中華民國臨時政府 Zhōnghuá Mínguó Línshí Zhèngfǔ Provisional Government of the Republic of China Puppet state of Imperial Japan ←   ← 1937–1940 → Flag Anthem The Song to the Auspicious Cloud[1] Capital Beijing Language(s) Chinese Government Republic Acting Chairman Wang Kemin Historical era Interwar period  - Marco Polo Bridge Incident 1937  - Established 14 December 1937 1937  - Merged 30 March 1940 1940

The Provisional Government of the Republic of China (Chinese: 中華民國臨時政府, Zhōnghuá Mínguó Línshí Zhèngfǔ, or Japanese: Chūka Minkoku Rinji Seifu) was a Chinese provisional government controlled by Japan that existed from 1937 to 1940 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Provisional Government Army 3 See also 4 References

[edit] History

After the conquest of Northern China, Japanese Imperial General Headquarters authorized the creation of a collaborationist regime as part of its overall strategy to establish an autonomous buffer zone between China and Japanese-controlled Manchukuo. It nominally controlled the provinces of Hopei, Shantung, Shansi, Honan and Kiangsu.^[3]

The Provisional Government of the Republic of China was officially inaugurated by Wáng Kèmǐn, former Kuomintang Minister of Finance, on 14 December 1937, with its capital at Beijing.

Its activities were carefully prescribed and overseen by advisors provided by the Japanese Northern China Area Army. The failure of the Japanese to give any real authority to the Provisional Government discredited it in the eyes of the local inhabitants, and made its existence of only limited propaganda utility to the Japanese authorities.^[4]

The Provisional Government was, along with the Reformed Government of the Republic of China, merged into Wang Jingwei's Nanjing-based new government on 30 March 1940, but in practical terms actually remained virtually independent under the name of the "North China Political Council" (華北政務委員會) until the end of the war.

[edit] Provisional Government Army

The security of the first Provisional Government was at first based around a 5,000 man police force. The Provisional Government Army began to be organized in May 1938 with the organization of a Japanese-run military academy in Tongzhou. Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) began six months of training in February 1939 and the army officially formed in September 1939. At first the Army had to fill most of the officer and NCO slots with former Nationalist officers until the newly trained officers could take charge.

The army consisted of 13,200 men in eight infantry regiments of 1,650 men each. Six of the regiments were organized in three brigades of two regiments each and put under the command of a Chinese Major General with a Japanese advisor. In addition, a 400 man strong bodyguard formed to protect government officials after all of Wang Ke-min's Japanese bodyguards were killed on duty.

[edit] See also

• Collaborationist Chinese Army

[edit] References

1. ^ China 1921-1928
2. ^ Brune, Chronological History of US Foreign Relations, page 521
3. ^ Jennings, John M.; The Opium Empire: Japanese Imperialism and Drug Trafficking in Asia, 1895-1945, pg. 92
4. ^ Black, World War Two: A Military History, page 34

• Black, Jeremy (2002). World War Two: A Military History. Routeledge. ISBN 0415305357. 
• Brune, Lester H. (2002). Chronological History of US Foreign Relations. Routeledge. ISBN 041593916X. 
• Jowett, Phillip S. (2004). Rays of the Rising Sun, Vol. 1. Helion and Company Ltd.. ISBN 1-874622-21-3. 
• Wasserman, Bernard (1999). Secret War in Shanghai: An Untold Story of Espionage, Intrigue, and Treason in World War II. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395985374. 

v • d • e States in the sphere of influence of Japanese Empire during World War II      State of Burma  Kingdom of Cambodia  Provisional Government of China  Reformed Government of China  Dadao Municipal Government  East Hebei Autonomous Council  Provisional Government of Free India  Korea under Japanese rule  Kingdom of Laos  Manchukuo  Mengjiang  Second Philippine Republic  Taiwan under Japanese rule  Kingdom of Thailand  Empire of Vietnam  Wang Jingwei regime