For China WW2 was pretty much a battle of survival just like Poland only on a bigger scale. Not only that but the Chinese Civil War took place around the same time and continued after ww2 until 1949

@pancholopez8829

Жыл бұрын

And before. You can say the civil war began since the 1911 Beiyang Revolution, which then lead to the Warlord Era till 1928. Where the Civil War between the CCP and KMT began till 1949. That is 38 years of civil war, with 8 of those being invaded by the foreign power that is Japan.

@delta2372

Жыл бұрын

And the chinese has greater atrocities committed on them than those the germans deemed "undesirable" you want some nightmare fuel go read on unit 731.

@user-es5sb7qy1m

Жыл бұрын

As a Chinese, I don’t like the idea of ​​a large Poland. We have resisted for 14 years. The Kuomintang and the Communist Party have launched countless counterattacks in front of the enemy’s rear. and Crush India (UK) If China is defeated, think about how many Japanese troops can be transferred to other places. They can immediately take down Australia and India, they can take down these places without much effort, and they can rush all the way to the Middle East.

@GerMFnU1848Sax

Жыл бұрын

As an American, I respect the Chinese for their heroism and will to defeat their foe. WW2 is always written about USA and USSR winning

@john2g1

Жыл бұрын

How different would the world be if all leaders could follow one simple rule? Don't be a d***.

China is such an overlooked aspect of WW2. It warms my heart that this is finally getting talked about more.

@redwind5150

Жыл бұрын

No it's not really.

@longarmboiiiiiiiiiii6823

Жыл бұрын

@@redwind5150 I mean not necessarily, is just that in most schools in the U.S it isn’t really talked about

@Ihavpickle

Жыл бұрын

Wait actually?

@redwind5150

Жыл бұрын

@@longarmboiiiiiiiiiii6823 how would you know most schools don't talk about it?

@reichjef

Жыл бұрын

I don’t think anyone is really overlooking it. I’d argue that people the world over are at least tangentially familiar with the tragedy at Nanking.

The irony of the safety zone in Nanking was that the de facto leader was the Nazi supporting German diplomat. Another ironic thing is that he also wrote back to his superiors and to Hitler describing his disgust at the atrocities and questioning if a alliance with Japanese was morally and practically acceptable

@miliba

Жыл бұрын

John Rabe A true hero despite his affiliation

@jink1768

Жыл бұрын

That man’s grave was moved to China after he passed and he is still viewed as a hero by most people there.

@kuenluo1207

Жыл бұрын

那个时候的德国人没有不做纳粹党员的自由

@lolasdm6959

Жыл бұрын

@@jink1768 only based nazi

@tacitus6384

Жыл бұрын

He saved the lives of 250,000 Chinese, he's viewed as a hero.

My grandpa was a medic for the Nationalist army up until ichi-go where he was hit by shrapnel. He said that at some times, the men didn’t have rice to eat or ammunition to fire, yet they still resisted to their last for China as subjugation to the Japanese meant the destruction of Chinese civilization

@clownpendotfart

Жыл бұрын

A contrarian (who I won't name here) said the Japanese were better than the KMT because they did a better job of running Taiwan. I think basically everyone in mainland China would disagree with that.

@harryholden795

Жыл бұрын

@@willsung5965 bro why would you support the Japanese Empire?

@willsung5965

Жыл бұрын

@@harryholden795 Many people don't understand the truth.All this begin from 1927 ,Chinese killed several Japanese in Nanking with no reason.Japanese just revenge and unfortunately 🇺🇲 's kindness was be used by China so that they sanction 🇯🇵,force 🇯🇵 to start a war can not win.All this is because Chinese hide their true side.

@channel7zip

Жыл бұрын

@@harryholden795 it's bait

@hydrogenivtinyhare5218

Жыл бұрын

@@willsung5965 bro why not go to Germany and show your support to the Third Reich and see how long they will let you rot in prison

it is nice that you covered the Chinese perspective of the war. Most books on ww2 books I find don't go into detail about the Chinese in ww2

@TristanOlea-Rivera

Жыл бұрын

woops I added books twice my bad

@itsblitz4437

Жыл бұрын

Right?! Its ridiculous as the Pacific War is not very often covered.

@nexusthenormie5578

Жыл бұрын

​@@itsblitz4437I always wondered what happened to China during the second world war, i know there was the chinese civil war

@jimmynoobtron3516

Жыл бұрын

Its ironic that history books always cover America's and Russia's rise as world super powers because of WW2 but never cover the other country that benefited from that war: China. With 2/3rds of Asia being left in disarray after Japans imperial collapse, it set the stage for China to quickly take over as the predominant power in the region which is huge considering how much that region came to be involved in world politics during the 20th century.

@ricklopez8431

Жыл бұрын

I recommend you give a read to "Tower of Skulls"

China really endured a lot of pain and suffering during the war and after. I'm glad this is getting talked about more often.

@GerMFnU1848Sax

Жыл бұрын

Same

@CobraQuotes1

Жыл бұрын

@@sandwich5344 i know it’s such a disgrace what white people from USA and EU did to the indians and africans

@squirrelsinjacket1804

Жыл бұрын

The history of this era explains why modern China still holds a lot of animosity against Japan.

@LittleBridge77

Жыл бұрын

Yes, and much more than that​@@squirrelsinjacket1804

@jink1768

Жыл бұрын

@@sandwich5344 dude you're not saying the truth you're just being racist towards Chinese specifically by treating like they're the only evil in the world.

