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A period (1839-1949) of foregin interventions in China resulting in the occupation, conquest or lease of large territories by foregin countries.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Were two wars between Qing China and the Western powers. The first war was caused by the Chinese prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants, and the conflicts took their name from this fact.
1.1.First Opium War
Was a war between Qing China and the British Empire whose immediate cause was the Chinese prohibition against opium trafficking by British merchants. At the end of the war Hong Kong Island (part of modern-day Hong Kong) was ceded to Britain.
October 1841: A British naval force bombarded and captured a fort on the outskirts of Ningbo.
September 1841: The Qing army retook the city of Xiamen and restored order.
March 1841: Battle of Whampoa.
October 1841: Chusan had been exchanged for Hong Kong on the authority of Qishan in January 1841, after which the island had been re-garrisoned by the Qing. Fearing that the Chinese would improve the island's defences, the British began a military invasion. The British attacked the Qing on 1 October. The battle of the Second Capture of Chusan ensued. The British forces killed 1500 Qing soldiers and captured Chusan.
May 1842: During the First Opium War, British forces led by Captain Charles Elliot captured the strategic port of Zhapu in 1842. This victory allowed Great Britain to establish military occupation in the area.
May 1841: Following the capture of Canton, the British command and the governor-general of Canton agreed to a cease-fire in the region. Under the terms of the limited peace (later widely referred to as "The Ransom of Canton"), the British were paid to withdraw beyond the Bogue forts, an action they completed by 31 May.
May 1841: On 25 May, and the British counter-attacked, taking the last four Qing forts above Canton and bombarding the city. The Qing army fled in panic when the city heights were taken, and the British pursued them into the countryside.
March 1841: British attacked Canton, taking the Thirteen Factories (the sole warehouses of Western trade in China at the time).
March 1842: When pursuing the retreating Chinese army after the Battle of Ningpo, the British captured the nearby city of Cixi on 15 March.
July 1842: Battle of Chinkiang.
January 1841: In 1841, during the First Opium War, British forces led by Admiral Sir Hugh Gough and Captain Charles Elliot achieved a significant victory in the Second Battle of Chuenpi. The British fleet destroyed 11 Chinese junks and captured the Humen forts, solidifying their military occupation of the territory.
February 1841: Battle of First Bar.
October 1841: During the First Opium War, British forces led by Captain Charles Elliot captured Zhenhai in 1841, enabling them to take control of Ningpo without facing resistance. This military occupation was part of Britain's efforts to secure trading rights and expand their influence in China.
June 1842: The mouth of the Huangpu River was captured by the British fleet.
June 1842: After the Battle of Woosung, the British captured the towns of Wusong and Baoshan.
June 1842: During the First Opium War, British forces led by Captain Charles Elliot occupied the outskirts of Shanghai in 1842. This military occupation was part of the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded the territory to Great Britain.
August 1841: Battle of Amoy.
May 1841: In 1841, during the First Opium War, British forces led by Captain Charles Elliot occupied Canton after the fighting subsided. This marked a significant moment in the conflict between Britain and China over trade and opium.
July 1840: British forces captured Chusan.
1.1.1.Convention of Chuenpi
Was an agreement between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty during the First Opium War.
January 1841: In 1841, during the First Opium War, the forts in Chusan were restored to the Qing Dynasty on 21 January. The ceremony was conducted by Captain James Scott, who was serving as the temporary governor of the fort at Chuenpi.
January 1841: British Commodore Bremer took formal possession of Hong Kong.
1.1.2.Treaty of Nanking
Was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War.
June 1843: The Treaty of Nanking was a peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (Great Britain left the territories occupied in Qing China).
1.2.Second Opium War
Was a war that saw the Qing Dynasty fighting against the French and British Empires.
November 1856: In Canton, China, a force of 287 sailors and marines under Commander Andrew H. Foote attacks and captures the barrier forts
September 1860: Battle of Palikao.
May 1850: During the First Battle of Taku Forts on 20 May 1850, British forces led by Admiral Sir James Stirling successfully captured the forts in China. This was part of the larger conflict known as the Second Opium War, where Britain and France sought to expand their influence in the region.
August 1860: With 173 ships from Hong Kong, Anglo-French forces captured the port cities of Yantai and Dalian to seal the Bohai Gulf.
October 1856: In 1856, during the Second Opium War, British forces led by Admiral Sir Michael Seymour bombarded Canton (now Guangzhou) in China. The city walls were breached, allowing British troops to enter and occupy the territory.
August 1860: Third Battle of Taku Forts.
December 1857: In 1857, during the Second Opium War, the British army under Lord Elgin and the French army under Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros jointly attacked and occupied Canton. This military action was part of the efforts by the two Western powers to exert pressure on the Qing Dynasty in China.
January 1857: In 1857, during the Second Opium War, the British forces returned to Hong Kong after the territory of Canton was ceded to the Qing Dynasty. This marked a significant event in the ongoing conflict between the British Empire and the Qing Dynasty over trade and territorial control in China.
November 1856: Humen conquered by great britain.
August 1860: French General Charles Cousin-Montauban and British Admiral Sir James Hope led their respective forces to capture Tianjin on 23 August as part of the Second Opium War.
November 1856: British forces captured the French Folly Fort.
September 1860: Battle of Zhangjiawan.
January 1857: Battle of Macao Fort.
