Description
Arthur Goodzeit Award
For seven weeks in 1929, the Republic of China and the Soviet Union battled in Manchuria over control of the Chinese Eastern Railroad. It was the largest military clash between China and a Western power ever fought on Chinese soil, involving more that a quarter million combatants. Michael M. Walker's The 1929 SinoSoviet War is the first full account of what UPI's Moscow correspondent called 'the war nobody knew' a 'limited modern war' that destabilized the region's balance of power, altered East Asian history, and sent grim reverberations through a global community giving lip service to demilitarizing in the wake of World War I.
Walker locates the roots of the conflict in miscalculations by Chiang Kaishek and Chang Hsuehliang about the Soviets' political and military power-flawed assessments that prompted China's attempt to reassert full authority over the CER. The Soviets, on the other hand, were dominated by a Stalin eager to flex some military muscle and thoroughly convinced that war would win much more than petty negotiations. This was in fact, Walker shows, a watershed moment for Stalin, his regime, and his still young and untested military, disproving the assumption that the Red Army was incapable of fighting a modern war. By contrast, the outcome revealed how unprepared the Chinese military forces were to fight either the Red Army or the Imperial Japanese Army, their other primary regional competitor. And yet, while the Chinese commanders proved weak, Walker sees in the toughness of the overmatched infantry a hint of the rising nationalism that would transform China's troops from a mercenary army into a formidable professional force, with powerful implications for an overconfident Japanese Imperial Army in 1937.
Using Russian, Chinese, and Japanese sources, as well as declassified US military reports, Walker deftly details the war from its onset through major military operations to its aftermath, giving the first clear and complete account of a little known but profoundly consequential clash of great powers between the World Wars.
About the Author
Michael M. Walker is Special Projects Docent at the state sponsored Idaho Military History Museum in Boise. A retired Marine colonel, he commanded the 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Iraq and served in many capacities in the infantry and intelligence, including as an intelligence officer with Marine Forces Pacific G2, Joint Chiefs of Staff J2 and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Reviews
This unprecedented, credible, and interesting study of the twentieth century's most obscure war highlights the complexity inherent in the prolonged struggle for political dominance in northeastern Asia." - David M. Glantz, author of The Stalingrad Trilogy
"In telling the story of the SinoSoviet conflict, Walker takes a wideranging approach that encompasses international politics of the region between China, Japan, and the USSR while simultaneously providing a wealth of detail on the domestic politics affecting decisionmaking. The military aspects of the war are equally thoroughly documented from the quality of leadership, to the tactics and technology that determined the outcome. This work will be the standard for a long time to come." - Roger R. Reese, author of Why Stalin's Soldiers Fought: The Red Army's Military Effectiveness in World War II
"Long overlooked as inconsequential, the 1929 SinoSoviet War in fact had profound implications for China, Japan, the Soviet Union and the international order in East Asia. Drawing upon trends in international and world history, Michael M. Walker breathes new life into the study of this war, offering a fluid narrative and detailed analysis of the political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the conflict. In doing so, he reveals the complexity and consequence of 'the war nobody knew.'" - Peter Worthing, author of General He Yingqin: The Rise and Fall of Nationalist China
"The 1929 SinoSoviet war over control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria is perhaps the least studied 20th century conflict even while being one of the most important. As detailed by Michael Walker in his groundbreaking monograph, one immediate result of China's defeat was Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, and its creation the next year of the Manchukuo puppet state, widely seen as the opening salvo in the Pacific War." - Bruce Elleman, William V. Pratt Professor of International History US Naval War College
Book Information
ISBN 9780700632602
Author Michael M. Walker
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint University Press of Kansas
Publisher University Press of Kansas
Weight(grams) 560g
For seven weeks in 1929, the Republic of China and the Soviet Union battled in Manchuria over control of the Chinese Eastern Railroad. It was the largest military clash between China and a Western power ever fought on Chinese soil, involving more that a quarter million combatants. Michael M. Walker's The 1929 SinoSoviet War is the first full account of what UPI's Moscow correspondent called 'the war nobody knew' a 'limited modern war' that destabilized the region's balance of power, altered East Asian history, and sent grim reverberations through a global community giving lip service to demilitarizing in the wake of World War I.
Walker locates the roots of the conflict in miscalculations by Chiang Kaishek and Chang Hsuehliang about the Soviets' political and military power-flawed assessments that prompted China's attempt to reassert full authority over the CER. The Soviets, on the other hand, were dominated by a Stalin eager to flex some military muscle and thoroughly convinced that war would win much more than petty negotiations. This was in fact, Walker shows, a watershed moment for Stalin, his regime, and his still young and untested military, disproving the assumption that the Red Army was incapable of fighting a modern war. By contrast, the outcome revealed how unprepared the Chinese military forces were to fight either the Red Army or the Imperial Japanese Army, their other primary regional competitor. And yet, while the Chinese commanders proved weak, Walker sees in the toughness of the overmatched infantry a hint of the rising nationalism that would transform China's troops from a mercenary army into a formidable professional force, with powerful implications for an overconfident Japanese Imperial Army in 1937.
Using Russian, Chinese, and Japanese sources, as well as declassified US military reports, Walker deftly details the war from its onset through major military operations to its aftermath, giving the first clear and complete account of a little known but profoundly consequential clash of great powers between the World Wars.
About the Author
Michael M. Walker is Special Projects Docent at the state sponsored Idaho Military History Museum in Boise. A retired Marine colonel, he commanded the 3rd Civil Affairs Group in Iraq and served in many capacities in the infantry and intelligence, including as an intelligence officer with Marine Forces Pacific G2, Joint Chiefs of Staff J2 and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Reviews
This unprecedented, credible, and interesting study of the twentieth century's most obscure war highlights the complexity inherent in the prolonged struggle for political dominance in northeastern Asia." - David M. Glantz, author of The Stalingrad Trilogy
"In telling the story of the SinoSoviet conflict, Walker takes a wideranging approach that encompasses international politics of the region between China, Japan, and the USSR while simultaneously providing a wealth of detail on the domestic politics affecting decisionmaking. The military aspects of the war are equally thoroughly documented from the quality of leadership, to the tactics and technology that determined the outcome. This work will be the standard for a long time to come." - Roger R. Reese, author of Why Stalin's Soldiers Fought: The Red Army's Military Effectiveness in World War II
"Long overlooked as inconsequential, the 1929 SinoSoviet War in fact had profound implications for China, Japan, the Soviet Union and the international order in East Asia. Drawing upon trends in international and world history, Michael M. Walker breathes new life into the study of this war, offering a fluid narrative and detailed analysis of the political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the conflict. In doing so, he reveals the complexity and consequence of 'the war nobody knew.'" - Peter Worthing, author of General He Yingqin: The Rise and Fall of Nationalist China
"The 1929 SinoSoviet war over control of the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria is perhaps the least studied 20th century conflict even while being one of the most important. As detailed by Michael Walker in his groundbreaking monograph, one immediate result of China's defeat was Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria, and its creation the next year of the Manchukuo puppet state, widely seen as the opening salvo in the Pacific War." - Bruce Elleman, William V. Pratt Professor of International History US Naval War College
Book Information
ISBN 9780700632602
Author Michael M. Walker
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint University Press of Kansas
Publisher University Press of Kansas
Weight(grams) 560g