As a Chinese I feel happy that the world acknowledges more and more of our history and suffering

@thebomber7641

Жыл бұрын

I hope your communist gov would not bring even more suffering to the world. Looking back at what the communist russia did to Ukraine in 2022 and prior to that all the other acts of genocide throughout the history. Cant say that communism is any better than the reich of ww2.

@Nevancen

11 ай бұрын

Japanese never felt sorry for that

@zervont3046

11 ай бұрын

@@Nevancen be quiet race traitor

@rocketman831

10 ай бұрын

How are you using youtube are you using a vpn?

@vasilikosolov

10 ай бұрын

@@rocketman831 probably taiwanese or ethic Chinese in other countries, or a priviledged CCP member hahahah

Thank you for all your hard work on this episode as well as the others. As a 3rd generation Chinese Singaporean, my grandfather escaped from China in the 1920s during the country's turbulent period. The Sino-Japanese war of 1894 was still felt in the 1920s as Japan conquered the Korean peninsula with parts of Northeast Manchuria commiting numerous atrocities, long before they invaded again in 1931. In 1942, Japan invaded and conquered Singapore and killed an estimated 50,000+ civilians (mostly Chinese) out of a population of 900,000+ people for their purportedly monetary support of China against Japan. This history is made a compulsory subject for all secondary school students here in Singapore.

@goofyahking

11 ай бұрын

I'm also a singaporean and the japanese were so brutal to us Chinese people rest in peace to the fallen soldier of most sea county and china :(

@user-ve6dp4wq9r

11 ай бұрын

鬼子的不做人程度是鬼见了都怕的程度

@flyingfox2548

11 ай бұрын

Let's be clear that even if overseas chinese did not send monetary support to China, those Japanese soldiers will still kill and torture overseas chinese reason being China gave them a hard time to accomplish their goals.

@chunyanmi5643

9 ай бұрын

You can talk about wars happened in China over and over again, it makes no difference like talking about any wars in the world. Chinese people are mostly Han Zu 汉族. Han languages, Han rituals, Han ancestors' efforts, .... all of these make a difference when you talk about war or any historical events. Our ancestors had made great contributions to the world's progress, and BEFORE any other country did. Why the word today puts us into such a hard time today? They all think that they are the best in the world, while pushing the real one that deserves that into destruction.

@ferapont1756

9 ай бұрын

respect the truth!

This honestly made me tear up a bit. My late grandfather lived in those times under Japanese occupation. He was a child but he remembered it well: Constant hiding in the forest from troops, his sisters dressing up like men to avoid harassment, his grandpa being beaten up by troops by just showing up at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a miracle my grandfather even survived.

As a Chinese Australian I'm glad that you're shining light on forgotten fronts off WW2. I suggest you try looking into the other forgotten fronts like the West Africa against Vichy France or Burma theatre. My grandmother from Thailand remembers when the Japanese occupied Thailand.

@wl82

11 ай бұрын

30M people dead in China during WW2, they shall not be forgotten.

@TristanaFlamenguista

9 ай бұрын

As a Chinese australian english **

@Battlefield1918

3 ай бұрын

Australia and Chinese contributions in WW2 (for the Chinese the late 30's aswell) needs to be talked about more.

The struggles of China that defined the nation in modern days, and led to her seat as a major power on the UN Security Council is so often underrepresented and not talked about enough. So many times I talk to people in America and commonly the response is “what did Japan do?” or “China fought in WW2?!” We appreciate anyone who puts notice into this deadly theater and brings it to western attention. All over, thank you so much.

@bigredwolf6

Жыл бұрын

That’s because they didn’t pay attention in history class. I guarantee if you asked them about the constitution or American history in general, they will be just as ignorant. We get taught about China in WW2. Flyin tigers, Grape of Nanking, etc. hell we even went over the opium wars and the boxer rebellion which is even further back in time than WW2.

@lolasdm6959

Жыл бұрын

No, the Americans which forged the UN, were correct to recognize China will eventually become a great power. Because United States went through a similar progress of long industrialization process and eventually converted itself from a agrian economy to a industrialized economy after the American Civil war. Had it been the Europeans that formed the UN, China would be excluded 100%.

@TopGuardDawg

Жыл бұрын

I know in school in history we look alot into WW2 but mostly in europe and sometimes the pacific but i do remember China being talked about a bit during WW2 but they don’t cover them alot compared to other countries in europe or the island hoping campaign in the pacific it wasn’t until i got to college where we actually digged deeper in the history of other countries including Chinas problem

@purevjargalpuujee4845

10 ай бұрын

As an Asian, I want to ask you too. “China fought in WW2 ?”

@user-if6rq1bj7o

10 ай бұрын

@@purevjargalpuujee4845 You must be Japanese then, because everyone in China and Korea knows

The Japanese were savage in every sense of the word. Even being warned of the nuclear weapons, they still resisted. Madness.

@NeostormXLMAX

9 ай бұрын

that was the navy, the army were cowards of the highest degree@DililahSiti

@db4517

9 ай бұрын

@DililahSiti nanking

@user-ck9jr5pn6f

4 ай бұрын

There are still a small number of Japanese people who believe that the invasion of China in 1931 was correct

@simonsimon2888

2 ай бұрын

Don't view WWII at its face value. It is well-planned and mastermind too. Japan in the East and Germany in the West. The common objective is to reduce the vast population on both sides and at the same time to get rid of all the out-dated weaponery. Hence, after WWII in rememberance of OUR GLORIOUS DEAD. In conclusion: "They died so we may live!" Hypocritical?

