Flaming Dragons-A Warlord China Alternate History
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15. Currency Affairs
‘Wealth does not pass three generations’-Chinese proverb.
1 March 1934
Central Bank of China, Shanghai Office
Republic of China
Each piece of ledger was beginning to blur his eyes. Soong Ziwen put down his pen and closed his eyes, rubbing his head. The government of the Republic of China had come a long way since the overthrow of the Qing, but its finances were still in a quagmire, much of which was due to the Warlord Era. But Premier Wang had managed to settle things on that front for the most part and with the exception of the Japanese invading Manchuria he was able to concentrate on domestic affairs, one of which was economic reform.
Wang had appointed Soong Minister of Finance, a portfolio which had previously been held by his brother-in-law Kung. He now had to find a way to properly balance the budget and get the government debt under control. Completely changing the currency had certainly helped matters-the old notes were not worth the paper they were printed on thanks to the excesses and corrupted economy of the old warlord regimes.
But more was needed, the warlord era had not only inflated the currency but put assets into the hands of individuals who hoarded it. Seizing those assets was possible, even if it cost the government some allies, but public opinion had never been better thanks to the ongoing resistance in Manchuria and the destruction of the communist armies in the west.
He would make recommendations to that effect to Wang, but for now he wanted to start work on the new note designs. Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s face would of course be on one side, but the other, well that was between him and the design artist. He rang his bell to summon his servant to find an artist for him.
“Golden Dragons: An Economic History Of China” by Jeffrey Finley, Manchester University Press , United Kingdom, © 1972.
20. New Economics in the Republic
Despite the depression and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, these events had not greatly affected the economy of the heartland of the nation. Industrial output was on the rise and much of the previous corruption and inflation form the warlord era and been stamped out, thanks to the efforts of the NRA in fighting corruption in the more rural provinces. These provinces had taken big hits from the depression, with a fall in agricultural prices and the import of foreign goods, but TV Soong soon changed this. His power as Finance Minister was large and he turned the entire economy around in less than 2 years. He scrapped the gold and silver standards that China had been operating on and introduced an entirely new currency and a new economic policy to go with it [2]. Importantly Soong made sure to stress that while the government had control of the money that didn’t mean that it could print money to solve any of its problems as this would only make things worse.
He was proved right when the new currency spread and things began to stabilise. Where communists and rebels refused to use the new currency, the KMT government used military force to back up the policy. There were several more outbreaks and revolts, some of it linked to the new economic policies as the government tried to concentrate the industry and urged farmers not overproduce. The NRA was able to prevent most of the revolts from becoming serious and the new economy of China was soon reaching the level it had been before the depression [3].
Currency notes of China introduced in 1934, in circulation until 1970.
“The Royalty of Modern China”, by Carl Wolfe, University of California Press, © 1990.
The Soong family became one of the most prominently in China and the KMT despite the previous split between Sun Yat-Sen and patriarch Charlie Soong. Wang Jing-wei and Soong’s children had no problem getting past this dispute as Wang valued their influence, Western ties and money far too much to let it be an issue and T.V. Soong (Song Ziwen in modern Chinese [1]) had already been instrumental in governing the Central Bank of China when Wang came to power. The other Soong siblings also had prominent positions in the upper echelons of the Republic of China.
Ai-ling was married to H. H. Kung, Wang’s Minister of Industry and one of the richest men in China, and had previously worked for Sun Yat-Sen as a secretary, a job which her sister Qing-ling followed her in.
Qing-ling had married to Sun Yat-Sen despite her parents objections and thus carried great influence, particularly with the left-wing of the KMT . She was unhappy with the treatment of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1920’s, but eventually sided with President Wang as they had similar views on many issues [4].
The youngest sister, Mei-ling had met Chiang Kai-Shek back in 1920 and they had been interested in each other, despite Chiang already being married, in fact there were rumours that had been planning to divorce Chen Jieru and marry Mei-ling, but after his assassination it was not wise to speak poorly of the KMT martyr, so the rumours stayed behind closed doors.
At the time of his rise to leadership Wang was close to Qing-ling but did not have many other ties to the rest of the family, something he soon fixed as he saw that there would be a need to secure support from them. He placed Ai-ling’s husband in his administration, first as minister of finance, then as minister of industry. He then invited T.V. to assume the position of Finance Minister, after his work running the Central Bank. Finally he encouraged meetings between Mei-ling and his new intelligence chief Chen Guofu [5]. And thus the positions of Industry, Finance and Intelligence became the most influential and powerful positions in China
The three Soong sisters at a young age, they went on to become three of the most influential women in modern Chinese history.
[1] Modern Chinese is slightly similar to OTL simplified Chinese and pinyin.
[2] Something similar happened in OTL but the government printed too much mone resulting in rampant inflation. With no Central Plains War there is more foreign investment and Soong has taken advice from external economists.
[3] These revolts are a somewhat smaller level of the CPC-KMT encirclement campaigns.
[4] OTL Qingling exiled herself to Moscow after Chiang’s communist purge. Wang’s rise to leadership and both the left and right of the KMT rather than splitting has led her to remain with the party, though she came close to leaving during Wang’s communist purge, she was convinced that it was necessary as the assassination of Chiang and other small incidents were portrayed as ‘communist chaos’.
[5] Chen’s CC Clique and the Blue Shirt Society were merged in 1930 and Chen was given total command of both the party administraion and the secret police, the Central Investigation Bureau. The Blueshirts never became as prominent as OTL, as Wang aligned himself with the Chen brothers early on, thus Dai Li is not in charge of his own separate secret police.
‘Wealth does not pass three generations’-Chinese proverb.
1 March 1934
Central Bank of China, Shanghai Office
Republic of China
Each piece of ledger was beginning to blur his eyes. Soong Ziwen put down his pen and closed his eyes, rubbing his head. The government of the Republic of China had come a long way since the overthrow of the Qing, but its finances were still in a quagmire, much of which was due to the Warlord Era. But Premier Wang had managed to settle things on that front for the most part and with the exception of the Japanese invading Manchuria he was able to concentrate on domestic affairs, one of which was economic reform.
