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| 1937–45 |
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| JAPANESE ATTACKS ON CHINA PROPER BEGAN WORLD WAR II IN EAST ASIA. There was no Japanese declaration of war until 1941. The conflict had long been in the offing, at least since the Manchurian Incident of 1931. Most Japanese historians date the beginning of the war to 1931, and certainly no later than July 7, 1937. | 1 |
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| 1937, July 7 |
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| The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (near Beijing) erupted. Japanese troops on night maneuvers clashed with Chinese. The fighting spread rapidly and led to the seizure of Beijing (July 28) and Tianjin (July 29) by the Japanese. A large-scale campaign was begun in north China. Without meeting much resistance, the Japanese took Zhangjiakou (Kalgan, Sept. 3), Baoding (Sept. 24), Shijiazhuang (Oct. 10), Guisui (Oct. 14), and Taiyuan (Nov. 9). By this time the Chinese had become better organized and managed to slow down the advance, though inferior equipment told heavily against the Chinese throughout. | 2 |
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| Aug. 8–Nov. 8 |
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| The Shanghai campaign, in which a Japanese naval force landed (Aug. 11) in Shanghai, resulted from the killing of two Japanese marines at a Chinese military airdrome; the Japanese force soon found itself endangered by vastly superior Chinese forces. The Japanese were obliged to send an army, which, after ferocious resistance by the Chinese and severe fighting, ultimately forced the Chinese back from the city (Nov. 8). The fall of Shanghai was followed immediately by the taking of Suzhou (Nov. 20) and by an energetic drive up the Yangzi River. Merciless bombing of Chinese cities by the Japanese outraged world opinion. Jiang's forces sustained 250,000 dead or wounded; the Japanese suffered some 40,000 casualties. | 3 |
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| Aug. 25 |
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| The Japanese naval blockade of south China was extended (Sept. 5) to the entire coast, but Qingdao, Hong Kong, Macao, and Guangzhouwan were excepted, out of consideration for foreign powers. | 4 |
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| Aug. 29 |
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| A nonaggression treaty between China and the Soviet Union was concluded. | 5 |
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| Oct. 5–6 |
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| This treaty led to the sale of military aircraft to China and to the shipment of large quantities of munitions, especially after the League of Nations and the U.S. condemned Japanese actions in China. A conference of powers at Brussels (Nov. 15) failed to effect mediation. | 6 |
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| Nov. 20 |
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| The GMD capital was moved inland from Nanjing to Chongqing (Chungking), though the executive power was, for the time being, established in Hankou. Jiang arrived on Dec. 8. | 7 |
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| Dec. 12 |
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| The Panay Incident occurred, in which Japanese bombers attacked U.S. and British ships near Nanjing, producing heightened tension between the powers. The U.S. government ultimately accepted Japanese explanations, but the Japanese government continued a high-handed policy toward foreign property and rights in China and evaded all protests from the United States, Great Britain, and France. The tense situation in Europe enabled Japan to pursue its aims without running the serious risk of intervention. | 8 |
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| Dec. 13 |
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| The fall of Nanjing followed heavy Japanese bombing. Great atrocities were committed by the Japanese troops in the Rape of Nanjing over the following seven weeks: thousands, perhaps more, were raped, and tens of thousands were murdered. The Chinese fell back, denying the Japanese a decisive victory. The first six months of the war demonstrated to the world the unity of the Chinese against the external aggressor. All factions, Communists and GMD alike, acted on the orders of the central government of the united front under Jiang Jieshi. | 9 |
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| Dec. 24 |
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| The Japanese took Hangzhou and, advancing from the north, occupied Jinan (Dec. 27). | 10 |
| There were disastrous droughts and famines throughout China (1936–37), adding starvation to the causes of death among ordinary Chinese people. Food riots, brigandry, and mass migrations took place in certain locales. | 11 |
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