Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

Military occupation during World War II

Hong Kong Occupied Territory

香港占領地[1]
Honkon Senryō-chi

1941–1945

Flag of the Empire of Japan

Imperial Seal

Anthem:

* "Kimigayo"

The Hong Kong occupation zone (dark red) within the Empire of Japan (light red) at its furthest extent

Status| Military occupation by the Empire of Japan
Common languages| Japanese
English
Cantonese
Religion

| State Shinto
Buddhism
Chinese folk religion
Taoism
Confucianism
Emperor|

• 1941–1945

| Hirohito
Governor-General|

• 1941–1942

| Takashi Sakai
Masaichi Niimi

• 1942–1944

| Rensuke Isogai

• 1944–1945

| Hisakazu Tanaka
Historical era| World War II

• Battle of Hong Kong

| 8–25 December 1941

• Surrender of Hong Kong

| 25 December 1941

• Surrender of Japan

| 15 August 1945

• Handover to the Royal Navy

| 30 August 1945
Area
1941[2][3]| 1,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
1945[2][4]| 1,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
Population

• 1941[2][3]

| 1,639,000

• 1945[2][4]

| 600,000
Currency| Japanese military yen

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | British Hong Kong

|

| British Hong Kong |

|

Today part of| Hong Kong
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

Traditional Chinese| 香港日治時期
Simplified Chinese| 香港日治时期
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| Xiānggǎng Rìzhìshíqī
Yue: Cantonese
Yale Romanization| Hēung góng yaht jih sìhk kèih
Jyutping| Heong1 gong2 jat6 zi6 sik4 kei4

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the Japanese forces that invaded the territory.[5][6] The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of the period (三年零八個月, lit. 'three years and eight months') later became a metonym of the occupation.[6]

## Background

[edit]

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### Imperial Japanese invasion of China

[edit]

Main article: Second Sino-Japanese War

During the Imperial Japanese military's full-scale invasion of China in 1937, Hong Kong as part of the British Empire was not under attack. Nevertheless, its situation was influenced by the war in China due to proximity to the mainland China. In early March 1939, during an Imperial Japanese bombing raid on Shenzhen, a few bombs fell accidentally on Hong Kong territory, destroying a bridge and a train station.[7]

### World War II

[edit]

Main article: Pacific War

See also: European Theatre of World War II

In 1936, Germany and the Empire of Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact. In 1937, Fascist Italy joined the pact, forming the core of what would become known as the Axis Powers.[8]

In the autumn of 1941, Nazi Germany was near the height of its military power. After the invasion of Poland and fall of France, German forces had overrun much of Western Europe and were racing towards Moscow.[9] The United States was neutral and opposition to Nazi Germany was given only by Britain, the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union.[10]

The United States provided minor support to China in its fight against Imperial Japan's invasion. It imposed an embargo on the sale of oil to Japan after less aggressive forms of economic sanctions failed to halt Japanese advances.[11] On 7 December 1941 (Honolulu time), Japan entered World War II with the Japanese occupation of Malaya, as well as other attacks including attacking the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor and American-ruled Philippines, and the Japanese invasion of Thailand.

### Battle of Hong Kong

[edit]

Main article: Battle of Hong Kong

As part of a general Pacific campaign, the Japanese launched an assault on Hong Kong on the morning of 8 December 1941.[12] British, Canadian, and Indian forces, supported by the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces attempted to resist the rapidly advancing Japanese, but were heavily outnumbered. After racing down the New Territories and Kowloon, Japanese forces crossed Victoria Harbour on 18 December.[13] After fierce fighting continued on Hong Kong Island on 25 December 1941, British colonial officials headed by the governor of Hong Kong, Mark Aitchison Young, surrendered at the Japanese headquarters.[2] To the local people, the day was known as "Black Christmas".[14]

The surrender of Hong Kong was signed on the 26th at The Peninsula Hotel.[15] On 20 February 1942 General Rensuke Isogai became the first Imperial Japanese governor of Hong Kong.[16] This ushered in almost four years of Imperial Japanese administration, which they used the city as a naval and logistics base for their campaign in the western Pacific. [17]

## Politics

[edit]

Rensuke Isogai

Throughout the Imperial Japanese occupation, Hong Kong was ruled under martial law as an occupied territory.[18] Led by General Rensuke Isogai, the Japanese established their administrative centre and military headquarters at the Peninsula Hotel in Kowloon. The military government; comprising administrative, civilian affairs, economic, judicial, and naval departments; enacted stringent regulations and, through executive bureaux, exercised power over all residents of Hong Kong. They also set up the puppet Chinese Representative Council and Chinese Cooperative Council, consisting of local leading Chinese and Eurasian community leaders.

In addition to Governor Mark Young, 7,000 British soldiers and civilians were kept in prisoner-of-war or internment camps, such as Sham Shui Po Prisoner Camp and Stanley Internment Camp.[19] Famine, malnourishment and sickness were pervasive. Severe cases of malnutrition among inmates occurred in the Stanley Internment Camp in 1945. Moreover, the Imperial Japanese military government blockaded Victoria Harbour and controlled various warehouses in and around the city.

Early in January 1942, former members of the Hong Kong Police, including Indians and Chinese, were recruited into a reformed police called the Kempeitai with new uniforms.[20] The police routinely performed executions at King's Park in Kowloon by using Chinese for beheading, shooting and bayonet practice.[20] The Imperial Japanese gendarmerie took over all police stations and organised the Police into five divisions, namely East Hong Kong, West Hong Kong, Kowloon, New Territories and Water Police. This force was headed by Colonel Noma Kennosuke. The headquarters was situated in the former Supreme Court Building.[21] Police in Hong Kong were under the organisation and control of the Imperial Japanese government. Imperial Japanese experts and administrators were chiefly employed in the Governor's Office and its various bureaus. Two councils of Chinese and Eurasian leaders were set up to manage the Chinese population.[20]

## Economy

[edit]

Imperial Japanese soldiers arrested European bankers and detained them in a hotel.

