Marco Polo Bridge incident

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Marco Polo Bridge incident
Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Aerial photo of the Marco Polo Bridge (right). Wanping Fortress is on the opposite side of the river.
Date (1937-07-07) (1937-07-09)July 7–9, 1937 (2 days) Location Vicinity of Beijing, China 39°50′57″N 116°12′47″E / 39.84917°N 116.21306°E / 39.84917; 116.21306 Result See aftermath Start of the Second Sino-Japanese War Disputed starting date of World War II
Belligerents
China	Japan East Hebei
Commanders and leaders
Song Zheyuan Qin Dechun[1]	Kanichiro Tashiro
Strength
100 troops at the bridge[2] 900 in reinforcement	5,600[3]
Casualties and losses
96 killed[2]	660 killed
class=notpageimage| Location within Beijing

The Marco Polo Bridge incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge incident^[a] or the July 7 incident,^[b] 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. In this incident, a Japanese soldier was temporarily absent from his unit opposite Wanping, and his commander demanded the right to search the town for him. When this request was refused, units on both sides were alerted and the Chinese Army fired on the Japanese Army, albeit 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 the Pacific theatre of World War II.^[4]

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