HISTORY
Japanese plans for political development in the Far East had already been apparent when they presented their demands on China in 1917, to be followed by their intensive economic activities which disturbed Far Eastern trade very seriously. After Japan invaded China in 1937 the Colony became a refuge for many Chinese, among them large numbers from North China, and the population grew to over one and a half millions. Until the fall of Canton at the end of 1938 valuable supplies were able to reach China through Hong Kong. With the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 the position of the Colony became precarious, and on December 8th, 1941 the blow fell. Powerful units of the Japanese Army, supported by the Japanese Air Force based on Canton, struck at the Colony. The first attempt of the Japanese to land on Hong Kong Island was repulsed on the night of December 15th-16th, but a second attempt on the night of the 18th-19th could not be held. After some bloody fighting on the island, the Colony was surrendered to the Japanese forces on Christmas Day. The isolated brigade on Stanley peninsula held out for a further day before capitulating on superior orders.
Hong Kong remained in Japanese hands for over three and a half years and was liberated when units of the British Pacific Fleet entered the harbour on August 30th, 1945, about two weeks after the capitulation of Japan. A brief period of military administration was followed by the re-establishment of civil government on May 1st, 1946.
The Colony made an astonishing recovery in the years that followed. Thousands of Chinese people returned to Hong Kong from the mainland and the
267