Wang had appointed Soong Minister of Finance, a portfolio which had previously been held by his brother-in-law Kung. He now had to find a way to properly balance the budget and get the government debt under control. Completely changing the currency had certainly helped matters-the old notes were not worth the paper they were printed on thanks to the excesses and corrupted economy of the old warlord regimes.
But more was needed, the warlord era had not only inflated the currency but put assets into the hands of individuals who hoarded it. Seizing those assets was possible, even if it cost the government some allies, but public opinion had never been better thanks to the ongoing resistance in Manchuria and the destruction of the communist armies in the west.
He would make recommendations to that effect to Wang, but for now he wanted to start work on the new note designs. Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s face would of course be on one side, but the other, well that was between him and the design artist. He rang his bell to summon his servant to find an artist for him.
“Golden Dragons: An Economic History Of China” by Jeffrey Finley, Manchester University Press , United Kingdom, © 1972.
20. New Economics in the Republic
Despite the depression and the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, these events had not greatly affected the economy of the heartland of the nation. Industrial output was on the rise and much of the previous corruption and inflation form the warlord era and been stamped out, thanks to the efforts of the NRA in fighting corruption in the more rural provinces. These provinces had taken big hits from the depression, with a fall in agricultural prices and the import of foreign goods, but TV Soong soon changed this. His power as Finance Minister was large and he turned the entire economy around in less than 2 years. He scrapped the gold and silver standards that China had been operating on and introduced an entirely new currency and a new economic policy to go with it [2]. Importantly Soong made sure to stress that while the government had control of the money that didn’t mean that it could print money to solve any of its problems as this would only make things worse.
He was proved right when the new currency spread and things began to stabilise. Where communists and rebels refused to use the new currency, the KMT government used military force to back up the policy. There were several more outbreaks and revolts, some of it linked to the new economic policies as the government tried to concentrate the industry and urged farmers not overproduce. The NRA was able to prevent most of the revolts from becoming serious and the new economy of China was soon reaching the level it had been before the depression [3].
Currency notes of China introduced in 1934, in circulation until 1970.
“The Royalty of Modern China”, by Carl Wolfe, University of California Press, © 1990.
The Soong family became one of the most prominently in China and the KMT despite the previous split between Sun Yat-Sen and patriarch Charlie Soong. Wang Jing-wei and Soong’s children had no problem getting past this dispute as Wang valued their influence, Western ties and money far too much to let it be an issue and T.V. Soong (Song Ziwen in modern Chinese [1]) had already been instrumental in governing the Central Bank of China when Wang came to power. The other Soong siblings also had prominent positions in the upper echelons of the Republic of China.
Ai-ling was married to H. H. Kung, Wang’s Minister of Industry and one of the richest men in China, and had previously worked for Sun Yat-Sen as a secretary, a job which her sister Qing-ling followed her in.
Qing-ling had married to Sun Yat-Sen despite her parents objections and thus carried great influence, particularly with the left-wing of the KMT . She was unhappy with the treatment of the Chinese Communist Party in the late 1920’s, but eventually sided with President Wang as they had similar views on many issues [4].
The youngest sister, Mei-ling had met Chiang Kai-Shek back in 1920 and they had been interested in each other, despite Chiang already being married, in fact there were rumours that had been planning to divorce Chen Jieru and marry Mei-ling, but after his assassination it was not wise to speak poorly of the KMT martyr, so the rumours stayed behind closed doors.
At the time of his rise to leadership Wang was close to Qing-ling but did not have many other ties to the rest of the family, something he soon fixed as he saw that there would be a need to secure support from them. He placed Ai-ling’s husband in his administration, first as minister of finance, then as minister of industry. He then invited T.V. to assume the position of Finance Minister, after his work running the Central Bank. Finally he encouraged meetings between Mei-ling and his new intelligence chief Chen Guofu [5]. And thus the positions of Industry, Finance and Intelligence became the most influential and powerful positions in China
The three Soong sisters at a young age, they went on to become three of the most influential women in modern Chinese history.
[1] Modern Chinese is slightly similar to OTL simplified Chinese and pinyin.
[2] Something similar happened in OTL but the government printed too much mone resulting in rampant inflation. With no Central Plains War there is more foreign investment and Soong has taken advice from external economists.
[3] These revolts are a somewhat smaller level of the CPC-KMT encirclement campaigns.
[4] OTL Qingling exiled herself to Moscow after Chiang’s communist purge. Wang’s rise to leadership and both the left and right of the KMT rather than splitting has led her to remain with the party, though she came close to leaving during Wang’s communist purge, she was convinced that it was necessary as the assassination of Chiang and other small incidents were portrayed as ‘communist chaos’.
[5] Chen’s CC Clique and the Blue Shirt Society were merged in 1930 and Chen was given total command of both the party administraion and the secret police, the Central Investigation Bureau. The Blueshirts never became as prominent as OTL, as Wang aligned himself with the Chen brothers early on, thus Dai Li is not in charge of his own separate secret police.
16. 1932-The Year Of Change
From “Yomiori” Tokyo, Empire of Japan
27 February 1932
Naval Officers Assassinate Naval Minister Kiyokazu Abo and Injure Prime Minister Sadao Araki
Yesterday at approximately 4pm, Prime Minister Araki and Naval Minister Abo were exiting the Naval Office together and were ambushed by nine young men in military uniforms. They drew pistols and opened fire on the two men before running off to attempt more sabotage. Abo was killed by at least ten bullets, while Araki was only hit by three bullets, two in his right arm and on in his right leg. It is believed that the Naval Minister was the target and when the men saw that the prime minister had also been shot they stopped and moved on. Over the next few hours they proceeded to attack several other government offices, but thankfully there were no further casualties.
Prime Minister Araki made a statement this morning “While I understand the patriotic minds of young soldiers such as them, we cannot let our passions overcome rational judgements [1].”
