxiang's National Army-Fengtian Factional Warfare broke out in succession in the second half of 1925,which triggered the climax of a nationwide anti-Fengtian-faction and anti-imperialist movements.After the outbreak of the Zhejiang-Fengtian Factional Warfare,General Guo Songling mutinied in Luanzhou against the Fengtian Faction with the intention to overthrow the dominance of Zhang Zuolin in Manchuria and,in consequence,terminate the civil war in China.Shortly after the Mutiny in Luanzhou,the Japanese government adopted a "temporary wait-and-see" tactic while the Japanese military pursued a "phased interference" policy,namely,two warnings,two meetings,and three times of troop-rallying.Throughout lianshan Battle,Japanese troops posted in China intercept the northward march of Guo Songling's troops to Fengtian.After the breakout of Yingkou Battle,the forces converted its "phased interference" into an overall interference.The Japanese government,through joint efforts with the Japanese military forces,took advantage of the opportunity to interfere immediately,standing by Zhang Zuolin against Guo Songling.More Japanese soldiers were dispatched to Fengtian from Japan and Korea.Japan's overall interference played a very significant role in defeating Guo Songling's troops and dragging down Feng Yuxiang's army from assisting Guo,which resulted in the total failure of the Anti-Fengtian-faction Warfare.As a consequence,Zhang Zuolin came into the central power of China with Japan's assistance.After that,Japan arranged the cooperation between Fengtian and Zhili cliques to attack the National Army and forced Feng Yuxiang to relinquish power.Japan,claiming no interference of China's civil affairs,quickened its pace of invading China under Shidehara's coordination route by permeating toward South China through Zhang Zuolin.However,Zhang Zuolin displayed intimacy toward USA and UK after seizing the central power so as to hamper Japan's aggression.The severed Japan-Fengtian relationship annoyed Japan who started to seek new spokesman in China.On July 9,1926,government of the Republic of China formed the National Revolutionary Army to launch its first Northern Expedition.Early next year,the British Settlement was recovered.Japan saw this event as a good opportunity to co-opt Chiang Kai-shek and convert him to be Japan's new puppet.Thus,when Britain proposed a co-military intervention to Japan,the Wakatsuki Reijiro Cabinet turned down the offer.Apparently,Japan did not want to take the risk,instead it adopted a "sit-and-watch" policy,closely watching the tendency of Kuomintang(KMT)so as to replace Britain as the dominant power in the Yangzi basin and set up the Sino-Japan economic ring with Japan as the core.Even though the military force frowned upon Shidehara's no-intervention policy,it carried out the active intervention in secret without causing impact on Japanese government's plan of assisting Chiang against Britain.However,the Nanking Incident on March 23,1927 and Hankou Incident on April 3 lead to the abortion of this new mission asserted by the Wakatsuki Cabinet.Then,Seiyukai headed by Tanaka Giichi took the opportunity and launched an anti-cabinet campaign which attacked the government's policy toward China,scolded the no-intervention policy as ridiculous and totally denied Shidehara's coordination route.In the end,all members of the the Wakatsuki Cabinet resigned.On April 20,Tanaka Giichi took the vow to be the Prime Minister,promoting his jingoistic policy toward China and intervening the North Expedition.On June 27,the Tanaka Cabinet held the second Oriental Conference and drew up the policy of separating Manchuria and Mongolia,which distinguished China from Manchuria and Mongolia so as to ensure Japan's special interest in that region.Thus its continental policy was launched in advance.To intervene the Northern Expedition and the unification of China,the Tanaka Cabinet dispatched soldiers to Shandong Province for three times.Japanese launched a massive military attack,created Jinan massacre and occupied more than half of the Jiaodong Peninsula.To complete the Northern Expedition,Chiang Kai-shek decided to avoid contacting Japanese forces and made a detour along the Beijing-hankou railway.By the end of May 1928,the Northern Expedition Army attacked Fengtian Clique on all fronts,forcing Zhang Zuolin to retreat back outside Shanhaiguan.But Zhang was assassinated by Japanese in Huanggutun and the Japan-Fengtian relation became growingly intense.After acceding his father 's title,Zhang Xueliang began to negotiate with Nanking government.To prevent the unification of China,the Tanaka Cabinet put pressure on Zhang Xueliang for many times,aiming at separating Manchuria and Mongolia,but in vain.On December 29,1928,Zhang Xueliang changed the banner and pledged allegiance to Nankin government.Consequently,Tanaka's continental expansion policy failed,which resulted in the collapse of the Tanaka Cabinet and the return of Shidehara diplomacy.However,the military force kept watching its opportunity of breaking the bound of Washington System to regain Japan's special interest in Manchuria and Mongolia,and further expanded its aggression to China.As a result,a 15-year war originated from here.