Tanggu Truce
The Tanggu Truce, sometimes called the Tangku Truce (Japanese: 塘沽協定, Hepburn: Tōko kyōtei, simplified Chinese: 塘沽协定; traditional Chinese: 塘沽協定; pinyin: Tánggū Xiédìng), was a ceasefire unequal treaty that was signed between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan in Tanggu, Tianjin, on May 31, 1933. It formally ended the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which had begun in 1931.
Background
After the
In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo's southern borders, a joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe. After conquering that province by March, it drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall into Hebei Province.
From the start of hostilities, China had appealed to its neighbors and the international community but received no effective support.
The Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Japanese Emperor
Negotiations
On May 22, 1933, Chinese and Japanese representatives met to negotiate the end of the conflict. The Japanese demands were severe: a demilitarized zone extending 100 km south of the Great Wall from Beijing to Tianjin was to be created, with the Great Wall itself under Japanese control. No regular Kuomintang military units were to be allowed in the demilitarized zone, but the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft or ground patrols to ensure that the agreement was maintained. Public order within the zone was to be maintained by a lightly armed Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps.
Two secret clauses excluded any of the
Harried by their civil war with the communists and unable to win international support, Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese government agreed to virtually all of Japan's demands.[1]
Furthermore, most of the new demilitarized zone was within the remaining territory of a discredited Manchurian
Aftermath
The Tanggu Truce de facto resulted in the recognition of Manchukuo by the Kuomintang government and its acknowledgement of the loss of Rehe.
However, Chinese public opinion was hostile to terms that were so favorable to Japan and so humiliating to China. Although the truce provided for a demilitarized buffer zone, Japanese territorial ambitions towards China remained, and the truce proved to be only a temporary respite until hostilities erupted again in 1937 by the Second Sino-Japanese War.
See also
- Japanese imperialism
- Unequal treaties
Citations
General sources
- ISBN 0-06-093130-2.
- Fenby, Jonathan (2003). Chiang Kai-shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1318-6.
- Hane, Mikiso (2001). Modern Japan: A Historical Survey. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3756-9.
- ISBN 0-582-03407-8.
- Van Ginneken, Anique H. M. (2006). Historical Dictionary of the League of Nations. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810865136.
External links
- "JAPAN-CHINA: Breathing Spell"—Time magazine, June 12, 1933