Editor's note: This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. To remember history, honor fallen heroes, cherish peace and create a better future, CGTN has launched the "Reframing the War: China's Strategic Role and Historical Reckoning" series. This is the fifth article in the series. Zhou Donghua, a special commentator for CGTN, is a professor of the Department of History at the Hangzhou Normal University. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Why was China's victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression a historical inevitability? On March 3, 1938, the late Chairman Mao Zedong offered a parting message to the graduates of the Shanbei Public School that, in essence, provided a clear and succinct answer to this question. He proposed a formula: "China's unity + international support + Japan's internal difficulties = China's victory. This formula is meaningful." It can be reformulated as: mobilizing the strength of the Chinese people + leveraging external support + wearing down Japan's strength = China's victory.

First, mobilizing the strength of the Chinese people. As early as 1936, Mao said in an interview with American journalist Edgar Snow, "We are convinced that the Chinese people will not yield to Japanese imperialism. We believe they will get mobilized to unleash their immense potential and throw themselves into the war of resistance. They will go all out to confront the challenge posed by the invaders. In this struggle, final victory is bound to belong to the Chinese people."

This immense potential of the Chinese people, as Mao described it, referred above all to the strength of a united national resistance. Just three days after the September 18 Incident in 1931, the Communist Party of China (CPC) issued a declaration, calling on workers, farmers and all oppressed people across the country to "mobilize as one with arms to deliver a stern response to the Japanese bandits and all imperialist forces."

The day after the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, the CPC once again took the lead in issuing a nationwide telegram that called on all Chinese compatriots to "stand united and build a great wall of national unity to resist the Japanese invaders." The message was clear: "Only by launching a war of resistance by the entire nation can we find a way out!" and "Let the people of the whole country do their utmost to support this sacred war of national self-defense!"

What underpinned this united resistance was the indomitable national spirit. On May 1, 1940, on the eve of the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang, General Zhang Zizhong wrote in a letter to his troops, "At such a critical juncture for the nation, there is no other choice but for us to offer our lives … My resolve to die for the country is as unending as the sea and as enduring as the rocks. It will not falter in the slightest. I hope you, my comrades, will share this resolve."

This spirit of total devotion found echoes across all walks of life. On May 18, 1939, Bai Xuejiao, a Chinese mechanic returning from Southeast Asia to support the war effort, left behind a heartfelt farewell letter to her parents. She wrote, "This time, I leave home solely to serve my motherland. Though I am but a humble and unnoticed figure in society, and though my strength may seem no more than a drop in the ocean compared to the grand undertaking of national salvation and reconstruction, yet countless drops of water make up the sea. I only hope that I, too, may contribute my tiny drop of strength to the rising tide of national salvation."

The strength of the Chinese people was fully mobilized. As the revered war heroine Zhao Yiman's final words put, "For the birth of a new China, I do not hesitate to lay down my life; with all my heart, I offer my blood to soak the soil of the motherland." The Chinese people, under the banner of national resistance, rose in unison to join the anti-Japanese struggle. Across the frontlines, ordinary citizens could be seen everywhere: they organized themselves into field service units, medical rescue teams, support associations, fundraising groups, women's resistance groups, peasant resistance groups and youth resistance groups, etc.

In the industrial sector, patriotic entrepreneurs actively supported the strategic relocation of factories and mines to the interior, including Yan'an and other areas far from the fighting, helping to preserve key industrial equipment and production capacity. Their efforts provided the material foundation for sustaining a prolonged war effort.

Writers, artists and patriotic intellectuals wielded their pens as weapons. Through anti-Japanese plays, songs, poems and other forms of art and literature, they rallied the national spirit and helped build what later became known as a "cultural front" in the resistance war. Overseas Chinese communities also mobilized on a massive scale. They donated funds and supplies, organized relief campaigns and many even returned to China in person to join the war effort.