Man, the designs of these Armies and their equipment are amazing! Goes to show how far you guys could go 👍🏼

My hometown is in the mountainous area of ​​Xiangxi, China. When I was young, I heard from my grandma that more than 20 young people in our village went to fight against Japan, and only two returned in the end. Thank you for letting more people know about our history of suffering.

@gijones82163

Ай бұрын

Government wise the Chinese people are extremely brave, honorable, and heroic. Much respect to the elderlies, that is why there is so many benefits for elders in China

in August 1937, one month after the Japanese invaded the Northern China, my father left school as a freshman of University of Beijing and joint the Army. then he fought against the invader for the next 8 full years, until August 15, 1945. during that period, he lost his parents and fiancee, when VJ Day finally came, he had had nothing beside a miserable memory.

@retropancakeful

11 ай бұрын

Thank you for his service. Wish the world recognize their efforts more

@user-bm1nu5vd3b

11 ай бұрын

谢谢前辈们为我们所做的一切，谢谢

@user-jj2zy2jz9h

11 ай бұрын

感谢

@user-bk2um6do6k

10 ай бұрын

您的父亲是一位真正英雄

@user-up6rz4rl2i

9 ай бұрын

感谢先辈们的努力

One bit that I think could be highlighted more was Soviet material support to China. For a while there the USSR was pretty much the only country who was still willing to back China's seemingly hopeless situation.

@Frank-qy4rg

Жыл бұрын

Apart from the flying tigers, soviet also sent their volunteer group from Soviet air force, yet their stories are not as popular as the flying tigers in China as well.

@lolasdm6959

Жыл бұрын

@@Frank-qy4rg Yeah the government pulls out the flying tigers whenever they need the population to like the Americans again.

@felixkepler6871

Жыл бұрын

Also they sent materials for both the nationalists and communists

@user-kq5pj9py9c

Жыл бұрын

If China was occupied by Japan, the Soviet Union faced a huge threat from Japan, especially in the Far East. The Soviet Union supported China out of its own national interests. However, the Soviet Union occupied more than 1.6 million square kilometers of China and supported the independence of Outer Mongolia.

@tenshihinanawi1885

11 ай бұрын

​​@@felixkepler6871 Mainly to KMT instead of CCP, the Soviet had long relationship with KMT since the China's Warlord period. KMT aren't able to defeat the other warlords without the Soviet's huge support on weapons and equipment and money. For CCP, is totally different situation. One can even say that the Soviet even treat the warlord Shen shicai in Xinjiang better than CCP.

Japan to the Usa: I am sorry Japan to the rest of Asia: *I would do it again!*

@TechieWidget

Жыл бұрын

It's because of right-wing nationalist Japanese politicians and groups like Nippon Kaigi, why People's Republic of China and two Koreas still have resentment towards Japanese government and continue to maintain, build and spend money on their own military. They learnt a harsh lesson from their Qing and Joseon predecessors whom neglected their militaries.

@whathell6t

Жыл бұрын

@@TechieWidget Ironically, those Asian countries always remember their resentment due to continuing watching Tokusatsu medium, the only place where Japanese acknowledge their war crimes and Unit 731. Especially through Ultraman and Kamen Rider where the Chinese kids, Filipinos kids, Korean kids, Indonesian kids, and Korean kids learn the resentment facts.

@syyin1885

Жыл бұрын

Until now some right wing Japanese think they apologized for military failure, not humanitarian disasters. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword is a good book about the difference.

@lolasdm6959

Жыл бұрын

@@TechieWidget By right wing nationalists you mean like vast majority of the population in Japan?

@subhumancurrytruecel

Жыл бұрын

Japan has a tradition of bowing to the strong and ruthlessly bullying the weak

the resilience and the will of the Chinese nation is utmost admireble, even after years of wars and turmoil they still managed to climb their way back to the top...

@sandwich5344

Жыл бұрын

By the means of undermining human rights, global health and sanity, freedom of religion and all the cruel crimes against humanity? I dont think that's very acceptable :(

@ericlee5515

Жыл бұрын

@@sandwich5344 You didn't say what they did specifically and you provided less proof than a flat earth believer.

@christianhaupt2637

Жыл бұрын

@@ericlee5515 oh buddy that list is extremely long, just go watch the news and you’ll see atleast one or two of each

@justinkim7756

Жыл бұрын

​@@ericlee5515lmao are u saying the ccp is a kind government who cares about human rights? Average socialist iq right here 😂😂

@arandomperson5649

Жыл бұрын

@@sandwich5344 I think you should look back at history abit.What happened to the native Red Indians when the Americans expand westward?Bombing nations to the ground is very good for their economy.The moment a nearby hostile state is unstable,invade them.Took advantage of the instability of Libiya,supported the rebels and overthrow the government and kill their leader and now westerners can buy oil cheaper.Also what happened in My Lai?Both China and USA have committed crimes and violated human rights for their own good,so westerners have no right to criticise china or they are just hypocrites

As a Chinese, I appreciate your very detailed description of the war against Japan in this video, because mainland Chinese history books also describe this story in detail, and we call many generals, including but not limited to the Kuomintang, foreign friends who protected the Chinese during the Nanking Massacre. In China nowadays, we also have museums and memorials on the theme of anti-Japanese resistance, as well as monuments for all the brave martyrs and related commemorative days.Anyway, thank you very much for the video, which can make more people know this history that not many people know.

