Chronography of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong
Page last
modified 10 January 2023
Click here for events in Japan pre-1891
Click
Here for events in N, S, Korea post 1945
Chang�an Avenue & Tiananmen Square
(1960) image here
Beijing urban expansion 1905 � 1999, 5 maps
here.
China Shenyang suburb image here
Box
Index:-
28.0,
Three Gorges Dam, River
Yangtse, 1997-2006
27.0,
China regains Hong Kong and
Macau; pro-democracy protests 1992-2019
26.0,
China to recover Hong Kong and
Macao, 1984-89
25.0,
Liberalisation policies
in China 1993-2001
24.0,
China and Taiwan, 1992-96
23.0,
Japan 1974-96
23(a),
Japanese Lockheed bribery
scandal 1974-76
22.0,
China 1990-92
21.0,
Tiananmen Square protests 1989
20.0, Anti-Chinese protests in Tibet; Chinese
crackdown there, 1987-91
19.0, Taiwan governmental changes 1979-88
18.0, Chinese governmental changes 1978-86
17.0, China: Gang of Four, 1976-81
16.0, China 1974-75
15.0, Relic Japanese soldiers from World
War Two, 1972-74
14.0, Japan 1970-76
13.0, Beijing consolidates its position at
the United Nations 1971-72
12.0, China, 1969-72
11.0, Chinese Cultural Revolution 1965-68
10.0, Chinese military development, 1962-63
9.0, China cultural development 1959-62
8.0, Aftermath of Chinese occupation of
Tibet 1958-65
7.0, Chinese� political developments 1952-58
6.0, Chinese threats to Taiwan 1955. See also 1945-49
5.0, Japan becomes self-governing nation
again, 1951-57
4.0, Chinese occupation of Tibet 1950-52.
See also 1958-65
3.0, China; Communist victory, separation
of Taiwan 1945-49. See also 1955
2.0,
Aftermath of World War
Two; Japanese war crimes trials, 1945-49
1,0, Japan � the final surrender, 1945
0.0, The atomic bombing of Japan, 1945
-1.0, Air raids on the Japanese homeland
began, 1944-45
-1.0(a),
Capture of Okinawa, 1945
-1.0(b), Capture of Mandalay, 1945
-2.0, Japanese retreat 1942-44
-2.0(a) Guadalcanal 1942-3
-3.0, High point of the Japanese Pacific
Invasion, 1942
8/7/2022, Shinzo Abe, former Japanese PM,
was shot and killed by a disaffected Japanese naval veteran.
28 August 2020, Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister, resigned,
having broken the previous length of service record by four days.
15/6/2020, Tensions along the ill-defined and disputed
Himalayan border between India and China escalated. India accused China of
annexing the Galwan Valley, some 60 square miles. China accused India of
building military roads into disputed areas and of attempting to control more
of Kashmir, including an area ceded by Pakistan to China that India claims.
Some 20 soldiers died, mainly through falling into icy gorges.
1 January 2016, The
two-child policy took effect in China, allowing couples in the country to
have at most two children, replacing the controversial one-child policy. The
change in law was announced by the ruling Communist Party on October 29 and
passed the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on December 27,
five days prior to its effect.
12 August 2015, A large explosion in Tianjin, China, destroyed a
warehouse containing several hundred tons of hazardous chemicals. At least 50
died and over 700 injured.
7 Seeptember 2013, China announced
plans for a new Silk Road economic Belt, part of the Belt and Road initiative.
14/3/2013, Xi Jinping was named the new
President of China.
14/3/2011, Fears of a
meltdown at Fukushima nuclear plant, Japan. See Japan earthquake.
24 August 2008, The Beijing Olympics closed.
8 August 2008, The Beijing
Olympics opened. They continued until 24 August 2008.
13 April 2006, Gyaltsen Norbu was confirmed as
the11th Panchen Lama, at a ceremony of 1,000 Buddhist monks and nuns in
Hangzhou, China. The 16-year-old had been selected for this role 10 years
earlier, and is known as the �Chinese Panchen�, to distinguish him from the
Panchen previously chosen by the exiled Dalai Lama and kept in a secret safe
location.
28.0, Three Gorges Dam, River
Yangtse, 1997-2006
20/5/2006, The Three Gorges Dam in China was completed, the
world�s largest hydro-electric dam.
1/6/2003, China began
filling the Three Gorges Dam, raising the water level
by over 100 metres.
1 August 1999, In China the Yangtze River
burst its banks, making 5 million homeless.
8 November 1997, The main channel of China�s Yangtze River was
blocked as construction work continued on the Three Gorges Dam.
2005, Japanese Prime Minister Junchiro Koizumi called a general election 2
years early after Bills to privatise Japan Post were voted down in the Upper
House.The incumbent Liberal Democratic Party were re-elected with a landlide
victory.
18 August 2005, Peace
Mission 2005, the first joint Chinese-Russian military exercise, began an 8-day
programme on the Shandong Peninsula.
28 February 2004, In Taiwan, over 1
million people formed a 500 km human chain to commemorate the 1947 massacre of
30,000 civilians.
2003, Japan sent troops to support the USA in the invasion of Iraq. This was
the first time Japanese soldiesr had operated in a war zone since World war
two, and it drew protests from those who felt this violated Japan�s pacifist
stance.
