World War 2 timeline
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Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of... Read more
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Marco Polo Bridge Incident (Battle of Lugou Bridge)
From June 1937, Japanese troops carried out intensive military training maneuvers in the vicinity of the western end of the Marco Polo Bridge.... Read more
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Fighting Erupts at Langfang Between Chinese and Japanese Troops Despite Recent Truce
By 25 July, Japanese reinforcements in the form of the IJA 20th Division arrived and fighting re-erupted first at Langfang, a city on the railroad... Read more
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Tungchow Mutiny
The Tungchow Mutiny (通州事件 Tsushu jiken, Chinese: 通州事件; pinyin: Tōngzhōu Shìjiàn), sometimes referred to as the Tōngzhōu Incident, was an assault on... Read more
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Tianjin Falls to Japanese Forces
Meanwhile on the coast at dawn of 29 July, the IJA 5th Division and Japanese naval forces separately attacked Tianjin and the port at Tanggu, which... Read more
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Beijing Falls to Japanese Forces
On 28 July, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Song Zheyuan to retreat to Paoting in southern Hebei province. Over the next two days, intense fighting took... Read more
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Japanese Forces Begin Attack on Chinese at Nankou
On August 8th the Japanese 11th Independent Mixed Brigade, commanded by Gen. Shigiyasu Suzuki began their attack on the left flank of the 13th... Read more
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First Phase in the Battle of Shanghai
Around 9am on August 13, the Chinese Peace Preservation Corps exchanged small arms fire with Japanese troops in Zhabei, Wusong, and Jiangwan... Read more
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Phase Two in the Battle of Shanghai
On August 23, the Japanese Shanghai Expeditionary Army, led by Iwane Matsui, landed in Liuhe, Wusong (吳淞), and Chuanshakou. Chiang Kai-shek had... Read more
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Japanese Army Air Service Commences Aerial Bombing of Nanking
On September 21, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, commanded by Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, began aerial bombardment of Nanking. The aerial... Read more
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Xie Jinyuan Leads Chinese Defense of Sihang Warehouse Against Japanese Aggression as Generalissimo Chiang Withdraws Forces West of Shanghai
The Defense of Sihang Warehouse (simplified Chinese: 四行仓库; traditional Chinese: 四行倉庫; pinyin: Sìháng Cāngkù) took place from October 26 to November... Read more
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Phase Three in the Battle of Shanghai
Starting the night of October 26, the Chinese began withdrawing from Shanghai urban center. Because Dachang and other vital suburban towns had been... Read more
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Chinese Defense of Sihang Warehouse against Japanese Ends with with Foreign Intervention
The Japanese launched a new wave of attack at 7 a.m. on the 30th. There were fewer infantry assaults at the warehouse this time; the Japanese... Read more
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Japanese Forces Take Taiyuan and Surrounding Area, Ending Large-Scale Resistance in the North China Area
The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan (traditional Chinese: 太原會戰; pinyin: Tàiyuán Huìzhàn; Wade-Giles: T'ai-yüan Hui-tsan)... Read more
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Japanese are Victorious Over Chinese at Xinkou
Yan Xishan gathered all available Chinese troops under his command to make a stand at Xinkou, because this location is flanked by Wutaishan and... Read more
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General Matsui Iwane Issues Order to Japanese Army to Take Nanking by Force
The Japanese awaited an answer to their demand for surrender. When no Chinese envoy had arrived by 1:00 p.m. on December 10, General Matsui Iwane... Read more
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Japanese Attack on United States Gunboat Panay
A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, Panay served as part of the U.S. Navy's Yangtze Patrol in the Asiatic Fleet,... Read more
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Nanking Falls to Japanese Troops
On the afternoon of December 13, the Shanghai Expeditionary Force Headquarters at Tangshuizhen was ambushed by Chinese stragglers. The Japanese... Read more
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Japanese Soldiers Begin Six-Week 'Rape of Nanking'
I know not where to end. Never I have heard or read such brutality. Rape! Rape! Rape! We estimate at least 1,000 cases a night, and many by day. In... Read more
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Road to War
Under the Versailles Settlement, Czechoslovakia was created, including the Sudetenland, which had a large German population.Hitler,on its first... Read more
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Japanese Army Begins Sustained Bombing of Chongqing
The bombing of Chongqing (Traditional Chinese: 重慶大轟炸, Simplified Chinese: 重庆大轰炸, Japanese: 重慶爆撃, from 18 February 1938 to 23 August 1943) was part... Read more
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Edward R. Murrow and William Shirer Report on Hitler's Anschluss
Murrow gained his first glimpse of fame during the March 1938 Anschluss, in which Adolf Hitler engineered the annexation of Austria by Nazi... Read more
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Battle of Xuzhou
The Battle of Xuzhou was fought between Japanese and Chinese forces in May 1938 during Second Sino-Japanese War. In contemporary accounts in... Read more
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Battle of Taierzhuang
The Battle of Tai'erzhuang (simplified Chinese: 台儿庄会战; traditional Chinese: 臺兒莊會戰; pinyin: Tái'érzhūang Huìzhàn) was a battle of the Second... Read more
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Japanese Forces Capture Anqing, Setting off Battle of Wuhan
On 13 June, the Japanese made a naval landing that captured Anqing, which signalled the onset of the Battle of Wuhan. On the southern shore of... Read more