The Japanese surrender in 1945 brought as much uneasiness as it did relief. Like other Japanese conquests, the Japanese eviction and withdrawal left an enormous power gap in a large swath of land across east and south east Asia. China wasn't the only land in which the Japanese withdrawal effected politics; Vietnam and Malaysia almost immediately found themselves consumed by war. People all across China were anxiously expecting the renewal of conflict between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Kuomintang (KMT). And renewal of conflict is what they got, some eagerly, others not so.

Let's start by going over a little of what happened in the aftermath of Japanese surrender. A lot of major powers had big plans for the situation in East Asia. There's a lot going on; Japan is now in the process of coming under American occupation, soldiers are being rushed to divvy up the Korean Peninsula, and then of course the big question; what do we (mainly USSR and US) do with China? In August of 1945, the same day America bombed Nagasaki, the USSR invaded northeast China and the northern half of the Korean peninsula. Within a few weeks it was firmly under control and Manchuria would come to play a pivotal role in the upcoming civil war, which was more or less underway. The Japanese troops were still present throughout China, and Truman and his generals were keen to make sure they stay put for at least a while. Should the Japanese withdraw en masse, they were well aware that the CCP could overrun more than half of China.

Down in Chongqing, the KMT war-time capital, preparations were underway to move east, and quickly. Chiang sent his generals as envoys to meet with Japanese generals to accept the terms laid out in their surrender. The US offered a flotilla of transport planes to fly Chinese troops to the eastern seaboard in order to reoccupy key strategic points and cities, such as Shanghai and Nanjing. The mood upon re-arrival was tense, though. Donald Gillin describes KMT General Cheng Tung-kuo's arrival in Shanghai to accept Japanese surrender.

... That delegation was led by General Cheng Tung-kuo, who had played a role in the only major Nationalist victory over Japanese at Taierhchuang in 1938 and who was one of the few genuine war heroes among Chiang's commanders. But the plane that carried Cheng and his aides to Shanghai belonged to and was operated by the American military, whom the Japanese regarded as their "real conquerors." As the plane circled Shanghai's airfield, Cheng and the Chinese accompanying him were reminded of how dubious China's claim to victory was by the sight of row on row of undamaged Japanese warplanes, symbols of strength that Japan still commanded in China.

Cheng was then denied meeting with the Japanese commanding general, but rather his deputy. The event also recalls the silent but expectant Chinese population witnessing the return of their government, almost certainly relieved to be ridded of the Japanese in some ways, but also anxious in remembering the totalitarian hand that loomed over KMT territory prior to 1937. Chiang was, however, not so quick to anger or try and take advantage of the defeated Japanese. He even allowed Okamura Yasuji (the commander of Japanese forces in China) and his staff to remain in their residences. Across northern China, over 80,000 remaining Japanese troops had been garrisoned, fighting off CCP attacks on strategic objectives. Fighting almost immediately commenced in Taiyuan, where a large weapons arsenal was defended by a mix of Japanese and Nationalist troops. Several Japanese garrisons were approached by CCP armies demanding surrender, which usually led to skirmishes between the two.

So, in the north we have a Soviet-held Manchuria, in the south we have a scramble to regain control of the former Japanese lands, while in the center we have a lot of conflict going on between Nationalist, CCP, and Japanese armies. For Chinese generals and politicians, the struggle continued. Truman, uninterested in getting involved in another war, sent General Marshall to China in late 1945 to act as a diplomatic envoy. The success he would find in Europe was not present in Asia. Marshall and other diplomats seem to have misunderstood the CCP entirely, as well as their relationship with the USSR. There was some firm belief among the American staff that a peace could be reached between both the CCP and KMT, and that Mao would easily be severable from Stalin. While Marshall attempted to court both sides to get a peace, Zhu De was already leading troops in campaigns against Nationalists across the north, which were very successful. And thus the second stage of the Civil War was underway.

Chinese React to Japanese Surrender

Chinese reactions to the Japanese surrender were myriad. Communist troops and leaders were jubilated, on one hand because the war was over, yes, but on the other the greatest obstacle that stood in their way was now gone. Mao, giving a speech on August 13, 1945, jubilates in the defeat of Japan, the entrance of the USSR, and gives off belligerent language towards the KMT and Chiang. Now that the USSR was involved more directly and Japan was gone, the CCP had a good chance of taking over China.

KMT soldiers and leaders were exhausted. Many Western and Japanese observers noted the return of KMT troops to cities such as Nanjing and Shanghai. Instead of looking proud and clean, they were almost entirely raggedy, looking jejune. Some troops didn't even have any shoes or boots to wear that were left. Chiang and his staff now had to try and persuade the US to involve itself more directly in China. For many

Every day Chinese reaction, was also varied. On the one hand, the Japanese defeat was followed by a partial demobilization from Chiang resulting in 1.1 million troops returning home (out of ~6 million). Many of them were quite eager to move on with life, requesting readmissions into their respective universities, or placement back in the workplace. The KMT did much to accommodate them, even allowing students whose universities were destroyed or shutdown to transfer to those still standing. If a workplace had no openings, or was lost in the chaos of war, the government offered vocational training to those displaced. There surely had to be a fair sense of relief, even if CCP armies began engagements. Those from more southerly provinces such as Sichuan probably felt the most relief and ability to return to a normal-ish lifestyle. Many who returned east had found their families and/or belongings lost, either deciding to stay in the military or move somewhere else in an attempt to start anew.

All in all, there was certainly some relief among the populace, especially young males, that the war was over. There was no more worry about a foreign army conquering your home, nor the arrival of the dreaded KMT army recruiter to come take your sons away. But things never truly got back to a stabilized state until the 1950s.

Sources

Under the Gun: Nationalist Military Service and Society in Sichuan, 1938-1945, Kevin Landdeck

The China Mission: George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947, Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

Staying On: Japanese Soldiers and Civilians in China, 1945-1949, Donald Gillin & Charles Etter