All trade and economic activities were strictly regulated by Japanese authorities, who took control of the majority of the factories. Having deprived vendors and banks of their possessions, the occupying forces outlawed the Hong Kong Dollar and replaced it with the Japanese Military Yen.[22] The exchange rate was fixed at 2 Hong Kong dollars to one military yen in January 1942.[23] Later, the yen was re-valued at 4 Hong Kong dollars to a yen in July 1942, which meant local people could exchange fewer military notes than before.[23] While the residents of Hong Kong were impoverished by the inequitable and forcibly imposed exchange rate, the Imperial Japanese government sold the Hong Kong Dollar to help finance their war-time economy. In June 1943, the military yen was made the sole legal tender. Prices of commodities for sale had to be marked in yen. Hyper-inflation then disrupted the economy, inflicting hardship upon the residents of the colony.[22] Enormous devaluation of the Imperial Japanese Military Yen after the war made it almost worthless.[15]

Public transportation and utilities unavoidably failed, owing to the shortage of fuel and the aerial bombardment of Hong Kong by the Americans. Tens of thousands of people became homeless and helpless, and many of them were employed in shipbuilding and construction. In the agricultural field, the Imperial Japanese took over the race track at Fanling and the air strip at Kam Tin for their rice-growing experiments.[5]: 157, 159, 165 [24][page needed]

With the intention of boosting the Imperial Japanese influence on Hong Kong, two Imperial Japanese banks, the Yokohama Specie Bank and the Bank of Taiwan, were re-opened.[5][page needed] These two banks replaced the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and two other British banks responsible for issuing the banknotes.[5][page needed] They then liquidated various Allied banks.[5][page needed] British, American and Dutch bankers were forced to live in a small hotel, while some bankers who were viewed as enemies of the Imperial Japanese were executed. In May 1942, Imperial Japanese companies were encouraged to be set up. A Hong Kong trade syndicate consisting of Imperial Japanese firms was set up in October 1942 to manipulate overseas trade.[24][page needed]

## Life under Japanese occupation

[edit]

### Life in fear

[edit]

Population decrease due to repatriation

To cope with a lack of resources and the potential for Chinese[clarification needed] residents of Hong Kong to support the allied forces in a possible invasion to retake the colony, the Japanese introduced a policy of enforced deportation. As a result, the unemployed were deported to mainland China, and the population of Hong Kong dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945.[25]

Furthermore, the Japanese modified the territory's infrastructure and landscape significantly in order to serve their wartime interests. For example, to expand the Kai Tak Airport, the Japanese demolished the Sung Wong Toi Monument in today's Kowloon City. Buildings of prestigious secondary schools such as Wah Yan College Hong Kong, Diocesan Boys' School, Central British School, St. Paul's Girls' College, and La Salle College were commandeered by occupying forces as military hospitals. It was rumoured that Diocesan Boys' School was used by the Japanese as an execution site.[citation needed]

Life was difficult for Hong Kong people under Japanese rule. As there was inadequate food supply, the Japanese rationed necessities such as rice, oil, flour, salt, and sugar. Each family was given a rationing licence, and every person could only buy 6.4 taels (240 g (8.5 oz)) of rice per day.[1] Most people did not have enough food to eat, and many died of starvation. The rationing system was abolished in 1944.[citation needed]

### Atrocities

[edit]

According to eyewitnesses, the Japanese committed atrocities against many locals, including the rape of many ethnic Chinese women. During the three years and eight months of occupation, an estimated 10,000 civilians were executed, while many others were tortured, raped, or mutilated.[26]

Between the Surrender of Japan (15 August 1945) and formal surrender of Hong Kong to Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt (16 September 1945), fifteen Japanese soldiers arrested, tortured, and executed around three hundred villagers of Silver Mine District of Lantau Island in retaliation for being ambushed by Chinese guerrillas.[27] The incident was later referred by locals as the Silver Mine Bay massacre (銀礦灣大屠殺).[citation needed]

### Charity and social services

[edit]

During the occupation, hospitals available to the masses were limited. The Kowloon Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital were occupied by the Japanese army.[28] Despite the lack of medicine and funds, the Tung Wah and Kwong Wah Hospital continued their social services but on a limited scale. These included provision of food, medicine, clothing, and burial services. Although funds were provided, they still had great financial difficulties. Failure to collect rents and the high reparation costs forced them to promote fundraising activities like musical performances and dramas.[citation needed]

Tung Wah Hospital and the charitable organisation Po Leung Kuk continued to provide charity relief, while substantial donations were given by members of the Chinese elite.[29] Po Leung Kuk also took in orphans, but were faced with financial problems during the occupation, as their bank deposits could not be withdrawn under Japanese control. Their services could only be continued through donations by Aw Boon Haw, a long-term financier of Po Leung Kuk.[citation needed]

### Health and public hygiene

[edit]

There were very few public hospitals during the Japanese occupation, as many of them were forcibly converted to military hospitals. Despite the inadequate supply of resources, Tung Wah Hospital and Kwong Wah Hospital still continuously offered limited social services to needy people. In June 1943, the management of water, gas and electricity was transferred into private Japanese hands.[5][page needed]

## Education, press and political propaganda

[edit]

A hand-out of a Japanese language learning radio programme Names of roads were rewritten in Japanese Celebration of a "New Hong Kong" after Japanese occupation

Through schooling, mass media and other means of propaganda, the Japanese tried to foster favourable view amongst residents of the occupation. This process of Japanisation prevailed in many aspects of daily life.

### Education

[edit]

It was the Japanese conviction that education was key to securing their influence over the populace. The Japanese language became a mandatory subject in schools, and students who performed poorly in Japanese exams risked corporal punishment. According to a testimonial, English was forbidden from being taught and was not tolerated outside the classroom.[30][better source needed] Some private Japanese language schools were established to promote oral Japanese. The Military Administration ran the Teachers' Training Course, and those teachers who failed a Japanese bench-mark test would need to take a three-month training course. The Japanese authorities tried to introduce Japanese traditions and customs to Hong Kong students through the Japanese lessons at school. Famous historical stories such as Mōri Motonari's "Sanbon no ya (Three Arrows)" and Xufu's (徐福) voyage to Japan were introduced in Japanese language textbooks.[31] The primary aim of the Japanisation of the education system was to facilitate Japanese control over the territory's populace in furtherence of the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.

By 1943, in stark contrast to the successful imposition of the Japanese language upon the local populace, only one formal language school, the Bougok School (寳覺學校), was providing Cantonese language courses to Japanese people in Hong Kong. According to an instructor at the Bougok School, "teaching Cantonese is difficult because there is no system and set pattern in Cantonese grammar; and you have to change the pronunciation as the occasion demands" and "it would be easier for Cantonese people to learn Japanese than Japanese people to learn Cantonese".[32]

### Streets and buildings

[edit]

See also: List of place names used during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

The Japanese promoted the use of Japanese as the lingua franca between the locals and the occupying forces. English shop signs and advertisements were banned and, in April 1942, streets and buildings in Central were renamed in Japanese. For example, Queen's Road became Meiji-dori and Des Voeux Road became Shōwa-dori.[5][33] Similarly, the Gloucester Hotel became the Matsubara.[34] The Peninsula Hotel, the Matsumoto;[35] Lane Crawford, Matsuzakaya.[36] The Queen's was renamed first the Nakajima Theatre, then the Meiji Theatre.[36] Their propaganda also pointed to the pre-eminence of the Japanese way of life, of Japanese spiritual values and the ills of western materialism.[citation needed]

Government House, the residence of British governors prior to occupation, was the seat of power for the Japanese military governors. During the occupation, the buildings were largely reconstructed in 1944 following designs by Japanese engineer Siechi Fujimura, including the addition of a Japanese-style tower which remains to this day.[37] Many Georgian architectural features were removed during this period.[38] The roofs also continue to reflect a Japanese influence.[39]

