The Battle of Shanghai: How China Lost its Defense to Japan

Abstract

This article on the Second Battle of Shanghai explains what caused a Chinese defeat in the face of Imperial Japan in 1937. The study of the battle is to examine how it is the Chinese lost while having greater manpower, the advantage of defense, and the backing of most of the West. The battle at Shanghai would unfold in front of the Shanghai International Settlement, allowing Western powers to witness the conflict unfold in front of their cameras and reporters. Despite this, this battle is mostly overlooked by most Western studies of the Second World War. This study examines how the lack of unity, poor leadership, inferior arms, and the lack of a long-term defensive plan undercut any advantages the Chinese held over the Japanese. This battle is the first major clash during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and arguably the first major battle of the Second World War.

Keywords:

• Shanghai
• World War II
• Second Sino-Japanese War
• Imperial Japan
• Four Banks Warehouse
• Chiang Kai-Shek
• National Revolutionary Army
• Kuomintang

Notes

1 Chang, The Rape of Nanking, 23–24.

2 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 17–18.

3 “The Long March (1934–1936)”, Asia for Educators, Colombia University, available at http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1900_mao_march.htm (Accessed on April 13, 2021).

4 Taylor, The Generalissimo, 100.

5 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 28.

6 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 22–23.

7 Ibid., 23.

8 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 28.

9 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 22.

10 Minoru, and Si-Yun, The Reluctant Combatant, 36.

11 Ibid.

12 “National Revolutionary Army”.

13 “Japan’s Modern History: An Outline of the Period”.

14 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 28.

15 “Chinese Nationalist Army”, WW2-Weapons.com, available at https://www.ww2-weapons.com/chinese-nationalist-army/ (accessed on 3 February 2022).

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 29.

19 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 23–25.

20 Dupuy and Depuy, The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, 1145.

21 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 17.

22 Chen, “First Battle of Shanghai”.

23 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 21.

24 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 25.

25 Chen, “Second Battle of Shanghai”.

26 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 25.

27 Ibid.

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid, 25–26.

30 Ibid, 26.

31 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 15.

32 Chen, “First Battle of Shanghai”.

33 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 13–14.

34 Chen, “First Battle of Shanghai”.

35 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 38.

36 Ibid.

37 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 26.

38 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 15–16.

39 Ibid., 42.

40 Ibid., 240–241.

41 Ibid., 48.

42 Ibid.

43 Ibid., 49.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid., 50.

46 Ibid., 50.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid., 51.

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid.

51 Ibid., 51–52.

52 Ibid., 52.

53 Ibid.

54 Ibid.

55 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 27.

56 Ibid.

57 Frank, Richard B., Ibid.

58 “Japanese Attack On Chaipei 1937”.

59 Ibid.

60 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 72.

61 Ibid., 73.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid., 73,75.

64 Ibid., 73.

65 Chen, “The Second Battle of Shanghai”.

66 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 71.

67 Ibid., 91.

68 Ibid., 97.

69 Chen, “The Second Battle of Shanghai”.

70 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 104.

71 Ibid., 105.

72 Ibid., 99.

73 Ibid., 68.

74 Ibid.

75 Ibid.

76 Ibid., 108.

77 Ibid., 108.

78 Ibid., 109.

79 Ibid., 119–120.

80 Ibid., 109.

81 Ibid., 112.

82 Greer, “#Reviewing Shanghai 1937 and Nanjing 1937”.

83 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 126.

84 Ibid.

85 Ibid.

86 Ibid., 137.

87 Ibid., 92.

88 Ibid., 134.

89 Ibid., 138–139.

90 Chen, “First Battle of Shanghai”.

91 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 129.

92 Harmsen, Ibid., 138.

93 Chen, “First Battle of Shanghai”.

94 Harmsen, Shanghai 1937, 161.

95 Ibid.

96 Ibid., 170.

97 Ibid., 162.

98 Ibid.

99 Ibid., 163.

100 Ibid., 175.

101 Ibid., 184.

102 Ibid., 187.

103 Ibid., 158.

104 Ibid., 194.

105 Ibid., 195.

106 Ibid., 196.

107 “Shanghai Falls to Japanese Attack During Second Sino-Japanese War 1937”, British Pathe, available at https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVACXDQ9SDOZXFQOUFWEAXUFWCY3-SHANGHAI-FALLS-TO-JAPANESE-ATTACK-DURING-SECOND-SINO-JAPANESE/query/battle±of±shanghai, accessed on 10 February 2022.

108 Frank, Tower of Skulls, 36.

109 Ibid.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Payce Whiteman

Dayton “Payce” Whiteman is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma. He is currently in his last semester of obtaining his baccalaureate in History.