Great Way Municipal Government of Shanghai | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1937–1938 | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
Status | Puppet regime of the Empire of Japan | ||||||||
Capital | Pudong | ||||||||
Common languages | Mandarin Chinese Japanese | ||||||||
Government | Municipal government | ||||||||
Chairman | |||||||||
• 1937–1938 | Su Xiwen | ||||||||
Historical era | Second Sino-Japanese War | ||||||||
• Established | 5 December 1937 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 3 May 1938 | ||||||||
|
Great Way Government | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese name | |||||||||
Chinese | 上海 市 大 道 政府 | ||||||||
Literal meaning | Shanghai Municipality Great Way Government | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Japanese name | |||||||||
Kanji | 上海 市 大 道 政府 | ||||||||
|
The Great Way or Dadao Government,formally the Great Way Municipal Government of Shanghai,was a short-lived puppet government proclaimed in Pudong on December 5,1937,to administer Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Following the Battle of Shanghai of 1937,the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe pushed for a quick and diplomatic settlement to the war in China,and not an expensive and long-term occupation (see Trautmann mediation). Furthermore,the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters was not keen to permit a repeat of the political experimentation undertaken by the Kwantung Army in the establishment of Manchukuo,and pressured the Japanese Central China Area Army to establish a collaborationist local government to handle the details of local administration for the Shanghai metropolitan area.
In November 1937,a number of well-known residents were approached to take over provisional civilian administration of the city. Eventually,the Japanese were able to secure the assistance of Fu Xiao'an (傅筱庵),the wealthy director of the Chinese Bank of Commerce and head of the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce. Fu was a personal and political enemy of Nationalist general and de facto leader Chiang Kai-shek and had been imprisoned by the Kuomintang in 1927 for refusing to lend Chiang money. After his release from prison,he fled to Kwantung Leased Territory (modern Lüshunkou,Dalian),and lived several years under Japanese protection,nursing his hatred for Chiang. [1]
However,Fu was unwilling to head the new government himself,and recommended Su Xiwen,a professor of religious philosophy and political science at the Chizhi University in Jiangwan. Su was a graduate of Waseda University in Tokyo and was known for his conservative political views. Su was also known for his views on Buddhist-Daoist syncretism,which influenced the name of the new administration—the "Great Way" referring to Eastern philosophy's concept of the Tao —and its flag:the yin-yang symbol of Daoism on a yellow background. (The colors yellow,gold,and saffron are often associated with Buddhism.) [2]
The new government quickly made efforts to restore the city's public services and established a police force under the command of Zhang Songlin,former commander of the Jiangsu provincial police,to maintain public order. Funding was provided by a tax levied on all imports and exports through the Japanese front lines into and out of Shanghai,and Su was assisted by a number of experts provided by the South Manchurian Railroad Company. Su promised to purge the city of both communist and Kuomintang elements. However,neither Su nor his Great Way Government were regarded seriously by Japanese political agents,who looked with dismay and contempt at the assortment of criminals,religious cultists,and narcotics dealers who gravitated to leading positions in the new administration. The promised public works failed to materialize as Su's cronies siphoned off funds,and the propaganda value of the new administration quickly deteriorated. In December 1937,the Japanese brought in a tough northern Chinese collaborator named Wang Zihui to oversee operations as a temporary measure. [2]
After Liang Hongzhi established the Reformed Government of the Republic of China in Nanjing,the occupied Nationalist capital,in March 1938,the Japanese Central China Area Army organized a number of public rallies and ceremonies in support. In less than a month,the Reformed Government asserted its authority over the Great Way Government by establishing a Supervisory Yamen to take over the functions of the Shanghai municipal administration. Su Xiwen formally recognized the Reformed Government and adopting its flag on May 3,1938.
Under the Reformed Government,Su Xiwen continued as head of the Supervisory Yamen until he was replaced by Fu Xiao'an as mayor on October 16,1938.
The Second Sino-Japanese War was the war fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan from 1937 to 1945 as part of World War II. It is often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. It was the largest Asian war in the 20th century and has been described as "the Asian Holocaust",in reference to the scale of Japanese war crimes against Chinese civilians. It is known in Japan as the Second China–Japan War,and in China as the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
Wang Zhaoming,widely known by his pen name Wang Jingwei,was a Chinese politician who was president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China,a puppet state of Japan. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang,leading a government in Wuhan in opposition to the right-wing government in Nanjing,but later became increasingly anti-communist after his efforts to collaborate with the Chinese Communist Party ended in political failure.
The history of the Republic of China began in 1912 with the end of the Qing dynasty,when the Xinhai Revolution and the formation of the Republic of China put an end to 2,000 years of imperial rule. The Republic experienced many trials and tribulations after its founding which included being dominated by elements as disparate as warlord generals and foreign powers.
Fu Zuoyi was a Chinese military leader. He began his military career in the service of Yan Xishan,and he was widely praised for his defense of Suiyuan from the Japanese. During the final stages of the Chinese Civil War,Fu surrendered the large and strategic garrison around Beiping to Communist forces. He later served in the government of the People's Republic of China as Minister of the Hydraulic Ministry.
The Wang Jingwei regime is the common term to describe the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China which existed a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in eastern China in co-terminus with the Nationalist government of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek,which was fighting Japan along with the other Allies of World War II. The country functioned as a dictatorship under Wang Jingwei,formerly a high-ranking official of the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT). The region it administered was initially seized by Japan during the late 1930s at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Nationalist government,officially the National Government of the Republic of China,refers to the government of the Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948,led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party.
