The Second Sino Japanese War started in July of 1937. The reason the Second Sino war was started was because a group of Japanese soldiers opened fire on the local soldiers near the Marco Polo Bridge, outside of Beijing. This event is where most people look to as the start of World War II in Asia. Later that July the Empire of Japan launched a full-scale invasion into the Republic of China.
The Empire of Japan moved very quickly into the Republic of China at the beginning of the Second Sino War. The reason was because the Empire of Japan had tanks and aircrafts unlike the Republic of China. The Empire of Japan’s army moved up the coast of China very fast, forcing the Republic of China and its army to fall back for its capital Nanjing to other cities throughout the Republic.
The Empire of Japan’s army was very well known for how violent they were to civilians and military prisoners they captured on their way. One of the most infamous examples of this is what people call the “Rape of Nanjing”. In this massacre it is estimated that over 300,000 people were killed. People were burned alive, machine gunned down, even used as targets of bayonet practice. The women were taken as sex slaves and house workers to serve the higher ranked officers of the Empire of Japan. During this time the Empire of Japan performed experiments of some of the prisoners they took. They would be injected with diseases like smallpox, cholera, and many others. The Empire of Japan would also test things like how long you could go without food or water, or what the reaction to amputation without anesthetics, or the effects of chemical weapons on the body. In 1938 the President of the Republic of China at the time, Chiang Kai-shek, ordered a dam blown up in order to slow the Empire of Japan’s army. While with blowing up of the dam did slow the Empire of Japans forces, it killed between 500,00 to 1,000,000 civilians in the process and caused food shortages and widespread famine.
After 1938 the war became more or less a stand still with the Empire of japan controlling the whole entire shore and about 400 miles inland. The Second Sino Japanese war ended when the USA dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th of 1945. Soon after the bombings the Empire of Japan surrendered to the Republic of China and to the allied forces.
Chinese Revolution
http://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/sino-japanese-war/
Facts and Details
Jeffrey Hays
http://factsanddetails.com/asian/ca67/sub426/entry-5329.html
Second Sino-Japanese War - New World Encyclopedia
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Second_Sino-Japanese_War
The Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek
--------- Japanese Territory Before 1932
--------- Area Sized in 1932
--------- Area Sized By October, 1938
--------- Area Sized in 1932
--------- Area Sized By October, 1938