It is believed that the men were acting against the government due to the recent ceasefire with China and the signing of the London Naval Treaty, which has upset many in the navy.
From “The Times” London, UK
9 April 1932
NEW LEADER FOR JAPAN
Prime Minister Araki stepped down yesterday in favour of Heisuke Yanagawa. Araki cited his injuries and the reduction in popular support that he has suffered since preventing war with China. He stated that he would also be retiring from the military in order to “heal the rift that has occurred between our government and our young officers. My presence in either government or army would only exaggerate that rift.”
Yanagawa promised to bring Japan peace back to both China in Japan, but also said that Japan could not stand by idly while chaos continued in China. He also said that Manchukuo “is now under control and peace should bring about order there”. Despite this fighting still continues in north east China, as Chinese guerrillas continue to resist the Imperial Japanese Army. Replacing Yanagawa as War Minister is General Jinzaburo Masaki [2], a prominent Araki supporter.
Prime Minister Araki, recovering from his injuries.
From “The Middletown Times” Middletown, New York, USA
18 July 1932
WAR SPIRIT RIFE AS PARAGUAYANS CLAIM A VICTORY
Annihilation of the Fourteenth Bolivian Infantry Regiment was claimed by Paraguayan forces today as thousands of troops battled fiercely for possession of Fort Boqueron the scene of several days fighting in the disputed Gran Chaco Announcement of the victory was made soon after midnight. It was cheered by thousands in the streets.
An earlier communique from the War Department said that fighting continues in the vicinity of Fort Boqueron. Public excitement was high. Mobs paraded singing the national anthem. On Sunday morning a two minute period of silence was observed in honor of Paraguayans killed in the fighting.
An alleged description of the first air battle of the campaign was carried in the newspaper El Diaro led by the chief of the Paraguayan air force Lieutenants Rocholl and Garcia pilot and observer of a bombing plane carrying 12 bombs flew over Fort Boqueron. They were attacked by three Bolivian planes Lieutenant Rocholl was wounded in the arm but he put the Bolivian planes to rout dropped the bombs on the fort and returned to his base. The plane was hit by 30 bullets.
[3].
Region of war between Bolivia and Paraguay.
Taken from “The Many Headed Dragon: Warlords in China”
By Rodger Stevens
© 1970, Bluewood Books
Philadelphia, USA
The death of Ma Zhongying and the retreat of his force left the Kumuliks and the forces of Jin Shuren to continue fighting each other until the governor’s troops eventually managed to force the rebels into surrender. This came just after another, separate rebellion had started further south. These Uyghurs were now fighting for full independence and on 9 October 1932 they seized the city of Kashgar and declared the East Turkestan Republic.
The leaders of the Uyghur rebellion.
Taken from “Hitler And The Third Reich, Volume 2: The Rise To Power”
By Verne Masters, Cougar Historicals, (c) 1981, Boston, USA
Hitler’s first taste of real political power came with the German federal election of 6 November 1932. The National Socialists support had increased since the last election in response to the increased support the KPD had received under Ernst Meyers moderate leadership.
The Nazi vote actually decreased since the election in July, though they remained the largest party, albeit without the majority required to govern as had happened in the last election. The parliament had been dissolved by Hindenberg on von Papen’s request and the German government appeared to be at a standstill. Hitler refused to negotiate with Papen and realising he could not remain in control he resigned. Kurt von Schliecher then stepped into the vacuum of government. He tried negotiating with Gregor Strasser in order to split the NSDAP and gain a majority coalition. Hitler and Strasser were now in a fight for leadership of their party. Hitler at first seemed to have the upper hand, his speeches won over many, but Strasser also made ground, by repeating that the party would never get into government because of the stubbornness of one man [4]. For almost three weeks they tried to gain follower in each side of the party and this could have well resulted in completely splitting the party, but for a small accident.
On December 7, Strasser was crossing the street and was hit by a drunk driver. The speed at which he was hit was not great and he might have survived, but he hit his head against a lamp post form the impact, which resulted in irreversible brain damage and he died the next day. Numerous historians and conspiracy theorists have claimed that Hitler had Strasser killed, but the evidence does not support this, especially since if Hitler had planned on having someone killed, he would not likely have relied on the chances of a drunk driver. In any case, Strasser’s death meant Hitler was undisputed master of the party and Schleicher was left to govern with Papens’ leftovers. This government would only last for three more months in any case and the November election would be the last set of free elections in Germany for 18 years and the last election held by the Weimar government.
Results for the November 1932 German Federal Election from Interpedia [5].
Taken from “A History of Presidential Elections”, By Geoff Kane, University of Chicago Press, (c) 1990, Chicago, USA
The election of 1932 reflected an America that was hungry for change. The Great Depression and Hoover’s inadequate policies in handling its effects had profoundly eroded much of the Republican’s support, to the point where even during the campaign period it was fairly obvious who the more popular candidate was, Hoover having objects thrown at him, while Roosevelt had numerous crowds greet him and his song became incredibly popular. The election was a landslide for the Roosevelt-Ritchie ticket [7], with them carrying all but 5 states [8] and winning 58.25% of the popular vote, the largest vote ever cast for a presidential election up until that time.
A time of progressive change was about to hit the USA, the end of the Prohibtion Era, Roosevelts’ progressive policies and the slow ending of isolation, Roosevelt’s acceptance speech reflected this with his promise of ‘a new deal for all Americans.’
[1] In OTL Araki was Minister of War and showed support to the conspirators of the May 15 movement, however his time as prime minister has shown him the realities of making war in China and dealing with international politics thus while he retains his radical politics, he has a greater sense of realism and thus some young officers thought he had betrayed their beliefs.
[2] Araki’s time as prime minister means that the ‘Imperial Way Faction’, has far more influence. He is able to step down and his faction is able to remain in power over the ‘Control’ group. This also means that the officers and secret societies with radical views are better represented in the government and civilian control has slipped much faster than in OTL.