The Reformed Government of the Republic of China was a Chinese puppet state created by Japan that existed from 1938 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The regime had little authority or popular support,nor did it receive international recognition even from Japan itself,lasting only two years before it was merged with the Provisional Government into the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China under Wang Jingwei. Due to the extensive powers of the Japanese advisors within the government and its own limited powers,the Reformed Government was not much more than an arm of the Japanese military administration.
The Provisional Government of the Republic of China was a Chinese puppet state of the Empire of Japan that existed from 1937 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. It had been formed largely on the initiative of Imperial Japanese Army commanders in north China,before securing approval from Japanese government authorities in Tokyo. Thus the Provisional Government had nominal authority in Japanese occupied zones in north China,while to the south the Central China Expeditionary Army established the Reformed Government of the Republic of China in 1938,which had authority in the Yangtze River area. Both essentially served as a local organ of the Japanese military authorities,due to the presence and extensive powers of Japanese advisors within the Provisional Government over native Chinese bureaucrats,and because it never made any attempt to secure international recognition,even from Japan.
The He-Umezu Agreement was a secret agreement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China that was concluded on 10 June 1935,two years prior to the outbreak of general hostilities during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Yin Ju-keng;was a politician in the early Republic of China,later noted for his role as chairman in the Japanese-controlled East Hebei Autonomous Government and subsequent puppet regimes,such as the Wang Jingwei regime,during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Liang Hongzhi;was a leading official in the Anhui clique of the Beiyang Government,later noted for his role as in the collaborationist Reformed Government of the Republic of China during World War II.
Ma Zhanshan was a Chinese general famous for resisting the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Ma was placed in charge of the Northeastern Army in Heilongjiang Province during the invasion and ignored orders from the central government not to resist the Japanese. He became a national hero in China by fighting the unsuccessful but highly symbolic Jiangqiao campaign against the Kwantung Army's advance into Heilongjiang. After his defeat,he feigned defection to the Japanese and was appointed Minister of War in the new Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. He then joined and took command of the guerrilla campaign against Japanese occupation,taking with him large amounts of supplies,funds,and military intelligence. Ma Zhanshan rejoined the Northeastern Army after the guerilla movement was largely defeated. He continued to oppose Chiang Kai-shek's policy of non-resistance and supported the Xi'an Incident that forced Chiang to form the Second United Front with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He commanded several units in the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War while covertly cooperating with the CCP. Ma avoided direct participation in the postwar Chinese Civil War and eventually defected to the Communists,dying a year later in 1950.
Chen Gongbo was a Chinese politician,noted for his role as the second and final president of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China,a puppet state of Japan.
The historical Kuomintang socialist ideology is a form of socialist thought developed in mainland China during the early Republic of China. The Tongmenghui revolutionary organization led by Sun Yat-sen was the first to promote socialism in China.
The National Bureau of Investigation and Statistics,commonly known as Juntong,was the military intelligence agency of the Republic of China before 1946. It was devoted to intelligence gathering and covert spying operation for purposes of national security and defense. It was originally headed by Dai Li,and after 1946 he was succeeded by Mao Renfeng. This bureau was largely superseded by the Military Intelligence Bureau under the Ministry of National Defense in Taiwan.
The Republic of China (ROC),or simply China,was a sovereign state based on mainland China from 1912 to 1949 prior to the government's relocation to Taiwan,where it continues to be based today. The ROC was established on 1 January 1912 during the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty,ending the imperial history of China. The Republican government was ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT) as a one-party state based in Nanjing from 1927,until its flight to Taipei on 7 December 1949 following the KMT's de facto defeat by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the Chinese Civil War. The CCP proclaimed the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949,while the ROC retains control over the "Free Area",with the political status of Taiwan remaining in dispute to this day.
Xu Qian or George Hsu was a Chinese politician and jurist. He made important contribution to the judicial system of modern China.
Gao Zongwu was a Chinese diplomat in the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was best known for playing a key role in negotiations between China and Japan from 1937 to 1940 that initially intended to bring about a peace agreement between them,but which led to the defection of prominent statesman Wang Jingwei and the establishment of the pro-Japanese collaborationist Reorganized National Government of China. Disillusioned with the harsh terms imposed on the collaborationist regime by the Japanese,he released the full documents of the outline of the Basic Treaty that Japan demanded as the basis of its relations with the new regime,which was a major propaganda coup for Chiang Kai-shek and a blow for Wang's fledgling government that had just been exposed as just another puppet state. Gao had originally been slated to serve as the vice foreign minister of the Wang Jingwei regime before his defection back to Chiang in January 1940.
Chiangism,also known as the Political Philosophy of Chiang Kai-shek,or Chiang Kai-shek Thought,is the political philosophy of President Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek,who used it during his rule in China under the Kuomintang on both the mainland and Taiwan. It is a right-wing authoritarian nationalist political ideology which is based on mostly Confucian and Tridemist ideologies,and was used in the New Life Movement in China and the Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement in Taiwan. It is a syncretic mix of many political ideologies,including revolutionary nationalism,Tridemism,socialism,militarism,Confucianism,state capitalism,constitutionalism,fascism,authoritarian capitalism,and paternalistic conservatism,as well as Chiang's Methodist Christian beliefs.