At the beginning of Roosevelt's rise to power, there was already a clear diplomatic line in the Far East, and it was implemented in the next ten years.

It is true that Japan is the largest trading partner of the United States in Asia, but it is also the largest competitor of the United States in Asia. Therefore, for Roosevelt, the Japanese had to make money, but the Chinese also had to help, and they could not tear their faces with Japan, nor could they let Japan wantonly become bigger, let alone let China be completely finished.

Some historians summarize the process of U.S. aid to China in this way: moral aid to China (1931-1937), symbolic aid to China (1937-1941), and substantive aid to China (1941-1945).

Of course, there are also three different views in the historical circles as to when the United States will begin to provide substantial aid to China.

Some believe that it began with the borrowing of tung oil at the end of 1938, some believe that it should be marked by the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, and still others believe that it should be in 1940 (when Germany, Italy and Japan formally signed the treaty of alliance).

Especially after the Soviet Union made aid loans to China, Roosevelt felt diplomatic pressure. He was afraid that if he continued to delay aid to China, he would push Chang Kaishen into the arms of the Soviet Union, which was one of the reasons why the tung oil loan was signed.

However, no matter when the US government began to provide substantial aid to China, in the United States, the action of aiding China began after the end of the Battle of Songhu.

There are two main forces of non-governmental aid to China in the United States, one is the academic force and the other is the church force.

First of all, in the academic circles, many cultural people in the United States also have a sense of justice, such as Albert Einstein, who has become an American citizen, and took the lead in setting off a movement to aid China in the scientific community.

Others, such as historians Whitney Grieswood and William Johnston, and China expert Freda Atley, strongly condemned American businessmen's trade with Japan as aiding America's potential enemies in Asia.

Thomas Beeson, on the other hand, pointed out that "Japan's aggression directly threatened American interests in China, while American businessmen were helping Japan build their empire." ”

Although the academic community has a lot of influence, it is not enough to execute, and at most they call for donations, and then write an article to scold a few words, and the church in the United States is much stronger.

The American people's understanding of the Sino-Japanese War did not first come from journalists, but from missionaries.

Because in the 30s, most of the American journalists sent to Asia were young people who could not make a living at home. They lack work experience, many things are difficult to discern, and most of these journalists live in Japan. After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, a small number of journalists living in China also left, so even less news came back to the United States. There are even some young journalists who have been fooled by Japan, or bought by Japan, and even write articles to help the Japanese speak.

Compared with the correspondents in China, there are many American missionaries in China. At that time, almost all communities in the United States had more than one church, and each church would sponsor one or several missionaries to work abroad, and most of these missionaries were sent to China.

Missionaries in China send a large number of letters to the churches that sponsor them every year so that more Americans can learn about the situation in China.

The news of the Nanjing Massacre was brought back to the United States by the missionaries. Not only did they write letters to the church, but they also wrote to their families and friends, detailing what they had been through.

In general, reports of war atrocities are seen as consciously hostile propaganda. But in view of the special duties and roles of the missionaries, the messages that were disseminated by the missionaries were taken as fact.

As a result, the atrocities of the Japanese army in China were sent back to the United States by the missionaries, and immediately word of mouth spread in one community after another. The American Church also stood up to strongly condemn Japan's anti-human behavior and urged the US government to immediately stop trade with Japan.

In addition, Japanese planes bombed US warships, which aroused great indignation among the American people, and the convergence of various reasons gave birth to a wave of boycotts of Japanese goods by the American people.

In the first year of China's full-scale war of resistance against Japanese aggression alone, the total amount of goods sold by Japan to the United States fell by 26 percent, from 240 million yen to 150 million yen. This is a very frightening statistic, and the situation has been getting worse year after year, leading to the gradual loss of the American market in Japan, and the financial situation in Japan has been further weakened.

……

New York.

Zhou Hexuan took Yu Peichen to visit the two missionaries, and Vivien Leigh stayed in Hollywood and did not follow.

