While most in the western world believe World War II started with the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, there are a growing number of historians who believe the official date should be amended to 1937, when Japan began its full-scale invasion of China.[Special coverage]
Robert Frank, Secretary General for the International Congress of Historical Sciences (ICHS), is one of the strongest advocates for the date change. He wrote his arguments in the book "1937-1947 World War", which was published in France in April.
Jointly written by 40 historians, it contains a specific chapter named "War begins in Asia." Other chapters elaborate on the resistance of Asian countries, the Japanese occupation, and the resistance and suffering of the Chinese population.
"In France we call it the war of 1939-1945. But it' s a world war. Not only a European war, and it did not begin in Europe," Frank said. "The war began here, in Asia."
He said the starting date could even be considered as early as 1931, when the Japanese first attacked Manchuria in northeast China. However, he and his fellow historians chose 1937 because that's when general war broke out between China and Japan.
TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE
"It must be surprising for European and French people. They are not accustomed to the date," Frank said. "But we want to break the classical Eurocentric chronology, showing the global history of a global war."
Frank is not the only historian who supports a more objective look at the war history.
