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China's Trial by Fire: The Shanghai War of 1932
China's Trial by Fire presents the balanced history of how, ten years before Pearl Harbor, Japan tested modern China in a thirty-three-day war, now known as the Shanghai War of1932. Often obscured by the larger World War II, this history details how the Chinese fought from trenches against Japan's modern bombers and navy, and formed a defense that brought the country together for the first time.
Unlike other histories' brief generalizations of the incident, this study traces the war from the initial January 28th Japanese marine raid on Chinese Shanghai. It also studies the roles played by the prevailing Japanese leaders, including the last prewar civilian Prime Minister, Emperor Hirohito, and Admiral Nomura, who was later assigned to pre-Pearl Harbor negotiations.
Not least, the work bridges scholarly boundaries by highlighting the economics of China's leading trade metropolis, Shanghai; the desperate attempts of Chinese politicians and press to manipulate anti-imperialist and anti-Japanese propaganda; and the ways in which the failure of positional trench warfare against Japanese mechanized mobility provided lessons to German observers and the Communists.
Donald Jordan has drawn from as complete a range of primary sources as are available. Both the Nanking and Taipei archives, as well as resources from Tokyo, Settlement Shanghai's police records, Washington, the League of Nations, and London were researched.
Knowing how greatly the Nationalist defense in 1932 influenced the Chinese Communists expands the relevance for scholars of this illustrated study. Others, especially those curious about the U. S. entanglement leading to Pearl Harbor, will find much more than the story of a regional skirmish.
Donald Jordan is Professor of East Asian History, Ohio University.
Unlike other histories' brief generalizations of the incident, this study traces the war from the initial January 28th Japanese marine raid on Chinese Shanghai. It also studies the roles played by the prevailing Japanese leaders, including the last prewar civilian Prime Minister, Emperor Hirohito, and Admiral Nomura, who was later assigned to pre-Pearl Harbor negotiations.
Not least, the work bridges scholarly boundaries by highlighting the economics of China's leading trade metropolis, Shanghai; the desperate attempts of Chinese politicians and press to manipulate anti-imperialist and anti-Japanese propaganda; and the ways in which the failure of positional trench warfare against Japanese mechanized mobility provided lessons to German observers and the Communists.
Donald Jordan has drawn from as complete a range of primary sources as are available. Both the Nanking and Taipei archives, as well as resources from Tokyo, Settlement Shanghai's police records, Washington, the League of Nations, and London were researched.
Knowing how greatly the Nationalist defense in 1932 influenced the Chinese Communists expands the relevance for scholars of this illustrated study. Others, especially those curious about the U. S. entanglement leading to Pearl Harbor, will find much more than the story of a regional skirmish.
Donald Jordan is Professor of East Asian History, Ohio University.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published April 13, 2001
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April 14, 2022
China's Trial By Fire sets very high expectations for the reader with its attempts to essentially rewrite history, allegeding the month-long military engagement between Japanese and Chinese forces around the Shanghai area not only constituted a war, but was part of a larger conspiracy to distract attention from Japan's unlawful invasion of Manchuria. Unfortunately the book largely falls short of these expectations. While not explicitly a military history, Jordan's poor knowledge of the military forces he writes about do not instill a sense of trust into the reader. Terms such as "regiment" and "squad" are thrown around carelessly to describe military units regardless of their size.
Key events in this important history are described in a manner none other than wrong. One of the most glaring examples occurs early on when Jordan relies on journalistic accounts to allege that fighting began approximately an hour before midnight on the 28th, apparently ignoring the account constructed by neutral observers in the League of Nation's Shanghai Committee's which found the fighting to begin at midnight. While an hour difference would have little importance in most conflicts, in the case of the January 28th Incident it would significantly change the course of events, meaning the Japanese Navy acted before Shanghai's Mayor was aware of their intentions. This would of course carry heavy diplomatic implications on top of the Japanese Navy's already questionable behavior before and throughout the conflict. However this was far from a major revelation unearthed by Jordan and the journalistic account is rather a mistelling of events which crumbles when scrutinized against other official records of the events.
Poor scrutiny of sources remains rampant throughout the entire read, as Jordan constructs a warped retelling of the past through journalistic and Chinese military accounts while making no significant efforts to deconstruct many of these claims through Japanese military sources and the accounts of neutral observers. Because of this the number of men in the Japanese ranks as well as the casualties they suffered are largely inflated, while the ability of Chinese forces in asymmetrical warfare is frequently exaggerated as well. However one should not fail to recognize that the ability of the Chinese to hold off the Japanese—possesing naval and air superiority, for a month is nothing short of remarkable.
