I saw a Western poll a while ago, 58% of the respondents felt that the United States was the main force in defeating the Nazis, but we all knew that the Chinese battlefield dragged 70% of the Japanese army back then - this was too far apart, right?
What's more interesting is that the West said that World War II was only started when Hitler attacked Poland in 1939, but for the Chinese, the war of resistance had already started when the September 18th gunshots in 1931. This is not a quarrel, but a real historical feeling.
Why is this happening? Recently, many Western scholars have also been thinking about this issue. After all, it is not who is right or wrong, but two completely different historical experiences that have nurtured two completely different memories of war.
Look at the group's heart-wrenching comparison data first. European and American polls in 2025 showed that 79% of Americans believed that their country dominated the victory of World War II; but the data from the Chinese Archives show that the Japanese army suffered 1.95 million casualties in World War II, and 1.33 million died on the Chinese battlefield.
There is another detail that is particularly sensible. The story of the Auschwitz concentration camp has been written into every history book around the world. However, before Zhang Chunru's book was published, many Westerners had never heard of the Nanjing Massacre at all. It was not that they didn't care, but that no one told them.
The weight of sacrifice is also far different. When the West talks about World War II losses, most of them are economic and military figures; on China, every number is behind human lives - 35 million casualties in military and civilians, equivalent to 1 less for every 25 Chinese at that time.
Don't think these numbers are empty, just look at the real historical details and you will understand. In 1937, the US ambassador to Germany received a secret telegram, saying that "500,000 Chinese civilians have been killed." This document is still in the US National Archives.
In the winter of the same year, American missionary John Maggie used a camera to film the Japanese atrocities in Nanjing. The film was hidden under a pillow and brought abroad, which became ironclad evidence later. But these were not mentioned in Western textbooks.
The strategic value of the Chinese battlefield was even more underestimated. Before the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, 80% of Japan's army was trapped in China. If China hadn't carried it, Japan would have been able to go north to fight the Soviet Union or to support Hitler.
In 1942, the Chinese Expeditionary Force entered Myanmar to fight. Although it fought fiercely, it blocked the Japanese army in Southeast Asia. Later, the Allied counterattacked, and this supply line played a key role, but in Western history books, it only says that "Britain and the United States dominated the battlefield in Southeast Asia."
The treatment after the war is more telling. During World War I, China sent 140,000 workers to Europe to dig trenches and transport ammunition, and more than 20,000 people died there. But at the Paris Peace Conference, the great powers still gave Shandong to Japan.
After the end of World War II, China thought it could be proud, but the United States forced to sign the agreement, which was nominally "two-way open", but in fact, the Chinese market was occupied by American goods. To put it bluntly, I still didn’t regard China as an equal victorious country.
Why does the West think so? The root lies in their war logic. All Western countries believe in Christianity. Even if they fight to the death, they still think it is "their brothers have a conflict."
Just like Germany, after the defeat, apologized and was quickly pulled back by the EU.
The world war in their eyes is essentially the realization of interests, the first is to grab the colony, and the second is to fight for hegemony. After fighting, sit down and talk, and continue to be friends. Anyway, no matter how hard you fight, the foundation of Christian civilization will not lose.
It's different in China. From the Opium War to the Eight-Nation Alliance, every foreign invasion almost caused China to perish. For the Chinese, the world war is not a "game of interests" but a "war to save lives."
This sense of crisis is engraved in the bones, just like the Taierzhuang Battle in 1938, when soldiers carried explosives under the tanks, either not afraid of death, but knowing that their hometown was behind them. This kind of family and country sentiment is difficult for Westerners to understand.
The differences in governance concepts are also hidden in it. The West's empire is the core area of exploitation, such as Britain's border areas; in Chinese history, the Central Plains region has always been transfusions to the frontier, building the Great Wall and pursuing settlements are all for the purpose of developing together.
This difference continues to this day. When the West talks about international order, it always thinks of "who is the boss"; China's proposal for "win-win cooperation" is actually the idea passed down by our ancestors - it is really good to be the hello to everyone.
