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Far East
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1927
April
12
The Shanghai massacre
On 12 April 1927 Chiang Kai-shek’s troops and Shanghai gangsters crushed the Communist workers’ militias, starting a purge that ended the alliance with the CCP.
1928
May
03
The Jinan incident
On 3 May 1928 Japanese troops clashed with Chiang Kai-shek's forces in Jinan. The Japanese took the city, and thousands of Chinese, mostly civilians, died.
28
The founding of the Chinese Red Army
In spring 1928 the forces of Zhu De and Mao Zedong joined up in the Jinggang Mountains, and the CCP leadership decided to call its troops the Red Army.
June
04
The assassination of Zhang Zuolin
On 4 June 1928 Kwantung Army officers blew up Zhang Zuolin's train near Mukden. The ruler of Manchuria died, and his son went over to the Nanjing government.
1929
March
28
The end of the Jinan incident
On 28 March 1929 Japan and the Nanjing government settled the Jinan affair. Japan left Shandong in May, and the question of the victims was shelved for good.
1931
September
18
Key event
The Mukden incident
On 18 September 1931 Kwantung Army officers blew up a stretch of railway near Mukden, blamed the Chinese and that same night attacked the Chinese barracks.
19
The Japanese invasion of Manchuria begins
On 19 September 1931 the Kwantung Army took Mukden and the railway towns. Tokyo said it did not want the fighting to spread, but the army ignored it.
1932
January
28
The Shanghai incident
On 28 January 1932 Japanese naval infantry attacked the Chinese district of Zhabei in Shanghai. Five weeks of fighting ended with an armistice on 5 May.
February
27
The end of the fighting in Manchuria
By late February 1932 the Kwantung Army held every major city in Manchuria. Regular Chinese resistance had collapsed, but a guerrilla war was just beginning.
March
01
The proclamation of Manchukuo
On 1 March 1932 the “independent” state of Manchukuo was proclaimed in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. At its head stood Puyi, the last emperor of China.
November
04
The pacification of Manchukuo
In the autumn of 1932 the Kwantung Army mounted large operations against the Chinese volunteer armies. The “bandit suppression” in Manchukuo lasted until 1942.
1933
January
01
The defence of the Great Wall begins
On the night of 1 January 1933 the Japanese provoked a shoot-out at Shanhaiguan. On 3 January they took the fortress at the Great Wall's eastern end.
May
31
The Tanggu Truce
On 31 May 1933 China and Japan signed a truce at Tanggu. Chinese troops left the zone between the Great Wall and Beijing, and Japan kept Rehe.
1934
October
16
The Long March begins
In mid-October 1934 the main forces of the Chinese Red Army crossed the river at Yudu and abandoned Jiangxi. The Long March had begun.
1936
November
14
The Suiyuan campaign
On 14 November 1936 Japanese-backed collaborationist troops attacked Hongort in Suiyuan. The Chinese repulsed them and took Bailingmiao on 24 November.
December
12
The Xi’an incident
On 12 December 1936 Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng detained Chiang Kai-shek in Xi’an to force him to end the war with the communists and fight Japan.
1937
July
07
Key event
The Marco Polo Bridge incident
On the night of 7–8 July 1937 shots near the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing sparked a Sino-Japanese clash that grew into an eight-year war.
August
08
The Japanese take Beijing
On 8 August 1937 the Japanese made a ceremonial entry into Beijing, abandoned by the Chinese 29th Army on 28–29 July. The occupation lasted until 1945.
13
The Battle of Shanghai begins
On 13 August 1937 fighting broke out in Shanghai between the Chinese army and Japanese naval infantry. The war spread from northern China to its heart.
November
26
The end of the Battle of Shanghai
On 26 November 1937 the Chinese abandoned the Wuxi–Jiangyin line. The Battle of Shanghai ended in defeat for China, and the Japanese moved on Nanjing.
December
01
The Battle of Nanjing begins
On 1 December 1937 Imperial GHQ in Tokyo ordered the capture of Nanjing, China's capital, defended by General Tang Shengzhi with troops bled white at Shanghai.
