Chapter 22 This year's general trend

1934 was the dullest year in China's 14-year Anti-Japanese War history.From the perspective of economy and culture, this year also looks gray and dull.In this year, the most impressive thing was the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in the Yangtze River Basin. The Red Army suffered serious setbacks and began the Long March. In 1934, the first volume of the third volume of "Shenbao Monthly" published the predictions made by some intellectuals on the prospects of that year. They are extremely pessimistic!Others did not dare to have any extravagant hopes. Most of the people in the country were depressed and worried. They were mainly worried about three points: the economic crisis would spread to China; People believe that the future 1936 will be the year when the Second World War broke out.

In 1934, the relationship between China and Japan could appear to be relatively peaceful, and Japan's movements were the key factor.Beginning with the "September 18th" Incident in the autumn of 1931, Chinese people saw bad news one after another from the newspapers. In 1931, the entire Northeast fell. In 1932, Shanghai, the most prosperous industrial and commercial city in China, was forcibly drawn into the vortex of war. In 1999, the Japanese army occupied Rehe Province, crossed the Shanhaiguan Pass, and attacked along the Great Wall.People in Northeast China, North China, and Jiangnan have all felt the threat of war.But in 1934, the Japanese army temporarily stopped its aggressive operations in China.Of course, this is not the conscience of the Japanese aggressors, nor is it that the "Tanggu Agreement" has magical binding effects, but that after the "September 18th" Incident, Japan has gained too many spoils from China: the three northeastern provinces plus Jehol.Despite his insatiable greed, this war demon can't help but digest the excess food first.As a result, the entanglement between China and Japan in 1934 was limited to the scope of the Tianyu statement, the postal and traffic openings between outside and inside the customs, and even a farce in which the Japanese embassy's Hideaki Kuramoto lost in Nanjing and found it again. The incident caused a false alarm on the Chinese side and embarrassed the Japanese government.

Japan has never restrained its ambitions for China. It withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933, but it resented the technical assistance given to China by the League of Nations. On April 17, 1934, Eiji Amaba, an official of the Information Department of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued a public statement in Tokyo, claiming that China’s exchanges with other countries must be approved by Japan.As soon as this remark came out, China was shocked and the world was astonished, because Japan no longer regarded China as an independent country, but as its vassal state.The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was deeply shocked when it was informed of the incident on the 18th.However, the attitude of the first statement was very weak, and it was not until the second statement that the attitude became tougher. The statement mentioned: "China's sovereignty and its independent national status will never allow any country to use any excuses to slightly damage it. ", "China cannot tolerate the common restraint of all countries, just as it cannot be restrained by any country alone", the statement stated in the last paragraph: "For the outside world, it is committed to the guarantee of international security, and international treaties such as the League of Nations Treaty and the Nine-Power Pact Interference by other countries is not allowed in the conduct of internal work." The statement expressed China's minimum position, that is, any behavior that undermines China's sovereignty and independent national character will never be tolerated by China.But otherwise, the diplomatic authorities kept a low profile.

At that time, Chinese envoys stationed abroad sent telegrams one after another, asking what happened.Minister Shi Zhaoji sent back three or five telegrams every day, reporting the arguments and records of major American newspapers, as well as the attitude of the US government.All countries remained passive on the issue of curbing Japan’s invasion of China. The United Kingdom only “asked questions”, and the United States did not take any specific action. As for France and Italy, they declared that they would not ask about this matter. The Soviet Union remained silent, saying that Japan’s statement was aimed at borrowing money. It is issued to China and the countries that supply aircraft and ammunition to China. The Soviet Union neither loaned China nor supplied aircraft and ammunition to China, so this matter has nothing to do with it.

The truce with Japan gave Chiang Kai-shek a chance to relax in his internal affairs.Since his comeback in 1932, Chiang Kai-shek has learned his lesson seriously, and he is no longer as arrogant and reckless as before in dealing with the internal conflicts of the Kuomintang. In 1934, he became the founder of the New Life Movement to improve his public image as a martial artist. At the same time, he quietly strengthened the secret service organization and used the Lushan Officer Training Corps to strengthen the loyalty of the officer class to him. More importantly, he Suppressed the Fujian People's Government and destroyed the Soviet regime in the Yangtze River Basin, re-establishing his strong position in the Kuomintang and the Nanjing government.

The Fujian incident only continued the aftermath of the end of last year. The leader of the Fujian People's Government, Chen Mingshu, etc. changed the name of the Republic of China, tore down the national flag of the blue sky and white sun, broke away from the long-followed Kuomintang, and drastically changed its course politically. On the one hand, the response was lukewarm, especially the impact of Guangdong and Guangxi's non-cooperative attitude was fatal.The only communist leader in a position to help it directly was not able to do all he could.Under the methodical attack of the Central Army, the Fujian regime quickly disintegrated, and the 19th Route Army, which had a glorious history of resisting Japan, disintegrated at once.