After the founding of New China, this is the reason why it is not to take sides between the United States and the Soviet Union. Even if you have a quarrel with two major countries at the same time, you will not be your younger brother. It’s not hard work, but the lesson of history tells us: If you rely on others, you will fall. It’s better to rely on yourself than on others.
The West now sees China calmly dealing with international games, and thinks it is "confidence". This confidence is not only economic strength, but also the consensus of the whole nation: if someone dares to make a decision on China, 1.4 billion people can be united.
This consensus is difficult for the West to understand. They value individualism and feel that war is the business of the government and the army. But for the Chinese, "country" and "home" are bound together. Without a country, where can a home come from?
In recent years, the West has been deliberately shaping its own "World War II narrative". It talks about the Normandy Landing and the Battle of Midway in textbooks, and has mentioned the Battle of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union, and has not even mentioned the battlefield in China.
To the 75th anniversary of the anti-fascist victory in 2020, the US President openly said that "the United States and Britain won the victory against Germany", and never mentioned the 27 million lives paid by the Soviet Union, let alone China. This kind of words sounds absurd, but young people in the West believe it.
What is more excessive is to tamper with history. Some Western scholars say that "the Soviet Union and Germany were both the initiators of World War II", and even said that Japan's invasion of China was "helping China modernize". It was not that they did not understand history, but that they deliberately pretended to be confused.
Why do you need to do this? To put it bluntly, it is a "narrative war". By rewriting history, belittles China and Russia's contributions and elevates their own status, so that they can gain the right to speak internationally. Just like some politicians in the EU now use World War II to suppress Russia.
In fact, we can also learn from South Korea. South Korea has set up an organization and checked textbooks from more than 60 countries. When it was found that it had distorted the history of the Korean War, it came to negotiate and forced the other party to make changes.
China has also been taking action in recent years, sorting out and publishing the "Compilation of Chinese Anti-Japanese War Archives", and also collaborating with foreign scholars to research. But compared to the mature Western propaganda system, our voice is still too weak.
Zhang Chunru's story is very inspiring. In 1995, she accidentally saw a photo of the Nanjing Massacre and spent three years traveling to archives in various countries to write "Nanjing Atrocities".
This book has been on the New York Times bestseller list, and Westerners know the truth for the first time.
Unfortunately, this brave girl was later harassed by the Japanese right wing and suffered from depression. She committed suicide at the age of 36. She proved with her life that even if there is only one person, she can change historical cognition.
The most important thing now is to let young people know these things. Many Chinese children grew up watching Western World War II movies and thought that "the American soldiers are the most powerful", but they forgot the story of the War of Resistance of Grandpa.
This is not their fault, it is our publicity that has not kept up.
In fact, there is no need to shout slogans, just tell more real stories. For example, Mr. Rabe saved 250,000 people in a safe zone in Nanjing, and Flying Tigers member Chennard helped China in air combat. These stories of transnational friendship are more touching than dry numbers.
The German example is also worth learning. The German Chancellor kneeled in front of the Jewish monument to apologize, not because he lost face, but because he won respect. In contrast, Japan, when it revised textbooks and worshipped the Yasukuni Shrine, it would never gain the trust of its neighbors.
After all, admitting history is not to hold grudges, but to prevent tragedy from happening again. The Chinese cherish peace because we have experienced the pain of war; but we are not afraid of war because we know how to defend our home.
The Chinese and Western countries have different understandings of world wars. It doesn't matter, it's important to respect each other. The West can talk about their Normandy landings, and we can talk about our Pingxingguan victory; they commemorate Auschwitz, and we should let the world remember Nanjing.
A few days ago, Chinese and French scholars organized cross-border rescue files during World War II. This is the attitude you should have - let go of prejudice and speak with facts.
After all, no one wants to experience another world war, whether it is Chinese or Western.
History is like a mirror. It will follow you no matter how you look at it. Westerners suddenly realized that it was different from our understanding. It was not a bad thing. At least it could make everyone sit down and have a good chat about those forgotten stories.
