The Reluctant Combatant
By KITAMURA MINORU,
Abstract
Abstract ― The Reluctant Combatant: Japan and the Second Sino-Japanese WarThe mainstream view on the Second Sino-Japanese War is that Imperial Japan was bent on destroying China, and the rest of Asia, for purely selfish reasons. However, careful analysis of the global situation, particularly of the social and political development of China and the attitudes of the Chinese leadership, indicates that the Chinese were not the innocent victims of “aggression” as is currently claimed.
Authors Kitamura and Lin recount the circumstances that ultimately lead to the Second Sino-Japanese War, demonstrating that the war was neither a Japanese “war of aggression” or that China was a “helpless” victim.