The most tragic war in the country is the "communist suppression" civil war.The two sides entered the point of hand-to-hand combat. Coincidentally, there were military advisers from Germany in both armies, Chiang Kai-shek had Seckert, etc., and Bogu had Li De.The Kuomintang army encroached on the land of the Soviets with stupid bunker tactics and a ruthless economic blockade. Although the Red Army soldiers were still brave and tenacious, their opponents were too powerful to start the war.After the fall of Guangchang, the Kuomintang army gained the upper hand.In the second half of the year, the Red Army implemented a strategic shift and began the world-famous Long March.

The success of Chiang Kai-shek's "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army has attracted attention. With the worldwide appeal of fascism, a group of people are willing to support him as the dictator of China. Needless to say, his secret party members, even Zhang Xueliang, the commander of the Northeast Army, returned from overseas. He also made clear his loyalty to Chiang Kai-shek's leadership position. On the afternoon of January 8, 1934, Zhang Xueliang returned to Shanghai from Italy on the ship "Conto Fote".At this time, he seemed to be a different person from before going abroad.The young marshal who quit drug addiction not only regained the demeanor of a young leader, but also became much stronger physically. Three days later, Zhang Xueliang published a written statement, saying that he was deeply impressed by the construction of material civilization in Europe.He said three points with emotion. One is that citizens support their leaders, and leaders are loyal and selfless.However, China has too many people vying to be the leader, and they are neither able to order nor willing to accept orders.The people of the country should allow a leader the opportunity to experiment.Zhang Xueliang did not say so, but the reporters knew that the leader he was talking about was Chiang Kai-shek.Second, Western scholars are proficient in academics and have the spirit of grinding through iron inkstones. In contrast, in China, teachers are for money, students are for diplomas, and their contributions to the country are limited to waving the flag.Therefore, it is necessary to refresh education and cultivate talents.Third, Europe is extremely war-weary, but it is also extremely anxious to prepare for war. All parties in China should put aside their grievances and prepare to defend against aggression as soon as possible.He emphasized that internal peace is possible, but external peace is a lie. In today's world, only those who struggle can survive.He reiterated that he is a soldier and will obey orders unconditionally, and his ambition is to maintain and promote peace.He even asked to work in Chiang Kai-shek's attendant room. Of course, with Chiang Kai-shek's shrewdness, he would not put the powerful commander of the Northeast Army in the position of chief of staff.Although Zhang Xueliang repeatedly expressed his desire for peaceful reunification, Chiang Kai-shek still entrusted him with the important task of deputy commander-in-chief of the three provinces of Hubei, Henan and Anhui to suppress the bandits, and transferred nine divisions of the Northeast Army to the south to participate in the siege of the Red Army. Zhang Xueliang hurried to Wuhan to take up command , sits at the forefront of the Civil War.

Chiang Kai-shek did not hesitate to spend most of the government's funds on military expenditures, which made the Chinese economy, which was already in a deep crisis, even more precarious.People anxiously watched the outflow of silver, falling prices, and the depressed market. Even the cotton yarn enterprise run by Rong Zongjing was on the verge of collapse, let alone other small and medium-sized enterprises with little strength.The citizens prayed that their jobs would be as secure as before, and that the fate of bankruptcy or unemployment would not be their turn.The countryside is becoming more and more desolate. The flood in 1934 was almost as severe as the worst in 1931. Zhejiang, known as a prosperous area, was trapped in drought. The bad weather caused two-thirds of the country to be affected.

Despite the economic downturn and the increasingly strict censorship of books, films, and news by the Kuomintang and its government, the cultural circles still showed great vitality.This year is called the "Magazine Year" in cultural history.The high attendance rate of the movie "Yuguangqu" also represents a microcosm of the rapid development of the film industry. Fortunately, the prophecy that China would split into several new countries in 1934 did not come true.But the situation in China is still very critical, and the border areas are in a state of alienation from the central government.Regardless of whether it is considered from the perspective of a stable rear in the war against Japan, or from the perspective of national unity, frontier affairs are of great importance.The death of the Dalai Lama XIII triggered the Nanjing government to send a delegation of Huang Musong to Tibet. Tibet and the central government began to rebuild the relationship between the two sides. Although the process started very difficult, it started after all; the turmoil in Xinjiang came to an end, and the military flourished Only after he became the ruler of Xinjiang, the Soviet Union had a huge influence in this border province of China; this year, the Inner Mongolian princes’ demands for autonomy were temporarily satisfied, and the Mongolian Political Council was established in Bailing Temple, but King De was not satisfied with this. He and The differences in the Nanjing government have not been eliminated; in the Northeast, Pu Yi, who had been in power for two years in the puppet Manchukuo, re-ascended the throne. This is his third ascension to the throne. "Emperor, everyone knows that this is a shameless trick between the Japanese and Puyi, and the international public opinion at that time generally responded with a sneer.