2001, Japan�s Liberal Democratic Party appointed populist
right-winger Junichito
Koizumi as Prime Minister. Controversially, he paid homage at a
memorial to Japan�s war dead. Tanaka Mikiko became Japan�s first female
Foreign Minister.
16/7/2001, China and Russia signed a treaty of friendship.
2000, In Taiwan the Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen
Shui-bian became the country�s first non-Kuomintang President.
9 February 2001, The US submarine USS
Greeneville accidentally struck and sunk the Ehime-Maru, a Japanese training
ship operated by the Uwajima Fishery High School.
2000, Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi fell into a coma
and was replaced by Yoshiro Mori. The Liberal Democratic Party
remained in power, with its coalition oartners, after the 6/2000 general elections.
Unemployment rose above 5% for the first time since World War Two.
22/7/1999, China cracked down on the Falun Gong religious movement, which claimed
to have 70 million followers.
9/5/1999, Widespread protests in cities across China over the US accidental
bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.
20 January 1999, China
announced restrictions on Internet use, aimed especially at Internet cafes.
26 November 1998, Japan and China signed a joint declaration of
friendship and economic development.
19/5/1998, Uno
Sosuke, Japanese Prime Minister, died.
27.0, China regains Hong Kong and Macau;
pro-democracy protests 1992-2019
24
November 2019, Elections were held in Hong Kong,
after weeks of often-violent protests against the Chief Executive of Hong Kong,
Carrie Lam, and her changes to the extradition laws. Opposition candidates won
17 of the 18 councils, having controlled none previously.
12
August 2019, After several weeks of low-key
protests in Hong Kong, against a new law permitting extradition to mainland
China (despite the �One Country Two Systems arrangement instituted in 1997 for
50 years) the unrest� escalated after a
woman was shot in the eye by a police beanbag round during demonstrations at
Hong Kong Airport.
16/6/2019, Large protests in
Hong Kong over a proposed new rule allowing extradition to mainland China.
These protests continued on into July, although the new law was �suspended�.
15/12/2014, In Hong Kong police
cleared away the barricades set up in September 2014 by pro-democracy
demonstrators who were demanding free elections without preliminary screening
of the candidates by Beijing. The Chinese President, Xi Jinping, had won against the Occupy Central movement,
but popular discontent, by young educated students from affluent families
remained.
4/12/2005, 250,000 people
in Hong Kong protested for democracy.
12 Seeptember 2005, The Hong Kong Disneyland resort officially opened.
12
Seeptember 2004, In Hong Kong, pro-Democracy Parties did badly
as voters seemed wary of offending China. Pro-Beijing Parties won 34 seats
against 25 for the pro-Democracy Parties.
20/12/1999,
Macau was handed back to China by Portugal.
6/7/1998,
The new airport
at Chek Lai Kok, Hong Kong, opened.
24/5/1998, In the first legislative
elections in Hong Kong since China took control, pro-democracy Parties took 60%
of the vote.
1/7/1997.
Hong Kong was handed back to China.�
29
August 1996. British forces began to leave Hong Kong.
9/7/1994, China announced its intention
to abolish Hong Kong�s Legislative Council once it took back the territory from
the UK in 1997.
9/7/1992, Chris Patten, last British Governor of Hong Kong,
took office; the colony was to be handed back to China in 1997.
26.0, China to recover Hong Kong and Macao,
1984-89
3/7/1989, Britain stated there would be no automatic right of abode in the UK
for Hong Kong citizens concerned about life under future Chinese rule.
13 April 1987,
Portugal
and China agreed to the return of Macao to China in 1999.
19/12/1984.
Mrs Thatcher
signed an agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.
26 Seeptember 1984, China and the UK signed an initial agreement to hand Hong
Kong back to China in 1997.
25.0, Liberalisation policies in China
1993-2001
27/12/2001, China was granted permanent normal trade
status with the USA.
11/12/2001. China joined the World Trade Organisation, following 15
years of negotiations.
12 Seeptember 1997, Jiang Zemin was
confirmed as Chinese Communist party general secretary by the Party�s 15th
Congress. The liberalising policies started by the late Deng Xiaoping were to continue.
19
February 1997, The last of the Chinese revolutionaries, Deng Xiaoping,
died aged 92 (born 1904); weeks of mourning followed.
3 Seeptember 1994, The USSR and China agreed to stop targeting
nuclear missiles at each other.
13/12/1993, A fire in textile factory in Fuzjou China,
killed 60.
27/3/1993, Ziang Zemin became President of the People�s
Republic of China.
3/3/1993. Rolls Royce announced plans to open a
showroom in China.
24.0, China and
Taiwan, 1992-96
8/3/1996, China conducted military exercises in the
Taiwan Strait, to intimidate Taiwanese voters in their upcoming elections. In
these elections the pro-independence candidate Lee Teng-Hui won, but there was
no subsequent formal declaration of independence.
23 February 1995, The Taiwanese Parliament
approved compensation payments to�
relatives of indigenous Taiwanese massacred by Kuomintang troops after
they evacuated from mainland China in February 1947.
19/12/1992, The first democratic General Elections in
Taiwan (see 1986). The incumbent Kuomintang won, with 53% of the vote, but the
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) made significant inroads. See 2000.
23.0, Japan 1974-96
1996, Japan repealed its Eugenic
Protection Laws, under which females deemed to have� mental disabilities could be forcibly
sterilised.