@Franklin-hx5pu

9 ай бұрын

I appreciate the narration from the bro,and so do you.Frankly speaking, I've never been so proud of our country, together with her contribution to the war aiming for the liberty of the whole world.

@andrew3203

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, but no. The communist guerillas did about 3-5% of fighting against Japan, but assumed all the honors. And after they massacred everyone else involved (and their families too), there was nobody else to tell the tale. The Japanese may have killed 10 million Chinese, but the communists killed 100 million.

@JC-ie3gj

8 ай бұрын

Your so-called foreign friends protected you so they can continue to exploit your countries resources. You can thank Japan for preventing that by weakening Chiang's army just for the communist to swoop in and take power

@luewang6977

6 ай бұрын

​@@andrew3203We welcome you to learn about the history of China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, but it is clear that you are only trying to discredit the Communist guerrillas, which is completely baseless. China has built many monuments, and even the veterans of the Kuomintang are given adequate subsidies and care. And you don't know anything about it, and you're even spreading rumors!

@user-ly8kw2mt4m

5 ай бұрын

I hope your knowledge comes from official sources, not urban legends

Even till today Germany: "we are sorry for starting the war. Aplogies to the world" Japan: "we are sorry for losing the war. Apologies to the japanese people who didnt benefit from it."

@bruhtnt4258

9 ай бұрын

Basically Germany: we remember, we are sorry. Japan: we are sorry, we don’t remember.

Excellent content as always!

@JacobFraps

Жыл бұрын

Give me meonys please 🙏 🥺💰💰🤑

@pwn3r1

Жыл бұрын

​@@JacobFraps cry

@justinkim7756

Жыл бұрын

​@@JacobFrapsew poor

@JacobFraps

Жыл бұрын

@@pwn3r1 🥺😭 I no money's

@JacobFraps

Жыл бұрын

@@justinkim7756 my family Is rich I live in a gated community 🤑 I just no momeys because kids

Masterpiece as always, Grif and the team coming in clutch today

My great grandfather was in the KMT army. He never talked about the war. Can't imagine what he must have went through

My great-grandfather was an army Officer in Kuomintang during the war against Japanese invasion. He died during the battle. He sacrificed his life protecting his family and motherland. I'm proud to have such an honourable ancestor.

@SaveSoilSaveSoil

3 ай бұрын

感恩！英雄永垂不朽！

@kevinchen4514

23 күн бұрын

May God bless your grandfather in heaven. People like him are the most honourable kind of people to China.

Thank you so much for this video, the chinnese front against the japanese is so overlooked when studying the 30s and WW2 and hearing from a youtuber like you warm my heart, as it will spread the information and get it more talked about. Usually when I mentioned my great great grandfather and his brother fought together in the war against the japanese, most people would not even know that the second sino japanese war ever happened or dismissed it completely. However i kind of understand the lack of knowledge, media and history classes mostly focuses on the war in Asia being fought by the british commonwealth and the americans against the japanese. The only reason I ever learn about it, is because of my heritage where the involvement of my great great grandparent and his brother in a long fought war at the other side of the world has been passed on. An old binocular is all whats left, but it keeps his story alive. Thanks for the effort!

Great work as always, apperciate the effort you put into different perspectives of the WW2 and other conflicts Til this day, cities across China rings air raid alarms on multiple days marking infamy of the nation

I’m a Chinese-Vietnamese American. My grandfather was born in the 30’s and left China in 1949 during the end of the Chinese Civil War. Those times were very poor and hard but it wasn’t so long ago.

@becritical7476

11 ай бұрын

No, the Chinese civil war is not over until the reunification with Taiwan island according to Chinese' perspective

I think it's a shame that China's such an overlooked part of WW2. The loss of life in the Chibese theatre was equal to that of the Eastern front and the atrocities were also just as, if not more brutal

@cheungchingtong

5 ай бұрын

The whole system of this world now is still running by the G7, nothing bad for them would be shown to the world. Sad.

@oliversherman2414

5 ай бұрын

@@cheungchingtong Yeah. Everyone talks about the Nazis and their atrocities, but nobody pays any attention to the Japanese war crimes

@russiankodiak6849

4 күн бұрын

So many countries involvement are just overlooked in general, people are forgetting history. I didn’t even know what Australias involment in WW2 was only up until a few months ago, which is turned out they fought in various theaters, such as defending Greece in the Mediterranean, fighting in Africa, and even fighting in the Pacific. Italian involvement is overlooked aswell, so is China

So happy we have KZreadrs like The Armchair Historian

@russiankodiak6849

4 күн бұрын

His highlights for me are talking about the Australian, Italian, and Chinese involvement in WW2. Hope he does some Greece videos in the future, such an interesting theater of war the Mediterranean was in WW2

11:04 I heard a story from “The Hump” where an aircraft crew transporting supplies across the mountains was transporting a piano meant for Chiang’s wife. They threw it out of the plane over the mountains.

@lolasdm6959

Жыл бұрын

Based, she can live without a imported piano.

