During World War II, Japan invaded China, beginning with the Mukden Incident in 1931 and ending with the Japanese surrender in 1945. This invasion is referred to as the Second Sino-Japanese War, or the China Incident. It was one of the most brutal military campaigns of the war, and caused vast destruction to life and property across the country.
The Mukden Incident, also known as the “9.18” incident, took place on September 18th, 1931 and is widely regarded as the beginning of Japan’s full-scale invasion of China. It involved a staged attack by Japan on a railway near the Manchurian city of Mukden as part of a plan to take control of Manchuria and turn it into a puppet state. This incident marked the beginning of a long period of aggression and military occupation, as the Japanese began to expand their power throughout northeast and central China.
Throughout the 1930s, the Japanese continued to expand their control in China, taking over and occupying cities like Shanghai and Nanking. The Japanese employed mass atrocities against the civilian population, and they imposed harsh taxes and labor policies on their new Chinese subjects. These policies led to severe poverty and famine, and it is estimated that millions of Chinese civilians died during this time.
In 1937, the Chinese government declared war against Japan and launched a campaign to drive the Japanese out of the country. Led by General Chiang Kai-Shek, the Chinese forces were ill-equipped and struggled to contain the superior Japanese forces. Nevertheless, the Chinese managed to hold off the Japanese for several years, eventually leading to the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 and the Battle of Chongqing in 1938.
However, the Japanese forces quickly gained momentum, overpowering the Chinese and occupying and controlling large areas of the country. By 1940, they had taken control of nearly all of eastern and central China. In the same year, they invaded and occupied French Indochina (now Vietnam), further expanding their hold in the region.
By 1945, the Japanese had been driven out of most of the country, but they still held onto parts of Manchuria and northern China. In the final months of the war, American forces bombed industrial cities throughout Japan, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Shortly after these bombs were dropped, the Japanese government surrendered and World War II came to an end. China was one of the victors of the war, and its people were finally able to end their long struggle against foreign aggression.