1.2.1.Treaty of Aigun
On 28 May 1858, the treaty of Aigun was signed between China and Russia to revise the Chinese and Russian border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River.
May 1858: On 28 May 1858, the Treaty of Aigun was signed by China and Russia to revise the border as determined by the Nerchinsk Treaty in 1689. Russia gained the left bank of the Amur River.
1.2.2.Four Treaties of Tientsin
In June 1858, the first part of the Second Opium War was ended with the four Treaties of Tientsin, which opened several Chinese ports to foreign trade.
July 1858: In June 1858, the first part of the Second Opium War ended with the four Treaties of Tientsin. The European powers and the U.S. evacuated most of the territories they had occupied in China.
1.2.3.Convention of Peking
Was an agreement comprising three distinct treaties concluded between the Qing dynasty of China and Great Britain, France, and the Russian Empire. It was signed at the end of the Second Opium War.
October 1860: After the Convention of Peking, France and Great Britain left most of the territories militarly occupied in China.
October 1860: In 1860, with the Treaty of Beijing, the Russians annexed the Pacific coast down to Vladivostok.
During the XIX and XX century China was forced into treaties with foreign powers that established concessions (factually enclaves) in its territory.
September 1863: The Shanghai International Settlement is created by the amalgamation of American and British concessions.
January 1944: Territorial change based on available maps.
December 1902: On December 27, 1902, Austria-Hungary gained a concession zone in Tianjin as part of the reward for its contribution to the Alliance during the Boxer Rebellion.
January 1943: Japanese occupation of Gulangyu Island began in 1942.
January 1898: Hangzhou was one of the four ports specified to be opened to the Empire of Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (17 April 1895).
November 1914: The German Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory is occupied by Japan.
January 1898: Chongqing was one of the four ports specified to be opened to the Empire of Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (17 April 1895).
September 1854: The American Concession in Shanghai is formally delineated.
June 1902: Land Regulations were approved by the government of China in May 1902.
November 1846: China leasea a concession the the British in Shanghai.
January 1859: The British briefly occupied Qingniwa during the Second Opium War in 1858.
January 1861: Great Britain returned the British Concession in Dalian to Chinese (Qing) control in 1860.
March 1861: China leases a concession in Hankow to United Kingdom.
May 1861: China leases a concession in Tientsin to France.
January 1862: Establishment of the British Concession in Jiujiang in accordance to the Treaty of Tientsin signed after China's defeat in the Second Opium War..
January 1862: Establishment of the British Concession in Zhenjiang in accordance to the Treaty of Tientsin signed after China's defeat in the Second Opium War..
April 1895: China leases a concession in Tientsin to Japan.
October 1895: China leases a concession in Tientsin to Germany.
December 1897: Establishment of Russian Dalian.
January 1898: Suzhou was one of the four ports specified to be opened to the Empire of Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (17 April 1895).
June 1898: New Territories in Hong Kong leased to U.K. by China for 99 years.
July 1898: China leases a concession in Hankow to Japan.
January 1899: One of the four ports specified to be opened to the Empire of Japan in the Treaty of Shimonoseki (17 April 1895).
June 1902: China leases a concession in Tientsin to Italy.
December 1902: The Belgian Concession in Tianjin was established in 1902 after Belgian envoy Maurice Joostens claimed the parcel in the negotiations following the defeat of the Boxer rebels.
January 1928: The British Concession in Jiujiang was occupied by National government's troops to prevent it from being looting by violent crowds of demonstrants.
January 1931: An agreement to return the concession of Belgian Concession in Tianjin to China was signed in August 1929 and approved by the Belgian parliament in 1931.
August 1937: Japanese occupy Peiping.
October 1938: Japanese occupy the Chinese city of Hankow.
October 1940: Japanese military landing and occupation of Liugong Island on 1 October 1940.
September 1943: The Italian Concession in Tianjin is occupied by Japan.
March 1898: On 1 November 1897, a band of armed men, who were perhaps members of the Big Swords Society, stormed the residence of a German missionary from the Society of the Divine Word and killed two priests. When Kaiser Wilhelm II received news of these murders, he dispatched the German East Asia Squadron to occupy Jiaozhou Bay. Then the enforcement of the lease agreement of March 6, 1898 with China occurred.
October 1945: U.S. Marines accept the surrender of Japanese troops in Tientsin.
December 1941: The Japanese occupy the International Settlement of Shanghai (but not the French concession).
June 1896: China leases a concession in Hankow to Russia.
January 1946: With the unconditional surrender of Japan in August 1945, Dairen was passed to the Soviets, whose Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation had liberated the city.
October 1930: Establishment of the Liugong Island Concession.
March 1917: Lease of the German Concession in Hankou is terminated by China.
August 1917: Austria-Hungary was, due to World War I, unable to maintain control of its Concession in Tianjin. The concession zone was swiftly occupied by China at the Chinese declaration of war on the Central powers and on 14 August 1917 the lease was terminated.
January 1850: China leases to France a concession in Shanghai.
September 1920: China takes over temporary administration and terminates the Russian Concession in Hankou.
October 1895: China leases a concession in Hankow to Germany.
October 1860: China leases a concession in Tientsin to United Kingdom.
April 1943: Vichy France retrocedes the French Concession in Tianjin to the Japanese.
July 1943: Vichy France retrocedes the French Concession in Shanghai to the Japanese.
