1937-1945 - Research on theJiangsu puppet government under Japanese occupation

Author: Pan Min / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Based on this guiding principle, Dr. Pan Min conducted an in-depth and meticulous examination of the Japanese puppet local governments in the Jiangnan and Central Jiangsu regions during 1937-1945. She visited nearly all archives and libraries in Nanjing and the Jiangnan area to gather as much material as possible on the puppet local governments, especially primary archival sources. She employed theories from political science, sociology, and social psychology, along with historical empirical methods, to clarify the organizational process of the puppet local governments. Building on this foundation, she conducted a thorough analysis of the organizational structure, political, and economic functions of the local governments. She devoted significant space to examining the sources, ages, educational backgrounds, and power distribution of administrative personnel at the county, district, and township levels. Using numerous examples, she analyzed the complex political mindsets and desires of local administrative personnel under the rapidly changing wartime conditions, avoiding the tendency to make simplistic moral judgments about the various figures in the puppet regime. One of the key functions of the puppet local governments was to serve the Japanese invaders by procuring military grain and collecting taxes for the Japanese army, yet this issue has received little academic attention. This book uses undeniable historical facts and data to convincingly argue that Japan's economic exploitation of the occupied areas, providing us with a clearer understanding of the aggressive nature of Japanese militarism.