The commemoration of Japanese festivals, state occasions, victories and anniversaries also strengthened the Japanese influence over Hong Kong. For instance, there was Yasukuri or Shrine Festival honouring the dead. There was also a Japanese Empire Day on 11 February 1943 centred around the worship of the Emperor Jimmu.[24][page needed]

### Press and entertainment

[edit]

The Hong Kong News, a pre-war Japanese-owned English newspaper, was revived in January 1942 during the Japanese occupation.[40] The editor, E.G. Ogura, was Japanese and the staff members were mainly Chinese and Portuguese who previously worked for the South China Morning Post.[30][40] It became the mouthpiece of the Japanese propaganda.[40] Ten local Chinese newspapers had been reduced to five in May. These newspapers were under press censorship. Radio sets were used for Japanese propaganda. Amusements still existed, though only for those who could afford them. The cinemas only screened Japanese films, such as The Battle of Hong Kong, the only film made in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation.[41] Directed by Shigeo Tanaka (田中重雄 Tanaka Shigeo) and produced by the Dai Nippon Film Company, the film featured an all-Japanese cast but a few Hong Kong film personalities were also involved. This film appeared on the first anniversary of the attack.

## War crimes

[edit]

### Murder in Hong Kong Island

[edit]

In 1941, the Japanese army transported a carload of people to the beach near the Queen Mary Hospital and killed them all. Identities of the victims are still unknown.[42]

### Refugee boat sinking

[edit]

On 19 May 1942, 10,000 refugees were detained by the Japanese army and escorted to the Sai Wan, where they boarded the ships. When they boarded the ship, each was given a jar of rice weighing about two kilograms, two pieces of bread, and ten Hong Kong dollars. After boarding the ship, the refugees were locked in the bilge. A total of nineteen ships were towed by a small boat, but soon after the journey started, a typhoon hit and the ships were left to drift on their own. Fourteen sank, killing about 3,000 people. The bow of another ship was destroyed. Survivors rescued later were unable to walk due to starvation. Many of them died on the beach.[43]

### Indiscriminate killing of civilians during census

[edit]

On 18 September 1942, the Japanese Occupation Government in Hong Kong held the first population census. According to historical documents, more than 2,000 people were killed or disappeared after being arrested during the census.[44]

### Sinking of Lisbon Maru

[edit]

On 25 September 1942, the Japanese army brought 1,816 prisoners of war from the Sham Shui Po prisoner of war camp to the freighter "Lisbon Maru" moored at Stonecutters Island, and set sail two days later to transport the prisoners of war to Japan for hard labor. The Japanese army did not mark the ship as transporting POWs. Lisbon Maru was torpedoed by the submarine USS Grouper of the US Pacific Fleet in the sea off Zhoushan, Zhejiang. The ship sank on 2 October. Although some prisoners of war swam out of the cabin to escape, the Japanese soldiers on the adjacent ships shot and killed the escaped prisoners, resulting in about 1,000 deaths and 384 injuries.

### Refugees abandoned on Beaufort Island

[edit]

In July 1944, about 400 refugees were found on the Beaufort Island where there were few plants or animals. They were left to fend for themselves. According to residents of Cape D'Aguilar in the nearby region, they often heard screams and cries coming from the island. Skeletons were found all over the area later on, most died from starvation or drowning in failed escape.[45]

### Lynching at the Central Police Station

[edit]

During the Japanese occupation, most people released from the Station died soon after, and it is estimated that more than 100 died due to starvation or torture. The police also transported some prisoners directly for execution without trials. Most of the interrogations were conducted by the Japanese military police only. There were no judges, lawyers, and observers.[46]

### Forced labour on Hainan Island

[edit]

In March 1942, 484 civilians who had been imprisoned at the Hop Kee Company on Gloucester Road, Wanchai, were deported to Hainan Island via the Japanese cargo ship Yuen Lam for forced labour. After the Liberation of Hong Kong, only a hundred people were able to return. More than 300 people died of torture and starvation.

During the Japanese occupation, a total of 20,000 Hong Kong people and 20,000 mainlanders were abducted to mine in Hainan Island, where they were abused and many died of starvation.Of the 40,000 Chinese workers on Hainan Island, only 5,000 survived.[47]

### North Point Prisoner Camp and Deportation

[edit]

On the afternoon of 1 December 1944, a woman went out to collect firewood sticks on the side of the mountain. Suddenly, a Japanese military police and two Chinese police officers came to arrest her and stabbed her in the back.Two other elderly women who were arrested at the same time were also stabbed in the back. They were immediately taken to the Aberdeen Police Station and imprisoned. During the period, they were not provided with food and water. They were taken to the North Point Refugee Camp on 2 December.

There were also many prisoners in the camp, and the camp gate was guarded by Japanese military police and Chinese police with weapons. Some said there were only two meals a day in the camp, including a bowl of congee given at 8:00 in the morning. Prisoners were confined in jail all day. Some were stripped naked.There were children in the camp as well.

Two weeks later, the number of people in the camp reached 400. At 4 pm that day, all of them were forced to board a boat by the port at North Point. After a day, they arrived in Pinghai Town, Huizhou City . The able-bodied refugees were released; about seventy people deemed physically weak were slaughtered and their bodies were dumped into the sea.[48]

On 19 December 1941, a group of Japanese soldiers killed ten St. John stretcher bearers at Wong Nai Chung Gap despite the fact that all the stretcher bearers wore the red cross armband. These soldiers captured a further five medics who were tied to a tree[clarification needed], two of whom were taken away by the soldiers, never to be seen again. The remaining three attempted to escape during the night, but only one survived the escape.[49] A team of amateur archaeologists found the remains of half of a badge. Evidence pointed to its belonging to Barclay, the captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps, therefore the archaeologists presented it to Barclay's son, Jim, who had never met his father before his death.[49] Other notable massacres near the end of the Battle of Hong Kong including the St. Stephen's College massacre.

Between the Surrender of Japan (15 August 1945) and formal surrender of Hong Kong to Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt (16 September 1945), fifteen Japanese soldiers arrested, tortured and executed around three hundred villagers of Silver Mine District of Lantau Island as retaliation after being ambushed by Chinese guerrillas.[27] The incident was later referred as Silver Mine Bay massacre (銀礦灣大屠殺) by locals.

