| Abstract |
The use of chemical weapons during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) is a subject that has been studied extensively by scholars. One area of inquiry, however, has been relatively neglected: the extent to which the Chinese civilian population had knowledge of chemical warfare. The present article seeks to remedy this shortcoming by examining contemporary newspaper accounts of chemical weapons. Its main finding is that civilian knowledge concerning chemical weapons evolved over time.Prior to the war, newspaper accounts of biological and chemical warfare tended to be of an academic and theoretical nature. After the war began, however, knowledge of chemical weapons became a matter of life and death, and newspaper reports began to focus on practical and imminent matters such as how to provide first aid in the case of a chemical attack, how to find shelter from chemical attacks, and how, in a time of severe shortage, to obtain equipment that would allow one to survive an attack. By sorting through contemporary media accounts on chemical warfare, with a focus on the civilian response, this article seeks to contribute to our overall understanding of the Second Sino-Japanese War. |
