Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945 by Rana Mitter

Dramatis Personae
    Chen Bijun: Wang Jingwei’s wife, and also a significant figure in the “peace movement” that ultimately led to collaboration with Japan.
     
    Chiang Kai-shek: Leader of China’s Nationalist Party from 1926 to his death in 1975. Chiang was China’s leader during its war against Japan from 1937 to 1945.
     
    Winston S. Churchill: British prime minister, 1940–1945, 1951–1955.
     
    Archibald Clark Kerr: British ambassador in China, 1938–1942.
     
    Dai Li: Chiang Kai-shek’s security chief, who used torture and intimidation against enemies of the government, in particular the Communists.
     
    Clarence Gauss: US ambassador in China, 1941–1944.
     
    He Yingqin: Minister of war in the Nationalist government.
     
    Hirota Kôki: Japanese foreign minister, 1937–1938.
     
    Patrick Hurley: US ambassador in China, 1944–1945.
     
    Nelson T. Johnson: US ambassador in China, 1929–1941.
     
    Konoye Fumimaro: Japanese prime minister, 1937–1939, 1940–1941.
     
    Long Yun: Canny Yi (Lolo) militarist who ruled Yunnan province in southwest China for much of the wartime period, and maintained a wary relationship with Chiang Kai-shek.
     
    Mao Zedong: Leader of China’s Communist Party, 1943–1976. Mao achieved paramount power during the war years, sidelining and eliminating rivals, and preparing his party for its ultimate victory against Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists in 1949.
     
    George C. Marshall: Chief of staff of the United States Army, 1939–1945.
     
    Matsui Iwane: Japanese commander who took Nanjing in 1937 and was in overall charge of Japanese troops during the massacre of 1937–1938.
     
    Song Meiling: Chiang Kai-shek’s wife and a powerful political figure in her own right in the Nationalist government. She spoke fluent English and was Chiang’s channel to the Americans.
     
    Lord Louis Mountbatten: Supreme commander, Southeast Asia Command, 1943–1946, who clashed frequently with General Stilwell.
     
    Franklin D. Roosevelt: President of the United States, 1933–1945.
     
    T. V. Soong (Song Ziwen): Chiang’s brother-in-law, foreign minister for a period, and a relatively liberal figure within the Nationalist Party.
     
    Josef V. Stalin: General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1922–1953.
     
    Joseph W. Stilwell: “Vinegar Joe,” the American general sent as Chiang Kai-shek’s chief of staff after Pearl Harbor, who quickly fell out with his commander.
     
    Sun Yat-sen: Tireless revolutionary and briefly president of China, 1912, shut out of power after the overthrow of the emperor in 1912 as military leaders undermined the new republic.
     
    Tôjô Hideki: Japanese prime minister, 1941–1944.
     
    Wang Jingwei: Joined the Nationalist revolution early and was a close ally of Sun Yat-sen. Wang achieved high political office but little real power under Chiang, and defected to form a collaborationist government under the Japanese in 1938, based in Nanjing.
     
    Zhou Enlai: Senior figure in the Communist movement who served as Mao’s representative in Chongqing for much of the war.
     
    Zhou Fohai: Nationalist government official who would become close to Wang Jingwei and eventually help him to defect to Japan.

Pronunciation Guide
    Most Chinese names in this book have been rendered into the internationally accepted pinyin system of romanization. While correct pronunciation of pinyin takes some training, the only sounds that are wholly different from standard English pronunciation are “q” (which sounds like a “ch” as in “church”) and “x” (which is a “sh” as in “sheet”). For more details the Internet has a wide range of pinyin pronunciation guides. In some cases, better-known alternative romanizations are used, such as Chiang Kai-shek rather than Jiang Jieshi. Also, I have preserved the older Wade-Giles system of romanization where it appears in the original document, but have generally added a pinyin version in brackets