颠覆性观点！英国学者：二战的真正起点是“九一八”事变

在以往有关二战的叙事中，西方学者们长期认为，二战爆发的标志性事件是1939年德国入侵波兰。

然而，英国历史学家理查德·奥弗里在其撰写的《二战新史：鲜血与废墟中的世界，1931-1945》中提出了一个具有颠覆性的观点。

When British historian Richard Overy set out to write about WWII from a new perspective, he was keenly aware of stepping into a field dominated with sweeping accounts and Euro-American interpretations that have long shaped historiography.

他指出，二战的真正起点是1931年日本对中国的侵略——这不同于以往的战争记述，挑战了以西方为中心的时间线，提出了一个更加全球化、更全面的二战视角。

His latest work, Blood and Ruins: The Great Imperial War, 1931-1945, challenges the Eurocentric timeline of the war and offers a broader, global perspective.

作为第一次世界大战的胜利者，英国和法国在一战后继续主导国际秩序，统治着庞大的殖民帝国。然而，这种霸权地位却激起了意大利、德国和日本等新兴大国的不满。

这些19世纪末崛起的新兴国家渴望建立自己的帝国，但在全球争夺中发现可扩张的空间已经所剩无几。1929年的全球经济危机进一步加剧了他们的挫败感，推动了侵略行动的爆发。

These late-19th-century newcomers to the world stage were eager to carve out empires of their own, only to find little space remained for their ambitions. The global economic crisis of 1929 deepened their frustrations, fueling aggressive expansionist actions.

奥弗里指出，二战的真正起点并非1939年德国入侵波兰，而是1931年“九一八”事变日本对中国的侵略。

Overy argues that the war didn't truly begin in 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland, but in 1931 with Japan's invasion of China.

他通过将时间线重新锚定到亚洲，赋予了中国历史学家长期坚持的观点应有的地位——即“抗日战争是全球大战的一部分”。

By shifting the chronological anchor back to Asia, Overy acknowledges what Chinese historians have long insisted

— that the war against Japan from 1931 to 1945 was an integral part of the larger global conflict.

奥弗里认为，中国的抗日战争不仅是全球战争的重要组成部分，也是世界反法西斯斗争的关键一环。

Overy argues that the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) was a critical part of the global struggle against fascism.

他特别强调，中国在整个抗战期间，战斗力不亚于英国或美国，成功牵制了大量的日军。没有中国的长时间坚持，二战的格局可能会发生重大变化。

Overy highlights that throughout the war, China fielded more soldiers than the UK or the US, tying down a significant portion of Japan's military forces. Without China's prolonged resistance, the course of WWII could have shifted dramatically.

奥弗里强调，西方长期忽视亚洲战场，往往将焦点集中在美国与日本的太平洋战争上，因为那里有激烈的领土争夺和戏剧性的战况。然而，亚洲的战争更为复杂，涉及的背景、力量对比和地域因素远比西方所讲的更为广泛。

"For so long, the West ignored what happened in Asia. They focused on the Pacific War — America versus Japan — because it's dramatic, with territory changing hands. The war in Asia is more complicated," Overy explains.

通过这一全新的视角，奥弗里不仅将二战视为一场全球冲突，更揭示了19世纪末以来帝国主义竞争的根源。

By shifting the focus to a global conflict that engulfed both Asia and Europe, Overy situates the war within the broader context of late-19th-century imperial rivalries.

他指出，这场战争从一开始就是反侵略的斗争，席卷了从亚洲到欧洲的广阔战场。

He shows that from the outset, it was a struggle against aggression that involved a wide range of battlefronts across Asia and Europe.

记者：杨飞跃

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