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moved from WWii article
At Munich, Hitler, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Mussolini]] and French Premier [[Edouard Daladier]] carved up Czechoslovakia without consulting anyone, least of all the Czechs and Slovaks.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 638.</ref> The outlawry of war was relatively meaningless without some sanctions that could compel the use of peaceful methods. Efforts in this direction were nullified by Britain.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 296.</ref>
At Munich, Hitler, British Prime Minister [[Neville Chamberlain]], [[Mussolini]] and French Premier [[Edouard Daladier]] carved up Czechoslovakia without consulting anyone, least of all the Czechs and Slovaks.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 638.</ref> The outlawry of war was relatively meaningless without some sanctions that could compel the use of peaceful methods. Efforts in this direction were nullified by Britain.<ref>''Tragedy and Hope'', Quigley, pg. 296.</ref>
==Cause of war in Asia==
===Chinese Civil War===
China was engaged at the same time in two separate wars. One was with Japan and the other with the [[Comintern]]. The Soviet Union fought China with an army of [[Chinese Communist Party|Chinese revolutionaries]], the CCP, directed and armed by the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union's ambitions in China were to transform all northern China — [[Sinkiang]], [[Mongolia]] and [[Manchuria]] — into Soviet dependencies and to convert what remained of China into a [[Communist]] satellite state.
===Mukden Incident===
The Japanese invasion of [[Manchuria]] in 1931 marked the beginning of World War II in Asia. In March 1932 the Japanese set up the [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]]. On 24 February, 1933, the [[League of Nations]] adopted a resolution calling for the non-recognition of Manchukuo, however the [[Soviet Union]] nonetheless did recognize Manchukuo and sold Japan the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1935.
===Second Sino-Japanese War===
:''Main article:[[Second Sino-Japanese War]]''
In 1937 Japan moved south from Manchuria and began a full scale war against China. The Japanese army was much more powerful, and quickly drove the Chinese, under [[Chiang Kai-shek]] to remote mountain areas. Japan controlled the major cities and seacoast, and most of China's population, and set up a puppet regime. The United States strongly objected to Japan's moves, and began large-scale support for China.
[[CCP]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] sent a secret directive to his followers IN 1944 which said:
:"The Sino-Japanese war affords our party an excellent opportunity for expansion . . . the first stage is a compromising stage . . . but in reality this will serve as camouflage for the… development of our party. The second [stage]. . . should be spent in laying the foundation of our party's political and military powers . . . until we can match and break the [[Kuomintang]]. The third is an offensive stage . . . in which our forces. . . isolate and disperse…and wrest the leadership from the hands of the Kuomintang."<ref>Documents on the Problem of the Chinese Communist Party (Chungking, 1944).</ref>
==Further reading==
See [[Bibliography of World War II]]
===Overview===
* Dear, I. C. B. and M. R. D. Foot, eds. ''Oxford Companion to World War II'' (in Britain titled ''Oxford Companion to the Second World War'' (2005; 2nd ed. 2009). the best reference book; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Companion-World-War-II/dp/019280670X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236549909&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* ''Times Atlas of the Second World War'' (1995)
* Weinberg, Gerhard L. ''A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II'', (1994) the best overall view of the war.
===Europe===
* Bell, P. M. H. ''The Origins of the Second World War in Europe.'' (3rd ed. 2007). 326 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Second-World-War-Europe/dp/1405840285/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254581332&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Boyce, Robert, and Joseph A. Maiolo. ''The Origins of World War Two: The Debate Continues'' (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Origins-World-War-Two-Continues/dp/0333945395/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195791097&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Eubank, Keith. ''The Origins of World War II'' (2004), short survey
* Finney, Patrick. ''The Origins of the Second World War'' (1998), 480pp
* Henig, Ruth. ''The Origins of the Second World War 1933-1941'' (2005), short, balanced summary [http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Second-1933-1941-Lancaster-Pamphlets/dp/0415332613/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254581332&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Lamb, Margaret and Tarling, Nicholas. ''From Versailles to Pearl Harbor: The Origins of the Second World War in Europe and Asia.'' (2001). 238 pp.
* Langer, William, and S. Everett Gleason. ''The Undelcared War: 1940-1941'' (1953) very influential semi-official study of U.S. policy
*Overy, Richard. ''The Origins of the Second World War'' (3rd ed. 2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Origins-Second-World-War-3rd/dp/1405824697/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254581332&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* Reynolds, David. ''From Munich to Pearl Harbor: Roosevelt's America and the Origins of the Second World War'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Munich-Pearl-Harbor-Roosevelts-American/dp/1566633907/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254581332&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Watt, Donald Cameron ''How War Came: The Immediate Origins of the Second World War, 1938-1939'', (1989), the major survey
==Pacific==
* Barnhart, Michael A. ''Japan Prepares for Total War: The Search for Economic Security, 1919–1941'' (1987)
* Butow, Robert J. C. ''Tojo and the Coming of the War'' (1961)
* Dallek, Robert. ''Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945'' (1995).
* Feis, Herbert. ''The Road to Pearl Harbor: The coming of the war between the United States and Japan.'' classic history by senior American official.
* Langer, William, and S. Everett Gleason. ''The Undelcared War: 1940-1941'' (1953) very influential semi-official study of U.S. policy
* Tohmatsu, Haruo and H. P. Willmott. ''A Gathering Darkness: The Coming of War to the Far East and the Pacific'' (2004), short overview.
* Yomiuri Shimbun. ''Who Was Responsible? From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor'' (2007) [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fb20070311a1.html review]
[[category:World War II]]
[[category:Diplomacy]]