15
April 1996, The USA returned some of its bases
to Japan and promised to enforce better discipline amongst its troops,
following a scandal in 1995 in which a child was raped. See 4 Seeptember 1995.
16/5/1995, Japanese
police besieged the headquarters of the Aum
Shrnrinko cult near Mount Fuji, and arrested the leader Shoko Asuhara.
4 Seeptember 1995, The alleged rape of a
12-year-old girl in Japan by three US servicemen caused widespread resentment
against the US military presence in Japan. See 15 April 1996.
20/3/1995. Nerve gas was released on the Tokyo Subway by the
Ayum Shrinkyo religious cult.� Five separate trains were affected; 12 died
and 5,500 were injured.
17 January 1995. 5.46 am, local time, earthquake
in Kobe, southern Japan, killed 6,433, and injured 27,000. The quake measured
7.2 on the Richter Scale and made 300,000 homeless. Cost of damage was
estimated at �63 billion. It was the worst quake to hit Japan since Tokyo,
1923.
18/71993, In
Japan the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lost power after a 38-year rule.
Corruption scandals were a major factor in this defeat. Morihiro Hosokawa,
leader of the Japan New Party, formed a coalition that dod not include the LDP.
8 Seeptember 1992, The Japanese Cabinet
approved sending peacekeeping troops to Cambodia. This was the first overseas
deployment of Japanese forces since 1945.
1990, Japan amended its immigration law, opening up the labour market to
foreign workers. This was in response to chronic labour shortages caused by a
rapidly falling birth rate and ageing population.
12 November 1990, Crown Prince Akihito became the 125th Japanese
monarch and Emperor.
23/12/1989, The Bank
of Japan announced a major interest rate rise, leading to the peak and bursting
of the Japanese �bubble� economy.
24/7/1989, Japan�s
Liberal Democratic Party suffered its first defeat in 30 years, forcing the resignation
of Prime Minister Sosuke Uno. A scandal involving Uno�s former mistress ruined
his career.
7 January 1989. Emperor Hirohito of Japan died, aged 87. He had ruled for more than
62 years. 500,000 people lined the streets for his funeral on 24 February 1989;
US & British war veterans protested that their countries should not honour
a war criminal. Hirohito had opposed war
with the USA in the 1930s, he was also against the Japanese invasion of
Manchuria and Japan�s alliance with Nazi Germany. In 1941 he proposed peace
with Washington, but was persuaded by the War Minister and his generals to hit
Pearl Harbour. He was buried near his father�s mausoleum in the Imperial Palace
Gardens in Japan; his son Akihito, 55, �succeeded him.
6 August 1985, In Hiroshima, tens
of thousands marked the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the city.
17/3/1985, Expo '85,
World's Fair, opened at Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It ran until September 16.
15 April 1983, The first
non-American Disney theme park opened, near Tokyo.
7 October 1979, In Japanese general
elections, the Liberal Democrat Party won a narrow victory.
23(a), Japanese Lockheed bribery scandal 1974-76
26/7/1976, The former Prime Minister of Japan, Kakuei Tanbaka,
was arrested on charges that he accepted bribes from the Lockheed Aircraft
Corporation.
9/12/1974, Miki Takeo became Japanese Prime Minister.
26 November 1974, Kakuei Tanaka resigned as Prime
Minister of Japan after financial scandals emerged.
18 November 1974, US President Ford made the first
ever visit by a US President to Japan.
22.0, China 1990-92
18 January 1992, Chinese leader Deng Xiao Ping
stated that China should continue to focus on improving its economy, even at
the �cost of embracing certain capitalistic models and ideas�. This was a
marked reversal of the ideas of Chairman Mao.
1990, The Shanghai Stock
Exchange reopened, after a 41-year closure.
9 October 1990. Hundreds of Chinese queued
to buy Big Macs when McDonalds opened its first restaurant in Shenzhen.
4 April 1990, The Chinese People�s
Congress approved the Basic Law, effectively a Constitution for Hong Kong after
the transfer from Britain to China.
13 January 1990, China lifted martial law, imposed 11 months earlier after the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy
protests.
21.0, Tiananmen
Square protests 1989
22/6/1989,
In China, seven students were shot after televised show trials following the Tiananmen Square protests.
21/6/1989 The first public executions of Tiananmen Square demonstrators began in
China.
9/6/1989,
In China, the show trials of the
leaders of the Tiananmen Square
demonstration began.
4/6/1989. Massacre
in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, as troops opened fire and brought in tanks.
On early morning Sunday 4th June the army entered the Square. 2,600
were killed and 10,000 injured as soldiers fired on demonstrators, and tanks
drove over them.
17/5/1989, Over one million people gathered in central
Beijing to support the student pro-democracy demonstrators.
2/5/1989, China imposed martial law as pro-democracy
protestors camped in Tiananmen Square.
17 April 1989. Chinese students
demonstrated in Tiananmen Square,
Beijing, calling for democracy.
15 April 1989, In China, death of
disgraced Party Chairman Hu Yaobang. He had been ousted in 1987� for failing to suppress student protests
calling for democracy and human rights. Students eulogised him and began daily
marches in Tiananmen Square calling for democratic reforms.
20.0, Anti-Chinese
protests in Tibet; Chinese crackdown there, 1987-91
23/5/1991,
Chinese authorities marked the 40th
anniversary of their �liberation� of Tibet with low-key celebrations..
8/3/1989, China declared martial law in Tibet.