@wafl423

Жыл бұрын

she was the more competent part of their marriage

@rayray6490

Жыл бұрын

@@wafl423 she was only useful diplomatically.

@dsong2006

11 ай бұрын

that just goes to show the level of corruption that is endemic in the KMT gov., its rotten from the core from top to bottom

@fargr5926

5 ай бұрын

Totally false. Stilwell once transported a cargo of sports shoes for the Chinese army. Largely what can be shipped into China was decided by USA and British. They sure could find a piano in China, what scarce was gasoline.

Man, the quality of your videos is something of another world... I've just recently found this channel and it's pure gold.

One of the craziest and most unexpected stories of the Nanking massacre was how John Rabe, a Nazi, set up a safe zone and saved the lives of thousands of Chinese civilians.

Finally for the world to see the truth in the Chinese theater it's really quite underated

@russiankodiak6849

4 күн бұрын

Not just Chinese, WW2 in general. No one seems to know anything about WW1. People need to talk more about the Mediterranean, African, and Pacific theaters. We don’t ever hear anything about the French, Chinese, New Zealanders, Australians, Greeks, or even the Italians. They need more awareness of their involvement

Great video as always I have always wanted to see World War II from a Chinese perspective

Obsessed with these history videos- you inspired me to also make animated history videos! Make more Ancient Greece videos!

You are one of my favorite history channels, you should do a video on the Chinese Civil War. It seems no one has a desire to cover it, I think you would be breaking major ground by providing your education on such a consequential conflict.

I would love to see you do some videos on the lesser known battles of WW2. Like the battle of Buron or Orsha. I just feel like there’s so much spotlight on the US and Western Front, the Eastern Front and commonwealth countries get overlooked. If anyone has a video or stuff on these I’d love it if you shared! I’ve got the Bloody Buron book, but that’s about all I can find

@eannamcnamara9338

Жыл бұрын

Burma or Alaska are probably the least covered

@bigredwolf6

Жыл бұрын

It makes sense depending where you live. If you’re an American, you basically have American KZread with mainly American content creators. It’s an algorithm thing from my understanding. Much like Netflix. American IP address gets you mostly American Netflix. German IP address gets you mostly German Netflix. (It was hilarious watching anime in German)

@chuck11duck64

Жыл бұрын

@@eannamcnamara9338 right??? I feel like Burma was pretty important

@chuck11duck64

Жыл бұрын

@@bigredwolf6 that’s funny cause I noticed that a few years ago but I just thought it was a fluke. Thanks man!

Finally, someone has recognised our efforts in WW2, thank you. This video warms me to my hearts content.

finaly been waiting for this video for months

Great video and very nice animations!

As a Chinese-American, WW2 was only half of the brutality that China faced in the 20th century. We as the people survived such hardships and its not quite a happy ending.

@NotAnAlex_Guy

Жыл бұрын

As a Anglo-Chinese, I agree with this statement.

@bigkidd2147

Жыл бұрын

I agree. Our people have suffered through brutal warfare and famine in our country and in our history. Given the bad tensions going on, we can hope that both the US and China will not go to war so our people can suffer less and we may live a peaceful life

@wisdomleader85

Жыл бұрын

Ironically the Stalin-backed communists were actually worse than the Japanese, lol.

@martinromerostrack9138

Жыл бұрын

​​@@bigkidd2147sadly , history has shown us that these situations usually end in blood. We can only hope for the best, and i hope nothing bad happens

@user-dh9nf2go4k

Жыл бұрын

Haha what about Taiwan fckn rice cooker

Love this video, keep up the great work. Could you guys do a video on the Russian Civil War?

@user-xn5rp8lh3b

Жыл бұрын

I would love to see that!

@user-pf3kv4bv5s

Жыл бұрын

No! Forget about this country!

@kurtcobain3720

Жыл бұрын

@@user-pf3kv4bv5s Aren't you Russian though?

@bigredwolf6

Жыл бұрын

Weren’t there multiple of those?

The music in this one is phenomenal. Added greatly to the narration

Great video thank you love the detail.

My Great Uncle, Shanghainese, born in 1922, was a hero during Sino-Japanese war. But not just a hero but a lifetime tragedy. When he was young, my great uncle learned martial arts in Shaolin Temple and before the war join the ROC Army as a guard, stationed in Shanghai. He has a photo with other guard and ROC President Chiang Kai-shek at his age of 15. When Shanghai was broken by Japanese Army, he followed the guard regiment to Chongqing and then joined China intelligence Bureau for his shooting skill and martial arts. He was later assigned to assassinate Japanese officers and Chinese traitors in Shanghai. After successful killing 7 targets with his special action teammates in Shanghai once he got injured on his leg and almost captured. Fortunately, he finally fled from Shanghai to Hong Kong, though most of his teammates died from the last assassin. From Hong Kong he back to Xi Feng, Guizhou Province, to build with Americans the Sino-American Special Technical Cooperative Organization (SASTCO) 3rd branch. As his one disabled leg, he can't go kill Japanese officers anymore. Later he served as a lieutenant colonel instructor in 3rd Branch, to train more Chinese agents with other American instructors, and send bunches of young soldiers to the occupied cities for special missions. In 1949, he was stationed in Hong Kong as a military agent, waiting for new mission from Taiwan Authority. In around 50’s he and his team were captured once entering mainland. Almost all his followers were sentenced to death. However, one high rank CCP intelligent officer knew my great uncle as they might have some connection or cooperation action during WW2 in Shanghai. The officer proved my great uncle never killed any CCP but only Japanese, and get wounded during 40’s. So, he was sentenced to life imprisonment from 50’s. After Nixon’s visit in China, he was freed from prison in 80’s. But his wife died for years and now his son and daughter didn’t accept this father for the long years’ political persecution and no-responsibility to the family. So, he lived alone in Suzhou in a small rent room until 1993 he was taken to live with my grandfather, his brother. He taught me some martial art, but I was not talented on that. He bought me chocolate and always smile to me peacefully. Yes, his eyes are always that peaceful, no regret, no pain even through the death battlefield, 30 years prison, 10 years lonely life. He passed away one day around year 2000, with only a few relatives (my grandfather died in 1999 ahead of him). His son didn’t attend the funeral in the end and wouldn’t accept his tomb close with his wife’s. 20 years passed, I always remember his smiling and peaceful eyes, feed me with chocolate. At that moment, he might recall his son’s childhood at the sight of me. By the way, his name is Qian Jie.