November 1897: Establishment of the Kiautschou Bay Leased Territory (Germany).
January 1927: Chinese Nationalist forces occupy the British Concession in Hankou.
July 1927: China takes over administration and terminates the Russian Concession in Tianjin.
May 1898: The British occupy Weihaiwei (Weihai Wei-hai).
October 1930: British Weihaiwei returned to China.
January 1938: The Japanese Concession in Chongqing was abandoned at the outbreak of Second Sino-Japanese War.
October 1938: Japan temporarily evacuate its concession in Hankou.
December 1941: The Japanese occupied the British Concession in Tianjin upon their declaration of war against Britain on 7 December 1941.
June 1896: China leases a concession in Hankow to France.
December 1900: China leases a concession in Tientsin to Russia.
January 1930: The Kuomintang government revoked the British concession at Zhenjiang in 1929.
Was a punitive expedition launched by the Japanese ostensibly in retaliation for the murder of 54 Ryukyuan sailors by Paiwan aborigines near the southwestern tip of Taiwan in December 1871.
December 1874: In November 1874 the Japanese forces withdrew from Taiwan after the Qing government agreed to an indemnity of 500,000 Kuping taels, or about 18.7 tonnes silver.
June 1874: Occupation of Taiwan by Japan.
Was a war between France and Qing China caused by the French military campaigns to conquer Vietnam.
4.1.Treaty of Tientsin (1885)
Was the treaty that ended the Sino-French War. Qing China recognized the French protectorate over Vietnam.
Were two major wars between China and Japan in the XIX and XX centuries.
5.1.First Sino-Japanese War
Was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea.
5.1.1.Invasion of Korea
Was the Japanese invasion of Korea during the First Sino-Japanese War.
June 1894: First of about 4,000 Japanese soldiers and 500 marines land at Jemulpo (Incheon).
July 1894: In 1894, Japanese troops led by General Yasumasa Fukushima occupied Seoul during the First Sino-Japanese War. This military occupation marked the beginning of Japan's increasing influence and control over Korea.
July 1894: Battle of Seonghwan.
October 1894: The city of Antung, the regional capital, was occupied the following day without any resistance and placed under Japanese civil administration.
September 1894: Battle of Pyongyang (1894).
5.1.2.Invasion of Mainland China
Was the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Shandong during the First Sino-Japanese War.
February 1895: Battle of Weihaiwei.
November 1894: Battle of Lushunkou.
March 1895: Battle of Yingkou.
5.1.3.Treaty of Shimonoseki
Was a treaty signed in Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the First Sino-Japanese War.
April 1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895 by representatives of the Qing Dynasty and the Empire of Japan. It marked the end of the First Sino-Japanese War and resulted in Korea being ceded to the Qing Dynasty.
April 1895: They Qings ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and Penghu Islands to Japan.
5.1.4.Triple Intervention
Was a diplomatic intervention by Russia, Germany, and France on 23 April 1895 over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki imposed by Japan on the Qing dynasty of China that ended the First Sino-Japanese War.
April 1895: The ceding of Liaodong peninsula was rescinded after the Triple Intervention of 23 April 1895 by Russia, France and Germany. In the aftermath of this intervention, the Russian government pressured the Qing dynasty to lease Liaodong and the strategically important Lüshunkou (Port Arthur) for use by the Russian Navy.
5.2.Second Sino-Japanese War
Was a military conflict between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Theater of the Second World War.
October 1939: Baotou was under japanese control.
January 1941: During the Chinese Civil War and the Sino-Japanaese War, the territory controlled by Tibet increased.
September 1937: Japan occupied Beigan and Nangan via the Collaborationist Chinese Army, making the islands the first in Fujian to fall to Japan.
January 1938: Japan occupied Kinmen County.
5.2.1.Japanese invasion of Manchuria
The Japanese Army invaded Manchuria in 1931 following the Mukden Incident. At the end of the invasion in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo.
January 1932: The Japanese occupied Shanhaiguan completing their military takeover of southern Manchuria.
February 1932: Japanese forces took Harbin on 4 February 1932.
October 1931: The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, was an event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the Japanese invasion in 1931 of northeastern China. Under orders from Lieutenant General Jirō Tamon, troops of the 2nd Division moved up the rail line and captured virtually every city along its 730-mile length in a matter of days, occupying Anshan, Haicheng, Kaiyuan, Tiehling, Fushun, Szeping-Chieh, Changchun, Kuanchengtzu, Yingkou, Antung, and Penhsihu.
January 1932: Japanese forces occupied Chinchow on 3 January 1932, after the Chinese defenders retreated without giving combat.
March 1932: Manchukuo was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia from 1932 until 1945.
November 1931: On 17 November, in subzero weather, 3,500 Japanese troops, under the command of General Jirō Tamon, mounted an attack, forcing General Ma from Tsitsihar by 19 November.
5.2.1.1.Jinzhou Operation
Was an operation in 1931 during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japanese forces occupied Jinzhou on January 3, 1932.
January 1932: Japanese forces occupied Jinzhou.
5.2.1.2.Jiangqiao Campaign
Was an operation in 1931 during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
November 1932: On November 18, Ma (China) evacuated Qiqihar.
5.2.2.Defense of the Great Wall
Was a military campaign where Japan successfully captured the Inner Mongolian province of Rehe from the Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang, and incorporated it into the newly created state of Manchukuo.