## Anti-Japanese resistance

[edit]

Dongjiang guerrillas fighting in trenches

The 38th Infantry Division, the unit mainly responsible for capturing Hong Kong, departed in January 1942. The Hong Kong Defence Force was established during the same month, and was the main Japanese military unit in Hong Kong throughout the occupation. The other Japanese military units stationed in Hong Kong from early 1942 were the small Hong Kong Artillery Force and the Imperial Japanese Navy's Hong Kong Base Force, which formed part of the 2nd China Expeditionary Fleet.[50]

### East River Column

[edit]

Main article: East River Column

Originally formed by Zeng Sheng (曾生) in Guangdong in 1939, this group mainly comprised peasants, students, and seamen, including Yuan Geng.[2] When the war reached Hong Kong in 1941, the guerrilla force grew from 200 to more than 6,000 soldiers.[2] In January 1942, the Guangdong people's anti-Japanese East River guerrillas (廣東人民抗日游擊隊東江縱隊) was established to reinforce anti-Japanese forces in Dongjiang and Zhujiang Pearl River deltas.[51] The guerrillas' most significant contribution to the Allies, in particular, was their rescue of twenty American pilots who parachuted into Kowloon when their planes were shot down by the Japanese.[2] In the wake of the British retreat, the guerrillas picked up abandoned weapons and established bases in the New Territories and Kowloon.[2] Applying the tactics of guerrilla warfare, they killed Chinese traitors and collaborators.[2] They protected traders in Kowloon and Guangzhou, attacked the police station at Tai Po, and bombed Kai Tak Airport.[2] During the Japanese occupation the only fortified resistance was mounted by the East River guerrillas.[2]

### Hong Kong Kowloon brigade

[edit]

In January 1942, the HK-Kowloon Brigade (港九大隊) was established from the Guangdong People's anti-Japanese guerrilla force.[52][page needed] In February 1942, with local residents Choi Kwok-Leung (蔡國梁) as commander and Chan Tat-Ming (陳達明) as political commissar, they were armed with 30 machine guns and several hundred rifles left by defeated British forces.[13] They numbered about 400 between 1942 and 1945 and operated in Sai Kung.[13] Additionally, the guerrillas were noteworthy in rescuing prisoners-of-war, notably Sir Lindsay Ride, Sir Douglas Clague, Professor Gordan King, and David Bosanquet.[2] In December 1943 the Guangdong force reformed, with the East River guerrillas absorbing the HK-Kowloon brigade into the larger unit.[52][page needed]

### British Army Aid Group

[edit]

The British Army Aid Group was formed in 1942 at the suggestion of Colonel Lindsay Ride.[13] The group rescued allied POWs, including airmen shot down and workers trapped in the occupied colony.[13] It also developed a role in intelligence gathering.[13] In the process, the Group provided protection to the Dongjiang River which was a source for domestic water in Hong Kong. This was the first organisation in which Britons, Chinese and other nationalities served with no racial divide.[citation needed] Francis Lee Yiu-pui and Paul Tsui Ka-cheung were commissioned as officers.[13]

### Air raids

[edit]

Main article: Air raids on Hong Kong

United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) units based in China attacked the Hong Kong area from October 1942. Most of these raids involved a small number of aircraft, and typically targeted Japanese cargo ships which had been reported by Chinese guerrillas.[53] By January 1945 the city was being regularly raided by the USAAF.[54] The largest raid on Hong Kong took place on 16 January 1945 when, as part of the South China Sea raid, 471 United States Navy aircraft attacked shipping, harbour facilities and other targets.[55]

## Japanese surrender

[edit]

British Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Halliday Jepson Harcourt watching Japanese Vice Admiral Ruitaro Fujita sign the document of surrender on 16 September 1945 in Hong Kong. Japanese document of surrender The British cruiser HMS Swiftsure, entering Victoria Harbour through North Point on 30 August 1945 Liberation of Hong Kong in 1945. Picture taken at the Cenotaph in Central, Hong Kong Japanese war criminals prepare for their transfer to Stanley Prison on 29 September 1945 Indian soldiers march during Hong Kong Victory Celebrations, 9 October 1945.

Main article: Liberation Day (Hong Kong)

The Japanese occupation of Hong Kong ended in 1945, after Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945.[6][56][57] Hong Kong was handed over by the Imperial Japanese Army to the Royal Navy on 30 August 1945; British control over Hong Kong was thus restored. 30 August was declared as "Liberation Day" (Chinese: 重光紀念日), and was a public holiday in Hong Kong until 1997.

General Takashi Sakai, who led the invasion of Hong Kong and subsequently served as governor-general during the Japanese occupation, was tried as a war criminal, convicted and executed on 30 September 1946.[58]

## Post-war political stage

[edit]

In the aftermath of the Japanese surrender, it was unclear whether the United Kingdom or the Republic of China would assume sovereignty of the territory. The Kuomintang's Chiang Kai-shek assumed that China, including formerly European-occupied territories such as Hong Kong and Macau, would be re-unified under his rule.[18] Several years earlier, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt insisted that colonialism would have to end, and promised Soong Mei-ling that Hong Kong would be restored to Chinese control.[59][page needed]

However, the British moved quickly to regain control of Hong Kong. As soon as he heard word of the Japanese surrender, Franklin Gimson, Hong Kong's colonial secretary, left his prison camp and declared himself the territory's acting governor.[2] A government office was set up at the Former French Mission Building in Victoria on 1 September 1945.[18] On 30 August 1945, British Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Halliday Jepson Harcourt sailed into Hong Kong on board the cruiser HMS Swiftsure to re-establish the British government's control over the colony.[18] Harcourt personally selected Chinese-Canadian Lt(N) William Lore of the Royal Canadian Navy as the first Allied officer ashore, in recognition of the sacrifices made by Canadian soldiers in the defence of Hong Kong.[60]

On 16 September 1945, Harcourt formally accepted the Japanese surrender[18] from Maj.-Gen. Umekichi Okada and Vice Admiral Ruitaro Fujita at Government House.[61]

### Legacy

[edit]

The United Kingdom would administer the territory for another 52 years. Hong Kong's post-war recovery was swift. By November 1945, government controls were lifted and free markets restored.[20] The population returned to around one million by early 1946 due to immigration from China.[20]

Colonial taboos also broke down in the post-war years as the United Kingdom realised that they could no longer administer their colonies as they did before the war, with numerous racial barriers and prejudices. Examples include no longer forbidding Chinese people and Asians from certain beaches, or from living on Victoria Peak stemming from the Peak District Reservation Ordinance 1904.[62]

Sovereignty of Hong Kong was eventually handed over to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1997, after the 1984 Sino–British Joint Declaration. The Republic of China government is now based in Taipei, having lost the mainland in the Chinese Civil War shortly after the Japanese surrender.

