Journey to the East: The German Military Mission in China, 1927--1938

This dissertation examines the experience of German military advisors in China during the interwar period. It explores the political, cultural, and social dimensions of military advising and the concept of military advisors as vehicles of transnational exchange. Between 1927 and 1938 over one hundred high-ranking German military officers traveled to China to advise Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang on military modernization and industrialization. The German advisors quickly learned that they could not impose German institutions and technology on China but rather, they needed to adapt to the foreign environment and situate their reforms within the Chinese context. The project required extensive archival research in Germany and the United States. Close readings of primary sources, including reports from the German military mission and the German Foreign Office as well as the personal papers, correspondence, and recollections of the advisors, have shed light on their experience and efforts to transform the Chinese army from a conglomeration of poorly trained and armed feudal warlord armies into a modern national military capable of defending the country against Japanese encroachment.;Many of the advisors adapted to living and working in China and reconciled their foreign service with their sense of duty to the Fatherland. In China, German officers found a place to further hone their military skills while the Treaty of Versailles prevented them from practicing their craft in Germany. The advisors believed they were cultivating a future German ally and a bulwark against the rising tide of communism in Asia. The German military mission also promoted Sino-German trade, which took on added importance after the Nazis came to power in 1933 and launched their policy of rearmament. The increase in armaments production required greater access to raw materials. China possessed vast supplies of raw materials, which it traded with Germany in exchange for armaments. The Sino-German relationship during the interwar period pivoted around the German military mission.;Nazi foreign policy complicated the work of the German military mission in China. While official German foreign policy in East Asia remained one of neutrality from the Weimar era to the Third Reich, the Nazis began leaning noticeably closer to Japan as the 1930s progressed. The German army, however, supported a closer Sino-German relationship. The advisors recognized that a Sino-Japanese war would almost certainly bring an end to the burgeoning Sino-German relationship and thus sought to prevent war between the two Asian powers. They hoped that a strong Chinese military would deter Japanese aggression. Ironically, while the advisors worked to modernize the Chinese military in order to deter a Sino-Japanese war, the improvements made by the Chinese military under German supervision played a significant role in transforming what could have been a limited incident in 1937 into the beginning of World War II in Asia. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the origins of World War II and the connections between the Asian and European theaters. Ultimately, Germany's officers contributed to weakening their ally Japan in World War II through their assistance to the Chinese.