June 1933: Kangbao fell under Japanese military occupation.
February 1933: On February 25, Chaoyang and Kailu were taken by the Japanese.
March 1933: Japanese cavalry and the 1st Special Tank Company took Chengde the capital of Rehe.
March 1933: The Japanese 4th Cavalry Brigade encountered resistance from the forces of Sun Dianying, and after days of fighting, took Chifeng.
May 1933: Dolon Nor and Guyuan were taken over by the Kuomintang forces.
April 1933: The Kuomintang 29th Corps evacuated from Xifengkou Pass.
May 1933: The Chinese army retreated from their remaining positions on the Great Wall.
May 1933: Tanggu Truce: the Chinese government was forced to acknowledge the de facto independence of Manchukuo and the loss of Rehe.
March 1933: End of Chinese resistence in Manchuria.
May 1933: In April 1933, collaborationist General Liu Guitang, under Japanese orders, crossed into southeastern Chahar province in the Dolonor region, as a diversionary feint to draw off Chinese reinforcements to the Great Wall. Finding little resistance, Liu then led his 3,000 troops further east toward Changpei.
April 1933: The advancing Japanese forces approached Miyun.
March 1933: Japanese troops pushed up to the Great Wall itself.
April 1933: Japanese troops retook Lengkou Pass after dozens of seesaw fights over the pass defenses and Chinese forces at Jielingkou abandoned that pass.
5.2.3.Actions in Inner Mongolia
Was a Japanese military campaign in Inner Mongolia, part of the Japanese invasion of northern China during the Sino-Japanese War.
5.2.3.1.Campaign of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army
Was a military offensive by the Kuomintang against the invading Japanese army in Inner Mongolia, during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
June 1933: The Northern corps recaptured Baochang.
July 1933: The Chinese re-captured Dolonnur on July 12, effectively driving the Japanese-Manchukuo armies out of Chahar province.
September 1933: Miyun was occupied by the Kuomintang.
September 1933: Chinese general Fang Zhenwu attacked and occupied Gaoliying.
June 1933: The Manchukuo force under General Cui Xingwu fled, allowing the Chinese forces to re-occupy the town of Kangbao.
5.2.3.2.Suiyuan Campaign
Was a Japanese military campaign in the Suiyuan province of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
November 1936: A Chinese counterattack surprised the invaders and led to a disorganized retreat back to their headquarters at Bailingmiao.
November 1936: The first contact between Nationalist and Inner Mongolian forces occurred at the town of Hongort on 14 November.
5.2.4.Full Scale Invasion of China (Second Sino-Japanese War)
Was the first Japanese campaign of the full scale invasion of China after the occupation of Manchuria, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The campaign led to the military occupation of many important Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Nanjing and Kaifeng.
November 1937: Battle of Taiyuan.
June 1937: On June 6, the Japanese captured Kaifeng.
October 1938: The Japanese captured Wuhan, forcing the KMT to retreat to Chongqing.
December 1937: Battle of Nanjing.
May 1938: Battle of Xuzhou.
September 1937: Sporadic skirmishing soon escalated into a full-scale battle in which Beijing and its port city of Tianjin fell to Japanese forces (July-August 1937).
5.2.4.1.Battle of Shanghai
Was a battle between China and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War resulting in the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.
August 1937: On August 22, the Japanese 3rd, 8th, and 11th Divisions made an amphibious assault under the cover of naval bombardment and proceeded to land in Chuanshakou, towns on the northeast coast some fifty kilometers away from downtown Shanghai.
August 1937: The SEF, led by Iwane Matsui, landed in Liuhe, Wusong, and Chuanshakou.
September 1937: On September 6 Baoshan fell to the Japanese.
October 1937: Dachang finally fell to Japanese forces.
November 1937: Jinshanwei conquered by japan.
November 1937: Battle of Shanghai.
5.2.5.Battle of Beiping-Tianjin
Was a series of battles of the Second Sino-Japanese War fought in the proximity of Beiping (now Beijing) and Tianjin.
August 1937: Beiping was captured by the Japanese without further resistance.
July 1937: General Zhang Zizhong was ordered to withdraw toward Machang and Yangliuching south of Tianjin, abandoning the city and Taku Forts to the Japanese.
5.2.6.Operation Chahar
Was a Japanese military operation against China that took place near Beiping during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
August 1937: A Japanese attack on August 11, supported by tanks and aircraft, took Nankou Station.
August 1937: Kalgan fell to the Japanese on August 27.
5.2.7.Battle of Taiyuan
Was a battle between China and Japan that took place in the Chinese region of Shanxi during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
October 1937: The city of Datong fell to the Japanese..
November 1937: The Japanese outflanked Niangziguan in late October, compromising the Chinese defense resulting in the fall of Taiyuan.
5.2.7.1.Battle of Xinkou
Was a military engagement between China and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
October 1937: Gouxian fall into Japanese hands.
October 1937: The 20th division of the Japanese army captured Jingxing.
November 1937: The Japanese troops captured Shouyang.
5.2.8.Tianjin-Pukou Railway Operation
Was a follow up operation to the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
December 1937: The Japanese advance stopped at Jinan on the Yellow River after majority of the participating Japanese forces were redirected for the Battle of Taiyuan.
5.2.9.Battle of Nanking
Was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Republic of China.
