Background 1. Colonialism is in the ascendant;

Second, the bottleneck of Japanese national development;

Background three. The expansionism of the Soviet Union.

When it comes to the topic "Why did the Japanese invade China", if we don't start with the above three historical backgrounds, it will be difficult to see clearly the complicated international environment at that time, and it will be difficult to sort out the internal logic of that historical development.

Let me start with the first historical background: "Colonialism is in the ascendant". At that time, there were many imperialist countries in the world, such as Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Japan. These imperialist countries have the right to station troops, extraterritoriality, concessions, leased land and many railways and minerals in China. Japan is one of them. At this point, Japan is not fundamentally different from some imperialist countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany. Japan hopes to squeeze the power of white people out of Asia and let Japan monopolize the Asian market under the bright slogan of "* * * save * * *".

The second historical background is that after the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national development encountered a serious bottleneck. Japan has less arable land, poor resources, an expanding population and a narrow market. In particular, the outbreak of the world economic crisis in 1929 made Japan enter the dilemma of "not advancing or retreating". Therefore, Japan should not only desperately safeguard some of its colonial privileges overseas, but also deliberately expand these privileges, otherwise it will not be able to maintain the sustainable development of Japan's economy. Of course, this does not mean rationality, but that people are selfish and greedy. China people believe in "preserving justice and destroying human desires", but Japanese people don't believe this.

Background three. The expansionism of the Soviet Union. This problem directly threatens the national defense of capitalist countries including Japan. At that time, the Japanese fantasized about becoming Depth Charge and its allies against the Soviet Union and West Asia, and profited from it. To achieve this, Japan's hand must be inserted into the territory of other Asian countries (such as garrisoning troops and leasing land), otherwise it will not be able to "complete its historical mission." We can say that Japan is overbearing, but it thinks it is "great".

After figuring out these main historical backgrounds, let's talk about things between China and Japan in detail. The evil between China and Japan actually originated in the northeast. 1905 After Japan defeated Russia, it returned most of the land in the three northeastern provinces to the Qing Dynasty, but it also "inherited" some of Russia's previous colonial privileges in Northeast China: the lease right of Lushun Dalian, the mining right of Nanman Railway, and specific forest products and minerals. According to the treaty signed with the Qing government, Japan also sent a Japanese army stationed on both sides of the Nanman Railway, known as the "Kwantung Army".

Why did Japan want the Great Qing Dynasty to agree that it "inherited" these privileges from Russia? Two motives: economy and national defense. Economically speaking, Japan acquired two colonies in Northeast China, Lushun and Dalian. In terms of national defense, Japan's forces began to enter the northeast and could compete with Russia.

Since Japan obtained the above-mentioned colonial privilege in northeast China from 1905, the late Qing government and Beiyang government have been living in peace with it and have not challenged these vested interests of Japan. However, after Chiang Kai-shek launched the Northern Expedition, things got worse.

Why? Because Chiang Kai-shek's national government began "revolutionary diplomacy" and began to challenge Japan's vested interests. The Kuomintang declared that it would "reclaim all state power in Northeast China" and "abolish all unequal treaties", in other words, it would drive the Japanese out of Northeast China. The national government not only said so, but also began to do so. For example, the construction of railways crowded out the South Manchuria Railway, forbidding Northeasters to lease land to the Japanese and boycotting Japanese goods.

As a result, the Japanese government began to contact and negotiate with the National Government. Japan wants to safeguard its vested interests in the Northeast, but the National Government has repeatedly given a clear answer: resolutely withdraw it.

This incident is a bit like Deng Xiaoping's later negotiation with Britain to recover Hong Kong. However, when Deng Xiaoping and Britain talk about taking back Hong Kong, Deng Xiaoping has enough military strength to back it up. At that time, the National Government threatened to take back the railways in Lushun, Dalian and Nanman. Does the national army have corresponding strength? Looking back at history, it may be debatable whether it is wise to do so.

It never rains but it pours. During this protracted diplomatic negotiation (1928- 193 1), the world economic crisis broke out in 1929, and the Japanese economy suffered serious setbacks. The tough attitude of the National Government in the Sino-Japanese negotiations here made the Japanese military rise. The Japanese military secretly decided that once the time was ripe, it would abandon the Japanese government and defend Japan's vested interests in northeast China with an iron fist.

At this time, another thing happened. 193 1 In May, Japanese military spy Nobutaro Nakamura went to Xing 'anling, China to investigate the terrain, and was arrested by Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army and shot to death. This incident greatly stimulated the Japanese and accelerated the planning of military operations by the Kwantung Army. Only four months later, the Japanese Kwantung Army brazenly launched the "September 18th Incident", invaded the three northeastern provinces in one fell swoop and established a puppet country: "Manchukuo". The Japanese warlords were so arrogant that they never stopped doing things.

After the founding of Manchukuo, Japanese warlords tried to turn the vast area of North China within the Great Wall into a "buffer zone" in order to safeguard the security of Manchukuo, which was called the "North China Autonomy Movement" in history. However, this action of the Japanese army in North China made the National Government judge that Japan would "gradually occupy and destroy China from north to south".

It is worth mentioning that various forces of the Soviet Union have carried out a lot of provocative activities in these years. Why? Because the outbreak of war between China and Japan is in the interest of the Soviet Union.

Then, the "Lugouqiao Incident" broke out. At this point, Chiang Kai-shek thought that the "last moment" had arrived, so Chiang Kai-shek ordered Zhang Zhizhong to lead the marines to attack the Japanese concession in Shanghai. At this point, the Sino-Japanese war broke out in an all-round way.