[3] The Chaco War has started up about two months earlier than OTL
[4] Strasser did not decide to resign from the party as per OTL.
[5] Due to butterflies Ernst Meyer was able to take control of the KPD over the extremists led by Thalman [6], the party is slightly more moderate than OTL, resulting in slightly better election results, though this has also pushed the NSDAP vote up in response.
[6] Thalman was killed during a KPD-BSA brawl in July of 1929.
[7] Roosevelt had greater support than OTL and Garner gave up his campaign much earlier in exchange for the position of Attorney General, Albert Ritchie accepted the offer to be Roosevelt’s running mate.
[8] Hoover’s support is even worse than OTL and Connecticut went to Roosevelt.
From “Yomiori” Tokyo, Empire of Japan
27 February 1932
Naval Officers Assassinate Naval Minister Kiyokazu Abo and Injure Prime Minister Sadao Araki
Yesterday at approximately 4pm, Prime Minister Araki and Naval Minister Abo were exiting the Naval Office together and were ambushed by nine young men in military uniforms. They drew pistols and opened fire on the two men before running off to attempt more sabotage. Abo was killed by at least ten bullets, while Araki was only hit by three bullets, two in his right arm and on in his right leg. It is believed that the Naval Minister was the target and when the men saw that the prime minister had also been shot they stopped and moved on. Over the next few hours they proceeded to attack several other government offices, but thankfully there were no further casualties.
Prime Minister Araki made a statement this morning “While I understand the patriotic minds of young soldiers such as them, we cannot let our passions overcome rational judgements [1].”
It is believed that the men were acting against the government due to the recent ceasefire with China and the signing of the London Naval Treaty, which has upset many in the navy.
From “The Times” London, UK
9 April 1932
NEW LEADER FOR JAPAN
Prime Minister Araki stepped down yesterday in favour of Heisuke Yanagawa. Araki cited his injuries and the reduction in popular support that he has suffered since preventing war with China. He stated that he would also be retiring from the military in order to “heal the rift that has occurred between our government and our young officers. My presence in either government or army would only exaggerate that rift.”
Yanagawa promised to bring Japan peace back to both China in Japan, but also said that Japan could not stand by idly while chaos continued in China. He also said that Manchukuo “is now under control and peace should bring about order there”. Despite this fighting still continues in north east China, as Chinese guerrillas continue to resist the Imperial Japanese Army. Replacing Yanagawa as War Minister is General Jinzaburo Masaki [2], a prominent Araki supporter.
Prime Minister Araki, recovering from his injuries.
From “The Middletown Times” Middletown, New York, USA
18 July 1932
WAR SPIRIT RIFE AS PARAGUAYANS CLAIM A VICTORY
Annihilation of the Fourteenth Bolivian Infantry Regiment was claimed by Paraguayan forces today as thousands of troops battled fiercely for possession of Fort Boqueron the scene of several days fighting in the disputed Gran Chaco Announcement of the victory was made soon after midnight. It was cheered by thousands in the streets.
An earlier communique from the War Department said that fighting continues in the vicinity of Fort Boqueron. Public excitement was high. Mobs paraded singing the national anthem. On Sunday morning a two minute period of silence was observed in honor of Paraguayans killed in the fighting.
An alleged description of the first air battle of the campaign was carried in the newspaper El Diaro led by the chief of the Paraguayan air force Lieutenants Rocholl and Garcia pilot and observer of a bombing plane carrying 12 bombs flew over Fort Boqueron. They were attacked by three Bolivian planes Lieutenant Rocholl was wounded in the arm but he put the Bolivian planes to rout dropped the bombs on the fort and returned to his base. The plane was hit by 30 bullets.
[3].
Region of war between Bolivia and Paraguay.
Taken from “The Many Headed Dragon: Warlords in China”
By Rodger Stevens
© 1970, Bluewood Books
Philadelphia, USA
The death of Ma Zhongying and the retreat of his force left the Kumuliks and the forces of Jin Shuren to continue fighting each other until the governor’s troops eventually managed to force the rebels into surrender. This came just after another, separate rebellion had started further south. These Uyghurs were now fighting for full independence and on 9 October 1932 they seized the city of Kashgar and declared the East Turkestan Republic.
The leaders of the Uyghur rebellion.
Taken from “Hitler And The Third Reich, Volume 2: The Rise To Power”
By Verne Masters, Cougar Historicals, (c) 1981, Boston, USA
Hitler’s first taste of real political power came with the German federal election of 6 November 1932. The National Socialists support had increased since the last election in response to the increased support the KPD had received under Ernst Meyers moderate leadership.
The Nazi vote actually decreased since the election in July, though they remained the largest party, albeit without the majority required to govern as had happened in the last election. The parliament had been dissolved by Hindenberg on von Papen’s request and the German government appeared to be at a standstill. Hitler refused to negotiate with Papen and realising he could not remain in control he resigned. Kurt von Schliecher then stepped into the vacuum of government. He tried negotiating with Gregor Strasser in order to split the NSDAP and gain a majority coalition. Hitler and Strasser were now in a fight for leadership of their party. Hitler at first seemed to have the upper hand, his speeches won over many, but Strasser also made ground, by repeating that the party would never get into government because of the stubbornness of one man [4]. For almost three weeks they tried to gain follower in each side of the party and this could have well resulted in completely splitting the party, but for a small accident.
On December 7, Strasser was crossing the street and was hit by a drunk driver. The speed at which he was hit was not great and he might have survived, but he hit his head against a lamp post form the impact, which resulted in irreversible brain damage and he died the next day. Numerous historians and conspiracy theorists have claimed that Hitler had Strasser killed, but the evidence does not support this, especially since if Hitler had planned on having someone killed, he would not likely have relied on the chances of a drunk driver. In any case, Strasser’s death meant Hitler was undisputed master of the party and Schleicher was left to govern with Papens’ leftovers. This government would only last for three more months in any case and the November election would be the last set of free elections in Germany for 18 years and the last election held by the Weimar government.