08
The creation of Mengjiang
In autumn 1937 Japan set up three puppet governments in Inner Mongolia and on 22 November joined them in the Mengjiang committee. The state came in 1939.
12
The Panay incident
On 12 December 1937 Japanese aircraft sank the US gunboat Panay and three tankers on the Yangtze near Nanjing. Tokyo apologised and paid compensation.
13
Key event
The Nanjing massacre
On 13 December 1937 the Japanese took Nanjing, China's capital. For weeks they murdered prisoners and civilians, raped women, looted and burned the city.
1938
January
26
The Allison incident
On 26 January 1938 a Japanese soldier in Nanjing slapped the US diplomat John M. Allison, who was investigating a rape. Japan apologised.
March
06
The Japanese reach the Yellow River
In early March 1938 Japanese troops from North China reached the middle Yellow River in Shanxi and Henan. For years the river became a front line.
24
The Battle of Taierzhuang begins
On 24 March 1938 the Japanese attacked the small town of Taierzhuang on the Grand Canal. After two weeks of fighting China won its first major victory.
May
19
The fall of Xuzhou
On 19 May 1938 the Japanese entered the abandoned city of Xuzhou. They took a key railway junction, but the main Chinese forces escaped encirclement.
July
29
The fighting at Lake Khasan begins
On 29 July 1938 the Japanese attacked a Soviet post on Bezymyannaya Hill by Lake Khasan. A dispute over two hills became a two-week battle.
August
11
The end of the fighting at Lake Khasan
On 11 August 1938 a ceasefire took effect at Lake Khasan. The USSR regained the disputed hills at great cost; Japan judged them not worth fighting for.
1939
May
11
The Battle of Khalkhin Gol begins
On 11 May 1939 near Nomonhan, on the disputed Mongolia–Manchukuo border, Mongolian and Manchukuo horsemen clashed. So began the Soviet–Japanese battle.
June
14
The Tianjin incident
On 14 June 1939 the Japanese fenced off the British and French concessions in Tianjin. A dispute over four Chinese men became a crisis with London.
September
04
Japan stays out of the war in Europe
On 4 September 1939 Nobuyuki Abe’s government announced that Japan would not become involved in the European war and would focus on ending the “China Incident”.
14
The Battle of Changsha begins
On 14 September 1939 the Japanese 11th Army opened an offensive in Jiangxi to smash China's 9th War Zone and reach Changsha, the capital of Hunan.
26
The Japanese cross Lake Dongting
In late September 1939 the Japanese broke Chinese defences on the Xinqiang, landed on the shore of Lake Dongting and forced the Miluo on the way to Changsha.
October
08
Chinese victory at Changsha
On 8 October 1939 the Japanese 11th Army recrossed the Xinqiang, its start line for Changsha. China proclaimed a great victory, Japan a planned return.
November
24
The Japanese take Nanning
On 24 November 1939 the Japanese 5th Division took Nanning in Guangxi. Japan wanted to cut China off from supplies via French Indochina, its main supply route.
1940
January
01
The Japanese counter-offensive in Shanxi
On 1 January 1940 the Japanese struck near Changzhi in Shanxi at Chinese corps that had hemmed in garrisons of their 36th Division in the winter offensive.
March
30
Wang Jingwei’s government in Nanjing
On 30 March 1940 Wang Jingwei set up a collaborationist government in occupied Nanjing. It hailed a “return to the capital” but ruled only where Japan allowed.
May
31
The bombing of Chongqing
From 18 May 1940, in Operation 101, Japanese aircraft bombed Chongqing, China's wartime capital, day after day to break Chiang Kai-shek's will to resist.
June
29
Arita proclaims a new order in East Asia
On 29 June 1940 Foreign Minister Hachirō Arita declared on the radio that East Asia and the South Seas formed one sphere whose stability Japan guaranteed.
July
22
The second Konoe cabinet
On 22 July 1940 Fumimaro Konoe became Prime Minister of Japan again. His cabinet with Matsuoka and Tōjō turned Japan towards Germany and southward expansion.
