Tanggu Truce
Encyclopedia
The Tanggu Truce, sometimes called the Tangku Truce , Japanese
, was a cease-fire signed between China
and Empire of Japan
in Tanggu District, Tianjin
on May 31, 1933, formally ending the Japanese invasion of Manchuria which had begun two years earlier.
of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria, and by February 1932 had captured the entire region. The last emperor of the Qing Dynasty
, Puyi
, who was living in exile in the Foreign Concessions in Tianjin
was convinced by the Japanese to accept the throne of the new Empire of Manchukuo
, which remained under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army
. In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo’s southern borders, a joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe
, and after conquering that province by March, drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall
into Hebei
Province.
The Western powers condemned Japan's actions but did little else. When the League of Nations
demanded that Japan stop hostilities, the Japan withdrew from the League on March 27, 1933.
As the Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Emperor Hirohito
(who wanted a quick end to the China conflict) not to go beyond the Great Wall , the Japanese halted their offensive in May 1933.
extending one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, extending from Beijing
to Tianjin was to be created, with the Great Wall itself under Japanese control. No regular Kuomintang
military units were to be allowed in the demilitarized zone, although the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft
or ground patrols to ensure that the agreement was maintained. Public order within the zone was to be maintained by a lightly armed Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps
.
Two secret clauses excluded any of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
from this Peace Preservation Corps and provided for any disputes that could not be resolved by the Peace Preservation Corps to be settled by agreement between the Japanese and Chinese governments.
Having lost every major engagement and substantial territory, and with the Chinese government under Chiang Kai-shek
more concerned with fighting the Chinese Communist Party than the Japanese, the Chinese government agreed to all demands. Furthermore, the new demilitarized zone was mostly within the remaining territory of the discredited Manchurian warlord
Zhang Xueliang
.
was concluded. The Tanggu Truce gave Chiang kai Shek time to consolidate his forces and to concentrate his efforts against the Chinese Communist Party, albeit at the expense of northern China
. However, Chinese public opinion was hostile to terms so favorable to Japan and so humiliating to China. Although the Truce provided for a demilitarized buffer zone, Japanese territorial ambitions towards China remained, and the Truce proved to be only a temporary respite until hostilities re-erupted with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
in 1937.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, was a cease-fire signed between China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
and Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
in Tanggu District, Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
on May 31, 1933, formally ending the Japanese invasion of Manchuria which had begun two years earlier.
Background
After the Mukden IncidentMukden Incident
The Mukden Incident, also known as the Manchurian Incident, was a staged event that was engineered by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for invading the northern part of China known as Manchuria in 1931....
of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria, and by February 1932 had captured the entire region. The last emperor of the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
, Puyi
Puyi
Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...
, who was living in exile in the Foreign Concessions in Tianjin
Concessions in Tianjin
The Concessions in Tianjin were concession territories ceded by the Chinese imperial Qing Dynasty to the great powers in Tianjin, also known as Tientsin or Tien-Tsin.-General context:...
was convinced by the Japanese to accept the throne of the new Empire of Manchukuo
Manchukuo
Manchukuo or Manshū-koku was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia, governed under a form of constitutional monarchy. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Empire in China...
, which remained under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
. In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo’s southern borders, a joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe
Battle of Rehe
The Battle of Rehe was the second part of Operation Nekka, a campaign by which the Empire of Japan successfully captured the Inner Mongolian province of Rehe from the Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang and annexed it to the new state of Manchukuo...
, and after conquering that province by March, drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall
Defense of the Great Wall
The Defense of the Great Wall was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937...
into Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
Province.
The Western powers condemned Japan's actions but did little else. When the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
demanded that Japan stop hostilities, the Japan withdrew from the League on March 27, 1933.
As the Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Emperor Hirohito
Hirohito
, posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or , was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to...
(who wanted a quick end to the China conflict) not to go beyond the Great Wall , the Japanese halted their offensive in May 1933.
Negotiations
On May 22, 1933, Chinese and Japanese representatives met to negotiate the end of the conflict. The Japanese demands were severe: a demilitarized zoneDemilitarized zone
In military terms, a demilitarized zone is an area, usually the frontier or boundary between two or more military powers , where military activity is not permitted, usually by peace treaty, armistice, or other bilateral or multilateral agreement...
extending one hundred kilometers south of the Great Wall, extending from Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
to Tianjin was to be created, with the Great Wall itself under Japanese control. No regular Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
military units were to be allowed in the demilitarized zone, although the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft
Reconnaissance aircraft
A reconnaissance aircraft is a manned military aircraft designed, or adapted, to carry out aerial reconnaissance.-History:The majority of World War I aircraft were reconnaissance designs...
or ground patrols to ensure that the agreement was maintained. Public order within the zone was to be maintained by a lightly armed Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps
Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps
The Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps was a police force created by the Tanggu Truce to patrol and maintain order in the demilitarized zone extending from south of the Great Wall, to a line north east of the Bai River in Hebei province in northern China during the late 1930s.-Background...
.
Two secret clauses excluded any of the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and until 1933, large volunteer armies waged war against Japanese and Manchukuo forces over much of Northeast China....
from this Peace Preservation Corps and provided for any disputes that could not be resolved by the Peace Preservation Corps to be settled by agreement between the Japanese and Chinese governments.
Having lost every major engagement and substantial territory, and with the Chinese government under Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
more concerned with fighting the Chinese Communist Party than the Japanese, the Chinese government agreed to all demands. Furthermore, the new demilitarized zone was mostly within the remaining territory of the discredited Manchurian warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang
Zhang Xueliang or Chang Hsüeh-liang , occasionally called Peter Hsueh Liang Chang in English, nicknamed the Young Marshal , was the effective ruler of Manchuria and much of North China after the assassination of his father, Zhang Zuolin, by the Japanese on 4 June 1928...
.
Consequences
The Tanggu Truce resulted in the de facto recognition of the existence of Manchukuo by the Kuomingtang government, and acknowledgement of the loss of Rehe. It provided for a temporary end to the combat between China and Japan and for a brief period, relations between the two countries actually improved. On May 17, 1935, the Japanese legation in China was raised to the status of embassy, and on June 10, 1935, the He-Umezu AgreementHe-Umezu Agreement
The was a secret agreement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China concluded on 10 June 1935 immediately prior to the outbreak of general hostilities in the Second Sino-Japanese War.- Background and history :...
was concluded. The Tanggu Truce gave Chiang kai Shek time to consolidate his forces and to concentrate his efforts against the Chinese Communist Party, albeit at the expense of northern China
North China
thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....
. However, Chinese public opinion was hostile to terms so favorable to Japan and so humiliating to China. Although the Truce provided for a demilitarized buffer zone, Japanese territorial ambitions towards China remained, and the Truce proved to be only a temporary respite until hostilities re-erupted with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
in 1937.