| Compared to Japan's modernizing reforms in Meiji, China traveled a more complicated path towards its modernization. The Sino-Japanese War was a true catastrophe for the entire nation, but, at the same time, it presented certain opportunities for China, stimulating industrialization in China, bringing China needed support and guidance from allies across the globe. The aid and intense military cooperation made the United States the main source of assistance for China to modernize its military, the air force in particular. In the building of the Chinese Air Force (CAF) and the renowned Flying Tigers, Madame Chiang Kai-shek and Claire Lee Chennault played major roles. They achieved this by attaining aid, recruiting experienced pilots and technicians, and purchasing suitable aircrafts from America, which generally strengthened the US-China connection, especially after the eruption of the Pacific War.;However, the military modernization of a nation is not necessarily equivalent to its overall modernization. The Sino-Japanese War necessitated military modernization while impeding non-military reforms. China was forced to shift direction from overall modernization to modernizing the military in order to defend the nation from invasion, colonization, and destruction. This thesis evaluates the impact of Western techniques of modernization on China, particularly in the military realm. |
