Fall of Nanjing

December 13, 1937 · Central China — Nanjing Theater

December 13, 1937

After Shanghai fell, Japanese forces advanced rapidly up the Yangtze River toward China's capital. Chiang Kai-shek evacuated the government to Wuhan and then Chongqing, ordering General Tang Shengzhi to defend the city. Tang's defense collapsed within days. On December 13, 1937, Japanese forces entered Nanjing and began six weeks of systematic murder, rape, and destruction that the world came to call the Rape of Nanjing.

• ●Fall of Nanjing