December 1937: On December 10 Matsui ordered an all-out attack on Nanking, and after less than two days of intense fighting Chiang decided to abandon the city.
5.2.10.Beiping-Hankou Railway Operation
Was a follow up to the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
January 1938: The Japanese advanced to the south along the Beiping-Hankou Railway until the Yellow River, capturing Linfen along the way.
5.2.11.Battle of Xuzhou
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
February 1938: Qingdao was occupied in January 1938 by Japan.
April 1938: In March 1938 Japanese forces occupied the north of Shandong, including the capital city Jinan.
5.2.12.Amoy Operation
Was part of a campaign by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War to prevent China from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials.
May 1938: Japan started a blockade of China to prevent it from communicating with the outside world and importing needed arms and materials. Control of Amoy Island provided a base to make the blockade of Fujian province more effective.
5.2.13.Battle of Wuhan
Was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War that took place in the area of Wuhan.
September 1938: The Japanese 10th Division defeated the Chinese 17th Group Army and 45th Army, capturing Lushan.
September 1938: Guangji, a city in China, was captured by Japanese forces on 6 September 1938.
October 1938: The Japanese captured Hanyang on the 27th concluding the campaign in Wuhan.
June 1938: The Kuomintang could not repel the landing force of the Japanese 106th Division from capturing Jiujiang on the 26th.
June 1938: The Japanese made a naval landing and captured Anqing.
September 1938: The Japanese 2nd Army captured Xinyang.
August 1938: Japanese forces captured Wuhan.
August 1938: The Japanese 6th Division breached the defensive lines of Chinese 31st and 68th Army on 24 July and captured Taihu, Susong, and Huangmei counties on 3 August.
August 1938: Susong County conquered by Kuomintang.
August 1938: The Japanese breached the Chinese 51st Army's defensive line and captured Liuan.
September 1938: On 6 September 1938, Japanese forces captured Gushi.
September 1938: On 16 September, the Japanese captured Shangcheng.
October 1938: Guangzhou fell to the Japanese on 21 October.
October 1938: On 24 October, the Japanese occupied Macheng.
June 1938: Ruichang was captured on the 24th by the Japanese.
October 1938: The Japanese Army captured Wuchang and Hankou.
September 1938: The Tianjia Town Fort was captured by the Japanese.
September 1938: Wuxue was lost to the Japanese.
August 1938: The Chinese recaptured Taihu on 27 August.
September 1938: Guangji was recovered by the Chinese 4th Corps.
5.2.14.Hainan Island Operation
Was a Japanese military operation against China that took place in the area of Hainan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
February 1939: Japanese Navy land combat units effected a landing at Haikou at 1200.
February 1939: Japanese land combat units landed at Samah (Sanya) in Hainan Island.
February 1939: Japanese units engaged in the occupation and subjugation of the entire island of Hainan.
5.2.15.Battle of Nanchang
Was a military campaign fought around Nanchang, Jiangxi, between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Japanese Imperial Japanese Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
March 1939: The strategic location of Wucheng, located at where Xiushui River enters Poyang Lake, sustained heavy naval bombardment and airstrikes by the Japanese navy and fell shortly after to the Special Naval Landing Forces on 23 March.
March 1939: The city of Nanchang fell to the Japanese.
5.2.16.Battle of Suixian-Zaoyang
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in northern Hubei during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
May 1939: The Japanese 13th and 16th Divisions broke through Chinese 77th Corps' defensive lines, and successfully captured Zaoyang.
May 1939: Two Japanese divisions captured Tanghe, Nanyang and Xinye.
5.2.17.Swatow Operation
Was a Japanese military operation against China that took place in the area of Shantou during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
June 1939: They Chinese fell back to the Yenfu-Meihsi line.
June 1939: The Japanese advancing from the west captured Chaochow after heavy street fighting.
5.2.18.Battle of Changsha (1939)
Was the first of four attempts by Japan to take the city of Changsha, Hunan, during the second Sino-Japanese War.
September 1939: After fierce fighting, the Chinese defending forces abandoned Gao'an to the Japanese.
September 1939: Japanese troops launched an offensive on Changsha.
September 1939: Cunqianjie conquered by Kuomintang.
September 1939: The Kuomintang retook Gao'an in a counterattack on 22 September.
September 1939: Japanese forces drove the Chinese out of the Xinqiang river area.
October 1939: By 10 October, Chinese forces had completely regained their former territories in northern Hunan Province, southern Hubei Province and northern Jiangxi Province.
5.2.19.Battle of South Guangxi
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in southern Guangxi during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
December 1940: By November 1940, Japanese forces had evacuated from Guangxi except from some coastal enclaves.
December 1939: In November 1939, the Japanese landed on the coast of Guangxi and captured Nanning.
5.2.20.1939-40 Winter Offensive
Was a failed Japanese military operation against China that took place in central China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
February 1940: Linhe conquered by japan.
December 1939: A Kuomintang division entered Kaifeng.
January 1940: The Chinese 4th Division recovered Hua-shan.
January 1940: A Chinese force captured Lucheng, but bitter fighting continued with Japanese forces east of the town.
January 1940: The Chinese 14th Division of 54th Corps recovered Pajiangkou.
January 1940: Wangdian and the heights in front of the 29th Army group were captured by the Japanese.
February 1940: Wu-yuan fell to Japanese forces on February 3.
December 1939: On the 15th the Japanese recovered Yang-liu-ho.
