The National United Front Against the Japanese Occupation
The September 18th Incident in 1931 and the North China Incidents in 1935 brought major changes to China's relations with other countries and to the relations among its classes, and the conflict between China and Japan became the principal issue facing Chinese society. The whole country faced the challenge of Japan's aggression and a grave national crisis. The CPC took upon itself the historic mission of national salvation and called for building an anti-Japanese national united front based on the KMT-CPC cooperation.
In response to the September 18th Incident, the CPC immediately announced its resolve to resist the Japanese aggression and defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Red Army under its leadership reached a cease-fire with the pro-resistance KMT 19th Route Army and forged an anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang alliance. The CPC also joined the effort to organize the Anti-Japanese Allied Army in Chahar Province. It conducted the resistance in Northeast China through a joint united front, turning the region into the first battlefield of the CPC-led armed forces against the Japanese aggression.
After the North China Incidents, the CPC published the August 1st Declaration. In December, it initiated and led the anti-Japanese movement that emerged on December 9. At the Wayaobu meeting held in the same month, the CPC Central Committee decided that its basic task was to establish an anti-Japanese national united front.
In 1936, the CPC modified its policies according to the changing situation: from opposing Chiang Kai-shek and resisting Japan, to forcing Chiang to resist Japan, and further to allying with Chiang in the resistance. It also worked for the peaceful settlement of the Xi'an Incident, which ended the civil war between the KMT and the CPC. During this period, the CPC collaborated with some patriotic KMT troops and other armed forces in resisting the Japanese aggression. It was the first political party to rise in anti-fascist resistance in China and the world.
In February 1937, the CPC Central Committee sent a telegram to the Third Plenary Session of the Fifth KMT Central Executive Committee, making five proposals and four pledges as an expression of good faith in removing antagonism between the two parties and building solidarity against the Japanese aggression. In the face of worsening Japanese aggression and increasing public anger, the KMT had to accept the CPC's proposal of cooperation. In September, the KMT Central News Agency broadcast the CPC's Announcement on Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation, and Chiang Kai-shek's public speech that followed represented de facto recognition of the legality of the CPC, marking the formal establishment of an anti-Japanese national united front based on the second KMT-CPC cooperation.
This second cooperation was hailed by the Chinese people, the progressive political parties, pro-resistance groups, patriots and overseas Chinese, who also joined the united front through various means. The Chinese nation achieved unprecedented unity, a significant condition for the all-out war of resistance.
Raising the flag of the united front, the CPC became the mainstay in the war against the Japanese aggression. The revolutionary force of the people under its leadership expanded in the resistance and grew into a powerful force in shaping the political future of China. After 14 years of an all-out war of resistance, the Chinese nation defeated the Japanese invaders. The national united front was an important guarantor of this victory.
抗日民族统一战线
九一八事变尤其是华北事变后，中国的国际关系和国内阶级关系发生了重大变化。中日之间的民族矛盾上升为中国社会的主要矛盾。中华民族面临的主要问题就是抵抗日本的侵略，挽救日益深重的民族危机。中国共产党秉持民族大义，担负起民族救亡的历史重任，呼吁建立以国共合作为基础的抗日民族统一战线。
1931年九一八事变后，中国共产党就发表宣言，表达了誓死抵抗日本侵略，坚决捍卫国家主权和领土完整的决心。中国共产党与主张抗日的国民革命军第19路军签订反蒋抗日停战协定、参与组织察哈尔抗日同盟军，并率先在东北尝试运用抗日联合战线的策略开展抗日斗争，使辽阔的白山黑水成为中共领导的抗日武装直接对日作战的第一个战场。
1935年华北事变后，中国共产党发表《为抗日救国告全体同胞书》（即《八一宣言》），领导发动了一二·九爱国抗日运动，并在12月召开的瓦窑堡会议上，明确提出党的基本策略任务是建立广泛的抗日民族统一战线。1936年间，中共中央不断调整政策，逐步实现从“反蒋抗日”到“逼蒋抗日”再到“联蒋抗日”政策的转变，并促成西安事变的和平解决，国共内战宣告结束。同一时期，中国共产党还逐渐展开与国民党爱国军队及其他抗日武装的合作抗战，成为中国和世界范围内率先进行反法西斯战争的政党先锋。
1937年2月，中共中央向国民党五届三中全会提出“五项要求”和“四项保证”，旨在消除两大政党和两个政权的对立，实现国共合作，一致反抗日本的侵略。在日本侵略军的步步进逼和全国人民抗日救亡浪潮的推动下，国民党被迫开始接受国共合作抗日的正确主张。同年9月，国民党中央通讯社发表《中共中央为公布国共合作宣言》，蒋介石发表实际上承认中国共产党合法地位的谈话，标志着以第二次国共合作为基础的抗日民族统一战线正式形成。全国各族人民、各进步党派、抗日团体和社会各阶层爱国人士以及海外侨胞热烈欢迎国共两党重新合作，并以不同形式参加了抗日民族统一战线。中华民族空前的大团结，对抗日战争的全面展开有重大意义。
在抗日民族统一战线的旗帜下，中国共产党成为反抗日本帝国主义侵略的中流砥柱，中国共产党所领导的人民革命力量在抗日战争中得到了空前壮大，成为决定中国政治前途的根本力量。全民族抗战是中国人民抗日战争胜利的重要法宝。
经过长达14年艰苦卓绝的斗争，中国人民打败了日本侵略者，宣告了日本军国主义的彻底失败，宣告了中国人民抗日战争和世界反法西斯战争的最后胜利。
