During the eight years from 1937 to 1945, the people of China made great sacrifices to defeat the Japanese fascists, with more than 35 million military and civilian casualties and economic losses of more than 600 billion US dollars, which made outstanding contributions to the victory of the world anti-fascist war. However, in the decades after the war, due to various reasons, China's great efforts and sacrifices in the field of international history have not been objectively and fairly evaluated. 1985, Professor Qi, a famous historian in China, presented a paper entitled "The Status and Role of China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the Second World War" at the 16 International Congress of History (hereinafter referred to as "The Status and Role"), which caused great repercussions in the world modern history circle and at the same time caused deep thinking on the status and role of China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the Second World War in the academic research field.

On the issue of how to treat China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's contribution to the world anti-fascist war, US President Roosevelt said in his State of the Union address to the US Congress on 19451October 6 that the United States "can't forget how the people of China resisted the Japanese barbaric attack and contained a large number of enemy troops in a vast area of the Asian continent for more than seven years." 195 1 On September 2nd, Stalin praised the people of China for "playing a great role in the cause of eliminating Japanese imperialism". The people of China and their struggle for liberation greatly promoted the cause of defeating Japanese aggression. ".On this basis, Professor Qi thinks that the two leaders of the wartime allies' evaluation of China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is correct and fair.

However, in the study of postwar history, most western scholars are unwilling to admit the fact that China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression made great contributions to the world anti-fascist war. In their works about the history of World War II, most of them are vague about China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, some of them pass by in a few words, and some even avoid talking about them.

Before the 1960s, when the relationship between China and the Soviet Union was close, the evaluation of China's war of resistance published by the Soviet Union was relatively objective and fair. But the scope involved is limited, let alone detailed. After 1960s, the contents about China's war of resistance in Soviet history books disappeared with the escalation of Sino-Soviet debate and the breakdown of relations between the two countries.

The16th International Historical Congress was held in Germany. There are three major themes on the agenda of the meeting, one of which is World War II. Liu Danian, head of the China delegation and president of the China Historical Society, approached Professor Qi and asked him to submit a paper on World War II to the conference.

China scholars can't talk about World War II without talking about War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and can't just write about the European battlefield. As I am attending an international historical conference, this paper must highlight War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's position and role in the international anti-fascist war. However, there is no previous experience for reference on how to combine the two.

After the founding of New China, domestic historians have basically the same understanding of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's great role in the Second World War, and have published quite a few papers and monographs with high academic value. Among them, the discussion of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression is mostly from a relatively large scope, such as how many Japanese troops China fought, how many we sacrificed, the number of casualties of China soldiers and civilians, the total amount of property lost, and so on. However, under the background of the whole world, it is not enough to talk about what role China and War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression have played in the world people's anti-fascist struggle. Coupled with the limitations of various objective conditions, the historical materials that scholars rely on are mostly Chinese materials. Therefore, it is difficult to form a systematic, objective, detailed and concrete evaluation of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's position and role in the Second World War.

Professor Qi has accumulated a wealth of historical materials from Britain, Japan and the Soviet Union in his long-term teaching and scientific research of modern world history. Professor Qi accepted the invitation of Mr. Liu Danian and spent eight months writing the article "Status and Function". He said that he divided World War II into several stages and discussed the specific role played by War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in the Second World War.

From the Lugouqiao Incident to the outbreak of the European War, the heroic resistance of China's soldiers and civilians threw Japanese fascism into Chinese mainland. First, it will help the Soviet Union repel Japanese provocations in Zhang Gufeng and Nomenham in August 65438 and May 1939 respectively. At the height of the fierce battle in Zhang Gufeng, the Japanese army ran out of anti-tank ammunition and urgently allocated it to Tokyo, but the Japanese War Department replied that the ammunition production of 1 1 month had been given priority to the Hankou campaign. It was the bloody struggle of the people of China that effectively ensured the peace in the Far East of the Soviet Union and enabled the Soviet Union to go all out to deal with the threat from Nazi Germany in the West. Secondly, it smashed the appeasement policy of Britain and America in the Far East, especially the Munich crisis in the British Far East, and avoided becoming the second Czechoslovakia, so that China could be preserved and become an important anti-Japanese base of the Allies. Third, the outbreak of the European War and the extension of the fascist alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan eased the pressure on Britain and France in the Far East. From 1938 to 1, Germany raised the issue of concluding a three-nation alliance treaty with Japan. However, Japan is worried that before the end of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, it will fall into the European war prematurely because of the alliance treaty with Germany. 1939 During the spring and summer, the Cabinet of Hiranuma of Japan talked about the draft treaty for more than 70 times, but it was too late to make a decision. It was not until September 1940, one year after the outbreak of the European War, that the treaty of alliance among the three countries was formally signed. Japan's failure to cooperate with Germany militarily is inseparable from China people's persistence in the war of resistance.

From the full-scale outbreak of World War II in September 1939 to the United States' entry into the war in February 19465438, the main role of the battlefield in China at this stage was to stall the main force of the Japanese army and prevent the Soviet Union from fighting on the east and west fronts. Due to the influence of China's Anti-Japanese War, Japanese fascists were seriously short of troops when they launched the Pacific War, and their southward advance was not a prudent strategic decision, but a reckless move.

From the Pearl Harbor incident to the Japanese surrender, the people of China made great contributions to the continuation of the war of resistance. At that time, the world was divided into two camps: the Axis countries and the Allies. The front is divided into three stages. The first stage is Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea, the second stage is East Asia, and the third stage is the Pacific Ocean. After 194 1 year, the axis powers initially dominated, but 1943 Moscow four-nation talks and 1 1 year Cairo conference became a major turning point in the power comparison between the two camps. China people's eight-year war of resistance basically consumed the strength of Japanese militarism. In these three years, the Chinese and Japanese armies together contained nearly one million Japanese troops, which became an important factor in the final victory of the Pacific War. The reason why the Soviet Red Army was able to fight against German fascism with all its strength was that it had no worries in the Far East. When China's soldiers and civilians stood still, the Japanese would never dare to rush north.

Western and Soviet historians regard Japan's final surrender as the decisive role played by two atomic bombs, the United States and the Soviet Red Army, respectively, in sending troops to Northeast China, while ignoring the great sacrifices made by China's soldiers and civilians. Professor Qi told the author that he specifically wrote in this article, "It should not be forgotten that the Japanese army had been beaten by the people of China for eight consecutive years and hundreds of thousands of times before it surrendered. The Japanese aggressor is like a wild animal. It may only be one or two arrows that kill him in the end, but if he is not covered with scars before his death, he will continue to struggle. "

During the eight-year Anti-Japanese War, China's army and people sacrificed the most, and the cost was high. According to incomplete statistics, there were more than 35 million casualties in China, and more than 300,000 people died in the Nanjing Massacre alone. No fewer than 2 million people were killed by laborers who cheated them from Shanhaiguan Pass to Northeast China. In addition, there are heinous germ warfare and chemical warfare. According to the ratio of 1937, the direct economic loss caused by the Japanese invaders to China is 1000 billion US dollars, and the indirect economic loss is 500 billion US dollars. In the past eight years, China's protracted war, especially the war behind enemy lines led by China's * * * production party, resisted and contained 2/3 of the total Japanese forces, and * * * wiped out more than 6,543,800 Japanese troops, accounting for about 70% of Japanese casualties in World War II. After War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression entered the stalemate stage, China's * * * production party led the battlefield behind the enemy lines to fight against the Japanese aggressors by about 60 people, and the puppet troops by about 95 people, and annihilated more than 65,438 people+7,000 people. After the defeat of Japan,12.83 million Japanese surrendered to China.