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1923
January
26
The First United Front in China
On 26 January 1923 Sun Yat-sen and the Soviet envoy Adolph Joffe issued a joint statement in Shanghai, opening the way to a Kuomintang–communist alliance.
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.
24
The Second United Front in China
On 24 December 1936 in Xi’an Chiang Kai-shek promised Zhou Enlai an end to the war on the Communists. The front was formally concluded only in September 1937.
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.
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.
1939
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
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.
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.
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.
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
The Hull note
On 26 November 1941 Cordell Hull handed the Japanese a note demanding withdrawal from China and Indochina. It set no deadline, but Tokyo saw it as an ultimatum.
December
08
The “Day of Infamy” speech
On 8 December 1941 Roosevelt called Pearl Harbor a day of infamy and Congress declared war on Japan. Within days a dozen or more other states had done the same.
11
The Japanese invasion of Burma begins
In mid-December 1941 the Japanese took Victoria Point in southern Burma; on 23 and 25 December their bombers struck Rangoon, setting off a flight from the city.
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.
March
08
The Japanese take Rangoon
On 8 March 1942 the Japanese 33rd Division entered abandoned, burning Rangoon. The British army in Burma lost its only port, and China its supply route.
April
15
The Battle of Yenangyaung
On 15 April 1942 the British set the Yenangyaung oilfields ablaze. The Japanese encircled 1st Burma Division, which broke out of the pocket with Chinese help.
18
Key event
The Doolittle Raid
On 18 April 1942 sixteen B-25 bombers from the carrier Hornet bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities. The damage was slight; the consequences were immense.
29
The Japanese take Lashio
On 29 April 1942 the Japanese 56th Division took Lashio in Burma, the start of the Burma Road. China lost its last land link with the outside world.
May
01
The Japanese take Mandalay
On 1 May 1942 the Japanese entered burnt-out Mandalay and took Monywa on the Chindwin, threatening to cut Slim's corps off from its only road to India.
06
Stilwell's walk out of Burma
On 6 May 1942 General Joseph Stilwell abandoned his vehicles and led 114 people on foot from Burma to India. Two weeks later all reached Imphal alive.
20
The end of the Burma campaign
On 20 May 1942 the remnants of Burma Corps came under IV Corps in India. After the longest retreat in British Army history, Burma was lost.
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.
September
15
Chiang Kai-shek demands Stilwell's recall
On 15 September 1943 T. V. Soong put to Roosevelt a plan to remove General Stilwell. The crisis around the American in China lasted until 17 October.
27
The execution of Mao Zemin
Late on 27 September 1943 in Ürümqi, on Sheng Shicai's orders, Mao Zemin, Mao Zedong's brother, and the communists Chen Tanqiu and Lin Jilu were killed.
October
10
Chiang Kai-shek becomes Chairman of the National Government
On 10 October 1943 in Chongqing Chiang Kai-shek was sworn in as Chairman of the National Government of China, an office now given real power.
November
22
The Cairo Conference
On 22–26 November 1943 Roosevelt, Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo to discuss the war with Japan and agreed to return Manchuria and Taiwan to China.
December
28
The Chinese in the Hukawng Valley
On 28 December 1943 three battalions of the Chinese 38th Division attacked the Japanese at Yupbang Ga in Burma's Hukawng Valley. Stilwell's offensive was on.
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.
May
12
The Chinese cross the Salween
On the night of 10/11 May 1944 General Wei Lihuang's Chinese Expeditionary Force began crossing the Salween in Yunnan to reopen the Burma Road.
18
The Myitkyina airfield
On 17 May 1944 Merrill's Marauders and the Chinese 150th Regiment seized the airfield at Myitkyina by surprise. The town held out for almost three more months.
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.
August
03
The capture of Myitkyina
On 3 August 1944, after a 78-day siege, Stilwell's Chinese divisions and Americans took Myitkyina, the most important Japanese-held town in northern Burma.
21
The Dumbarton Oaks Conference
On 21 August 1944 the US, Britain and the USSR, later joined by China, began Washington talks on a post-war organisation. They produced the outline of the UN.
September
21
The second phase of the Dumbarton Oaks Conference
In September 1944 the Dumbarton Oaks talks entered their final phase. From 29 September China discussed the draft of the future UN with the US and Britain.
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
January
11
The first convoy on the Ledo Road
In January 1945 the first convoy took the Ledo Road from India across northern Burma to China, leaving Ledo on 12 January and reaching Kunming on 4 February.
31
The opening of the Stilwell Road
At the end of January 1945 the Ledo Road joined the Burma Road. The first convoy from India drove into China and the land blockade of China was broken.
May
08
The division of Indochina at the 16th parallel
On 8 May 1945 in San Francisco the US assured France it did not dispute French sovereignty over Indochina. The 16th-parallel division was agreed in July.
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.
July
26
Key event
The Potsdam Declaration
On 26 July 1945 the US, Britain and China called on Japan to surrender its armed forces unconditionally under threat of “prompt and utter destruction”.
August
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.
30
The British return to Hong Kong
On 30 August 1945 Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt’s squadron entered Victoria Harbour, ending three years and eight months of Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.
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.