MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · July 7 · 1937
ON THIS DAY · 7 JULY 1937
A skirmish at the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing ignites full war…
A skirmish at the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing ignites full war between Japan and China — the Second World War’s first front.
THE MOMENT IN CONTEXT
Switch theaters — the Pacific war is older than the European one. Japan, an industrial empire with almost no raw materials, has been carving up China since 1931 (Manchuria) and fully since 1937; the sack of Nanjing that December is among the war’s worst atrocities. But China, retreating up the Yangtze to Chongqing, refuses to surrender — and the war bogs down, consuming a million Japanese troops.
From Chapter 7 — Rising Sun: From China to Pearl Harbor of The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945 (MAY 1942).
OPEN THE INTERACTIVE MAP →TEACH THIS IN 5 MINUTES
- Why it happened — An empire built on imported oil. Japan imported 80% of its oil, mostly from the USA. The July 1941 embargo (answering the Indochina occupation) started a countdown clock: fight soon…
- The turn — Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. Tactically brilliant: eight battleships hit for the loss of 29 aircraft. Strategically self-defeating: the American carriers were at sea, the oil…
- What it changed — The sleeping giant. US industry, one-tenth mobilized, out-produces the entire Axis within a year — by 1944 America launches more ship tonnage every month than Japan…
Then ask the room: Pearl Harbor was one of the most successful surprise attacks in history. Make the case that it was also one of the worst strategic decisions ever made. The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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