1937 – 1945
The largest Asian conflict in history, the Second Sino-Japanese War killed up to 20 million Chinese — soldiers and civilians alike — and produced the Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese forces slaughtered 200,000–300,000 people in six weeks. Often overshadowed in the West by the broader Pacific War, it was China's eight-year war of survival against Imperial Japan's ruthless drive for continental domination, and its outcome remade Asia forever.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
The largest Asian conflict in history, the Second Sino-Japanese War killed up to 20 million Chinese — soldiers and civilians alike — and produced the Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese forces slaughtered 200,000–300,000 people in six weeks. Often overshadowed in the West by the broader Pacific War, it was China's eight-year war of survival against Imperial Japan's ruthless drive for continental domination, and its outcome remade Asia forever.
Second Sino-Japanese War was fought from 1937 to 1945.
Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between Republic of China and Imperial Japan.
An estimated 21,255,700 people died in Second Sino-Japanese War, including roughly 4,255,700 military and 17,000,000 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included Operation Ichigo, Yellow River Flood (Huayuankou Incident), Battle of Wuhan, and Battle of Shanghai.