Results for the November 1932 German Federal Election from Interpedia [5].
Taken from “A History of Presidential Elections”, By Geoff Kane, University of Chicago Press, (c) 1990, Chicago, USA
The election of 1932 reflected an America that was hungry for change. The Great Depression and Hoover’s inadequate policies in handling its effects had profoundly eroded much of the Republican’s support, to the point where even during the campaign period it was fairly obvious who the more popular candidate was, Hoover having objects thrown at him, while Roosevelt had numerous crowds greet him and his song became incredibly popular. The election was a landslide for the Roosevelt-Ritchie ticket [7], with them carrying all but 5 states [8] and winning 58.25% of the popular vote, the largest vote ever cast for a presidential election up until that time.
A time of progressive change was about to hit the USA, the end of the Prohibtion Era, Roosevelts’ progressive policies and the slow ending of isolation, Roosevelt’s acceptance speech reflected this with his promise of ‘a new deal for all Americans.’
[1] In OTL Araki was Minister of War and showed support to the conspirators of the May 15 movement, however his time as prime minister has shown him the realities of making war in China and dealing with international politics thus while he retains his radical politics, he has a greater sense of realism and thus some young officers thought he had betrayed their beliefs.
[2] Araki’s time as prime minister means that the ‘Imperial Way Faction’, has far more influence. He is able to step down and his faction is able to remain in power over the ‘Control’ group. This also means that the officers and secret societies with radical views are better represented in the government and civilian control has slipped much faster than in OTL.
[3] The Chaco War has started up about two months earlier than OTL
[4] Strasser did not decide to resign from the party as per OTL.
[5] Due to butterflies Ernst Meyer was able to take control of the KPD over the extremists led by Thalman [6], the party is slightly more moderate than OTL, resulting in slightly better election results, though this has also pushed the NSDAP vote up in response.
[6] Thalman was killed during a KPD-BSA brawl in July of 1929.
[7] Roosevelt had greater support than OTL and Garner gave up his campaign much earlier in exchange for the position of Attorney General, Albert Ritchie accepted the offer to be Roosevelt’s running mate.
[8] Hoover’s support is even worse than OTL and Connecticut went to Roosevelt.
17. Peace Without Honour.
“You forget one thing-you forget that I am still Chinese”
-Zhang Xueliang, reportedly said to General Tsune Saito after he tried to get Zhang’s cooperation in increasing Japanese influence in Manchuria.
8 May 1933
Rehe Province
Republic of China
The rain was pouring through the small holes of the tent and water was beginning to build up around the equipment on near the outer edges, but that didn’t matter to General Shigeru Honjo. He had failed to seize Rehe province from the Chinese bandit armies. He had failed to push out the ‘Young Tiger’ and worse his own forces had been humiliated and beaten back, half of them being captured or killed.
Certainly most of Manchuria was under Japanese control, but this last lone holdout in the south should have been finished off. Thanks to his failure to remove it, the IJA would be pulling back from this area and concentrate on bringing order to the area that it currently occupied. Honjo had dismissed his aides and his officers, ordering them to oversee the pull back to Yizhou. Now alone he could do what he needed. He knelt down and slowly his hand moved towards the handle of his sword, he gently unsheathed it and gazed at it for some time, knowing that he could at least redeem this failure in some way.
He took in a deep breath and held the sword in front of his stomach, then with every bit of strength he had he slammed it into himself, piercing his skin, blood pouring out onto the soft ground below. He fell forward still alive, but his consciousness slowly slipping and he imagined that he could see his samurai ancestors smiling at him.
At the same time in the city of Chengde, Zhang Xueliang was eating dinner with his fellow generals after their armies had successfully taken the city. He had to hand it to Tang Juwu, his determination and resistance to the Japanese occupiers were what allowed them to win the battle. Had it not been for his guerrilla veterans then this may have been the last battle Zhang would fight in defending Manchuria. Instead he had plans to push the Japanese back into Liaoning.
One of the staff at the restaurant they were dining at walked quickly past the table and whispered in Zhang’s ear.
“Sir, there is a phone call for you.”
Zhang simply nodded and excused himself from the table. He briskly walked to take the call wondering what it could be about.
As he picked it up and answered he heard a voice he had been hoping not to hear. The most powerful military figure in China, Li Zongren.
“Congratulations in holding on to Rehe general” said Li “you do your country proud.”
“Thank you sir, I assume you did not phone just to congratulate our efforts here?”
“No” Li paused before his next sentence.
“General, it pains me to say this but you are going to have to withdraw from this fight.”
Zhang gripped the phone harder in anger but kept his voice calm “Sir?”
“The Japanese government have approached us with an offer to pull back all the way to Anshan, and have offered a ceasefire, provided that we do not advance any further. In addition any ‘bandit forces’ are no longer to receive supplies from our troops.”
Zhang’s grip loosened back in surprise. Those terms were far milder than he had expected form the Japanese. They were still an insult to China, who rightfully owned Manchuria, while Zhang was proud of what had been accomplished, it was doubtful that he could make any further progress without more reinforcements.
“Don’t overreact general, the president is not going to recognise the Xun Di or anything of the sort, this is simply a ceasefire on a contested territory, officially it is nothing more than that.”
“I see sir” replied Zhang, understanding immediately that any agreement by the Republic of China, did not bind the guerrillas or the communists to anything, nor would it stop unofficial and black market supplies from reaching them and the Japanese were fools if they thought it would.
“Then I will of course abide by the president’s decision. Please keep me informed if anything changes.”
“Good. Once to ceasefire is in place, the president wants you to come to Nanjing, I believe he said something about a ‘hero’s welcome’.”
Zhang smiled “Once everything is in place , I’ll make the arrangements to travel south. Is that all sir?”
“Yes, congratulations again general.”
“Very well good night sir” and Zhang hung up the phone. Not the best of news, but still it could have been worse, Manchuria would still fight its oppressors, just not as directly as it had, Zhang felt the build-up of stress he had been feeling for the last few days release and for once he did not feel like Atlas, he had almost been tempted to use opium to alleviate the pressure, but he had managed to find the willpower to avoid it [2]. He strolled back to the dining hall, preparing to inform the others of this development.
