Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre
- Date
- 7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945
- Category
- Military & conflict
- Region
- East Asia (China / Japan)
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Full-scale war between China and Japan erupted after the Marco Polo Bridge (Lugou Bridge) Incident near Beijing on 7 July 1937, when a clash between Japanese and Chinese troops escalated into a Japanese invasion of the Chinese heartland.
The brutal Battle of Shanghai (August–November 1937) cost hundreds of thousands of casualties before Japanese forces advanced on the Nationalist capital, Nanjing. After the city fell on 13 December 1937, Japanese troops carried out weeks of mass killing, rape and looting; estimates of the dead in the Nanjing Massacre commonly range from about 200,000 to 300,000, though figures remain disputed. The war devastated China, killing millions and displacing tens of millions over the following years, and merged into the wider Second World War after 1941. It hardened Chinese resistance, deepened the Nationalist-Communist rivalry that would resume after Japan's defeat, and left an enduring legacy of trauma and contested memory in East Asia.
One piece of history in your inbox, weekly
New empires, events and features as they land — one good email a week. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Empires active in 7 July 1937 – 2 September 1945
- Soviet Union1922 CE – 1991 CE
- Empire of Japan1868 CE – 1947 CE
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
Related military & conflict events
- German invasion of Poland and outbreak of World War II1 September 1939
- Italy Invades Ethiopia1935–1936
- Attack on Pearl Harbor7 December 1941
- Operation Barbarossa: German invasion of the Soviet Union22 June 1941
- Battle of Stalingrad23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943
- D-Day: the Normandy landings6 June 1944
Further reading
The wider story
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Pulitzer-winning life of the emperor and his empire.
Get it on Amazon →As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.