## See also

[edit]

* History of Macau
* Collaboration with Imperial Japan

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b Fung, Chi Ming (2005). Reluctant heroes: rickshaw pullers in Hong Kong and Canton, 1874–1954. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-734-6. pp. 130, 135.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Courtauld, Caroline. Holdsworth, May (1997). The Hong Kong Story. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-590353-6. pp. 54–58.
3. ^ Stanford, David (2006). Roses in December. Lulu press. ISBN 1-84753-966-1.
4. ^ Chan, Shun-hing. Leung, Beatrice (2003). Changing Church and State Relations in Hong Kong, 1950–2000. Hong Kong: HK University Press. p. 24. ISBN 962-209-612-3.
5. ^ a b c d e f g Snow, Philip (2004). The fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China and the Japanese occupation. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10373-1.
6. ^ a b c Mark, Chi-Kwan. (2004). Hong Kong and the Cold War: Anglo-American relations 1949–1957. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927370-6. p. 14.
7. ^ "War in China". Time. 6 March 1939. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
8. ^ Cornelia Schmitz-Berning (2007). Vokabular des Nationalsozialismus (in German). Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 745\. ISBN 978-3-11-019549-1.
9. ^ Rees, Laurence (2010). "What Was the Turning Point of World War II?". historynet. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
10. ^ Lend-lease at the Encyclopædia Britannica
11. ^ Combs, Jerald A. "Embargoes and Sanctions – World War II". Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
12. ^ Rafferty, Kevin. (1990). City on the rocks: Hong Kong's uncertain future. Viking publishing. ISBN 978-0-670-80205-0.
13. ^ a b c d e f g Tsang, Steve. (2007). A Modern History of Hong Kong. I.B. Tauris publishing. ISBN 978-1-84511-419-0. pp 122, 129.
14. ^ "Hong Kong's 'Black Christmas'". China Daily. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
15. ^ a b Bard, Solomon Bard. (2009). Light and Shade: Sketches from an Uncommon Life. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-949-4. pp 101, 103.
16. ^ Roland, Charles G. (2001). Long night's journey into day: prisoners of war in Hong Kong and Imperial Japan, 1941–1945. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-88920-362-4. pp 40, 49.
17. ^ Chi, Man Kwong; Yu, Lun Tsoi (July 2014). "Hong Kong under the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945". Eastern Fortress:A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840–1970. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 225–234\. doi:10.5790/hongkong/9789888208708.003.0009. ISBN 978-988-8208-70-8.225-234&rft.pub=Hong+Kong+University+Press&rft.date=2014-07&rft_id=info:doi/10.5790/hongkong/9789888208708.003.0009&rft.isbn=978-988-8208-70-8&rft.aulast=Chi&rft.aufirst=Man+Kwong&rft.au=Yu,+Lun+Tsoi&rft_id=https://academic.oup.com/hong-kong-scholarship-online/book/21437/chapter/181204584&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
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21. ^ "Information note IN26/02-03: The Legislative Council Building" (PDF). Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
22. ^ a b Tse, Helen. (2008). Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West. Macmillan publishing. ISBN 978-0-312-37936-0. p. 90.
23. ^ a b Emerson, Geoffrey Charles. (2009). Hong Kong Internment, 1942–1945: Life in the Japanese Civilian Camp at Stanley "Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong studies series". HKU Press. ISBN 978-962-209-880-0. p. 83.
24. ^ a b c Endacott, G. B. Birch, Alan. (1978). Hong Kong eclipse. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-580374-7.
25. ^ Keith Bradsher (18 April 2005). "Thousands March in Anti-Japan Protest in Hong Kong". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2006.
26. ^ Carroll, John Mark (2007). A Concise History of Hong Kong. ISBN 978-0-7425-3422-3, p. 123
27. ^ a b Linton, Suzannah; HKU Libraries. "WO235/993". Hong Kong’s War Crimes Trials Collection.
28. ^ Starling, Arthur E. Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences Society (2006). Plague, SARS and the story of medicine in Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press, ISBN 978-962-209-805-3. pp. 112, 302.
29. ^ Faure, David Faure. (1997). Society, a Documentary history of Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-393-5. p. 209.
30. ^ a b Sweeting, Anthony. (2004). Education in Hong Kong, 1941 to 2001: Visions and Revisions. Hong Kong University Press publishing. ISBN 978-962-209-675-2. pp. 88, 134.
31. ^ Higuchi, Kenichiro; Kwong, Yan Kit. [2009]. "Inflow of Japanese language into Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation period", Journal of Sugiyama Jogakuen University. Humanities. pp. 21, 22
32. ^ Higuchi, Kenichiro; Kwong, Yan Kit. [2009]."Inflow of Japanese language into Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation period", Journal of Sugiyama Jogakuen University. Humanities. p. 23
33. ^ Endacott, G. B.; John M. Carroll (2005) [1962]. A biographical sketch-book of early Hong Kong. Hong Kong University Press. p. xxv. ISBN 978-962-209-742-1.
34. ^ Dew, Gwen. (2007). Prisoner of the Japs. Read Books Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4067-4681-5. p. 217.
35. ^ Gubler, Fritz. Glynn, Raewyn. (2008). Great, grand & famous hotels. Great, grand famous hotel publishing. ISBN 978-0-9804667-0-6. pp. 285–286.
36. ^ a b Fu, Poshek Fu. (2003). Between Shanghai and Hong Kong: the politics of Chinese cinemas. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4518-5. p. 88.
37. ^ Wordie, Jason (12 February 2013). "Then and now: ivory tower". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
38. ^ "Clippings | Furniture & Lighting | from Inspiration to Installation". Open House Hong Kong. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
39. ^ unknown. "Declared Monuments in Hong Kong: Government House". Antiquities and Monuments Office, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
40. ^ a b c Lee, Meiqi. (2004). Being Eurasian: memories across racial divides. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-671-4. p. 265.
41. ^ "Hong Kong Filmography Volume II (1942–1949)". Hong Kong Film Archive. 2014. p. Preface. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
42. ^ "戰亂遭賣往內地一別70年 婆婆哭尋港父不求生聚望墓前了願". Apple Daily. 20 November 2013 [April 20, 2017].
43. ^ "疏散船遇颶風 難民慘遭溺斃". The Kung Sheung Daily (工商日報). 14 January 1947.
44. ^ Tang, H.K., Siu, G.K., Chan G.W. (湯開 建、蕭國健、陳佳榮) (1998). Six thousand years in Hong Kong (Ancient −1997) [香港6000年（遠古 – 1997)] (in Chinese). Hong Kong: Unicorn Books. ISBN 9622321232.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
45. ^ "蘆洲（今稱螺洲）島上 骸骨纍纍". The Kung Sheung Daily News (香港工商日報). 15 January 1947.
46. ^ "續審戰犯野間 中央警署人間地獄 憲查譚財追述情況 獄中死人逾百". The Kung Sheung Daily News. 7 January 1947. p. 3. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
47. ^ "第二次世界大战期间强掳华人做苦工". 金羊網. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
48. ^ "續審戰犯野間 死裡逃生之難民指證 強迫疏散空前慘劇 千萬難民葬身魚腹 荒島中哭聲震天赤柱亦可聞 *荒島難民慘叫 赤柱亦可聽聞". The Kung Sheung Daily News. 14 January 1947. p. 4.
49. ^ a b 半塊肩章繫隔世父子情. Apple Daily (in Chinese). 4 April 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
50. ^ Chi Man, Kwong; Yiu Lun, Tsoi (2014). Eastern Fortress: A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840–1970. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 225–226\. ISBN 978-9888208715.225-226&rft.pub=Hong+Kong+University+Press&rft.date=2014&rft.isbn=978-9888208715&rft.aulast=Chi+Man&rft.aufirst=Kwong&rft.au=Yiu+Lun,+Tsoi&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
51. ^ [2000] (2000). American Association for Chinese Studies publishing. American journal of Chinese studies, Volumes 8–9. p. 141.
52. ^ a b Hayes, James (2006). The great difference: Hong Kong's New Territories and its people, 1898–2004. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-9622097940.
53. ^ Chi Man, Kwong; Yiu Lun, Tsoi (2014). Eastern Fortress: A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840–1970. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. p. 227\. ISBN 978-9888208715.
54. ^ Bailey, Steven K. (2017). "The Bombing of Bungalow C: Friendly Fire at the Stanley Civilian Internment Camp". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 57: 112.
55. ^ Liu, Yujing (1 February 2018). "Why does Hong Kong have so many buried wartime bombs?". Retrieved 1 January 2019.
56. ^ Roehrs, Mark D. Renzi, William A. (2004). World War II in the Pacific Edition 2. M.E. Sharpe publishing. ISBN 978-0-7656-0836-9. p. 246.
57. ^ Nolan, Cathal J. (2002). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations: S–Z. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-30743-0. p. 1876.
58. ^ 正義的審判－－中國審判侵華日軍戰犯紀實 (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on 14 August 2005. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
59. ^ Zhao, Li. Cohen, Warren I. (1997). Hong Kong under Chinese rule: the economic and political implications of reversion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-62761-0.
60. ^ "William Lore". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
61. ^ Roland, Charles G. (2001). Long Night's Journey into Day: Prisoners of War in Hong Kong and Japan, 1941–1945. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. xxviii, 1, 321. ISBN 0889203628.
62. ^ Chan, Yannie (14 March 2016). "Why Were Chinese People Banned from The Peak?". The Loop HK. Retrieved 13 April 2022.