7/3/1989. Chinese troops fired on Tibetan monks and civilians
demanding independence in Lhasa.
Some reports said hundreds died. China annexed Tibet in 1950, and protests for
Tibetan independence had been growing since 1985.
10/3/1988, The
Chinese Army occupied Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, after large anti-Chinese
demonstrations by Tibetans.
2 October 1987, 6 Buddhist monks in Tibet protesting against the Chinese occupation
were killed by the Chinese. On 6 October 1987 China banned all foreigners from
visiting Tibet.
27 Seeptember 1987, Nationalist demonstrations broke out
in Lhasa, Tibet, against Chinese rule there imposed
in 1950 (see 7 October 1950). Furthermore, China had been
encouraging poor Han Chinese to resettle in Tibet, competing for job
opportunities and housing with poorer indigenous Tibetans. The Chinese were at
first taken by surprise, having believed that the Tibetans were subjugated and
pacified.
19.0, Taiwan
governmental changes 1979-88
13 January 1988. Chiang
Ching Kuo, President of
Taiwan since 1978, died. Lee Teng Hui became President of Taiwan. The first Taiwan-born leader of the country,
he was a reforming technocrat who accelerated the pace of economic
liberalisation.
14/7/1987, Taiwan legalised opposition Parties.
Martial law was also lifted, for the first time in 38 years, and the press was
granted freedom.
1986, First legally-recognised
opposition Party was formed in Taiwan, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
This was after some 40 years as a One Party State, ruled by the Nationalist
Kuomintang Government. See 19/12/1992.
1979, The US passed the Taiwan Relations Act, committing the USA to defending Taiwan
against an attack by China � however if Taiwan provoked China first, by for
example declaring full independence, then the USA would not be committed to
defending Taiwan.
18.0, Chinese
governmental changes 1978-86
14/5/1989, Gorbachev visited China, the first Soviet
leader to do so since the 1960s.
1/12/1988, The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qian Qichen,
visited Moscow.
12 April 1988. China�s National People�s Congress voted to allow private enterprise
and the transfer of use of land between private individuals. They did not,
however, allow outright private ownership of land.
14/3/1988, Three days of conflict between China and
Vietnam began over the disputed Spratly Islands.
24 November 1987, Li Peng succeeded Zhao Ziyang
as Chinese Prime Minister.
25 October 1987, At the 13th Communist
Party Congress in Beijing, Deng Xiaopoing resigned as Party leader.
12 October 1986,
Queen
Elizabeth II visited China, the first British monarch to visit the country.
1985, China
announced that the so-called �barefooot
doctors�, farmers trained to giver local medical assistance� without leaving their agricultural work, and
recognised as such during the Cultural Revolution, were to be disbanded.
16 Seeptember 1985, In China, 10 Politburo
members and 64 members of the Central Committee resigned to make way for
younger replacements.
12 October 1983, The Chinese
Communist Party began its biggest purge of membership since the Cultural
revolution. The records of 40 million Party members were to be reviewed. The Anti Spiritual Pollution Campaign was
launched, with the (initial) approval of Deng Xiaoping. It was an attempt to roll back economic reform and Western influence.
Individualism and hedonism were condemned, as were academics who promoted
alternatives to Communism.
25/5/1983, The USA agreed
to export high-technology items to China.
1 Seeptember 1982, At the 12th
Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing, Hua Guofeng, who had succeeded Chairman Mao,
was removed from the Politburo.
26 August 1980, Leadership changes in
China consolidated the power of pragmatic reformers led by Deng Xiaopoing.
3 April 1979, China warned the USSR it would not seek to renew the 1950 Treaty of
Friendship when it expired in1980.
17 February 1979, China launched an invasion of northern Vietnam.
China had backed North Vietnam during the Vietnam war with the US-backed South,
but since Hanoi�s victory in 1975, North Vietnam had aligned with the Soviet
Union, and in January 1979 North Vietnam invaded Cambodia and ousted the Pol
Pot regime, which China backed.
1 January 1979. Diplomatic relations were established between China and the USA.
12 August 1978, China and Japan signed a 10-year friendship treaty
11 February 1978,
China lifted a ban on the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Aristotle.
17.0, China: Gang of Four, 1976-81
25 January 1981. The Chinese �Gang of Four�
and Mao Tse Tung�s 67 year old widow were sentenced to death.
20 November 1980, The trial for treason of
the Gang of
Four former Chinese leaders opened in Beijing.
22/7/1977. The �Gang of Four�
were expelled from the Chinese Communist Party.
2/7/1977, In China Deng Xiaoping, 73, was restored
to power.
11 October 1976. In China the �Gang of Four�
were arrested, accused of plotting a coup.
7 October 1976, In China, Hua Guofeng
succeeded Mao
Zedong as Chairman. The �Gang of Four�, including Mao�s widow, were arrested and
denounced for plotting to seize power.
29 October 1976, Chairman Hua of China
repudiated messages of congratulations from Communist countries.
9 Seeptember 1976. Mao
Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist party for 40 years, died of a series of
strokes, aged 82.
8 January 1976, Zhou En Lai, Chinese
revolutionary and Prime Minister of
China, 1949-76, died.
Aged 77, he was succeeded by Hua Goufeng.
16.0, China 1974-75
1/12/1975, Gerald Ford became the second U.S.
president to travel to China, where he met with Vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping.
8 August 1975, The Banqiao Dam in China failed during a fierce typhoon, killing
over 200,000 people.
