The fall of the Manchu Empire in 1911 ended thousands of years of Imperial rule and ushered in almost 40 years of strife and conflict. From the abdication of Pu-Yi, the last Emperor, the long march and the invasion by the Japanese, to the birth of the People's Republic of China, this book looks at the fighting men and women who fought for the communists, imperialists, warlords and the Japanese.
At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort. In addition to its major role in North Africa, Italy's army invaded, and later bore the main burden of occupying, the Balkan countries. Italy also sent 250,000 men to fight on the Russian Front, In this second book of a three-part study Philip Jowett covers the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the italian troops committed to both the North African campaign, and the often neglected East African fighting of 1940-41, induding the colourful colourful units. Stephen Andrew's meticulcus colour plates illustrate a wide range of uniforms, many of which will be new to most readers.
From December 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army shocked the world by its lightning victories over the US, British and Dutch forces in the Philippines, Malaya and the East Indies. The Pacific war occupied much of the US war effort, from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa, but although the broad details of these campaigns are common knowledge, few detailed accounts of the Japanese uniforms and equipment are available. This book, researched from new Japanese language sources, describes and illustrates for the first time in the West the uniforms and equipment used in China in the 1930s and their development for the tropical campaigns of 1941/42.
The Russo-Japanese War was the first major conflict of the 20th century, as vast armies clashed in Manchuria incurring enormous casualties. Its global significance was immense, as the tactics deployed during this war anticipated the trench warfare of World War 1 - year-round campaigning in massive trench systems, widespread use of machine guns, and the costly failure of frontal assault tactics. This book shows how both armies began the war in bright uniforms, which quickly proved fatal, and the events that led to both being in khaki before the war's end.
Although the Chinese contribution to Allied victory in World War II is often ignored, China fought the Japanese Empire for far longer than any other belligerent nation. By the time that the Sino-Japanese War became absorbed into the wider conflict at the end of 1941, Chinese armies had already suffered huge casulties and half the country had been lost. By fighting on with Allied support, China tied down a million Japanese troops. After Japan's defeat in 1945, China was immediately plunged back into civil war between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Tse-tung's Communists; and the latter's victory in 1949 changed the world for the rest of the 20th century and beyond.
An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century. Beginning with a run through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars, this history goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese war and the Boxer Rebellion. Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes-painful modernization of China's military forces during one of her most turbulent periods of history.
At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort. English-speaking readers tend to think of this army in terms of the North African campaign; but far more Italian troops served in other theatres. They invaded, and later bore the major burden of occupying, the Balkan countries; and Italy sent 250,000 troops to fight on the Russian Front. In this, the first of a three-part study, Philip Jowett covers the European theatre including Russia from 1940 to Italy's armistice with the Allies in 1943. Many interesting uniforms, a number of them new to most readers, are meticulously illustrated by Stephen Andrew.