Zhang Xueliang, in uniform after his victory at Rehe
Imperial Japan’s Folly: Invading China, by Marco Bravelli, English translation by Antonio Grimani © 1978, Gravello Publishing House, Kingdom of Italy, Nice
Despite the continuing conflict in Manchuria the governments of both Japan and China were now seeking for ways to draw the conflict down to a lower level. In Japan the enthusiastic embrace of war at its initial stages had died down somewhat, though the fanatic followers of ‘State-Shinto Socialism’ [3] remained quite vocal, with some of the more pragmatic military figures starting to see that things were not going well for the IJA. Even discounting the retreat from Shanghai [4], things in Manchuria were far less hopeful than the media and vocal soldiers made it out to be.
The Japanese troops in the region were under constant attack from well-armed, local guerrillas, who knew the terrain far better than their enemies. The morale in the Kwangtung Army had dropped abysmally and in the Chosen Army many soldiers now feared the ‘call to Manchuria’ and treated it as tantamount to a death sentence, though they still willingly obeyed in the name of service to their nation, but they had seen far too few of their comrades return from the ‘wild north’ as it was becoming known, to be deluded about the prospects of surviving for long.
After the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Araki by members of the Cherry Blossom Society, the government and pragmatic military figures formed a brief alliance in order to push through an opening for talks with the Chinese government over the status of Manchuria. The final straw for the Japanese army was the Battle of Rehe in 1933. The main bulk of the Kwangtung Army had occupied the province but had been forced to retreat by Zhang Xueliang’s veterans and a force of guerrillas’ commanded by Tang Juwu. This opened the diplomatic door even further and the first signs of a ceasefire came about around the same time General Honjo committed seppuku for his failure to hold the region under his command.
The discussions happened in Rongcheng on the east coast of Shandong province and dragged on for almost two weeks, while the ceasefire barely held. The IJA still kept a tight lid on all the areas it controlled and did not count ‘bandits’ in the ceasefire, which usually meant any Chinese soldiers they caught in areas they controlled, also the large numbers of communists operating in the region did not answer to the Chinese government and they continued harassing both the IJA and the NRA, while building up their own forces. This led them to have an increase in support due to them able to successfully portray themselves as ‘true Chinese patriots’ fighting the foreigners, instead of a corrupt, capitalist government [5]. The official ending of indiscriminate fighting between the Kuomintang government and the Empire of Japan came with the signing of the Rongcheng Agreement on the 20 May 1933. Though both sides continued the fight via proxy armies with the Chinese supplying the communists and ‘bandits’ against the IJA and the Japanese supplying the Manchurian Independents against the NRA, in addition many official soldiers fought alongside these proxy armies, thus the fighting continued but hidden, the period becoming known as the ‘Hidden War’.
Japanese officers riding into Rongcheng to meet the Chinese representatives.
Excerpts from the Rongcheng Agreement
As agreed upon by the Empire of Japan, as represented by Mamoru Shigemitsu, and the Republic of China, as represented by Zhang Qun.
Article 1
Any and all conflict between the armed forces of the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in the territory of Manchuria shall cease and the respective armed forces will not make any further aggressive movements towards each other. If any soldier of either side initiates conflict they shall punished according to their own forces laws; this does not apply to any bandits, looters of other self-serving individuals that have taken advantage of the conflict.
Article 2
Japan and China mutually engage:
First: To restore order in the respective territories in which their soldiers are garrisoned, including but not limited to, arrests of anyone caught, stealing supplies and food intended for civilians and soldiers, looting, murder and other crimes which contribute to the decrease in order and well being of the territories.
Second: To combat the threat of communism from revolutionaries that seek to destabilise the region. Both sides will participate to actively confront communism.
Article 3
A neutral demarcation strip of land half a mile on each side of the Liao River is to be established and
Japan agrees to withdraw all of its forces to the eastern side and will not send any forces past without permission from the local Chinese commander beyond the line as established. China agrees to withdraw all of its forces to the western side and will not send any forces without permission from the local Japanese commander beyond the line as established.
The Liao River, which served as the demarcation line for the Rongcheng agreement
Taken from “Sun Yat-Sen’s Heirs”, By Liao Yanshi, © 1988, Lotus Flower Publishing-Guangzhou, Republic of China
For Wang’s government the Rongcheng Agreement had both benefits and drawbacks. It allowed what had been escalating conflict with Imperial Japan to come to a slow halt, a conflict which China was not prepared to deal with at this stage. In addition the build of communist guerrillas in the central south and the armies of Mao and Zhang striking out from their remote bases, meant that he needed to focus on stopping the creeping communist influence which had been on a plateau for several years but was again on the rise. Even a temporary halt of the conflict in Manchuria allowed the NRA to redeploy several of their key divisions to areas now under control of the communists, something which would be vital when the Zhang launched his ‘Eastern Expedition’ and the Southern War [6] which was about to erupt.
On the other hand though, Wang, who had previously been seen as standing up for the rights of Chinese sovereignty, now had tarnished his reputation. His popularity was still solid, mostly due to the fact that he had been willing to give military strategy over to capable generals and focus on the economy and building up support through public works projects. He continued to support and praise the Zhang Xueliang, who was now a national hero, but there was still an impression that he had thrown Manchuria ‘to the wolves’, particularly by many in the north that were still fighting the Japanese. This would give Mao Zedong’s army a much needed boost by those tired of the Kuomintang regime, but others also turned against him for other reasons. The Warlord-Era attitude of corruption and autocracy was still in place in many regions and the opium trade was continuing to grow. Wang’s regime was moving further to the right and suppression of political opponents would only get worse as the Central Investigation Bureau was given more power gained many informants high up in the communist party structure.
[1] Chinese for ‘Yielded Emperor’, referring to the puppet ruler of Manchukuo, Puyi.
