Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945

by Rana Mitter

Mao and the CCP also had to make a painful choice. They deferred dreams of revolution and entered an alliance with an old enemy. Mao’s public statements at this time reflect the unease that he and his comrades felt at the sudden outbreak of conflict. “The authorities of north China from the very start resorted to the tortuous pursuit of compromise, without making sufficient preparations militarily,” Mao declared at a rally on August 1, 1937. The “authorities” had also failed to harness popular anger against the Japanese. “The result of this behavior was that they lost Beiping and Tianjin!”43 Clearly he was pointing a finger at figures such as Song Zheyuan, but he was also criticizing the Nationalists. He would not attack them openly on the eve of war, but he was doing his best to position the CCP as the “truly” patriotic party, and by implication associating Chiang with appeasement, weakness, and poor judgment.