December 1939: The Kuomintang took Hangchow, Fuyang and Yu-hang on the night.
January 1940: After routing the Japanese force coming from Longxian on January 1, the Chinese 54th Corps recaptured that town on the 2nd.
January 1940: Guandu fell to the Kuomintang on the 4th.
January 1940: The Chinese 2nd Provisional Corps laid siege to Yingde and took it on the 5th.
January 1940: A counterattack by the 55th Division of the Republic of China recovered Wangdian.
January 1940: Yinzhan'ao fell to the Kuomintang on January 16th.
January 1940: On January 20 and 24 Chinese forces cut the Han-Chang Highway northeast of Changzhi, capturing Licheng and Dongyangguan.
April 1940: A guerrilla force and cavalry column recaptured Wuyuan.
December 1939: Beishe, southeast of Wenxi, was cleared of Japanese troops.
January 1940: Japanese conquest of Longxian.
January 1940: Under counterattack by the Chinese, the Japanese fell back to Xiaoshan.
December 1939: The 8th War Area, after a see-saw campaign, had succeeded in rolling the Japanese back to Baotou in the Battle of Wuyuan.
January 1940: Conghua is occupied by the Kuomintang.
January 1940: Qingtang conquered by Kuomintang.
5.2.21.Battle of Wuyuan
Was a Chinese counterattack that defeated the Japanese invasion of the Wuyuan area.
April 1940: Chinese cavalry recovered Xishanzui as the Japanese retreated to the east.
April 1940: Conghua is occupied by the Kuomintang.
March 1940: The Kuomintang Captured the city of Wuyuan.
March 1940: Wuyuan again fell to the Japanese on the 26th.
5.2.22.Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in Hubei during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
June 1940: Yichang was occupied by Japan.
5.2.23.Japanese invasion of French Indochina
Was the Japanese invasion and occupation of French Indochina.
September 1940: The French position at the railhead at Lạng Sơn was surrounded by Japanese armour and forced to surrender on 25 September.
September 1940: Japan took possession of Gia Lam Airbase outside Hanoi, the rail marshaling yard on the Yunnan border at Lao Cai, and Phu Lang Thuong on the railway from Hanoi to Lạng Sơn, and stationed 900 troops in the port of Haiphong and 600 more in Hanoi.
September 1941: In August 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army entered the French protectorate of Cambodia and established a garrison that numbered 8,000 troops. Despite their military presence, the Japanese authorities allowed the cooperating Vichy French colonial officials to remain at their administrative posts.
August 1945: The Republic of China occupied Guangzhouwan following the surrender of Japan and France formally retroceded it with the Chungking Convention.
September 1945: During the August Revolution following World War II, Vietnamese communist revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh, leader of the Việt Minh, declared independence from French Indochina on 2 September 1945, announcing the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
October 1945: The French were able to reimpose the colonial administration in Phnom Penh.
August 1945: After the dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepts the Allied unconditional surrender terms (14 August 1945). Japanese forces leave occupied territories.
August 1945: The Empire of Vietnam was reintegrated into French Indochina on August 23, 1945.
5.2.23.1.Annexation of southern french indochina
Was the Japanese occupation of southern Indochina during World War II.
August 1941: In July 1941 the Japanese occupied the Southern half of Vietnaam as well.
5.2.23.2.Japanese coup d'etat
Was the creation of the Empire of Vietnam, a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan during World War II.
March 1945: The young King Norodom Sihanouk proclaimed an independent Kingdom of Kampuchea.
April 1945: The staunchly pro-French King Sisavang Vong was imprisoned and forced by the Japanese, and at much urging from Prince Phetsarath, into declaring the French protectorate over his kingdom over while accepting the nation into the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere on 8 April 1945.
March 1945: The Empire of Vietnam was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan.
5.2.23.3.French reconquest of Laos
Was the French reconquest of Laos from Japanese occupation at the end of World War II.
May 1945: The French entered the Laotian capital of Vientiane towards the end of April 1946, freeing French prisoners with a French-Lao force supported by Prince Boun Oum of Champasak.
June 1945: By May the French had reached Luang Prabang and the Lao Issara fled in exile to Thailand.
5.2.24.Battle of South Shanxi
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in Shanxi during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
May 1941: The Kuomintang troops had to abandon their mountainous bases in Southern Shanxi and lost control of several communication routes.
5.2.25.Battle of Changsha (1942)
Was a failed Japanese military operation against China that took place in the area of Changsha during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
January 1942: The Japanese occupy Changsha.
January 1942: Chinese forces are able to drive out the enemy from the Changsha area of Hunan Province.
5.2.26.Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road
Was a Chinese intervention to aid their British allies in the 1942 Japanese invasion of Burma.
March 1942: Pyu, a town in Burma, fell to the Japanese.
5.2.26.1.Battle of Oktwin
Was one of the key battles in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in the Burma Campaign of World War II and Second Sino-Japanese War.
March 1942: The Chinese held their ground in Oktwin until nightfall and fell back to the main defensive line at Toungoo on March 24.
5.2.26.2.Battle of Toungoo
Was one of the key battles in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in the Burma Campaign of World War II and Second Sino-Japanese War.
March 1942: The Battle of Toungoo was one of the key battles in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in the Burma Campaign of World War II and Second Sino-Japanese War.
