Research On The "Z Program" Of Soviet Union’s Aid To China And Its Two "Low Tides" In The Early Stage Of The Anti-japanese War

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese war,the Chinese army suffered serious losses.The National Government immediately sought help from the Soviet Union,the United States,the United Kingdom,France and other great powers.The National Government hoped that the great powers could provide all kinds of weapons and equipment,but only the Soviet Union made a positive statement,and promised to offer China military goods by way of loans and human resources support.In order to ensure security,the whole process of aid to China,including the transportation of military supplies and personnel,was carried out under the guidance of a project with a codename of "Z Plan" at the early stage of the Anti-Japanese war,which was led by "Z Group" and was taken charge by Kliment Voroshilov.To assist,the Soviet Union urgently opened the airline from Alma Ata to Lanzhou and the northwestern highway from SaryOzek to Lanzhou.the airline and highway starts from the Soviet Union,crosses Xinjiang province and most of Gansu province,played an important role in the implementation of the "Z Program".Meanwhile,the personnel and material suffer serious loss,and the aid process is full of hardship.The aid of the Soviet Union to China was reduced and evensuspended at the end of 1939 and March 1941,causing two "low tides".The reasonsof the "low tides" are as follows: the main reason is the changes of the international situation in Europe and Asia which was related to the Soviet Union and the relationship between Soviet Union and Germany,as well as Japan,especially the signing of the Soviet-German non-aggression treaty(Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)and the Soviet-Japanese neutrality treaty,as well as the outbreak of two Soviet-Japanese border conflicts,which played a key role for the emergence of "low tide".The aid from Soviet Union to China played a positive role in the whole process of the Anti-Japanese war.However,it is still necessary to rethink profoundly of the starting point of Soviet Union’s aid policyto China.In the course of studying the causes of the two "low tides",it is not difficult to find out that the Anti-Japanese war was regarded as a tool to contain the Japan’s invasion of the Soviet Union by the Soviet leaders.Therefore,the consideration of Soviet Union’s aid was to protect its own security by using the power of China to weaken Japan.While it is the Soviet Union’s own security and the adjustment of Soviet-Japanrelations,rather than the start of Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War or China’s refusal,that contribute to the Soviet Union’s suspension of military aid to China.