Study On The Social Relief Of The Jiangsu-Zhejiang War

Between 1924 and 1925,the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War broke out,with the main warring areas being Huangdu,Liuhe,Jiading,Qingpu,Nanxiang,Songjiang and Anting in Jiangsu.Although the war did not last long,it caused great damage to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang,especially in Jiangsu,with heavy military casualties and displaced people.Previous studies didn’t analyze the social relief during the war from a perspective of spatial and temporal,nor did they focuse on the relationship between social groups and the government during this period.Therefore,based on previous studies,this paper reconstructs the process of social relief during the war in Jiangsu-Zhejiang,focuses on its characteristics,and tries to explore the relationship between social groups and the government.At the beginning of the war,while the local government were busy raising military payments,businesses were greatly damaged,and people were scattered to escape the war.A large number of wounded soldiers and corpses appeared on the battlefield.The whole society was in a state of disorder.Although some County Magistrate also protected the villagers,the local government was generally "absent" and "out of place" in providing relief to the wounded soldiers and refugees.In this case,various organizations,such as charitable organizations,religious organizations,commercial groups,countrymen’s association,and disaster relief associations,launched relief activities for the wounded soldiers and refugees on their own initiative,preparing funds,mobilizing personnel and materials,and arranging venues.In the relief process,various groups attached great importance to the management of wounded soldiers and refugees,while also paying attention to their daily lives.After the war,these groups also took measures to rehabilitate for the wounded soldiers and refugees,such as sending refugees and soldiers back to their homes,burying corpses,and providing relief to the disaster areas.During this time,the Jiangsu government began to launch relief work in the aftermath.For example,it set up an agency specially to relief for the aftermath,investigated the military disaster in each county,communicated and collaborated with social charity groups,and adopt various measures to raise funds for the aftermath.However,during this period,the Jiangsu Government demanded additional relief donations for merchants’ goods in order to provide relief to the refugees,which was strongly opposed and resisted by the commercial groups.Due to pressure,the Jiangsu Government eventually had to revoke this order.As for the main body of the social relief during the war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang,although a group of social charity assistance groups organized rescues,their main leaders were the gentry-merchants.And under the era when the government’s management of civil society was not so strict,the social groups led by the gentrymerchants were very active.Based on the city of Shanghai,they communicated with each other through all kinds of media and kept in close contact.They also actively negotiated with the military and government leaders and tried their best to maintain social order.In terms of the way of relief,various social assistance groups also provided temporary education for the refugees.But under the conditions of the war,their main activities were to send relief to the wounded and refugees.During the Jiangsu-Zhejiang War,various social assistance groups and the Jiangsu government collaborated and complemented each other,and they also had conflicts and compromises under certain circumstances,and the relationship between them had a certain flexibility and tension.One of the factors influencing thier relationship is whether what they do touch their core demands.In order to maximize benefits for society,both sides need to make the most of their strengths and find a balanced to achieve a win-win situation.