### Sources and further reading

[edit]

* Banham, Tony (2019). "Hong Kong's Civilian Fatalities of the Second World War". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 59: 31–50\. ISSN 1991-7295. JSTOR 26937829.31-50&rft.date=2019&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26937829#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=1991-7295&rft.aulast=Banham&rft.aufirst=Tony&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
* Banham, Tony (2009). We Shall Suffer There: Hong Kong's Defenders Imprisoned, 1942-45. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-960-9.
* Carroll, John Mark (2007). A Concise History of Hong Kong. Critical issues in history. Lanham (Md.): Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-3421-6.
* Kwong, Chi Man; Tsoi, Yiu Lun (2014). Eastern Fortress: A Military History of Hong Kong, 1840-1970. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-988-8208-71-5.
* Chu, Cindy Yik-yi (2010). "The United Front Policy of the Chinese Communists in Hong Kong during the Sino-Japanese War, 1937–1945". Chinese Communists and Hong Kong Capitalists: 1937–1997. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. pp. 23–40\. doi:10.1057/9780230113916_2. ISBN 978-1-349-29085-7.23-40&rft.pub=Palgrave+Macmillan+US&rft.date=2010&rft_id=info:doi/10.1057/9780230113916_2&rft.isbn=978-1-349-29085-7&rft.aulast=Chu&rft.aufirst=Cindy+Yik-yi&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
* Edgar, Brian; Chan, Catherine S. (2021). "Contested Allegiance: The Response of Hong Kong's Macanese Community to the Challenges of the Japanese Occupation". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 61: 100–121\. ISSN 1991-7295. JSTOR 27095436.100-121&rft.date=2021&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27095436#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=1991-7295&rft.aulast=Edgar&rft.aufirst=Brian&rft.au=Chan,+Catherine+S.&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
* Edgar, Brian (2017). "Steering Neutral? The Un-interned Irish Community in Occupied Hong Kong". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 57: 67–87\. ISSN 1991-7295. JSTOR 90013951.67-87&rft.date=2017&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/90013951#id-name=JSTOR&rft.issn=1991-7295&rft.aulast=Edgar&rft.aufirst=Brian&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
* Kong, Vivian (4 May 2019). "'Hong Kong is my Home': The 1940 Evacuation and Hong Kong-Britons". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 47 (3): 542–567\. doi:10.1080/03086534.2018.1539727. hdl:1983/74b39b9c-26ae-4ca6-b543-6adee322b0e7. ISSN 0308-6534.542-567&rft.date=2019-05-04&rft_id=info:hdl/1983/74b39b9c-26ae-4ca6-b543-6adee322b0e7&rft.issn=0308-6534&rft_id=info:doi/10.1080/03086534.2018.1539727&rft.aulast=Kong&rft.aufirst=Vivian&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Japanese+occupation+of+Hong+Kong" class="Z3988">
* Mathers, Jean (1994). Twisting the Tail of the Dragon. Lewes: The Book Guild. ISBN 978-0-86332-966-1. Memoirs of an interned British Army wife.
* Snow, Philip (2003). The Fall of Hong Kong: Britain, China, and the Japanese Occupation. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09352-0.
* The History of Hong Kong by Yim Ng Sim Ha. ISBN 962-08-2231-5.
* Journey Through History: A modern Course 3 by Nelson Y.Y. Kan. ISBN 962-469-221-1.

#### Websites

[edit]

* Linton, Suzannah. "Hong Kong's War Crimes Trials Collection". The University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 20 January 2021.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

* Hong Kong's War Crimes Trials Collection HKU Libraries Digital Initiatives
* Fanling Babies Home – Home for War Orphaned Children – Hong Kong Orphanage
* Hong Kong Atrocities: A True Christmas Story
* Official page of Hong Kong Reparation Association
* Liberation of Hong Kong at the Wayback Machine (archived 23 July 2009)
* Diary of POW Staff Sergeant James O’Toole
* Canadians in Hong Kong
* A video clip about the occupation on YouTube
* A study of Hong Kong's garrison during the occupation
* Hong Kong Resistance: the British Army Aid Group, 1942–1945, presenting the history in an interesting way through GIS maps, images and more. Co-developed by the History Department and University Library of HKBU

* v
* t
* e

Hong Kong

* Outline
* Index of articles

History|

* Prehistoric
* Imperial China
* Bao'an County and Xin'an County
* British colony
* 1800s–1930s
* WWI
* Battle of Hong Kong
* Japanese occupation
* 1950s
* 1960s
* 1970s
* 1980s
* 1990s
* Handover of Hong Kong
* 2000s
* 2010s
* 2020s