@JR5745

8 ай бұрын

Wow. I wonder how many ROC men like your great uncle never get to tell their stories throughout history.

@kianvandenberg6364

7 ай бұрын

Condolences, it’s a shame how heroes like him get screwed by evil governments, is there anyway you could share his picture with Chiang Kai-Shek?

@YangLiu-fx9yn

6 ай бұрын

@@kianvandenberg6364 Thanks. I don't think so. The photo is dangerous to the family, so it must be taken away or hidden in some place.

@YangLiu-fx9yn

6 ай бұрын

@@JR5745 Millions I think. When in childhood in 1985-1995, we often found some neighbor or classmate family are ROC's. But we avoided talking deep even inside family.

@kianvandenberg6364

6 ай бұрын

@@YangLiu-fx9yn I understand, good luck

Learning about the Second Sino-Japanese war inspired me to try and learn Mandarin. I hope some day to be able to read primary sources, what ever may exist of them. Good work on this, a forgotten front and a forgotten ally.

@svchwsvchw

9 ай бұрын

I’m sure there are plethora of primary sources written in Chinese in museums, libraries, and memorials on both sides of the Taiwan Straight.

very high quality video mate!

Ty for this one really needed it

The most devestating period of WW2 is the most overlooked. Glad your giving them recognition

Hello. Im very excited for this.

Your production quality is outstanding, it's inspiring me to make similar content.

Another great video Griffin 👍🙌

Thanks for talking about this theatre of WW2. Many in the West don't even know about this theatre, and it is often overlooked in textbooks, often appearing as a footnote.

I glad you have covered this topic as often or not, most schools & history books failed to cover this theater from the Chinese perspective, only covering the USA & Soviet Union perspective. I would like to see WW2 from either the Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese & Singaporean perspective.

Really overlooked part of history in school. Nice video.

Really glad you opted to cover this stage of the war! And the recent Chinese film “The 800” is a very well done depiction of the battle of Shanghai. Highly recommend.

I'm very glad someone is finally covering the Second Sino Japanese war. This theatre is so rarely covered, yet so many men had died just to protect their land. It truly is astounding.

Hello Armchair Historian! I suggest that you look into the Philippine Perspective for WW2. It is overlooked in most textbooks. However, it is an interesting story and I think should be brought to light. Thank you.

Great video as always guys 🫡

I would love to see him do either a perspective on the Philippines, Brazil or Mexico as they are mostly forgotten.

My eternal respect to the Chinese from USA. We could not have defeated the Japanese without China

@clownpendotfart

Жыл бұрын

Disagree. The US had so much more industrial power that the Japanese themselves knew they had no hope of winning a long war. They were entirely banking on the US giving up after early defeats made fighting seem costly, which wasn't going to happen after Pearl Harbor pissed the US off and our early victories (like Midway) made the Japanese seem quite defeatable even while Germany remained the priority.

@Huben57

Жыл бұрын

@@clownpendotfart The Japanese would attack the soviet union if their army wasn't drawn away to china. Many of Japan's best of the Kwantung army was drawn away in china. so the soviets wouldn't have to worry about their eastern flank

@clownpendotfart

Жыл бұрын

@@Huben57 The Japanese abandoned the northern plan of attack against the Soviet Union after Khalkhin Gol.

@Huben57

Жыл бұрын

@@clownpendotfart its exactly because their kwantung army was weakened greatly since their best units were sent to china

@GerMFnU1848Sax

Жыл бұрын

@@clownpendotfart it's my respect to them. Also, the bulk of Japanese man power was focused in China

US: "You need to supply your men." British: "You need to supply your men." CCP: "We need to supply our men." Kuomingtang: "I require more of the stupid juice."

@frozekiller9087

Жыл бұрын

KMT: I NEED MORE FUCKING GAMER JUICE!

Great presentation,thank you

I was looking for a channel quite like kento bento. It has been more than a year since he last uploaded some contents & i have finally found a best fitting alternative. This video gave me the same feeling. Your voice, narration skills& knowledge are admirable. It's not your gain as a subscriber in me but my gain as a quality content provider in you.

