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Second Sino-Japanese War
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(36)
1936
December
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.
October
05
The Quarantine Speech
On 5 October 1937 in Chicago, Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of states spreading an “epidemic of lawlessness”. No action followed; isolationists protested.
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.
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
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.
February
01
Japan’s record military budget
On 1 February 1940 Yonai’s government put a budget of over 10 billion yen, two-thirds military, to the Diet. Next day Takao Saitō asked what the war was for.
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.
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
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.
1942
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.
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.
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.
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.