Chapter 13 The Nationalist Government explicitly ordered Chongqing to be the accompanying capital

On September 6, 1940, the National Government issued an order to designate Chongqing as the accompanying capital of the Republic of China.The order said: "Chongqing Wanhu southwest, controlling Jianghan, especially the national important town", "The people of Sichuan Province share the same hatred, wholeheartedly relieve the difficulties, and remain determined. Establish the foundation of the Anti-Japanese War and praise the great cause of the founding of the country. The current situation in the capital will benefit It was consolidated, and became a military, political and economic hub during the war. It was rebuilt and established, and the people agreed. Chongqing is specifically designated as the accompanying capital."

Just like a person, a city always has its own appearance and personality. Among all its legends, there is always a story running through it; just like every life has a star that belongs to him in the distance, there is always a destiny. Make a city mysterious and glorious in the dark. More than 60 years ago, Fairbank flew over Chongqing from Kunming. The wartime capital of China gave him an instant impression: "A very unfortunate human settlement. There is not even a piece of flat land here, and everything seems to be covered. 1/4 inch thick dust.” This young Harvard professor, however, relied on the 15 months he spent in Chongqing to feel the spirit and strength of China, which established his position as the number one authority on Chinese studies in the United States in the future. .Similar examples include the British scientist Joseph Needham, the American water conservancy expert Savannah, the publisher of Time magazine Luce, the journalist Edgar Snow, the Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway, and Asia Insider. "The world-renowned American writer John Genmuro, and the special envoy of the US President and writer Wendell Wilkie who praised China in his monograph "One World One Family"...Indeed, Chongqing is full of clouds and fog, mountains and rivers, and it contains untold treasures. The historical mysteries of Yan Biao, many accidental characters and accidental events met here by chance, and the stars have been scattered since then.However, in the vicissitudes of the vicissitudes of the wind and rain, and the crowing of the rooster, this mountain city, adhering to the will of nature, is well versed in the mysteries of the world, and is uniquely blessed by nature.Chongqing's destiny is unique, it is destined to be responsible for the rise and fall of the world in the autumn of a nation's critical survival.Without the blessing of good fortune and God's will, Chongqing is nothing but a closed and mediocre agricultural product distribution terminal, a pool of stagnant water abandoned by the tide of history.

In 1935, with the unification of Sichuan and the unification of the southwestern provinces gradually resolved, the national government gradually shifted the defense center from the northwest to the southwest.Chongqing, in particular, is the largest industrial and commercial city and economic center in the Southwest. It is closely connected with the provinces in the Southwest. With the natural barriers of Sichuan as a barrier and the two major international traffic lines in the Southwest and Northwest as the basis, once the eastern coast is blocked by the enemy, it can still communicate with the outside world. connection.At the same time, Sichuan has a large number of people and rich products, so it can persist for a long time in terms of human, material and financial resources. On March 2, 1935, Chiang Kai-shek flew from Hankou to Chongqing; in April, he pointed out for the first time in his speech during the Prime Minister's Memorial Week: "In terms of the status of Sichuan, it is not only an important place for our revolution, but especially for our Chinese nation. In July of the same year, facing the coming Sino-Japanese war, Chiang Kai-shek once again pointed out: "The area south of the Yangtze River and west of the Ping-Han line should be the main line for Japanese pirates, and the three provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou and Shaanxi should be the core. Yunnan is the rear.” On October 6 of the same year, when Chiang Kai-shek attended the Kuomintang’s Sichuan Provincial Party Headquarters Expansion Commemoration Week in Chengdu, he pointed out: “Sichuan deserves to be the capital province of China in all aspects of humanities, and it is naturally the best place for national rejuvenation. A good base.” There are indications that after the central forces entered Sichuan and the Sichuan government was unified, the national government had begun to shift the focus of construction from the northwest to the southwest, and began to consider the rear base during the Anti-Japanese War, which was what Chiang Kai-shek called “national rejuvenation.” Base area" construction issues.

With the expansion of Japan's aggression against China and the development of domestic anti-Japanese democratic forces, the National Government began to move further towards an anti-Japanese stance. In September 1935, Chiang Kai-shek published an article in "Economic Exchanges" stating: "After all, China's compromises and concessions to Japan have a certain limit." This is the first time Chiang Kai-shek expressed his tough attitude towards the Japanese invaders.Next, Jiang asked Jiang Zuobin, the ambassador to Japan, to tell the Japanese government: If the Chinese government "is driven beyond endurance, we will fight the aggressors at all costs."At the 5th National Congress of the Kuomintang and the Second Plenary Session of the 5th Central Committee held subsequently, some changes occurred in the Kuomintang's policy towards Japan.

After the Fifth National Congress of the Kuomintang, the national government was reorganized. Chiang Kai-shek replaced Wang Jingwei as the executive president, and most of the ministers were held by pro-British and American factions.In line with the change in policy toward Japan, the Kuomintang also began to prepare for the war of resistance in action, and formulated a three-year national defense plan. The main contents were: to seek international support, especially the support of the Soviet Union; to implement currency reform and prepare financial resources for the war; Construct national defense fortifications in strategic locations such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou; in terms of transportation, quickly build the Guangdong-Han and Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railways, extend the Longhai Railway, and build strategic highways such as Guangxi-Yue, Gansu-Xinjiang, and Chuankang; reorganize the national army, implement The military service law recruits recruits; prepares for the retreat of universities in coastal areas, protects and transfers key cultural relics in Beiping, etc.