August
20
The Hundred Regiments Offensive
On 20 August 1940 the communist Eighth Route Army struck Japanese railways, bridges, mines and posts in northern China. Peng Dehuai was in command.
September
22
Japan enters French Indochina
On 22 September 1940 Vichy France agreed to Japanese troops in Tonkin. Hours later the Japanese 5th Division attacked across the border near Lạng Sơn.
October
04
The Battle of Huangqiao
On 4 October 1940 in central Jiangsu, Han Deqin's Kuomintang troops attacked the communist New Fourth Army at Huangqiao. Within three days they were routed.
1941
January
15
The New Fourth Army incident
In January 1941 Kuomintang troops crushed the Communist New Fourth Army’s headquarters in southern Anhui. Ye Ting was captured; the united front was dead.
17
The Battle of Ko Chang
On 17 January 1941 a French squadron from Indochina surprised Thai warships off Ko Chang island and routed them without loss. It did not decide the war.
July
28
Japan occupies southern Indochina
On 28 July 1941 Japanese troops began landing in southern Indochina with consent forced from Vichy. The French went on governing; Japan gained bases.
August
11
Raids on Chongqing in August 1941
In August 1941 the Japanese bombed Chongqing day and night to wear the city down. On 30 August bombs fell on Chiang Kai-shek's residence.
November
26
Key event
The Kidō Butai sails for Hawaii
On 26 November 1941 Vice-Admiral Chūichi Nagumo’s six carriers left Hitokappu Bay in the Kurils, sailing under radio silence to strike Pearl Harbor.
1942
February
02
Stilwell in China
On 2 February 1942 General Joseph Stilwell was ordered to China as Chiang Kai-shek's chief of staff and commander of US forces in China, Burma and India.
May
29
The Zhejiang–Jiangxi campaign
In reprisal for the Doolittle Raid the Japanese struck in Zhejiang in May 1942 to destroy its airfields. On 28 May they took Jinhua and Lanxi.
1943
March
10
The Fourteenth Air Force formed in China
On 10 March 1943 the US Fourteenth Air Force was activated at Kunming under General Claire Chennault, former commander of the Flying Tigers.
May
09
The Changjiao massacre
From 9 to 12 May 1943 the Japanese murdered civilians and stranded Chinese soldiers at Changjiao on Lake Dongting. Chinese sources give 30,000 victims.
1944
April
17
Key event
Operation Ichi-Go begins
On 17 April 1944 the Japanese crossed the Yellow River in Henan. Operation Ichi-Go began – the largest land offensive ever mounted by the Japanese army.
July
10
B-29 raids from China
On the night of 7–8 July 1944 B-29s from airfields near Chengdu bombed Kyushu again. Tokyo was not a target – B-29s first appeared over it in November 1944.
November
25
Nanning and the threat to Kunming
On 24 November 1944 the Japanese took Nanning again. After Guilin and Liuzhou fell, their push into Guizhou threatened Guiyang and the road to Kunming.
1945
June
16
The Japanese retreat in China
In June 1945 the Japanese, on Tokyo’s orders, abandoned the corridor won in Operation Ichi-Go. The Chinese retook Nanning and Liuzhou, and Guilin in July.
August
08
Key event
The USSR declares war on Japan
On 8 August 1945 Molotov handed Japan's ambassador a declaration of war. A few hours later, on 9 August local time, the Red Army entered Manchuria.
14
The Sino-Soviet treaty
On 14 August 1945 in Moscow China and the USSR concluded a treaty of friendship and alliance that put into effect the Yalta concessions at China's expense.
19
Communist–Nationalist clashes in China
In August 1945 the Kuomintang and the Communists raced to accept the Japanese surrender. At the end of the month the first clashes broke out in Shanxi.
22
The surrender of the Kwantung Army
By 22 August 1945 the Kwantung Army had surrendered to the Red Army; the Soviets took Manchuria down to Port Arthur and sent over 500,000 POWs to the USSR.
September
09
The Japanese surrender in China
On 9 September 1945 in Nanjing General Yasuji Okamura signed the surrender of the China Expeditionary Army. The Japanese in southern Korea also surrendered.