5 April 1975. Chinese Nationalist
leader Chiang Kai Shek died in
Taiwan, aged 87.
14 Seeptember 1974. China sent two giant
pandas, Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching, to London Zoo.
8/1973, The Chinese Communist Party launched the �Anti-Confucian Campaign�. The radical supporters of Mao Zedong
ostensibly wanted to continue the suppression of traditional, anti-Communist,
ideas, hence the name of the campaign. In fact it was an attack on the more
moderate supporters of Zhou Enlai, who (just as Confucius attempted to restore
traditional practices such as feudalism) wanted to water down the Cultural Revolution and rehabilitate
pruged Party officials.
26/5/1974, UK
Opposition leader Edward Heath met Chairman Mao of China to improve
relations between the two countries.
29/3/1974, Chinese peasants digging a well unearthed a
terracotta army of 8,000 figures and
horses, buried over 2,000 years ago near Xi�an. They belonged to Emperor Qin Shi
Huangdi, who first united China and built the Great Wall. The
artisans who built the tomb were walled up within it, to safeguard its secrets.
15.0, Relic
Japanese soldiers from World War Two, 1972-74
6 Seeptember 1974. At least one Japanese soldier was reported to be still roaming the
forests of the central Philippines, left behind after World War Two.
10/3/1974, A Japanese soldier was found hiding on Lubang Island
in the Philippines;
he believed World War Two was ongoing and was waiting for relief by his own
side.
24 January 1972, A Japanese soldier, Shoichi Yokoi, was found on Guam, unaware that
World War Two had ended. His last two surviving companions had died in 1964. He
lived until 1997.
14.0, Japan 1970-76
5/12/1976, In Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic
Party suffered losses in the general election.
3/6/1975, Eisaku Sato, Japanese politician, died aged
75.
13/4.1974, End of a strike by 6 million Japanese
workers, which had begun on 11 April 1974.
29 Seeptember 1972, Japan and China formally ended the state of
war between them that had existed since 1937.
13/5/1972, A fire devastated a department store in Osaka,
Japan, killing 115 people.
5 October 1971, Emperor Hirohito of
Japan arrived in Britain on a tour
of Europe.� He was the first Japanese sovereign to leave Japan for
over 2,000 years.� He left the UK on
7 October 1971.
25 November 1970, The Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima harangued 1,000 troops on the
disgrace of losing World War Two, then tried to persuade them to form a private
army and launch a military coup. When he realised this was not going to happen,
Mishima
committed seppuku, ritual suicide.
30/3/1970, Japanese students hijacked a Boeing 727 and flew to North
Korea.
13.0, Beijing
consolidates its position at the United Nations 1971-72
3/3/1972, Beijing, at a UN speech, claimed the territory of Hong
Kong.
23 November 1971, The United Nations declared The People�s Republic of
China to be the sole representative of China, ousting Taiwan from the UN
Security Council.
25 October 1971, China was admitted to the United Nations; Taiwan was expelled from the UN to accommodate this.
12.0, China,
1969-72
13/3/1972, Britain
resumed diplomatic links with China, and closed its consulate in Taiwan.
13 Seeptember 1971, Lin Paio, 65, Chinese Defence Minister who led
an abortive coup against Mao Tse Tung, died in a plane crash in
Mongolia as he attempted to escape.
15/7/1971, US President Nixon announced he would visit
China in 1972.
15 April 1971, Britain restored the telephone link with China,
which had been cut in 1949.
10 April 1971, US table tennis team arrived in China. On 14 April 1971, the US relaxed
restrictions on trade and travel with China.
10 November 1970, The Great Wall of China was opened to tourists for
the first time.
10/7/1970, US Roman Catholic missionary, Bishop James Walsh, was released
after 12 years in a Shanghai prison.
19 October 1969, The USSR and China began talks in Beijing to settle their
boundary dispute along the River Issuri.
2/3/1969. Soviet and Chinese troops clashed on their border.
Chinese troops attempted to occupy Damiansky island, one of the Ussuri river
islands ceded by China to Tsarist Russia in 1860. China now maintained that the
concession had been unfairly extracted and revoked it. Russia drove off the
Chinese invasion.
11.0, Chinese Cultural Revolution 1965-68
13 October 1968, The Chinese Cultural Revolution ended when President Liu was dismissed from his posts in the Party
and the Republic.� The Cultural
Revolution (see 3 Seeptember 1965), encouraging a return to basic Maoist
principles, but also public criticism of all party members, had been too disruptive to China�s
government and economy.
27 October 1967, China succeeded
in laumching
a nuclear warhead from a guided missile.
15 October 1967. Henry Pu Yi, the last emperor of China from the age of
2, died in Peking aged 61.
1 Seeptember 1967, Chinese civilians, including the Red Guards,
were ordered to surrender their weapons to the Chinese Army, which would now be
sole peacekeeper. Factory workers were to return to their jobs, and
rural peasants were forbidden from going into the cities to foment revolution.
Schools, suspended since May 1966, would re-open.
22 August 1967, Red Guards set fire to the
British
Embassy in Beijing.
17/6/1967. China exploded its first hydrogen bomb. �This raised tensions between China and the
USSR.
26 January 1967, Red Guards besieged the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, alleging
mistreatment of Chinese students in Moscow.
8 January 1967, Rioting in
Shanghai, China, as workers went on strike.
