Battle of Nanking
1937 battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War
The Battle of Nanking was an engagement fought in early December 1937 between the National Revolutionary Army of China and the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War for control of the city of Nanking, the capital of the Republic of China.
Before the attack on the city of Nanking
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Nanking's fortified city walls as seen in 1930
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Japanese soldiers sitting around a bonfire and reading newspapers while waiting for the order to attack Nanking(Date: December 9 1937)
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Japanese soldiers marching on Nanking, carrying guns and wheels(Date: December 9 1937)
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Chinese poster in Nanking warning residents that those who collaborate with the Japanese Army will be executed as traitors
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Nanking's Central Hospital hit by Japanese bombs on September 25 1937
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A Chinese civilian carries his dying son wounded in a Japanese air raid(Date: December 6 1937)
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Battle of Nanking campaign map, with the red lines being the Japanese path of advance and the brown lines being Chinese defense lines
The all-out attack on Nanking(December 10-13 1937)
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An explosion at Zhonghua Gate(Date: December 12 1937)
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An explosion at Zhonghua Gate(Date: December 12 1937)
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Japanese soldiers waiting to burst into Nanking with their field guns just fifty meters from Zhonghua Gate(Date: December 12 1937)
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Japanese troops atop Guanghua Gate shouting "Banzai" three times(Date: December 13 1937)
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Japanese soldiers watch a shell fired from atop Guanghua Gate explode over Chinese positions within the city(Date: December 13 1937)
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The bridge in front of Zhonghua Gate destroyed by Japanese shellfire(Date: December 13 1937)
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Japan's Chiba unit trying to enter Nanking's Zhonghua Gate by crossing the Qinhuai River(Date: December 13 1937)
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Japan's Chiba unit crossing the Qinhuai River(Date: December 13 1937)
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Japanese soldiers rushing to enter Nanking's Zhongshan Gate following its capture(Date: December 13 1937)
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Japanese soldiers stand atop the ruins of Zhongshan Gate(Date: December 13 1937)
Aftermath of the battle
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Japanese soldiers walking amidst debris on Nanking's Zhongshan Road
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Japanese troops marching through Nanking's Zhongshan Road(Date: December 14 1937)
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Chinese civilians emerging from a bomb shelter and greeting Japanese soldiers following the end of the battle of Nanking(Date: December 14 1937)
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Japanese soldiers searching Chinese troops who had attempted to escape by mingling with Chinese refugees in Nanking
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Japanese soldiers entering Nanking with carp which floated up to the surface of a pond following a shell blast
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A Japanese soldier playing the piano in the middle of Nanking's Zhongshan Road
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A high-tech anti-aircraft gun abandoned by the Chinese Army in Nanking
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A Japanese proclamation put up in Nanking stating that the Japanese Army is fighting only against the warlords and not against the ordinary people of China
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Captured war flags of the Chinese Army being displayed by Japanese troops in Nanking
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The Japanese flag being put up over Japan's consulate general in Nanking for the first time in half a year(Date: December 14 1937)
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Chinese POWs held by Japanese troops(Date: December 16 1937)
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A Chinese orphan in Nanking with Japanese soldiers(Date: December 16 1937)
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Chinese barber working on a street in Nanking as the city returns to normalcy(Date: December 17 1937)
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Japanese soldiers interacting with Chinese civilians on a street corner in Nanking(Date: December 17 1937)
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Japanese soldiers shopping in Nanking(Date: December 17 1937)
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Japanese soldiers and Chinese children playing with toy tanks in Nanking's Zhongshan Road(Date: December 20 1937)
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Chinese children playing in and around a broken coach in a residential district of Nanking(Date: December 20 1937)
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Chinese civilians singing hymns in a church in Nanking(Date: December 25 1937)
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Japanese aircraft engineer studying a Soviet-built Polikarpov I-16 fighter used by the Chinese Air Force (Date: December 22 1937)
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Chinese people sweeping the streets clean following the end of the battle(Date: December 22 1937)
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Japanese soldiers preparing for New Years' Day by putting up Japanese pine decorations called kadomatsu in front of Nanking city hall(Date: December 26 1937)
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Busy street in the Nanking Safety Zone(Date: December 27 1937)