5.2.26.3.Battle of Yenangyaung
Was one of the key battles in the Battle of Yunnan-Burma Road in the Burma Campaign of World War II and Second Sino-Japanese War.
April 1942: The Allied forces were too weak to hold the area of Yenangyaung, which they left.
5.2.27.Battle of Changde
Was a military engagement between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China in the area of Changde during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
November 1943: Fang Xianjue's 10th Corps (Kuomintang) successfully retook Deshan.
December 1943: Depleted of food and ammunition, the Japanese retreated from Changde.
November 1943: The Japanese 13th Division, with aid from collaborators, drove south and broke through the defensive lines of the Chinese 10th and the 29th Group Armies.
December 1943: The city of Changde fell to the Japanese control.
5.2.28.Operation Ichi-Go
Was a major Japanese military operation in southern China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
May 1944: The Japanese 3rd Tank Division began to attack Luoyang on May 13 and took it on May 25.
January 1945: In December 1944, Japanese forces reached French Indochina.
5.2.28.1.Battle of Changsha (1944)
Was an invasion of the Chinese province of Hunan by Japanese troops near the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
July 1944: Changsha was lost to the Japanese.
August 1944: The Japanese captured the Chinese Tenth Corps commander Fang Xianjue, who surrendered Hengyang.
5.2.28.2.Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou
Was a battle between China and Japan that took place in Guangxi, during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
August 1944: After 10 days of intense fighting, the Japanese occupied Guilin, and on the same day entered Liuzhou as well.
November 1944: The Japanese were in control of 75 counties in Guangxi, roughly 2/3 its area.
5.2.28.3.Battle of Mount Song
Was a Chinese military campaign against Japanese occupation in Yunnan, during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
September 1944: Chinese Nationalist forces retake Mount Song.
5.2.29.Battle of West Hunan
Was the Japanese invasion of west Hunan and the subsequent Allied counterattack that occurred between 6 April and 7 June 1945, during the last months of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
April 1945: The first part of the Japanese Henan offensive, which began on March 21 with an attack against western Henan and northern Hubei, was a success: the Japanese managed to take control of several air bases, depriving the Chinese of the possibility of receive airborne reinforcements.
5.2.30.Second Guangxi campaign
Was a Chinese counter offensive to retake the last major Japanese stronghold in Guangxi province, South China during April-August 1945.
August 1945: The Chinese fully regained control of Jiangxi.
August 1945: Japanese troops surrender in Guangxi.
After the First Sino-Japanese War, Qing China had officially ceded the island of Taiwan to Japan. However, the people of Taiwan led by Chiu Feng-chia proclaimed an independent Republic, which caused the Japanese invasion, and ultimately its annexion, by Taiwan.
August 1895: During the First Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Empire, led by General Yamagata Aritomo, fought against Chinese insurgents in a significant battle on 8 and 9 August 1895 to capture the heights of Cha-pi-shan.
August 1895: Japanese occupation of the large village of Koloton.
August 1895: The Japanese columns were led by General Katsura Taro and General Nogi Maresuke. The resistance in Beipu was part of the wider conflict known as the Japanese invasion of Taiwan, which aimed to bring the island under Japanese control.
August 1895: On 11 August the Japanese occupied Aulang.
October 1895: Engagement between Japanese and Taiwanese forces near Kiu-sui-kei on 16 October.
August 1895: Battle of Baguashan.
October 1895: In 1895, during the First Sino-Japanese War, 5,460 troops under the command of Prince Fushimi Sadanaru of the Japanese Empire landed at Po-te-chui in Budai.
October 1895: The Japanese 17th Infantry Regiments landed at Pa-te-chui.
May 1895: The Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed on 17 April 1895, and contained a clause requiring the cession of Taiwan and the Pescadores. When the news of the treaty's contents reached Taiwan, a number of notables from central Taiwan led by Chiu Feng-chia decided to resist the transfer of Taiwan to Japanese rule. On 23 May, these men proclaimed the establishment of a free and democratic Republic of Formosa.
May 1895: The first troops of the Imperial Guards Division went ashore on the northern coast of Taiwan at Samtiao Point near the village of Audi.
June 1895: The first major engagement in 1895 at Sui-hong (Ruifang) involved the Japanese Empire and the Chinese forces led by General Ye Zhichao. The defending Chinese forces were ultimately defeated in this battle, leading to the territory falling under Japanese control.
June 1895: The first Japanese troops entered Taipei at dawn.
June 1895: In 1895, during the First Sino-Japanese War, 18 Japanese cavalry troopers led by General Goro Shiba advanced northwards from Taipei and occupied Tamsui, a strategic port town in northern Taiwan.
June 1895: The Japanese captured Hsinchu with little trouble.
September 1895: Talibu was securely occupied by the Japanese.
October 1895: Japanese at Yunlin.
October 1895: A Japanese division fought the second-largest battle of the Taiwan campaign, the Battle of Chiayi.
October 1895: Battle of Chiatung.
October 1895: Battle to capture the fortified village of Shau-lan.
October 1895: The Japanese reached the village of Ji-chang-hang, only a few miles south of Tainan.
June 1895: The Japanese captured the port city of Keelung.
August 1895: The Japanese fought all day to clear the insurgents from their line of advance, but the village was not completely cleared until the morning of 26 August.
October 1895: Tainan capitulated to the Japanese on 21 October.
August 1895: On 14 August the Japanese entered Miaoli county.