Geography|

* Administrative divisions
* Air pollution
* Areas
* Bays
* Beaches
* Buildings and structures
* Channels
* Cities and towns
* Country parks and conservation
* Ecology
* Land reclamation
* Harbours
* Islands and peninsulas
* Lakes
* Marine parks
* Mountains and peaks
* Public parks and gardens
* Reservoirs
* Rivers
* Villages

Politics|

* National anthem
* Basic Law
* Chief Executive
* Districts
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* Government
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* Judiciary
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* Legislative Council
* LGBT rights
* Military
* One country, two systems
* Political parties
* Protests
* Sino-British Joint Declaration
* Special administrative regions of China

Public services|

* Education
* Fire services
* Food and Health Bureau
* Healthcare
* Police

Economy|

* Banks
* Companies
* Dollar (currency)
* Employment
* Hawkers
* Port
* Stock Exchange
* Communications
* The Hongs
* Tourism

Transport|

* Airlines
* Airport
* Buses
* Cycling
* Ferries
* List of roads
* Rail
* Taxis

Society|

* Crime
* Prostitution
* Sex trafficking

Culture|

* Architecture
* Cinema
* Comics
* Cheung Chau Bun Festival
* Cuisine
* Gambling
* Graffiti
* Heritage conservation
* Hong Kong orchid
* Honours system
* Hong Kong nationalism
* Languages
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* Public holidays
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* Shopping
* Sport
* Television
* Visual art
* Anglosphere
* CJKV
* Sinosphere

Links to related articles

* v
* t
* e

Countries and territories occupied by the Empire of Japan during World War II

British Empire|

* Burma
* Christmas Island
* Gilbert Islands
* Hong Kong
* India: Andaman and Nicobar Islands
* Malaya
* Nauru
* New Guinea
* Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan and British North Borneo
* Singapore
* Solomon Islands

United States|

* Attu
* Guam
* Kiska
* Philippines
* Wake Island

Other|

* China
* Mengkiang
* France
* Cambodia
* Laos
* Vietnam
* Netherlands
* Dutch East Indies
* New Guinea
* West Sumatra
* Portugal
* Portuguese Timor
* Shanghai International Settlement

1931–1945|

* Manchukuo
* South Seas Mandate: Northern Marianas

* v
* t
* e

States and territories in the sphere of influence of the Empire of Japan during World War II

* Manchukuo
* East Hebei Autonomous Government
* North Shanxi Autonomous Government
* South Chahar Autonomous Government
* Mengjiang United Autonomous Government
* Shanghai Great Way Government
* Provisional Government of China
* Reformed Government of China
* Reorganized National Government of China
* Kingdom of Thailand
* State of Burma
* Provisional Government of Free India
* Republic of the Philippines
* French Indochina
* Empire of Vietnam
* Kingdom of Kampuchea
* Kingdom of Luang Prabang
* Occupied Dutch East Indies
* Occupied West Sumatra
* Occupied Malaya
* Occupied British Borneo

* Occupied Hong Kong
* Occupied Singapore
* Occupied Guam
* Occupied Nauru
* Occupied Gilbert Islands
* Occupied Solomon Islands
* Occupied New Guinea

* Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
* Greater East Asia Conference
* Pacific War

* v
* t
* e

World War II

* Outline
* Battles
* Operations
* Leaders
* Allied
* Axis
* Commanders
* Casualties
* Conferences

General|

| Topics|

* Air warfare of World War II
* In Europe
* Blitzkrieg
* Comparative military ranks
* Cryptography
* Declarations of war
* Diplomacy
* Governments in exile
* Home front
* Australian
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Lend-Lease
* Manhattan Project
* British contribution
* Military awards
* Military equipment
* Military production
* Naval history
* Nazi plunder
* Opposition
* Technology
* Allied cooperation
* Mulberry harbour
* Total war
* Strategic bombing
* Puppet states
* Women
* Art and World War II
* Music in World War II
* Weather events during World War II

|

Theaters|

* Asia and Pacific
* China
* South-East Asia
* Pacific
* North and Central Pacific
* South-West Pacific
* Indian Ocean
* Europe
* Western Front
* Eastern Front
* Mediterranean and Middle East
* North Africa
* East Africa
* Italy
* West Africa
* Atlantic
* timeline
* Americas

Aftermath|

* Chinese Civil War
* Cold War
* Decolonization
* Division of Korea
* First Indochina War
* Expulsion of Germans
* Greek Civil War
* Indonesian National Revolution
* Keelhaul
* Marshall Plan
* Occupation of Germany
* Occupation of Japan
* Osoaviakhim
* Paperclip
* Soviet occupations
* Baltic
* Hungary
* Poland
* Romania
* Territorial changes of Germany
* Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany
* United Nations

War crimes|

* Allied war crimes
* Soviet war crimes
* British war crimes
* United States war crimes
* German war crimes
* forced labour
* Wehrmacht war crimes
* The Holocaust
* Aftermath
* Response
* Nuremberg trials
* Italian war crimes
* Japanese war crimes
* Nanjing Massacre
* Unit 731
* Prosecution
* Croatian war crimes
* Genocide of Serbs
* Persecution of Jews
* Romanian war crimes
* Sexual violence
* German military brothels
* Camp brothels
* Rape during the occupation of Germany / Japan / Poland
* Rape during the liberation of France / Serbia
* Sook Ching
* Comfort women
* Rape of Manila
* Marocchinate

Participants|

| Allies|

* Algeria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brazil
* Bulgaria (from September 1944)
* Canada
* China
* Cuba
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Ethiopia
* Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)
* Finland (from September 1944)
* France
* Free France
* Greece
* India
* Italy (from September 1943)
* Liberia
* Luxembourg
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Newfoundland
* New Zealand
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania (from August 1944)
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia
* Soviet Union
* Tuva
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* United States
* Puerto Rico
* Yugoslavia

|

Axis|

* Albania protectorate
* Bulgaria (until September 1944)
* State of Burma
* Republic of China (Wang Jingwei)
* Independent State of Croatia
* Finland (until September 1944)
* German Reich
* Hungary
* Azad Hind
* Iraq
* Italy (until September 1943)
* Italian Social Republic
* Empire of Japan
* Manchukuo
* Mengjiang
* Philippines
* Romania (until August 1944)
* Slovak Republic
* Thailand
* Vichy France
* Guangzhouwan
* French Indochina
* French Madagascar
* Syria–Lebanon
* French North Africa
* French West Africa
* Collaboration

Neutral|

* Afghanistan
* Andorra
* Bhutan
* Ireland
* Liechtenstein
* Monaco
* Portugal
* San Marino
* Saudi Arabia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Tibet
* Turkey
* Vatican City
* Yemen