From all sectors of society, from every region and ethnic group, the Chinese people came together to form an overwhelming torrent of resistance. It was this unity and collective strength that became the most decisive internal force guaranteeing China's ultimate victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Second, leveraging external support. "External support" refers to the support from all international forces that expressed sympathy for, or offered concrete support to, the Chinese people in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. On December 27, 1935, at the Wayaobu Conference held in northern Shaanxi, Mao made an important statement: "The Chinese nation has the courage to fight its enemies to the end, the resolve to recover lost territory through self-reliance and the ability to stand tall among the nations of the world. But this does not mean that we have no need for international assistance."

During the period of the whole nation's war of resistance, the most crucial form of external support came from countries aligned with the global anti-fascist front. Nations such as the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and France extended considerable assistance to China's war effort. Among them, Soviet support was especially important.

Between 1937 and 1942, the Soviet Union provided China with a total of $173 million in loans specifically for the purchase of weapons. By 1940, more than 700 Soviet volunteer pilots had taken part in combat operations on Chinese soil. By 1941, over 140 Soviet military advisors had been dispatched to assist the Chinese government and military, along with more than a thousand technical experts across various fields.

Another important source of external support came from anti-fascist political parties around the world, particularly the communist parties of various countries, which voiced strong solidarity with China's war effort.

The Communist Party of Great Britain issued a public appeal titled "Support the Heroic Chinese People." Following the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, the Communist Party of Spain sent a message to the CPC, expressing firm support for China's resistance against Japanese aggression. In the U.S., communist activists urged the American working class to "halt all shipments of military supplies to Japan." Meanwhile, leaders of the Japanese Communist Party, including Nosaka Sanzo (also known as Okano Susumu), worked in Yan'an and directly contributed to China's resistance efforts.

Lastly, there was the support of anti-fascist people from around the world. Renowned journalists such as Edgar Snow, Agnes Smedley, Anna Louise Strong, as well as Israel Epstein, Hans Shippe, Harrison Forman and Evans Carlson, reported from the frontlines, giving voice to China's struggle and exposing Japanese aggression to the world.

The Canadian doctor and Communist Party member Norman Bethune, dispatched by the communist parties of Canada and the U.S., led a medical team to China. American physician George Hatem, along with members of the Indian Medical Mission such as Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, Dr. M. Atal and Dr. B.K. Basu, worked tirelessly on the frontlines, healing the wounded and saving lives under the most difficult conditions.

These three dimensions of international support came together under the global anti-fascist united front. Together, they formed a powerful source of external assistance on which the Chinese people could rely in their struggle for final victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

Third, wearing down Japan's strength. In his seminal work On Protracted War, Mao observed that given its relatively small territory and lack of manpower, military, financial and material resources, it was impossible for Japan to withstand long-term wars.

In 1942, then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in addressing members of Congress, underscored the significance of China's resistance in the global anti-fascist movement. He noted, "Though China is backward and poorly equipped, its soldiers have shown extraordinary tenacity. They have tied down roughly 80 percent of Japan's ground forces, about 20 percent of its navy and nearly 30 percent of its air force. China has held on for years, fighting independently. But what would happen if we failed to support China and left it to face Japan alone? What would the consequences be if China were forced to surrender?" The phrase "Japan's strength could be worn down" captures this protracted attrition.

The war of resistance, through the phases of strategic defense and stalemate, gradually eroded Japan's capacity to continue fighting. Eventually, this exhaustion paved the way for China to transition into a phase of strategic counteroffensive, leading to China's ultimate victory.

The abovementioned three dimensions reflect the organic unity between the national united front against Japanese aggression and the international anti-fascist united front. As Mao wrote in the preface to the English translation of On Protracted War on January 21, 1939, under the title On the Relationship Between the War of Resistance and International Assistance: "In this great war of resistance, our fundamental reliance is on China's own strength to defeat the enemy. China's power is being mobilized, and it will become not only an indestructible force, but one that will ultimately overwhelm and drive out the invaders, of which there is no doubt. At the same time, however, we also need the support of international allies. Our enemy is a global enemy, and China's war of resistance is part of a global war. History has already shown that the notion of fighting in isolation is untenable."

The key to why China was destined to win the war of resistance lies in this formula Mao laid out.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com. Follow @thouse_opinions on X, formerly Twitter, to discover the latest commentaries in the CGTN Opinion Section.)