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Soviet embassy burning due to an act of arson by a Chinese citizen(Date: January 1 1938)
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Photograph of Tao Xisan, who would become the Chairman of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Gathering of the Chinese men who will constitute the Nanking Self-Government Committee, with Tao Xisan in the center of the front row(Date: December 23 1937)
Japanese victory parade(December 17 1937)
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Japanese soldiers standing at attention on both sides of Nanking's main thoroughfare
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Japanese soldiers holding mortuary tablets and the ashes of fellow soldiers killed in action
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Japan's Ono Unit doing a rifle salute atop Nanking's Zhongshan Gate
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Japanese commander Iwane Matsui riding into Nanking
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Japanese navy personnel who had landed at Xiaguan marching through Nanking's Yijiang Gate while holding the Japanese naval ensign
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Brass band of the Japanese Navy marching on Nanking's Zhongshan Road
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The Japanese flag fluttering over the former seat of the Nationalist Government of China
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Japanese officers entering the former seat of the Nationalist Government of China
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Japanese officers gathering in the courtyard of the former seat of the Nationalist Government of China
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Commanders of the Japanese Army in the courtyard of the former seat of the Nationalist Government of China
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Commanders of the Japanese Army bowing in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
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Japanese officers bowing in the direction of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo
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Chinese refugees cheering Japanese soldiers who are distributing candy and cigarettes to them on the day of the victory parade
Japanese memorial service in Nanking(December 18 1937)
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Japanese soldiers in Nanking marching to the site of the memorial service
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Japanese navy personnel entering the site of the memorial service
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From left to right, Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa, General Iwane Matsui, Prince Asaka and General Iwane Matsui
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Otani Kosho(right), Patriarch of the Japanese Buddhist temple Nishi Honganji
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The altar at the memorial service in Nanking
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Japanese navy personnel saluting the soldiers who fell in battle
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General Iwane Matsui delivering an address of condolence
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General Iwane Matsui offering up a sacred tree, or tamagushi, at the altar
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Vice Admiral Kiyoshi Hasegawa delivering an address of condolence
Medical services following the battle
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Chinese soldiers injured during the Battle of Nanking receiving treatment from Japanese army medics at a field hospital set up inside the building of the Chinese Foreign Ministry(Date: December 20 1937)
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Japanese army medics giving free medical care to Chinese refugees(Date: December 20 1937)
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Japanese army doctors re-dressing a patient's wound(Date: December 30 1937)
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Japanese army medics treating Chinese children for trachoma(Date: December 30 1937)
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A nurse cheering up a wounded Japanese soldier
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A nurse cutting the hair of wounded Japanese soldier
Inauguration of the Nanking Self-Government Committee(January 1 1938)
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Flag-waving Chinese citizens marching to the inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Flag-waving Chinese citizens marching to the inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Chinese residents of Nanking gathering at the inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Chairman Tao Xisan(right end) at the inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee with other committee members
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Inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Chinese band playing at the inaugural ceremony of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Address by Chairman Tao Xisan
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Tao Xisan proclaiming the inauguration of the Nanking Self-Government Committee
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Cheers led by Tao Xisan
Celebrations in Japan
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Japanese citizens at the Navy Ministry celebrating the fall of Nanking(Date: December 11 1937)
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Japanese citizens celebrating the fall of Nanking(Date: December 12 1937)
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More celebrations in Japan(Date: December 12 1937)
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Caricature of Chiang Kai-shek put up in Ginza, Tokyo(Date: December 12 1937)
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Buildings lit up in Tokyo in honor of the capture of Nanking(Date: December 12 1937)
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Newspaper ad encouraging readers to buy Gekkeikan sake to celebrate the fall of Nanking(Date: December 12 1937)
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Extra of the Osaka Asahi Shimbun reporting on the fall of Nanking