Resistance|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Dutch East Indies
* Estonia
* Ethiopia
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Hong Kong
* Italy
* Japan
* Jews
* Korea
* Korean Liberation Army
* Korean Volunteer Army
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Malaya
* Netherlands
* Northeast China
* Norway
* Philippines
* Poland
* Romania
* Thailand
* Soviet Union
* Slovakia
* Western Ukraine
* Vietnam
* Quốc dân Đảng
* Viet Minh
* Yugoslavia

POWs|

* Finnish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* German prisoners
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* United States
* United Kingdom
* Italian prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Japanese prisoners
* Soviet Union
* German atrocities against Polish POWs
* Soviet prisoners
* Finland
* atrocities by Germans
* Polish prisoners in the Soviet Union
* Romanian prisoners in the Soviet Union

Timeline|

| Prelude|

* Africa
* Second Italo-Ethiopian War
* Asia
* Second Sino-Japanese War
* Battles of Khalkhin Gol
* Europe
* Remilitarisation of the Rhineland
* Anschluss
* Munich Agreement
* Occupation of Czechoslovakia
* Operation Himmler
* Italian invasion of Albania

|

1939|

* Invasion of Poland
* Battle of the Atlantic
* Phoney War
* First Battle of Changsha
* Battle of South Guangxi
* Winter War
* 1939–1940 Winter Offensive

1940|

* Norwegian campaign
* German invasion of Denmark
* Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang
* German invasion of Luxembourg
* German invasion of the Netherlands
* German invasion of Belgium
* Battle of France
* Dunkirk evacuation
* Battle of Britain
* Battle of the Mediterranean
* North Africa
* West Africa
* British Somaliland
* Hundred Regiments Offensive
* Baltic states
* Eastern Romania
* Japanese invasion of French Indochina
* Italian invasion of Greece
* Compass

1941|

* Battle of South Henan
* Battle of Shanggao
* Invasion of Yugoslavia
* German invasion of Greece
* Battle of Crete
* Anglo-Iraqi War
* Battle of South Shanxi
* Syria–Lebanon campaign
* East African campaign
* Invasion of the Soviet Union
* Summer War
* Finland (Silver Fox)
* Lithuania
* Battle of Kiev
* Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran
* Second Battle of Changsha
* Siege of Leningrad
* Battle of Moscow
* Bombing of Gorky
* Siege of Sevastopol
* Attack on Pearl Harbor
* Japanese invasion of Thailand
* Fall of Hong Kong
* Fall of the Philippines
* Battle of Guam
* Battle of Wake Island
* Malayan campaign
* Battle of Borneo
* Japanese invasion of Burma
* Third Battle of Changsha
* Greek famine of 1941–1944

1942|

* Fall of Singapore
* Battle of the Java Sea
* St Nazaire Raid
* Battle of Christmas Island
* Battle of the Coral Sea
* Battle of Madagascar
* Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign
* Battle of Gazala
* Battle of Dutch Harbor
* Battle of Midway
* Aleutian Islands campaign
* Kiska
* Attu
* Blue
* First Battle of El Alamein
* Battle of Stalingrad
* Kokoda Track campaign
* Rzhev
* Jubilee
* Second Battle of El Alamein
* Guadalcanal campaign
* Torch
* Chinese famine of 1942–1943

1943|

* Black May
* Tunisian campaign
* Battle of West Hubei
* Battle of Attu
* Bombing of Gorky
* Battle of Kursk
* Allied invasion of Sicily
* Smolensk
* Solomon Islands campaign
* Cottage
* Battle of the Dnieper
* Allied invasion of Italy
* Armistice of Cassibile
* Burma
* Northern Burma and Western Yunnan
* Changde
* Second Battle of Kiev
* Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
* Tarawa
* Makin
* Bengal famine of 1943

1944|

* Tempest
* Monte Cassino / Anzio
* Korsun–Cherkassy
* Narva
* U-Go
* Imphal
* Ichi-Go
* Kohima
* Overlord
* Neptune
* Mariana and Palau
* Bagration
* Western Ukraine
* Second Battle of Guam
* Tannenberg Line
* Warsaw Uprising
* Eastern Romania
* Liberation of Paris
* Dragoon
* Gothic Line
* Belgrade offensive
* Battle of San Marino
* Lapland
* Market Garden
* Estonia
* Crossbow
* Pointblank
* Vietnamese famine of 1944–1945
* Philippines (1944–1945)
* Leyte
* Syrmian Front
* Hungary
* Budapest
* Burma (1944–1945)
* Ardennes
* Bodenplatte
* Dutch famine of 1944–1945

1945|

* Vistula–Oder
* Battle of Manila
* Battle of Iwo Jima
* Indochina
* Vienna offensive
* Project Hula
* Western invasion of Germany
* Bratislava–Brno offensive
* Battle of Okinawa
* Second Guangxi campaign
* West Hunan
* Italy (Spring 1945)
* Battle of Berlin
* Prague offensive
* Surrender of Germany
* document
* Borneo
* Taipei
* Naval bombardment of Japan
* Manchuria
* Atomic bombings
* Debate
* South Sakhalin
* Kuril Islands
* Shumshu
* Surrender of Japan
* Potsdam Declaration
* document
* End of World War II in Asia

* World portal
* Bibliography
* Category

* v
* t
* e

History of World War II by region and country

Africa|

* Belgian Congo
* British Somaliland
* Egypt
* Ethiopia
* French Somaliland
* French West Africa
* The Gambia
* Gold Coast
* Kenya
* Liberia
* Madagascar
* North Africa
* Tunisia
* Morocco
* Nyasaland
* Sierra Leone
* South Africa
* Southern Rhodesia

North America|

* Canada
* Cuba
* El Salvador
* Greenland
* Mexico
* Newfoundland
* United States
* Arizona
* California
* Nevada
* New Mexico
* Puerto Rico
* Native Americans

South America|

* Argentina
* Brazil
* Colombia
* Latin America
* Suriname
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

Asia|

* Burma
* Ceylon
* China
* Manchuria
* Dutch East Indies
* New Guinea
* West Sumatra
* Hong Kong
* India
* Indochina
* Cambodia
* Iran
* Iraq
* Japan
* Malaya
* Mongolia
* Nepal
* Philippines
* Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, and British North Borneo
* Singapore
* Thailand
* Tibet
* Turkey
* Tuva

Europe|

* Albania
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bulgaria
* Czechoslovakia
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Military history
* Basque Country
* Germany
* Greece
* Hungary (Carpathian Ruthenia)
* Iceland
* Ireland
* Italy
* Latvia
* Liechtenstein
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Slovakia
* Soviet Union
* Azerbaijan
* Byelorussia
* Ukraine
* Spain
* Basque Country
* Catalonia
* Galicia
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* United Kingdom
* British Empire
* Wales
* Channel Islands
* Gibraltar
* Vatican City
* Yugoslavia (Slovenia)

Oceania and
Antarctica|

* Antarctica
* Australia
* Gilbert Islands
* Nauru
* New Guinea
* New Zealand
* Solomon Islands
* Pacific Islands

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