#Jul.7.1937

[playitagin]

1937-Marco Polo Bridge Incident

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (Lugou Bridge) provides the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War (China-Japan War).

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident (traditional Chinese: 盧溝橋事變; simplified Chinese: 卢沟桥事变; pinyin: Lúgōuqiáo Shìbiàn) or the July 7 Incident (simplified Chinese: 七七事变; traditional Chinese: 七七事變; pinyin: Qīqī Shìbiàn), was a battle during July 1937 in the district of Beijing between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army.

Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, there had been many small incidents along the rail line connecting Beijing with the port of Tianjin, but all had subsided. On this occasion, a Japanese soldier was temporarily absent from his unit opposite Wanping, and the Japanese commander demanded the right to search the town for him. When this was refused, units on both sides were alerted and the Chinese Army fired on the Japanese Army, though the missing Japanese soldier had already returned to his lines. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident is generally regarded as the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and arguably World War II.