October 1895: The larger task force, 6,330 troops under the command of Lieutenant-General Nogi Maresuke, landed at Pang-liau (Fangliao).
6.1.Pescadores campaign (1895)
Was the Japanese military campaign to occupy the Pescadores islands during the Japanese Invasion of Taiwan.
March 1895: After a naval bombardment of the Chinese forts, Japanese troops went ashore on Fisher Island and Penghu Island on 24 March, fought several brief actions with defending Chinese troops, and captured the Hsi-tai battery and Makung.
Was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901. The rebels were known as the "Boxers" in English because many of its members had practiced Chinese martial arts, which at the time were referred to as "Chinese boxing".
August 1900: After the Boxer Rebellion, the Legation Quarter was under the jurisdiction of foreign countries with diplomatic legations.
7.1.Initial revolt of the Boxers
Was the revolt by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (known as the "Boxers" by western countries) that started the Boxer Rebellion.
June 1900: Thousands of boxers from the countryside converged on Tientsin, and on June 15, 1900, they rampaged through the walled city destroying Christian churches and killing Chinese Christians. On June 16, a mob of partially armed boxers advanced on the foreign settlements.
June 1900: In spring 1900, the Boxer movement spread rapidly north from Shandong into the countryside near Beijing.
June 1900: On 11 June, the first Boxer, dressed in his finery, was seen in the Legation Quarter. The German Minister, Clemens von Ketteler, and German soldiers captured a Boxer boy and inexplicably executed him. In response, thousands of Boxers burst into the walled city of Beijing that afternoon and burned many of the Christian churches and cathedrals in the city, burning some victims alive.
October 1899: The "Boxers" called themselves the "Militia United in Righteousness" for the first time one year later, at the Battle of Senluo Temple (October 1899), a clash between Boxers and Qing government troops occurred.
7.1.1.Siege of the Legation Quarter
The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City. The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged the Legation Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion.
June 1900: The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were located in the Beijing Legation Quarter south of the Forbidden City. The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged the Legation Quarter from 20 June .
August 1900: The Chinese army and Boxer irregulars besieged the Legation Quarter from 20 June to 14 August 1900.
7.2.Seymour Expedition
Was an attempt by a multi-national military force to march to Beijing and relieve the Siege of the Legations durint the Boxer Rebellion.
June 1900: As the Boxer Rebellion more violent, a second multinational force of 2,000 sailors and marines under the command of the British vice-admiral Edward Seymour, the largest contingent being British, was dispatched from Dagu to Beijing on 10 June 1900. The troops were transported by train from Dagu to Tianjin.
June 1900: Battle of Langfang: the Chinese Muslim Kansu Braves and Boxers ambushed and defeating the Eight-Nation Alliance expeditionary army.
7.3.Eight Nations Alliance Invasion of China
Was the invasion of Qing China by the Eight-Nation Alliance (formed by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Japan) during the Boxer Rebellion.
July 1900: The international force captured Tianjin.
September 1901: The Boxer Protocol was signed, and as a result, the Qing Dynasty regained control over the rebellious territories.
August 1900: Beijing, Tianjin, and other cities in northern China were occupied by the international force.
September 1901: The Boxer Protocol was signed. The Eight Nations Alliance left the territories of Qing China.
7.3.1.Russian invasion of Manchuria
Was the Russian invasion of Manchuria, a territory of Qing China, during the Boxer Rebellion.
Was a British military invasion of Tibet, at the time part of Qing China.
August 1904: The British force arrived in Lhasa to discover that the thirteenth Dalai Lama had fled to Urga.
July 1904: British troops reached the walls of another fortress, Peté Jong.
July 1904: On 25 July, British Colonial forces began to cross the Tsangpo river.
June 1904: On 28 June British Colonial forces cleared the Tsechen monastery.
March 1904: Start of the British expedition to Tibet. The British army that departed Gnathong in Sikkim on 11 December 1903 and reached the pass of Guru, near Lake Bhan Tso, on 31 March.
May 1904: The battle at Karo La, which occurred on May 5-6 between British and Tibetan forces, is possibly the highest altitude action in history.
July 1904: British storming of Gyantse Dzong.
January 1909: After Chinese and Tibetan Authorities had finished to pay indemnities to the British, the Chumbi Valley was given back to Tibet.
8.1.Treaty of Lhasa
Was the treaty that ended the British invasion of Tibiet.
September 1904: The Treaty of Lhasa ended the British expedition to Tibet, ceding the Chumbi Valley to Great Britain. Following the treaty, British forces evacuated the remaining occupied territories of Tibet.
Was a military campaign of the Soviet Union in the Chinese northwestern region of Xinjiang in 1934.
March 1934: The Torgut and Russian army marched into Korla.
January 1935: Battle of Tutung.
May 1934: Conclusion of a ceasefire between the Kuomintang and the USSR. Xinjiang is divided into two.
Selected Sources
Fredriksen, J.C. (2010): Chronology of American Military History - Volume 1, Facts On File, p.400
The Opening to China Part I: the First Opium War, the United States, and the Treaty of Wangxia, 1839–1844. Office of the Historian. Retrieved on 30 march 2024 on https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/china-1
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p. 12
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p. 4
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.34
Williams, M.H. (1989): United States army in World War II - Special Studies - Chronology 1941-1945, p.551
Century of humiliation
