A Study Of The Burma Road (1937-1942)

The Burma Road is a typical representative of China's highway in wartime,which is of great significance in the history of Chinese highway engineering and Anti-Japanese War.Its construction marked the beginning of wartime highway engineering in China.This paper takes the Burma Road as an example,systematically studying the application of western road technology in highway construction from two aspects engineering construction and road operation—by the way of the excavation and collation of historical data.According to the research,it is believed that although the road condition of the Burma Road was not ideal,and caused great casualties because of the lack of road construction funds,tools and medical treatment,China has accumulated a whole set of experience in wartime highway engineering construction as regards to road survey,recruitment,highway construction to highway maintenance through two stages of the engineering construction.On the other hand,with the practice of operation,the Burma Road has set up a complete set of supporting service organizations and institutions including road signs,warehouses,stations,transportation management departments,police stations,hospitals and so on.And the Burma Road centralized the original disperse authority at the management level and clarified the responsibilities of various departments.This was an important promotion of modern highway management ability in China.This paper further sets the Burma Road in the construction process of road transport network in wartime to discuss the influence of the Burma Road on the wartime construction of highway network in the southwest.The research shows that the Burma Road was the pioneer and executor of wartime highway construction in the early period of time.At the later stage,the highway technology and road construction experience were spread through the flow of engineering projects,such as engineers,workers,civil servants,supervisors and so on.During the Anti-Japanese War,the southwest highway achieved the promotion of the network road pattern across regions,provinces and countries while the construction experience of the Burma Road played an important role.The standardization of Chinese military warehouse and the training of military drivers and technicians were closely related to the development of road transportation in wartime.The Burma Road provided a practical stage for the standardized construction of highway supporting facilities and the newly trained road service personnel.Therefore,we can not ignore its significance and role in the development of wartime highway in China due to the backwardness of highway construction technology and the frequent occurrence of transportation congestions.The construction of wartime highways in southwest China was carried out under extremely complicated social conditions.The research shows that the conflict between the traditional Chinese society and the western highway technology had an impact on the early highway construction,and the Burma Road had been built in a variety of conflicting mitigation situations.The factors such as war,funds,and the scramble for interests between Japan,Britain and the United States were the social influences that could not be eliminated in the history of road technology,so they became the main obstacles in the wartime highway construction.On the other hand,the wartime highway construction was intertwined with the social changes in China,along with the construction process of the southwest highway,indicating the development of social economy,the shift of the commercial center,the evolution of the social stratum and the change of the social structure in the southwest.