jul 7, 1937 - Marco Polo Bridge Incident

Description:

After Japan took Manchuria and created the puppet state Manchukuo, they continued to spread into the rest of China. In retaliation, the Chinese started an anti-Japanese movement which grew so much that Chinese communists and nationalists ended up working together to stop the Japanese aggression. While the Japanese occupied Fengtai (a railway close to the Marco Polo Bridge south of Beiping), some Japanese soldiers demanded entry into a tiny town called Wanping. However, the Chinese refused to let them enter, someone shot a gun, and soon it became a battle. Neither side wanted to concede or negotiate, and as the Japanese continued to score more victories, it became the Sino-Japanese War.