1937

The year in brief

On the night of 7–8 July 1937 shots at the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing set off a clash between Chinese and Japanese troops. The incident is regarded as the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War. In August the Japanese entered Beijing, and the fighting moved to Shanghai, where China lost its best divisions. On 13 December the Japanese took Nanjing, the Chinese capital, and for weeks afterwards murdered prisoners and civilians. In Spain aircraft of the Condor Legion and the Italian air force bombed Guernica. In London Neville Chamberlain became prime minister, determined to calm Europe through concessions to Germany and Italy. On 5 November Hitler set out to the commanders of the Wehrmacht a plan to win “living space” by force, beginning with Austria and Czechoslovakia. The next day Italy joined the Anti-Comintern Pact, and in December it left the League of Nations.