The Battle of China - 1944 USA armed forces propaganda movie showing horrors of Japanese imperialism in China from 1931 onwards and how Chinese, assisted by Allies, fought back
I debated quite a bit before I put up this post, on whether I should share such horrors committed by Japanese imperialism. I decided to share it as I think knowing this history of Asia of the 1930s to mid 1940s of the 20th century which is not so far back in the past (a period when my parents' generation would have grown into adulthood in India), will help to show the importance of preparedness of military defense for Asian nations today, including India, to combat aggression from any aggressor nations.
But I must say that the shared video below, released in 1944, is a ***propaganda*** video made by USA armed forces in support of its then ally China, and against its then war enemy Japan. So there is a positive bias towards USA and China and a negative bias against Japan. Also there is either no mention, or almost no mention, of the role of Mao Zedong and his communist fighters in this war. I did not catch any reference to Mao Zedong and Chinese communists. The role of Chiang Kai-shek and his forces are highlighted. I think some footage would be of Mao Zedong led communist forces but they were not referred to in that way, in contrast to Chiang Kai-shek being referred to by name many times, and footage of him along with his army being shown many times. I don't think there is any footage of Mao Zedong in this video.
Note that Chiang Kai-shek and his forces eventually lost to Mao Zedong and his communist forces in the Chinese civil war after World War 2 ended, with Chiang Kai-shek having to flee to Taiwan and set up base there. In the Chinese civil war Chiang Kai-shek was allied with USA and USA was against Mao Zedong led communists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_China is the wiki page for the movie which highlights several inaccuracies and inconsistencies. In particular the movie's description of the Tanaka Memorial as the basis for Japan's invasion of China, and later rest of Asia and plans for invading Australia and then USA, was later largely discredited, as per the wiki page.
The movie makes no specific mention of British Indian armed forces contribution in South East Asia and China theatre of World War II, as perhaps it includes them in references to British forces. Indian armed forces role in South East Asia theatre of WW II is covered here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_in_World_War_II#South-East_Asian_theatre. It can be a little confusing to those who do not know about Indian freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (a rebel force to British army in India) aligning with Japan in a bid to defeat Britian militarily and thereby acquire Indian independence.
There is actual footage of the events in China then in this movie. That is what makes this movie a compelling one to watch for people interested in 20th century history of Asia.
But some of this footage shows graphic violence including killing, and pics of ghastly injuries on survivors, and dead bodies of men, women and children. Readers who don't want to see such stuff should not watch the video.
The Battle of China, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMWQ32vwMxI, slightly over 1 hour, published by PublicResourceOrg.
The video was made in 1944 at which time World War II was still ongoing.
Later in 1945, after two atom bombs were dropped on Japan by USA, Japan surrendered. Given below is an extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan:
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the United States and the United Kingdom at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences.
On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japan's surrender, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Late in the evening of August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Following these events, Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed coup d'état, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. In the radio address, called the Jewel Voice Broadcast (玉音放送 Gyokuon-hōsō), he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies.
--- end wiki extract ---
[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
But I must say that the shared video below, released in 1944, is a ***propaganda*** video made by USA armed forces in support of its then ally China, and against its then war enemy Japan. So there is a positive bias towards USA and China and a negative bias against Japan. Also there is either no mention, or almost no mention, of the role of Mao Zedong and his communist fighters in this war. I did not catch any reference to Mao Zedong and Chinese communists. The role of Chiang Kai-shek and his forces are highlighted. I think some footage would be of Mao Zedong led communist forces but they were not referred to in that way, in contrast to Chiang Kai-shek being referred to by name many times, and footage of him along with his army being shown many times. I don't think there is any footage of Mao Zedong in this video.
Note that Chiang Kai-shek and his forces eventually lost to Mao Zedong and his communist forces in the Chinese civil war after World War 2 ended, with Chiang Kai-shek having to flee to Taiwan and set up base there. In the Chinese civil war Chiang Kai-shek was allied with USA and USA was against Mao Zedong led communists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_China is the wiki page for the movie which highlights several inaccuracies and inconsistencies. In particular the movie's description of the Tanaka Memorial as the basis for Japan's invasion of China, and later rest of Asia and plans for invading Australia and then USA, was later largely discredited, as per the wiki page.
The movie makes no specific mention of British Indian armed forces contribution in South East Asia and China theatre of World War II, as perhaps it includes them in references to British forces. Indian armed forces role in South East Asia theatre of WW II is covered here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_in_World_War_II#South-East_Asian_theatre. It can be a little confusing to those who do not know about Indian freedom fighter Subash Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army (a rebel force to British army in India) aligning with Japan in a bid to defeat Britian militarily and thereby acquire Indian independence.
There is actual footage of the events in China then in this movie. That is what makes this movie a compelling one to watch for people interested in 20th century history of Asia.
But some of this footage shows graphic violence including killing, and pics of ghastly injuries on survivors, and dead bodies of men, women and children. Readers who don't want to see such stuff should not watch the video.
The Battle of China, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMWQ32vwMxI, slightly over 1 hour, published by PublicResourceOrg.
The video was made in 1944 at which time World War II was still ongoing.
Later in 1945, after two atom bombs were dropped on Japan by USA, Japan surrendered. Given below is an extract from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan:
The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced by Japanese Emperor Hirohito on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conducting major operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent. Together with the British Empire and China, the United States called for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces in the Potsdam Declaration on July 26, 1945—the alternative being "prompt and utter destruction". While publicly stating their intent to fight on to the bitter end, Japan's leaders (the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War, also known as the "Big Six") were privately making entreaties to the publicly neutral Soviet Union to mediate peace on terms more favorable to the Japanese. While maintaining a sufficient level of diplomatic engagement with the Japanese to give them the impression they might be willing to mediate, the Soviets were covertly preparing to attack Japanese forces in Manchuria and Korea (in addition to South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands) in fulfillment of promises they had secretly made to the United States and the United Kingdom at the Tehran and Yalta Conferences.
On August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM local time, the United States detonated an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sixteen hours later, American President Harry S. Truman called again for Japan's surrender, warning them to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." Late in the evening of August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Hours later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Following these events, Emperor Hirohito intervened and ordered the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war. After several more days of behind-the-scenes negotiations and a failed coup d'état, Emperor Hirohito gave a recorded radio address across the Empire on August 15. In the radio address, called the Jewel Voice Broadcast (玉音放送 Gyokuon-hōsō), he announced the surrender of Japan to the Allies.
--- end wiki extract ---
[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]
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