1937-12-13 - 1938-01-31

Fall of Nanjing and massacre

NanjingNanjing · After the capital fell, mass killing and violence by Japanese troops became a central memory of the war.

Other events in this phase

Second Sino Japanese War81
  1. Second United Front recognized
  2. Battle of Pingxingguan
  3. Defense of Sihang Warehouse
  4. Fall of Nanjing and massacreCurrent record
  5. Battle of Taierzhuang
  6. Yellow River flood of 1938
  7. Battle of Wuhan
See all 81

Context

The fall of Nanjing was not only a capital capture; it transformed the moral and political meaning of the war. The wartime capital shift, international opinion, and massacre memory converge here.

Sources

The Britannica entry on the Nanjing Massacre is paired with a Commons combat photograph near Zhonghua Gate.

Media

Japanese troops near Zhonghua Gate, December 1937Visual recordJapanese troops near Zhonghua Gate, December 1937Japanese artillery and assault troops near Zhonghua Gate in December 1937.

Source Trail

ReferenceEncyclopaedia Britannica · Nanjing MassacreOpen sourceMedia RecordWikimedia Commons · Attacking the Gate of ChinaOpen source