Thank you Armchair Historians, for making another great video about China during WW2. China’s role (both the KMT & the CPC) in WW2, shouldn’t be forgotten and deserved more attention. Hate it how everyone always remembers Japan as a members of the Axis, and forget to mention’s Japan’s long term enemy of WW2 and a member of the allied power; China. Most Americans and other allied members only mention themselves as the one who’s been fighting Japan in WW2, and forgets to mention that China has been fighting Japan way before them.

As a Chinese I am happy that you talked about our perspective, since it is rarely in any books I find.

Lovely video!

Thank you for making this video i didnot knowvmuch about this

thank you very much for this video! it provides a great perspective of the sino japanese war and its nice seeing western media talk about it more. in china, every 18th of septemebr, there are still air raid alarms.

As an American, I would very much like to learn more about modern Chinese history. I feel like most of my school-learning on China focused on ancient history. Thank you for another informative video. God be with you out there everybody! ✝️ :)

@Supersonicspyro

10 ай бұрын

Modern Chinese history is a bit more controversial lolol

@sandwich5344

9 ай бұрын

unfortunately, modern china is powered by corruption and a rather contriversial form of "soft power" in order to undermine the truth about what actually goes on behind closed, marxist doors rather difficult. However - a few key points and main events are: - forced labour "re-education" camps, WWII style - organ harvesting, the likes of dystopian novels - forced steralisation, one way to wipe out religious & ethnic minorites - covering up global threats cause "if i warn the government about X, they'll accuse me of X"

@forrestZH

7 ай бұрын

Thank you for your interest in Chinese history. China's modern history begins with the Qing dynasty, specifically see the beginning of China's battle to resist the British dumping of opium into China in 1840. China has experienced semi-colonial and semi-royal rule ever since. After the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, China entered a phase of warlord rule and Kuomintang (KMT) rule, with the Civil War and Japanese invasion of China occurring at the same time. The Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded in 1921, and after the Sino-Japanese War ended in 1945, the CPC and the KMT began a civil war of more than 3 years, which culminated in the departure of the KMT from the mainland to Taiwan. And China, after 1949, has been seeking strategic autonomy independence and balance among different forces such as the Soviet Union and the United States.

Congrats on 2 million subs!

Another excellent video!

The true horror of Nanking is that to this day the Japanese still refuse to even acknowledge any wrongdoing.

It is always a good day when The Armchair Historian uploads. Happy Mothers Day everyone!

特别感谢您能讲解这段历史

Absolutely glad China is getting a history lesson, I heard of nankin and was horrified and saddened by the event, to this day I don’t know how anyone any human can commit or think about doing what they did and continuing throughout the war it really shows how humans are when given complete control and freedom to do whatever they want

@TechieWidget

Жыл бұрын

What makes it even more sad is that it could have been preventable but it happened due to Japanese military generals’ incompetence with disciplining their officers and sub-commanders, and getting them to follow their orders. A lot of officers and sub-commanders often go against their generals’ orders because of factionalism, their egos or conflicting ideals. This issue never got resolved and later on lead to Manila massacre in 1945.

@gustavvondaun4375

11 ай бұрын

Well the japanese were far from humans, to call them savages is lenient

@user-pg5dl5nz2v

4 ай бұрын

Japanese soldiers were deeply influenced by militarism and fascism, and they believed in the theory of racial superiority, just like Nazi Germany, which led them to not believe that Chinese people were humans but animals that they could freely kill.

Chinese after the war: Finally the suffering ends... Mao: Hol up.

@jeffrey2326

11 ай бұрын

That sucks

@bruhtnt4258

9 ай бұрын

America: hello!

Thank you for finally covering the Chinese perspective and mentioning the notorious corruption and embezzlement that the Kuomintang was involved in when they had control of Mainland China. My family used to have ties with Kuomintang, going back to the time when they were part of Tongmenhui in overthrowing the Qing. It was until 1946 when my great-grandpa had enough of Kuomintang upperclassmen embezzling foreign aid (esp food) and had him and his family fled to Southeast Asia to escape persecution after exposing their embezzlement in newspapers via his friend.

@clownpendotfart

Жыл бұрын

Where in southeast asia did he flee to?

@nothingtoseeexceptwaifus

Жыл бұрын

@@clownpendotfart Singapore or Malaysia would most likely be the location, given how populated Chinese are at there. But maybe countries like Vietnam and Burma given how close they're to China's Mainland

@HWDragonborn

Жыл бұрын

Your great grandpa made a wise choice escaping to Southeast Asia. If your family stayed in China, they would have being prosecuted during the Anti-Rightist Campaign or Cultural Revolution due to their former ties to KMT.

@jink1768

Жыл бұрын

I think one thing a lot of people in the west don’t realize is that neither the KMT or CCP had the moral high ground and both group committed atrocities. Only difference is CCP came out on top in the end. Ultimately it was the average citizen that suffered as a result. My families weren’t KMT supporters nor CCP revolutionary they were a small family of merchants that were caught in the crossfire. My family was apparently too rich for the CCP during the purge but they weren’t well off enough to escape the country at the time and most of my family’s clan was wiped out. I was told those that those of my family survived became wandering beggers before finally taken refuge with a community of Hui people and weren’t even allowed to enter large cities until Deng Xiao Ping became chairmen in the 1980s. My family manage to make a living in the mainland until we had to run due to allegations of treason and charges of corruption. I was young at the time but my understanding was someone influential in the province I was from had issues with my family business and when we refused to pay “protection fee” to the local gang and suddenly we were charged with allegation of treason. We were under house arrest and my family eventually “sold” their business to the person and we were released from house arrest. We didn’t take any chance and fled for the U.S immediately fearing they will come after us again with nothing but what little saving we had left. Years later we found out from another family who fled to the U.S that this was a common tactic by corrupted official. Had we not sold our business we would have most likely been executed or imprisoned and our assets would have been taken by the government regardless.