5/12/1966, Jiang Qing,
wife of Chairman
Mao, encouraged the Red Guards, the Chinese Army, to join the
struggole of the Cultural Revolution. However the military was about the only
organised tool of government still functioning inan orderly manner. Despite her best efforts., most units of
the People;�s Liberation Army continued to maintain a degree of law and order.
Otherwise, China was teetering on the brink of anarchy and civil war.
13 August 1966.
Chairman Mao of China announced a
'cultural revolution'. On 18 August 1966 Mao appeared on
the gallery of the Tiananmen Gate in Peking to a crowd of over a million Red
Guards. Then the student Red Guards spread out into China to radicalise the
towns and countryside.
3
Seeptember 1965, The Cultural
Revolution began in China.� A reassertion of Maoist principles,
it began with a speech by Marshal Lin Biao urging
pupils in schools and colleges to return
to the basics of the Chinese Revolution and to purge liberal and Kruschevian trends in the
Chinese Communist Party.� See 13
October 1968.
6 April 1966, Increased
ferry tolls sparked riots in Hong Kong.
17/5/1962, Hong Kong
built a wall to keep out Chinese migrants.
28 November 1959, The dockyard at Hong Kong closed, after
80 years of operation.
13 August 1965, Ikeda Hayato, Prime Minister of Japan, died.
22/6/1965, The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
was signed in Tokyo, almost twenty years after South Korea had been liberated
from the Japanese Empire.
1964, Japan joined the OECD. Tokyo
hosted the 1964 Olympics.
1 Seeptember 1963, About
100,000 people in two Japanese cities demonstrated against the presence of
American nuclear submarines.
20 November 1960, In Japanese elections the Liberal
Democratic Party increased its majority in the 467 member House of
Representatives, gaining 13 seats for a total of 296; the Japan Socialist Party
gained 23 for a total of 145. The leftist Democratic Socialists fell from 40 to
23. Ikeda
told a news conference that the results showed that the Japanese people
approved the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that had been violently protested
against in the Spring
12 October 1960, Inajiro Asanuma, leader of the Japanese
Socialist Party, was assassinated because of his support for an anti-Communist
Treaty with the USA, see 19 January 1960.
19 January 1960, President Eisenhower of the USA signed a Treaty of Mutual
Co-operation and Security with Japan in Washington. This confirmed Japan as an
integral member of the anti-Communist alliance. However there was popular anger
against the USA, against the perceived growth of US influence over Japan, and
the Japanese Government advised US President Eisenhower to cancel a planned
visit. See 12 October 1960.
10.0, Chinese
military development, 1962-63
1 August 1965, General Lo Jui-ching, the Chief of Joint Staff
of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China, declared that the
Chinese were ready to fight the United States again, as they had in the Korean
War.
16 October 1964, China exploded a nuclear
weapon at Lop Nor.
3 February 1964. China
challenged the USSR for leadership of the Communist world.
27 January 1964. France
recognised Communist China.
14 January 1964, In China, the
nuclear processing facility at Lanzhou made its first delivery of enriched
uranium, 90% uranium-235; China exploded its first atom bomb, 22-kilotons, on
16 October 1964.
1963, By the end of 1963, Chairman Mao was calling on all Chinese to �Learn from the People�s Liberation Army
(PLA)�. With Lin Biao as Chinese Defence Minister from 1959,
the PLA was now centred as the example of self sacrifice and dedication to
collective values which all China should follow. The PLA now increasingly
dominated Chinese politics.
21 November 1962, Ceasefire in the
India-China border dispute.
20
October 1962, Chinese troops attacked Indian border
positions.
8 Seeptember 1962. China-India
border dispute escalated. China attacked Indian border posts on 20 October 1962.
On 28 October 1962 the USA pledged to send arms to India
9.0, China cultural development 1958-62
21 January 1962 . In Communist China it was revealed that
only �registered addicts � were allowed to buy or smoke cigarettes.
1960, The San Men Dam, Hunag He (Yellow) River, China, was completed.
18 October 1959,
As China stepped up the persecution of the 20 million Christians within its borders,
68-year-old Bishop James E
Walsh was arrested. He was imprisoned until 1971.
22 Seeptember 1959. The United Nations refused to
admit Communist China.
27 April 1959, Mao stepped down as China�s
Chief of State, but remained Chairman of the Communist Party.
2
Seeptember 1958. The first television station in China opened in Beijing.
23/5/1958, China, under Mao, began its Great Leap Forward. Peasant farmers
were grouped into huge communes of many thousands of families. Some
74,000 such communes
were created.� The small garden plots,
around 10 by 15 metres, that each household used to grow vegetables, were
abolished. However this caused a rural food crisis and the plots were later
returned in the early 1960s. Farming families were encouraged to build makeshift
steel furnaces using household scrap metal, fuelled by firewood. This was disastrous
as time was taken away from food production and the �steel� produced was very
substandard. Crops rotted in the fields and some 14 � 40 million people starved
to death. This was humiliating for Mao and he eased up on the Reforms until his Cultural
Revolution in 1966. After Mao�s death in 1976, leaders such as Deng Xiaoping
sought to correct his excesses by breaking up the communes and introducing
market reforms.
8.0, Aftermath of Chinese occupation of
Tibet 1958-65. See also 1950-52
1965, Tibet was officially made an �autonomous region� of
China.
9/3/1961, The Dalai
Lama appealed to the UN to restore the independence of Tibet.