[2] In OTL Zhang started using opium when leading an army against the KMT during the Northern Expedition, and then switched to morphine in an attempt to cure his opium addiction only to become addicted to that. There was much less fighting after his father was killed in battle and he was not as stressed out at leading an army. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria is just as stressful, but his ability to resist the Japanese and his heroic status in Chinese media helps alleviate the stress enough that he does not feel the need to take opium.
[3] A lexicon in TTL which is used as a label for the ideology of the radical Japanese soldiers and politicians who advocated revolution of the government and war against foreign powers.
[4] The defeat at Shanghai was largely played down in the media so for the general population and most soldiers it has not affected morale, but some key military figures in the army and navy got a rude awakening upon realising that China might not actually be as simple to conquer as they initially believed.
[5] Unfortunately this was not as successful as Grimani implies, he has simply mixed up the timing, their propaganda during the 1930’s didn’t win too many converts, but later on in the early 1940’s they were more successful.
[6] These two conflicts come from the communists slowly building their strength after the purges of the late 1920s, essentially replacing what were the Encirclement Campaigns from OTL.
“You forget one thing-you forget that I am still Chinese”
-Zhang Xueliang, reportedly said to General Tsune Saito after he tried to get Zhang’s cooperation in increasing Japanese influence in Manchuria.
8 May 1933
Rehe Province
Republic of China
The rain was pouring through the small holes of the tent and water was beginning to build up around the equipment on near the outer edges, but that didn’t matter to General Shigeru Honjo. He had failed to seize Rehe province from the Chinese bandit armies. He had failed to push out the ‘Young Tiger’ and worse his own forces had been humiliated and beaten back, half of them being captured or killed.
Certainly most of Manchuria was under Japanese control, but this last lone holdout in the south should have been finished off. Thanks to his failure to remove it, the IJA would be pulling back from this area and concentrate on bringing order to the area that it currently occupied. Honjo had dismissed his aides and his officers, ordering them to oversee the pull back to Yizhou. Now alone he could do what he needed. He knelt down and slowly his hand moved towards the handle of his sword, he gently unsheathed it and gazed at it for some time, knowing that he could at least redeem this failure in some way.
He took in a deep breath and held the sword in front of his stomach, then with every bit of strength he had he slammed it into himself, piercing his skin, blood pouring out onto the soft ground below. He fell forward still alive, but his consciousness slowly slipping and he imagined that he could see his samurai ancestors smiling at him.
At the same time in the city of Chengde, Zhang Xueliang was eating dinner with his fellow generals after their armies had successfully taken the city. He had to hand it to Tang Juwu, his determination and resistance to the Japanese occupiers were what allowed them to win the battle. Had it not been for his guerrilla veterans then this may have been the last battle Zhang would fight in defending Manchuria. Instead he had plans to push the Japanese back into Liaoning.
One of the staff at the restaurant they were dining at walked quickly past the table and whispered in Zhang’s ear.
“Sir, there is a phone call for you.”
Zhang simply nodded and excused himself from the table. He briskly walked to take the call wondering what it could be about.
As he picked it up and answered he heard a voice he had been hoping not to hear. The most powerful military figure in China, Li Zongren.
“Congratulations in holding on to Rehe general” said Li “you do your country proud.”
“Thank you sir, I assume you did not phone just to congratulate our efforts here?”
“No” Li paused before his next sentence.
“General, it pains me to say this but you are going to have to withdraw from this fight.”
Zhang gripped the phone harder in anger but kept his voice calm “Sir?”
“The Japanese government have approached us with an offer to pull back all the way to Anshan, and have offered a ceasefire, provided that we do not advance any further. In addition any ‘bandit forces’ are no longer to receive supplies from our troops.”
Zhang’s grip loosened back in surprise. Those terms were far milder than he had expected form the Japanese. They were still an insult to China, who rightfully owned Manchuria, while Zhang was proud of what had been accomplished, it was doubtful that he could make any further progress without more reinforcements.
“Don’t overreact general, the president is not going to recognise the Xun Di or anything of the sort, this is simply a ceasefire on a contested territory, officially it is nothing more than that.”
“I see sir” replied Zhang, understanding immediately that any agreement by the Republic of China, did not bind the guerrillas or the communists to anything, nor would it stop unofficial and black market supplies from reaching them and the Japanese were fools if they thought it would.
“Then I will of course abide by the president’s decision. Please keep me informed if anything changes.”
“Good. Once to ceasefire is in place, the president wants you to come to Nanjing, I believe he said something about a ‘hero’s welcome’.”
Zhang smiled “Once everything is in place , I’ll make the arrangements to travel south. Is that all sir?”
“Yes, congratulations again general.”
“Very well good night sir” and Zhang hung up the phone. Not the best of news, but still it could have been worse, Manchuria would still fight its oppressors, just not as directly as it had, Zhang felt the build-up of stress he had been feeling for the last few days release and for once he did not feel like Atlas, he had almost been tempted to use opium to alleviate the pressure, but he had managed to find the willpower to avoid it [2]. He strolled back to the dining hall, preparing to inform the others of this development.
Zhang Xueliang, in uniform after his victory at Rehe
Imperial Japan’s Folly: Invading China, by Marco Bravelli, English translation by Antonio Grimani © 1978, Gravello Publishing House, Kingdom of Italy, Nice
Despite the continuing conflict in Manchuria the governments of both Japan and China were now seeking for ways to draw the conflict down to a lower level. In Japan the enthusiastic embrace of war at its initial stages had died down somewhat, though the fanatic followers of ‘State-Shinto Socialism’ [3] remained quite vocal, with some of the more pragmatic military figures starting to see that things were not going well for the IJA. Even discounting the retreat from Shanghai [4], things in Manchuria were far less hopeful than the media and vocal soldiers made it out to be.
