Battle of Nanking 1937
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1937 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Interwar (1919–1938) | derived from year |
| Location | China | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Second Sino-Japanese War | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 32.0139, 118.7764 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanjing (Chinese: 南京; pinyin: Nánjīng), the capital of the Republic of China.
After Japan and China went to war in July 1937, their forces fought the vicious three-month Battle of Shanghai, both suffering heavy casualties. The Japanese eventually won the battle, forcing the Chinese army to withdraw. Capitalizing on their victory, the Japanese authorized a campaign to capture Nanjing. The task of occupying Nanjing was given to General Iwane Matsui, the commander of Japan's Central China Area Army, who believed that the capture of the national capital would force China to surrender. Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek decided to defend the city and appointed Tang Shengzhi to command the Nanjing Garrison Force, a hastily assembled army of local conscripts and the remnants of the Chinese units who had fought in Shanghai.
From November 11 to December 9, the Japanese army rapidly marched from Shanghai to Nanjing, pursuing the retreating Chinese army and overcoming all Chinese resistance in its way.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Nanking (revision 1379152998), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Third Battle of Nanjing 1864 · 4 km
- Battle of Caishi 1161 · 47 km
- Battle of Chinkiang 1842 · 64 km
- Battle of Ruxu (222–223) 222 · 94 km
- Battle of Jiangling (208) 208 · 140 km
- Battle of Hefei (208) 208 · 142 km
Other battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War
- Battle of Pingxingguan 1937
- Battle of Shanghai 1937
- Battle of Taiyuan 1937
- Battle of Xinkou 1937
- Marco Polo Bridge incident 1937
- Battle of Taierzhuang 1938
- Battle of Wuhan 1938
- Battle of Xuzhou 1938
- Battle of Changsha (1939) 1939
- Battle of Nanchang 1939
All 27 battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War →
Browse more: battles in China · Asia · Interwar battles