二战的东方缘起:芮恩施的中日冲突观及其对美国外交的思想遗产

The Oriental Origin of World War II:Paul S.Reinsch's View of the Sino-Japanese Conflict and His Ideological Legacy for American Diplomacy

1918年一战结束之际,美国驻华公使芮恩施在给国务院的密电中指出,在即将召开的巴黎和会上,如果中国问题得不到有效解决,必将引发一场新的世界大战。这个战争预言,不仅是芮恩施本人的看法,也代表了当时在华美国侨民群体的主流意见,反映出一战结束之后美日两国在华利益竞争已经到了非常尖锐的地步。芮恩施的战争预言,揭示出二战的东方缘起具有深刻的历史背景。一战前后,芮恩施既是“门户开放”政策的重要阐释者,也是美国威尔逊政府对华政策的实际执行人,其基本思想是“联华制日”。至冷战初期,随着国际政治形势的转变,芮恩施的“联华制日”外交思想才逐渐被美国政府所摈弃。

At the end of World War I in 1918,the U.S.Minister in China Paul S.Reinsch pointed out in a secret telegram to the U.S.Department of State that at the upcoming Paris Peace Conference,if China's problems could not be effectively solved,it would surely lead to a new world war.This war prediction was not only the opinion of Reinsch himself,but represented the mainstream opinion of the American expatriates living in China at that time,reflecting the sharp point of the interest competition between the United States and Japan in China after the end of World War I.Reinsch's war prediction revealed that the Eastern origin of World War II had a profound historical background.Before and after World War I,Reinsch was not only an important interpreter of the"open door"policy,but also the actual executor of the Wilson Administration's China policy.His basic idea was"cooperating with China to contain Japan."In the early days of the Cold War,with the change of the international political situation,Reinsch's diplomatic idea of"cooperating with China to contain Japan"was gradually abandoned by the U.S.government.