The Nanjing Massacre took place after Japanese forces captured Nanjing, then China's capital, in December 1937, in the early months of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Over the following weeks, soldiers killed large numbers of Chinese civilians and disarmed prisoners of war, and committed widespread rape and looting. Foreigners such as John Rabe established a Safety Zone that sheltered many refugees. After the war, tribunals in Tokyo and Nanjing convicted Japanese officers for these crimes. Estimates of the death toll vary widely, from tens of thousands to the figure of 300,000 given by China, and the memory of the event remains a source of tension between China and Japan.
Before and after
- 10 December 1936Death of Luigi Pirandello
- 17 December 1936Birth of Pope Francis
- 1937Discovery of technetium
- 1937Guernica
- 1937Nanjing Massacre
- 1937Publication of Of Mice and Men
- 1937Jahn–Teller effect
- 19371937 becomes the warmest year on record
- 20 January 1937Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt
More in Society, economy & sport
- 16 October 1923Founding of The Walt Disney Company
- 20 July 1924Founding of FIDE
- from 3 August 1936 to 9 August 1936Jesse Owens wins four gold medals in Berlin
- November 1938Kristallnacht
- 1940Katyn massacre
- 1941Rise of Vietnamese Independence League
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.