Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War started as a conflict between the Japanese and Chinese forces in order to control the mainland of China. By the start of the war, Japan had already taken over Manchuria and made it into a Japanese puppet state known as Manchukuo. Japan had pressured China into recognizing the independence of Manchukuo from China. Although China had never fully recognized this, Japan had forced China into two demilitarized zones bordering Manchuria. The war had hit a breaking point in 1937 with Japanese soldiers fighting Chinese forces at Beijing. After much struggle, the cities of Shanghai, Hankou, and Guangzhou had fallen to the Japanese. The then capital of Nanjing had also fallen. This battle is now known as the Rape of Nanjing (or Nanking) due to the crimes the Japanese soldiers had put on the citizens of Nanjing. From the incident in Nanjing through the end of World War II in 1945 the Chinese military an resources had drastically declined. However, after a successful offensive in Zhijang (or Chihkiang), China had been able to hold up against the Japanese army. Japan had finally surrendered to China formally on the 9th of September, 1945.