There were many negative connotations to the Sino-Japanese war for the GMD.
Chiang Kai-Shek made poor decisions in the run-up to the war. His decision to pursue the Communists and consider the Japanese an after-thought can be argued to be reason for the GMD’s fall to power. There is historical debate over this decision of his, as one could argue he was aware of the legitimate threat of the CCP, but another side suggests not paying attention to the growing threat of the Japanese allowed for devastating effects such as the Rape of Nanjing in 1938, which caused the GMD to greatly lose popularity; perhaps strengthening the CCP’s chances of success. In 1931, Chiang made no attempt at resistance to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. He was more interested in launching extermination campaigns against the Communists, famously citing the Japanese as a “disease of the skin” and the Communists as a “disease of the heart”. On 7 July 1937, a small incident on the outskirts of Beijing led to full-scale war between the two quarreling countries. There was initially, a growing sort of nationalism and support for the GMD in the run-up to the war, but this soon changed. The GMD grew less and less popular with each poor tactical decision. There was high taxation, requisitioning of land and recruitment. All of this compounded to make the GMD lose support and popularity in the face of the public. There was also furthermore lose of support in 1938, when Chiang Kai-Shek had the dikes of the Yellow River removed in an attempt to keep the Japanese away, with the threat of floods. However, the GMD denied this knowledge to civilians, in time for them to prepare, partly due to wanting to keep this decision secret to ensure the Japanese had no knowledge of it. This resulted in the loss of thousands of Chinese lives, and further created resentment towards the GMD. Another negative effect of the war on the GMD was how the GMD was soon compelled to create a second united front with the CCP in 1937. This was done in order to come together to fight the Japanese, but the act of reconciling not only was humiliating but displayed weakness of the GMD. Whilst actual communication between the two parties was minimal, the act of making the truce in itself was a sign of weakness in the face of the Japanese. It coined the idea that the greater threat to the GMD was not the CCP, but indeed the Japanese. If this was so, then it made Chiang’s efforts at exterminating the CCP seem all the more futile, causing further exposure of not only weakness, but lack of leadership and strategy
Chiang Kai-Shek made poor decisions in the run-up to the war. His decision to pursue the Communists and consider the Japanese an after-thought can be argued to be reason for the GMD’s fall to power. There is historical debate over this decision of his, as one could argue he was aware of the legitimate threat of the CCP, but another side suggests not paying attention to the growing threat of the Japanese allowed for devastating effects such as the Rape of Nanjing in 1938, which caused the GMD to greatly lose popularity; perhaps strengthening the CCP’s chances of success. In 1931, Chiang made no attempt at resistance to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. He was more interested in launching extermination campaigns against the Communists, famously citing the Japanese as a “disease of the skin” and the Communists as a “disease of the heart”. On 7 July 1937, a small incident on the outskirts of Beijing led to full-scale war between the two quarreling countries. There was initially, a growing sort of nationalism and support for the GMD in the run-up to the war, but this soon changed. The GMD grew less and less popular with each poor tactical decision. There was high taxation, requisitioning of land and recruitment. All of this compounded to make the GMD lose support and popularity in the face of the public. There was also furthermore lose of support in 1938, when Chiang Kai-Shek had the dikes of the Yellow River removed in an attempt to keep the Japanese away, with the threat of floods. However, the GMD denied this knowledge to civilians, in time for them to prepare, partly due to wanting to keep this decision secret to ensure the Japanese had no knowledge of it. This resulted in the loss of thousands of Chinese lives, and further created resentment towards the GMD. Another negative effect of the war on the GMD was how the GMD was soon compelled to create a second united front with the CCP in 1937. This was done in order to come together to fight the Japanese, but the act of reconciling not only was humiliating but displayed weakness of the GMD. Whilst actual communication between the two parties was minimal, the act of making the truce in itself was a sign of weakness in the face of the Japanese. It coined the idea that the greater threat to the GMD was not the CCP, but indeed the Japanese. If this was so, then it made Chiang’s efforts at exterminating the CCP seem all the more futile, causing further exposure of not only weakness, but lack of leadership and strategy
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