On July 7, 1937, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident broke out, and Japan aggressively attacked China. On August 13, the Shanghai War broke out. Implement the natural right of self-defense to deal with it." The Anti-Japanese War broke out in an all-round way, and the Chinese army launched a tenacious resistance on the Songhu battlefield.Subsequently, Chiang Kai-shek delivered a speech "National Relocation to Chongqing and the Future of the Anti-Japanese War" at the Supreme National Defense Conference, confirming that Sichuan was the rear area of ​​the Anti-Japanese War and Chongqing was the seat of the Nationalist Government. On November 20, 1937, the National Government issued a declaration, announcing that the National Government "in order to adapt to the war situation, coordinate the overall situation, and move to Chongqing today for the sake of long-term resistance. After that, it will engage in longer-lasting battles on the largest scale." The war of resistance will surely achieve the goal of safeguarding the survival of the nation and the nation.” On December 1, the national government began to work in Chongqing.At this time, the military command center of the Nationalist Government was still in Wuhan, and the main ministries and councils of the Executive Yuan were also staying in Wuhan. In October 1938, Wuhan fell, and Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government's institutions in Wuhan also moved to Chongqing.Chongqing became the political, military, economic and cultural education center of wartime China.

The relocation of the national government's capital to Chongqing was a major event in the modern history of China and Chongqing, which had a profound impact on the Chinese Anti-Japanese War and the development of Chongqing.With the relocation of state organs, industrial and mining enterprises, various schools, cultural institutions, and financial institutions, Chongqing has leapt from a regional political, economic, and cultural center to the political, military, economic, and cultural center of wartime China; It has developed from an ancient commercial city to a central city with a modern industrial foundation; from an ordinary medium-sized city in the remote east of Sichuan to an international famous city.

After the Nationalist Government announced the move of the capital to Chongqing, the Nationalist Government and its institutes, ministries, and associations moved to Chongqing one after another. Chongqing became the wartime capital of China and the center of politics, military affairs, economy, and culture in the country.However, Chongqing was originally an ordinary city (provincial city) under the jurisdiction of the Sichuan Provincial Government. After the city government was tightened and reorganized in 1932, it only set up a police station and four offices of general affairs, finance, public affairs, and education. The provincial government's appropriation of funds was seriously incompatible with Chongqing's strategic position and normal functioning at that time.

In late October 1938, 21 people, including Hu Jingyi, a member of the political council, suggested that the national government should change Chongqing into a special city directly under the central government, and submitted it to the 384th meeting of the Executive Yuan for discussion and study. In early 1938, after Liu Xiang died of illness in Wuhan, Chiang Kai-shek appointed his confidant Zhang Qun to succeed him as the chairman of Sichuan Province.Under such circumstances, if Chongqing is directly affiliated with the central government, it will violate the interests of the powerful faction in Sichuan too much. Therefore, the Executive Yuan finally decided to take transitional measures. Government organizations are temporarily allowed to follow the scale of the municipality directly under the central government, and improve the treatment of the mayor and the executive heads of the bureaus under it; in terms of finance, except for business tax, other revenues belong to the municipal finance, and the central government will grant subsidies at the discretion of the government, and the accounting is independent; Chongqing Municipality When necessary, the government can directly send a letter to the Executive Yuan, and at the same time report to the Sichuan Provincial Government, making preparations for the Zhili Nationalist Government Executive Yuan when the time is right in the future.

On May 3 and 4, 1939, the Japanese Air Force bombed Chongqing continuously, causing thousands of civilian casualties, shocking both at home and abroad. On May 5, in order to strengthen leadership, the Nationalist Government explicitly ordered Chongqing to be upgraded to a municipality directly under the Central Government of the Executive Yuan, and He Guoguang was appointed Mayor of Chongqing.At the same time, 1 million yuan was allocated to relieve the victims, concentrating vehicles and ships, actively evacuating from the disaster area and other measures, which quickly stabilized the situation in Chongqing.

With the relocation of the National Government to Chongqing, a large number of military, political, cultural, educational units, and industrial and mining enterprises moved to Chongqing. The units moved to Chongqing either rented houses or built new sheds, and the city expanded rapidly.The government has adopted policies of encouragement and support for the relocation of factories and units to Chongqing.At that time, the Sichuan provincial government ordered preferential treatment for the land acquisition of factories moved to Chongqing, which played a positive role in promoting the relocation and reconstruction of factories, enterprises and enterprises.Relevant units and people in Chongqing also actively cooperated, actively renting and selling houses or real estate to units and enterprises that moved inward.The old open spaces in the old urban area and the new urban area, Hualong Bridge, Tuwan, Xiaolongkan, Shapingba, Haitang Creek, Longmenhao, Xuantan Temple, Danzishi, Jiangbei Old Town, Gailanxi, Chenjiaguan, Xiangguo In the area of ​​the temple and Maoershi, all kinds of simple houses, factories, and work sheds sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain.As a result, the urban area expanded to Shangqing Temple and Lianglukou, and the suburbs expanded to Ciqikou and Geleshan.By the end of 1938, the city's built-up area had expanded to nearly 30 square kilometers, and the city's population had reached 500,000, including a floating population of more than 600,000. After the national government moved its capital to Chongqing, it elevated Chongqing to a municipality directly under the Central Government of the Executive Yuan, and designated Chongqing as the accompanying capital of the Republic of China, which improved Chongqing's status, stabilized the hearts of the people in the rear, and benefited the overall situation of the Anti-Japanese War.The Nationalist Government is also hinting at the Japanese that we are determined to stay together for a long time.