War and Game

On January 28, 1932, in response to weeks of serious anti-Japanese demonstrations and boycotts among the Chinese populace in Shanghai that developed after the Mukden Incident, the Shanghai Municipal Council declared a state of emergency in that city. Troops of the Nationalist 19th Route Army were deployed around the city to protect the foreign concession areas from popular unrest and anti-foreign incidents.

Japan, which had sent troops to Shanghai aboard ships as early as January 18, 1932, landed several thousand marines at Shanghai in three columns on the night of January 28. The Japanese marines advanced to establish protective perimeters around the international settlement area that housed Japan's foreign concessions, along the Huangpu Creek, and to occupy the rail stations in the city. When the Japanese marines encountered elements of the 19th Route Army, which was responsible for security and garrison duties in the Nanjing-Shanghai area, they exchanged fire with the Chinese soldiers in the Chapei District of Shanghai. In retaliation for this incident, the senior Japanese naval officer ordered the Chapei District, which was primarily inhabited by Chinese workers, to be bombed by Japanese aircraft. By the beginning of February, the Japanese had landed 7,000 more marines in Shanghai, and the Guomindang reinforced its 19th Route Army with the Fifth Corps. By February 7, Japan had moved a force of three infantry divisions, 80 ships, and 30 aircraft in Shanghai. Japanese forces there reportedly totaled about 90,000 men, while the Nationalist Army defended with about 50,000 personnel. In fierce battles on March 1-3, 1932, Chinese forces suffered over 10,000 casualties but managed to contain the Japanese forces within the Shanghai area. Under strong pressure from foreign countries, including the United States and England, Japan agreed to a cease-fire, and an armistice went into effect in Shanghai on May 5, 1932. Under the terms of the agreement, the Nationalist government was forced to accept a neutral zone around Shanghai and to withdraw its military forces.

REFERENCES George M. Beckmann, The Modernization of China and Japan (New York: Harper and Row, 1962); James Crowley, Japan's Quest for Autonomy: National Security and Foreign Policy, 1930-1938 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1966); F. F. Liu, A Military History of Modern China, 1924-1949 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1956).