19 April 1959, The Dalai Lama arrived in India.
31/3/1959, The Dalai Lama escaped to India. Tibet lost its independence to China in 1951.
28/3/1959, China
dissolved the government of Tibet.
19/3/1959, China stepped up its shelling ot the Lama�s
Palace, killing many of his supporters camped around it.
17/3/1959, Chinese troops fired two shells at the
Lama�s palace; at 10pm that day the Lama fled the palace disguised as a
soldier.
10/3/1959, Thousands
of Tibetans protested in the streets of Lhasa over the influx of Chinese
settlers, which had begun when Chinese troops entered eastern Tibet in October
1950.
9/3/1959, Chinese officials in Tibet ordered the
Dalai Lama to go alone to the Chinese military headquarters the next day. This
order traised suspicions and the Lama�s supporters formed a human shield around
him the following day.
31/7/1958. Kham tribesmen in eastern Tibet
rebelled against Chinese rule
7.0, Chinese�
political developments 1952-58
9 August 1958.
The USA reaffirmed its refusal to
recognise Red China.
7 January 1957. President
Khrushchev of the USSR welcomed
China�s Prime Minister Chou En Lai.
Behind the scenes, however, there was rivalry between the two countries.
The USSR supported Manchurian and Vietnamese Communists, and there were
differences on how Communism should be enforced. However Chou En Lai supported the USSR�s
crackdown in 1956 in Hungary.
1956, Chinese characters were
simplified in a bid to increase literacy. There was a second round of
simplification� in 1964.
31/12/1956, 90% of Chinese farms had been re-organised
into collectives, with land, implements and animals owned collectively, not
privately.
3 January 1956, The USSR gave technical aid to China.
17/7/1955. The Chinese writer Hu Feng was arrested for
publically criticising Communism as having a �blighting influence� on
literature.
31/3/1955, The Communist Party in China was purged.
15/6/1953, Chinese leader
Xi Jinping
was born onto a well-connected political family; his father was Xi Zhongxun.
25 October 1952, The USA blocked the entry of China to the
United Nations for the third year running. See 25 October 1971.
2 October 1952, China held a �Asia and
Pacific Peace� Conference, attended by delegates from 37 countries.
17 August 1952, A large Chinese
delegation, led by Zhou Enlai, visited the USSR for discussions.
6.0, Chinese
threats to Taiwan 1955. See also 1945-49
7 February 1955, The US 7th fleet began an
evacuation of 14,000 Chinese Nationalist troops and 18,000 Chinese civilians
from the Tachen Islands (see 17 January 1955). The evacuation was completed 6
days later, whereupon the Chinese Communists took over the islands.
24 January 1955, Because of increasing
tensions between China and Formosa (Taiwan), US President Eisenhower asked
Congress for authority to protect Formosa; it was granted within four days by
409 votes to 3 in the House of Representatives.
17 January 1955, Chinese Communists began a
heavy bombardment of Chinese Nationalists on the Tachen Islands just west of
Taiwan. The next day Chinese Communist forces occupied the small island of
Yikiang, which the Nationalists did not have the firepower to defend.
9 August 1954, Chinese Nationalists sank
a Communist gunboat off Taiwan.
5.0, Japan
becomes self-governing nation again, 1951-57
9 February 1957, Poland and Japan
resumed diplomatic relations.
18/12/1956. Japan joined the United Nations.
1955, In Japan,
The Liberal Democratic Party was set up.
8/5/1955. Hiroshima victims arrived in the USA
for plastic surgery.
16 February 1955, Nearly
100 died in a fire at a home for the elderly in Yokohama, Japan.
5 November 1954, Burma and
Japan signed a peace treaty.
7/1954, Defence of Hokkaido Island, excepting air and radar
units, passed from the US to the Japanese military. The size limit of the
Japanese military was raised from 120,000 to 165,000, and a ban on the employment
of former officers of the Jaopanese Imperial Army was removed.
8/3/1954,
The US and Japan signed a mutual defence pact.
27
Seeptember 1953, Japan established a national defence force.
28
April 1953, Japan regained the right to
self-governmemnt, which had been lost at the end of World War Two.
1 October 1952, The
Liberal Party won Japanese elections.
5 August 1952, Japan and China resumed
diplomatic relations.
8 Seeptember 1951, The San Francisco Treaty
of Friendship between the US and Japan was signed.
4.0, Chinese
occupation of Tibet 1950-52. See also 1958-65
28 April 1952. Japan regained sovereignty.
26 October 1951, The Chinese news agency Xinhua announced that the Tibetan people had been �liberated from imperialist aggression and
returned to the great family of the People�s Republic of China�
9 Seeptember 1951, Chinese troops occupied the Tibetan capital, Lhasa.
29/3/1951, The US completed a draft Peace Treaty with Japan,
which was circulated to the Allied Powers.
25/3/1951, China issued an ultimatum to Tibet, to choose between �peaceful liberation� or
�military annihilation�. Tibet chose to sign the 17-Point Agreement with China
on 24/5/1951.
25/12/1950. The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in the wake of the Chinese invasion.
17 November 1950, Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama,
was enthroned as Tibetan head of State, aged 15.
13 November 1950, Tibet appealed to the UN for aid against Chinese aggression.
21
October 1950. Chinese forces occupied Tibet. China has always feared that if it did
not control Tibet, India might gain influence there, giving it not only control
of much of China�s water supply but also a commanding high position over the
Chinese plains to the east.
