The Second World War is widely accepted to be the most destructive and deadly war in world history with an estimated death toll in excess of 60 million; involving nations across the globe, few were fortunate enough to escape the death and destruction that followed it. However, the Asian theater of the Second World War began long before 1939. In fact, the conflict itself, which was fought between the Empire of Japan and various other Asian states, is often considered to be a wholly different war that eventually merged with the Second World War.

        The Second Sino-Japanese war was fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. While the conflict had technically begun in 1931 it did not escalate into a total war until the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (also known as the Mukden incident) in 1937. While there were many foreign nationals in China during the war, especially in cities like Shanghai, China largely fought on its own, with some assistance from German military advisors, until the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941. Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, the famous volunteer unit, the “Flying Tigers”, arrived in China to provide aerial assistance to the Nationalist Chinese forces, which were initially unable to effectively combat the Japanese air superiority. The eventual defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy at the Battle of Midway heralded the turning point of the war as American forces steadily pushed towards the Japanese mainland. Meanwhile, the Chinese continued to engage the Japanese and even managed to achieve several major victories.

        In August 15th of 1945, Emperor Hirohito capitulated to the Allies and the formal surrender was signed on Sept.2nd. However, the Japanese forces in China did not officially surrender until Sept.9th. After more than 6 years, the Second World War ended (8 years for the Second Sino-Japanese War) and only then was the sheer scale of war crimes and atrocities committed during the war discovered such as the Holocaust in Europe and the widespread destruction of lives and property in China such as during the infamous Nanking Massacre.