The Japanese troops in the region were under constant attack from well-armed, local guerrillas, who knew the terrain far better than their enemies. The morale in the Kwangtung Army had dropped abysmally and in the Chosen Army many soldiers now feared the ‘call to Manchuria’ and treated it as tantamount to a death sentence, though they still willingly obeyed in the name of service to their nation, but they had seen far too few of their comrades return from the ‘wild north’ as it was becoming known, to be deluded about the prospects of surviving for long.
After the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Araki by members of the Cherry Blossom Society, the government and pragmatic military figures formed a brief alliance in order to push through an opening for talks with the Chinese government over the status of Manchuria. The final straw for the Japanese army was the Battle of Rehe in 1933. The main bulk of the Kwangtung Army had occupied the province but had been forced to retreat by Zhang Xueliang’s veterans and a force of guerrillas’ commanded by Tang Juwu. This opened the diplomatic door even further and the first signs of a ceasefire came about around the same time General Honjo committed seppuku for his failure to hold the region under his command.
The discussions happened in Rongcheng on the east coast of Shandong province and dragged on for almost two weeks, while the ceasefire barely held. The IJA still kept a tight lid on all the areas it controlled and did not count ‘bandits’ in the ceasefire, which usually meant any Chinese soldiers they caught in areas they controlled, also the large numbers of communists operating in the region did not answer to the Chinese government and they continued harassing both the IJA and the NRA, while building up their own forces. This led them to have an increase in support due to them able to successfully portray themselves as ‘true Chinese patriots’ fighting the foreigners, instead of a corrupt, capitalist government [5]. The official ending of indiscriminate fighting between the Kuomintang government and the Empire of Japan came with the signing of the Rongcheng Agreement on the 20 May 1933. Though both sides continued the fight via proxy armies with the Chinese supplying the communists and ‘bandits’ against the IJA and the Japanese supplying the Manchurian Independents against the NRA, in addition many official soldiers fought alongside these proxy armies, thus the fighting continued but hidden, the period becoming known as the ‘Hidden War’.
Japanese officers riding into Rongcheng to meet the Chinese representatives.
Excerpts from the Rongcheng Agreement
As agreed upon by the Empire of Japan, as represented by Mamoru Shigemitsu, and the Republic of China, as represented by Zhang Qun.
Article 1
Any and all conflict between the armed forces of the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in the territory of Manchuria shall cease and the respective armed forces will not make any further aggressive movements towards each other. If any soldier of either side initiates conflict they shall punished according to their own forces laws; this does not apply to any bandits, looters of other self-serving individuals that have taken advantage of the conflict.
Article 2
Japan and China mutually engage:
First: To restore order in the respective territories in which their soldiers are garrisoned, including but not limited to, arrests of anyone caught, stealing supplies and food intended for civilians and soldiers, looting, murder and other crimes which contribute to the decrease in order and well being of the territories.
Second: To combat the threat of communism from revolutionaries that seek to destabilise the region. Both sides will participate to actively confront communism.
Article 3
A neutral demarcation strip of land half a mile on each side of the Liao River is to be established and
Japan agrees to withdraw all of its forces to the eastern side and will not send any forces past without permission from the local Chinese commander beyond the line as established. China agrees to withdraw all of its forces to the western side and will not send any forces without permission from the local Japanese commander beyond the line as established.
The Liao River, which served as the demarcation line for the Rongcheng agreement
Taken from “Sun Yat-Sen’s Heirs”, By Liao Yanshi, © 1988, Lotus Flower Publishing-Guangzhou, Republic of China
For Wang’s government the Rongcheng Agreement had both benefits and drawbacks. It allowed what had been escalating conflict with Imperial Japan to come to a slow halt, a conflict which China was not prepared to deal with at this stage. In addition the build of communist guerrillas in the central south and the armies of Mao and Zhang striking out from their remote bases, meant that he needed to focus on stopping the creeping communist influence which had been on a plateau for several years but was again on the rise. Even a temporary halt of the conflict in Manchuria allowed the NRA to redeploy several of their key divisions to areas now under control of the communists, something which would be vital when the Zhang launched his ‘Eastern Expedition’ and the Southern War [6] which was about to erupt.
On the other hand though, Wang, who had previously been seen as standing up for the rights of Chinese sovereignty, now had tarnished his reputation. His popularity was still solid, mostly due to the fact that he had been willing to give military strategy over to capable generals and focus on the economy and building up support through public works projects. He continued to support and praise the Zhang Xueliang, who was now a national hero, but there was still an impression that he had thrown Manchuria ‘to the wolves’, particularly by many in the north that were still fighting the Japanese. This would give Mao Zedong’s army a much needed boost by those tired of the Kuomintang regime, but others also turned against him for other reasons. The Warlord-Era attitude of corruption and autocracy was still in place in many regions and the opium trade was continuing to grow. Wang’s regime was moving further to the right and suppression of political opponents would only get worse as the Central Investigation Bureau was given more power gained many informants high up in the communist party structure.
[1] Chinese for ‘Yielded Emperor’, referring to the puppet ruler of Manchukuo, Puyi.
[2] In OTL Zhang started using opium when leading an army against the KMT during the Northern Expedition, and then switched to morphine in an attempt to cure his opium addiction only to become addicted to that. There was much less fighting after his father was killed in battle and he was not as stressed out at leading an army. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria is just as stressful, but his ability to resist the Japanese and his heroic status in Chinese media helps alleviate the stress enough that he does not feel the need to take opium.
[3] A lexicon in TTL which is used as a label for the ideology of the radical Japanese soldiers and politicians who advocated revolution of the government and war against foreign powers.
[4] The defeat at Shanghai was largely played down in the media so for the general population and most soldiers it has not affected morale, but some key military figures in the army and navy got a rude awakening upon realising that China might not actually be as simple to conquer as they initially believed.
[5] Unfortunately this was not as successful as Grimani implies, he has simply mixed up the timing, their propaganda during the 1930’s didn’t win too many converts, but later on in the early 1940’s they were more successful.
[6] These two conflicts come from the communists slowly building their strength after the purges of the late 1920s, essentially replacing what were the Encirclement Campaigns from OTL.