Nanjing Massacre: Strategic Significance for Shanghai (Term Paper Sample)

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Nanjing Massacre
As a city, Nanking (Nanjing) with its economic activity and central port did not hold the strategic significance for Shanghai. However, it did grip incredible symbolic power. Rolling back to history, the establishment of the city dates back to the spring and autumn seasons of 722-481 B.C.E. Credible historians have traditionally dated its origin from the start of Ming dynasty when the city was named Nanjing that means "southern capital."
In July 1937, fighting broke out between the Japanese Imperial and China's Nationalist (Guomindang) Revolutionary forces at the Marco Polo Bridge, almost ten miles away from the southwest of Beijing. Evidently, this encounter between the two militaries set the stage for Tokyo to induce a full-blown invasion of Shanghai. As famously proclaimed by Emperor Hirohito at the 72nd assembly of the Imperial Diet on September of 1937, the fight had gained the status of a total war.
Through the tools of security intelligence, Chiang Kai-shek and his government had knowledge that the battle against Japan was an inevitable eventuality and that it was an issue of when and not if. In a reflex response, numerous measures were set up to control the anticipated damage and to ensure that the military capacity to fight back was intact. For example, Chinese factories, resources, and the national economy Council were moved into the country’s interior.
When full combat began on August 13 with the Battle of Shanghai, Chiang Kai-shek put forth his best soldiers into service who fiercely resisted the advances of the Japanese for nine months. Unluckily, the battle led to the loss of up to 250,000 Chinese soldiers. To pu...