In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and created the puppet state of Manchukuo (1932), which signaled the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In August 1937, a month after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Soviet Union established a non-aggression pact with China.
The Republic of China received credits for $250 million for the purchase of Soviet weapons.
There followed big arms deliveries, including guns, artillery pieces, more than 900 aircraft and 82 tanks.
More than 1,500 Soviet military advisers and about 2,000 members of the air force were sent to China.
The deliveries halted in August 1941 due to German attack on the Soviet Union.
Stalin viewed Japan as a potential enemy, and as a result offered no help to Chinese communists between 1937 and 1941, in order not to weaken efforts of the Nationalist Government.
During the World War II period, the two countries suffered more losses than any other country, with China (in the Second Sino-Japanese war) losing about 30 million people and the Soviet Union 26 million.
In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and created the puppet state of Manchukuo (1932), which signaled the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In August 1937, a month after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Soviet Union established a non-aggression pact with China. The Republic of China received credits for $250 million for the purchase of Soviet weapons. There followed big arms deliveries, including guns, artillery pieces, more than 900 aircraft and 82 tanks. More than 1,500 Soviet military advisers and about 2,000 members of the air force were sent to China. The deliveries halted in August 1941 due to German attack on the Soviet Union. Stalin viewed Japan as a potential enemy, and as a result offered no help to Chinese communists between 1937 and 1941, in order not to weaken efforts of the Nationalist Government. During the World War II period, the two countries suffered more losses than any other country, with China (in the Second Sino-Japanese war) losing about 30 million people and the Soviet Union 26 million.
Sino-Soviet relations