From 'Puppets' to 'People's Liberators': The Manchukuo Military and Its Participation in the Chinese Civil War, 1945–1948

The Manchukuo military, the collaborationist armed forces of the Japanese client state, was formally disbanded with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. The looming Chinese Civil War, however, provided the former collaborators with a second chance to end up on a winning side and avoid the often dire fate awaiting other former collaborators with the Axis powers. This article examines the collapse of the Manchukuo military and its aftermath, the maneuverings of the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party to win the support of Manchukuo units, the experience of former Manchukuo troops in the Chinese Civil War, their impact on the war, and the ways in which many of them created postwar narratives of redemption through service to the people's cause.