The maps shown in the book are a useful aid to the reader, but unfortunately the borders of the International Settlement in Shanghai are erroneous depicted as stretching beyond Hongkew Park and the Japanese headquarters, which in reality where situated on Chinese land outside the settlement. It should be noted that the majority of fighting in Shanghai occured outside the settlement, not within. While a Japanese sector existed, this is a military term, and not synonymous with Japanese settlement—which never existed in Shanghai.
One of the book's pivotal claims is that the incident was part of a larger conspiracy staged by the Imperial Japanese Army to distract from the ongoing invasion of Manchuria. While some diplomatic records and testimonies are examined to support these claims, there seems to be no clear evidence that the IJN's 1st Expeditionary Fleet nor the Naval Landing Force in Shanghai were complicit in let alone aware of this scheme. Based on testimonies from Baron Samejima, the former Naval Landing Force Commander, along other subordinate officers of Rear Admiral Shiozawa, which too were examined by Jordan, it seems much more likely the military action was not sparked by a grand conspiracy but rather Shiozawa's poor diplomacy and haste to act against the 19th Route Army staging outside the Japanese sector. It seems Jordan was enthusiastic to include details from sources that supported his claims of conspiracy, but ommited parts of those that suggested otherwise.
The book is sprinkled with interesting research, much of which has been unveiled for the first time, but the aforementioned poor scrutiny of sources which contributes to a plethora of misinformation fails to accurately retell the history of the January 28th Incident. It is very saddening as few books exist on this important and often overlooked conflict in early 1930's Asian History. Perhaps if Jordan did not attempt to frame the events as a conspiracy and invested more time to comparing accounts from varying sides this book would be worth reading.
Key events in this important history are described in a manner none other than wrong. One of the most glaring examples occurs early on when Jordan relies on journalistic accounts to allege that fighting began approximately an hour before midnight on the 28th, apparently ignoring the account constructed by neutral observers in the League of Nation's Shanghai Committee's which found the fighting to begin at midnight. While an hour difference would have little importance in most conflicts, in the case of the January 28th Incident it would significantly change the course of events, meaning the Japanese Navy acted before Shanghai's Mayor was aware of their intentions. This would of course carry heavy diplomatic implications on top of the Japanese Navy's already questionable behavior before and throughout the conflict. However this was far from a major revelation unearthed by Jordan and the journalistic account is rather a mistelling of events which crumbles when scrutinized against other official records of the events.
Poor scrutiny of sources remains rampant throughout the entire read, as Jordan constructs a warped retelling of the past through journalistic and Chinese military accounts while making no significant efforts to deconstruct many of these claims through Japanese military sources and the accounts of neutral observers. Because of this the number of men in the Japanese ranks as well as the casualties they suffered are largely inflated, while the ability of Chinese forces in asymmetrical warfare is frequently exaggerated as well. However one should not fail to recognize that the ability of the Chinese to hold off the Japanese—possesing naval and air superiority, for a month is nothing short of remarkable.
The maps shown in the book are a useful aid to the reader, but unfortunately the borders of the International Settlement in Shanghai are erroneous depicted as stretching beyond Hongkew Park and the Japanese headquarters, which in reality where situated on Chinese land outside the settlement. It should be noted that the majority of fighting in Shanghai occured outside the settlement, not within. While a Japanese sector existed, this is a military term, and not synonymous with Japanese settlement—which never existed in Shanghai.
One of the book's pivotal claims is that the incident was part of a larger conspiracy staged by the Imperial Japanese Army to distract from the ongoing invasion of Manchuria. While some diplomatic records and testimonies are examined to support these claims, there seems to be no clear evidence that the IJN's 1st Expeditionary Fleet nor the Naval Landing Force in Shanghai were complicit in let alone aware of this scheme. Based on testimonies from Baron Samejima, the former Naval Landing Force Commander, along other subordinate officers of Rear Admiral Shiozawa, which too were examined by Jordan, it seems much more likely the military action was not sparked by a grand conspiracy but rather Shiozawa's poor diplomacy and haste to act against the 19th Route Army staging outside the Japanese sector. It seems Jordan was enthusiastic to include details from sources that supported his claims of conspiracy, but ommited parts of those that suggested otherwise.
The book is sprinkled with interesting research, much of which has been unveiled for the first time, but the aforementioned poor scrutiny of sources which contributes to a plethora of misinformation fails to accurately retell the history of the January 28th Incident. It is very saddening as few books exist on this important and often overlooked conflict in early 1930's Asian History. Perhaps if Jordan did not attempt to frame the events as a conspiracy and invested more time to comparing accounts from varying sides this book would be worth reading.
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