Chinese Front of World War II in the Assessments of Soviet (Russian) Authors: Historiographical Essay

The article presents a historiographical review of the research of Russian scientists on the topic of the Chinese front of World War II. The author of the article does not set the task of a detailed analysis of all Russian publications, but only seeks to give a general assessment of the literature published from the 1930s to the present day. The article highlights four periods of research work (the war years before the formation of the PRC, 1950–1960, the period 1965–1988 and the current stage after the normalization of Russian-Chinese relations 1989–2025). The author names the main features of each period of research, assessing the results achieved. The article primarily examines the military actions of the opposing sides and the armed resistance of the Chinese people to the Japanese occupiers as the subject area. At the same time, it takes into account important political, international and other aspects of a wide range of events in the context of World War II. Therefore, the concept of "Chinese front of World War II" is conditional, since it is smaller than such a complex and large-scale phenomenon as "China's war against Japanese aggression". The article, based on a comparative analysis of Russian historiography of different periods of time, concludes that a positive aspect of modern Russian research is, on the one hand, adherence to the principle of continuity in relation to the best achievements of Soviet authors, and on the other hand, the desire to re-evaluate, on the basis of a wide range of sources, the previous positions of historians that have not stood the test of time. The author of the article emphasizes that, despite the rather extensive domestic historiography on the topic of the Chinese front of World War II, the task of continuing this work in Russia on the basis of modern methodologies and research methods remains relevant, taking into account that new narratives are actively promoted in the PRC in assessing the historical events of World War II.

historiography, World War II, Chinese front, War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, National Liberation War of the Chinese People 1937–1945, New Narratives of Chinese History