Halfway along the way, they suddenly saw a procession of hundreds of people, holding high slogans such as "Boycott Japanese goods," "Oppose atrocities," "Uphold justice," and "Break off diplomatic relations with Japan." At the front of the line, there were also many people in church attire, handing out leaflets along the way.

As soon as a fashionably dressed lady got out of the car, she was stopped by a priest and handed out a leaflet saying, "Beautiful and noble lady, please do not buy Japanese stockings." With every pair of Japanese stockings you buy, you're providing support to the demons. Those demons are wreaking havoc in the far East, killing innocent civilians and even pregnant women and children. This is not allowed by God, this is blasphemy against God, and they will go to hell! ”

The lady was a little frightened, took the leaflet and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, I won't buy Japanese stockings again." Please let me go, okay, I'm going to buy a birthday present for my husband. ”

The procession was getting closer and closer, and Yu Peichen said happily: "Sir, have you seen it?" Many Americans support China's War of Resistance! ”

"See, these Americans deserve respect and admiration." Zhou Hexuan nodded and said.

In fact, Zhou Hexuan was very suspicious of the priest's starting point, not mentioning other goods, but focusing on boycotting Japanese stockings. Without the support of American stockingsmen, Zhou Hexuan didn't believe it.

At this time, although nylon stockings had been invented, they had not yet been officially put on sale, and the market was marketed with traditional stockings. As a big silk producer, Japan produces stockings of extremely high quality, which are deeply loved by American women, and the American stockings are defeated one after another.

At the very least, hosiery manufacturers in the United States are staunch supporters of the boycott of Japanese goods. In their view, the U.S. government should do to cut off trade with Japan directly.

Compared to the backing of the American capitalists, the British capitalists have gone into battle shirtless themselves. Because the British had invested too much in China, and the Japanese invasion of China had caused them heavy losses, countless groups of British businessmen jumped up and down, the most representative of which were three companies: Imperial Chemical Industries, Shell Oil UK, and British American Tobacco.

The British companies, while organizing propaganda and donations, put pressure on the British government, stating: "The British government must realize that if all weapons are not used against Japan—including prestige, finance, resources, and scarce goods and control of the market—Japan will inevitably occupy China, and it will only be a matter of time before Japan reckons with British interests in China." ”

Without China asking for help, the British and American capitalists, whose interests have been damaged, are already protesting against their respective governments and spontaneously launching various forms of aid to China.

Perhaps it was because of the sight of two Asian faces in the car, and the procession surrounded Zhou Hexuan's car. A priest came and knocked on the window and asked, "Are you Japanese?" ”

"No, we are Chinese." Zhou Hexuan said.

The priest said, "I hope you are not lying, sir. If you are Chinese, then I sympathize with and encourage you, and hope that your country can win the war. If you are Japanese, please stand up for justice, follow God's instructions, and do your part to resist unjust wars. ”

"Thank you, on behalf of the Chinese people, I thank you for your help." Zhou Hexuan said sincerely.

The priest then walked back to the procession and said to the others: "There are Chinese in the car, they thank us, let us continue for justice!" ”

Soon, the procession came to a Japanese store, and someone suddenly shouted: "Smash it!" ”

The priest hurriedly stopped and shouted: "Don't use violence, we are marching peacefully." Don't use violence......"

Many of the marchers did not heed the persuasion and rushed into the Japanese stores in droves, smashing the window panes to pieces. There were also some unscrupulous people who quickly snatched the goods from the store, like reckless heroes who robbed the rich and helped the poor, laughed and beat the clerks, and even set a fire in the store when they left.

Why did the amount of goods sold from Japan to the United States drop by 26% in just one year? Just look at what happened in front of you, and you can see that selling Japanese goods is in danger of being smashed and robbed, which has led to a rapid decline in Japanese stores in the United States.

The American people are still very powerful, and Zhou Hexuan must give them a thumbs up.