@TechieWidget

Жыл бұрын

@@HWDragonborn Definitely, he would most likely be made a target during Cultural Revolution because of his educational background (he studied law in Fudan University) and former ties with KMT. If he never exposed embezzlement of food foreign aid by KMT in Amoy, he may have stayed on mainland China or fled to Taiwan or Hong Kong.

Great video

Another great video

The brave Chinese kept over 4 million Japanese soldiers tied down. It was the Eastern Front of Asia.

@snowade

8 ай бұрын

Totally. This was what i was trying to say.

People tend to forget how quality this channel is

I watch the sponsor part of every Armchair Historian video with enjoyment for no reason what so ever

Another great video.

If you ever do your versus series again American Paratroopers vs Japanese ones would be cool.

@bigredwolf6

Жыл бұрын

I was not aware Japan had paratroopers. Ya learn something new everyday

@Matanza4897

Жыл бұрын

​@@bigredwolf6 they had, they were called Teishin Sudan, and they had a lot of activity between 1942 and 1943 during the Philippine campaign...

Hope to see more videos about china! Rest in peace to those who suffered from the japanese.

@lilmike2710

Жыл бұрын

"Imperial" Japanese. A very important distinction. A cabal of evil men had wormed their way into the upper ranks of the imperial Japanese military. And unfortunately they had the Emperors ear. They basically brainwashed him with militant propaganda and lies. That whole part of history is a very deep rabbit hole with many tunnels. And quite interesting.

As someone who studied history I appreciate these types of videos. I am also making videos about history. I just go over the events that happened in order.

0h man I've been waiting for this finnaly a in-depth look at the chinese front. Thanks Griff.

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a war that is really overlooked in history. It was a war that was part of the Second World War. The stories told from my family during the war was extremely sad and difficult to listen to. Around millions of Chinese people United and fought the Japanese even though they were much more superior in military. 20 million Chinese people died from this war. The Japanese were extremely brutal and inhumane to the Chinese people. Respect to the Chinese who fought and sacrificed for their country.

Always great tto see things from alternative perspectives! Another topic that's somehow rarely discussed but might be very interesting would be "Crusades from the Muslim perspective". How much of an impact did the conquest of the Holy Land actually have to the Arab World? Was the Christian Invasion seen as an existential threat to Islam itself like e.g. the Ottoman Expansion was seen by Christianity? Or was it seen as "just" another conflict as the Middle East had already been a war-torn region before? And how much truth lies in the narrative of cruel Crusaders on the one side and a wise, just Sultan Saladin as their counterpart?

Glad you made this video. This is ,unfortunately, a perspectives most often ignored and I’m glad to see some eyes put onto the Chinese. So good video over all.

Flowers of War, great movie armchair about this topic.

Alright a new episode!

Great video, although I was hoping that there would be more talk about Chinese collaborators (AKA Jingwei's regime, Manchukuo and Mengjiang). I always wondered if all of them had active roles in combat against regular Chinese troops, how were they viewed by Chinese and wondered about their legacy (since, from what I heard, some of collaborators remain polarizing figures to this day), but all information I managed to find about them was scarce and relatively brief.

@curtiswong7280

Жыл бұрын

Collaborators themselves were perceived negatively, but they usually didn't stay collaborators for long; among the soldiers within the puppet states like Manchukuo and the Reorganised RoC, defection rates were astronomically high. Japan also found it difficult to locate potential collaborator leaders as well; even many exiled warlords who had to flee to the concessions in Shanghai after Chiang Kai-Shek's Northern Expedition refused to join the Japanese, and so the collaborationist governments were usually filled with underqualified individuals far above their previous positions in government. Leaders of the collaborationist governments such as Wang Jingwei are seen today as Hanjian(race traitors) because of their role in the war, and are reviled in both the RoC and the PRC.

@rayray6490

Жыл бұрын

I read a article of a former child soldier of the puppet army at the time. The former puppet soldier said the puppet army consider themselves the “Peace Army” while the actual National army as the “Fighting Army”. One side keeps the peace in occupied territory while the other in Free China actively fights the invaders. Honestly it sounded like a coping mechanism for the puppet troops

I have a young chinese student in one of my classes who is very interested in this history. I look forward to sharing the link with her tomorrow.

One of the underrated fronts of the Pacific war, great video.

This was really well made. I was surprised that there was no mention of the Gegenmiao massacre, as it was previously touched upon, but regardless, this is an overlooked area of the war and its great that it's being covered in such detail.

This video is eye-opening and allows me to feel that we are more alike than different. Kudos to what China achieved today I just think I can let go of my dislikes of China and start to embrace them more. Respect from Canada.

this is one of the best English documentary on Sino-Japanese war, and I must praise the production team as the animations of equipment, uniforms are historically correct. Someone has done a lot of homework before the making of this doc., very well done

Not a perspective we hear enough about. Looking forward to watching this!