Operation Zet was a secret operation in 1937–1941 by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to provide military and technical resources to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

as a part of the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact. The operation aimed to help China resist the invasion of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was part of the Soviet anti-imperialist effort worldwide. In addition, the Soviet Union and the

Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...

had a longstanding rivalry that sometimes resulted in open hostilities. Under Operation Zet, the Soviets provided China with warplanes, bombers, tanks, antiaircraft weapons, ammunition, and transport vehicles. The operation began with the deployment of 225 combat aircraft, along with Soviet volunteers. The Soviet volunteer pilots were so successful that the American Assistant Naval Attaché James M. McHugh came to the conclusion that the Chinese Air Force were more loyal to the Soviet Union than to Chiang Kai-shek in 1938. The operation was carried out in secret to maintain

plausible deniability Plausible deniability is the ability of people, typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command, to deny knowledge or responsibility for actions committed by or on behalf of members of their organizational hierarchy. They may ...

and to resist the expansionist efforts of Japan to establish itself as the pre-eminent political force in

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

. Under the name of

Soviet Air Force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

Volunteers, Soviet troops fought in the defense of

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

Nanchang Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strate ...

, and

Chongqing ChongqingPostal Romanization, Previously romanized as Chungking ();. is a direct-administered municipality in Southwestern China. Chongqing is one of the four direct-administered municipalities under the State Council of the People's Republi ...

. Over 250 Soviet volunteer pilots and 885 aircraft were provided to China. The aircraft included

Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 () was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (', "gull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet ...

, Polikarpov I-16, and Polikarpov I-153.

Literature

* Михаил Юрьевич Мухин: ''Советский авиазавод в Синцзяне. 1930–1940-е годы'', in: Новая и новейшая история, vol. 47 (2004), no. 5, pp. 236–239
Available here.
* Василий Геннадьевич Шматов: ''«Советские крылья» китайской авиации (о строительстве и деятельности авиасборочного завода в Синьцзяне в 1938–1941 гг.)'', in: Известия Алтайского государственного университета, vol. 80 (2013), no. 4-1, pp. 97–101

References

External links

China–Soviet Union relations Zet {{China-mil-stub

See also

Literature

References

External links