Battle for Hong Kong. A Day by Day Account

Essay from the year 2024 in the subject History - Asia, , language: English, abstract: A day by day account of the Battle for Hong Kong during World War II, encompassing accounts from all sides during the buildup of hostilities, through the Japanese invasion, to the British surrender at Black Christmas, and the misery that followed. World War II is where all aspects of international society, culture, diplomacy, politics, and the dynamics that governed the world changed, this is no less true for Great Britain, China, and Hong Kong. The power dynamics of east Asia and the cultural and socio-political spheres that governed them evolved to new degrees, particularly in the Pearl River Delta. With various warlords vying for power in China, and the Chinese Civil War pitting Nationalists against Communists, the whole of the land made for a ripe target for Asias¿ rising strongman, Japan. The Second Sino-Japanese War ignited in 1937 when Japan sought to expand its empire, having already swallowed Taiwan, Korea, and Manchuria, it set its sights on what remained of China and the leased-territories along its coast. Hong Kong¿s Governor Geoffry Northcote labeled the British crown colony neutral territory and a free port, hoping to safeguard British assets and honor from encroachment and hostility. When the European War broke out two years later in 1939, Japan allied itself with Britain¿s expanding rival, Germany, thus heightening tensions between the former friendly nations, and creating and unescapable path toward December 1941, when Japan would meld the two regional wars into the greater conflict that would be known as World War II. Until then, the British colony and her people were placed under evermore pressure from Japan¿s growing threat.