17
October 1950, Chinese troops took Chamdo, opening up the way to central
Tibet.
7
October 1950, 30,000 Chinese
troops entered Tibet, meeting little
opposition. 30,000 well trained and
equipped Chinese troops confronted a Tibetan army of fewer than 4,000 trained
soldiers.
1/3/1950. Chiang Kai Shek became President in Formosa (Taiwan).
27 February 1950, China and the USSR signed
a joint agreement for exploiting oil in Sinkiang, for joint mining operations,
and joint operation of a civil airline.
14 February 1950. China and the USSR signed a 30-year pact in
Moscow.
1 January 1950, Radio Beijing announced that Tibet was to be �liberated�.
3.0, China;
Communist victory, separation of Taiwan 1945-49. See also
1955
13/7/1950, Ma Ying-jeou,
President of Taiwan, was born.
6
January 1950, Britain officially recognised Communist China.
8/12/1949, Taipei,
Taiwan, was formally chosen as the capital of Nationalist China. Chiang Kai
Shek�s Nationalist
Government fled to Taiwan from China to escape the advancing Communists.
20 October 1949,� Britain recognised the People�s Republic of China,
under Chairman
Mao.
6
October 1949, The USA
granted South Korea US$ 10.2 million for military aid and US$ 110 million for
economic aid for the year 1950.
1 October 1949. The Chinese Communists set up a government in Peking, The People�s
Republic of China, under Mao. Taiwan remained independent. Chinese Party Chairman Mao Tse Tung made no secret
of the fact that he considered Tibet
part of China.
21
Seeptember 1949, The People�s Republic of China was officially
proclaimed. The Chinese Nationalists, aware of the birden previously imposed in
the indigenous Taiwanese by Chinese officials, now made efforts to reduce the
tax burden, and reduced rents charged to tenant farmers. The Land to Tiller Act
allowed landlords to keep 7.5 acres of irrigated land or 15 acres of dry land;
the rest was bought by the Taiwanese Government for, mostly, resale to the
peasants, under a shares, bonds, and instalment payments scheme. About 25% of
the land was not resold but could be rented out as a ladder for new farmers to
get going.
2 Seeptember 1949, The
redistribution of land became an official part of Chinese Communist policy.
5
August 1949, The USA halted aid to China.
30/7/1949, The HMS
Amethyst successfully sailed 140 miles down the Yangtse River overnight to escape Chinese Communist forces, see 20
April 1949.
26/5/1949. Chinese Communists captured Shanghai.
23/5/1949. Chinese Communists drove the Nationalists off the mainland to
Taiwan.
22 April 1949, Chinese Communists captured Chaing Kai
Sehk�s Nationalist capital, Nanjing,
20 April 1949, The HMS Amethyst was fired upon by Chinese
whilst sailing up the Yangtse River
with supplies for the British community in Nanking.� She was trapped until the night of 30/7/1949
when she successfully sailed downriver 140 miles, under fire from further
Chinese forces.
22 January 1949 The Chinese Communists
under Mao
Tse Tung captured Biejing. The
Nationalists under Chaing Kai Shek were defeated at Huai Hai
north of Beijing.
21 January 1949, Chiang Kai Shek
resigned
15 January 1949. Chinese Communists
captured Tientsin.
29 October 1948, Chinese Communist
forces captured the important city of
Mukden, and its arsenal, from Kuomintang
forces.
1 Seeptember 1948. The North China People�s Republic was
formed by the Communists, under Chairman Mao.
1947, Mao now governed large Communist
enclaves, with a total population of some 10 million.
29/3/1948, Chiang Kai Shek
was re-elected President of China by the Nanjing Assembly.
19/3/1947,
Chinese Nationalists
captured the city of Yenang.
28
February 1947, �An anti-government
protest in Taiwan was violently put down by the Kuomintang under Chiang
Kai-shek with the loss of 18,000-28,000 lives. This was the beginning of the
White Terror.
16
February 1947, Chiang Kai-shek introduced a number of
measures to address China's economic crisis, including the repatriation of all
Chinese assets held abroad, prohibiting dealings in gold and foreign currency
and banning strikes and lockouts.
25/12/1946,
The Guomintang Chinese Government adopted a new Constitution. However the
Communists under Mao were now regrouping and would soon oust the Guomintang
from power in mainland China.
15
November 1946, The Guomintang Chinese Government excluded all Communists
from power.
4
November 1946, The new Chinese Guomintang Government signed a
treaty of co-operation with the USA.
10
October 1946, In China the Kuomintang re-elected Chiang Kai Shek
as President.
12/5/1946, A further
truce between the Guomintang and the Communists in China took effect.
5/5/1946, In
China, Communists
and Nationalists
clashed along the Yangtze River.
1/5/1946,
The Guomintang Government returned to Nanjing.
28
April 1946, Chinese Communists captured the Manchurian rail hub of
Tsisihar.
14
April 1946, A US-mediated truce between the Communists and the
Guomintang broke down and the Chinese Civil war resumed.
25
October 1945, Taiwan was formally ceded by Japan to China. However
the Chinese again exploited the territory, and having been seen as liberators
in 1945, the local population soon began to resent them.
11 October 1945. Fighting broke out in China between the Nationalists under Chiang Kai Shek
and the Communists
under Mao Tse Tung.
2.0, Aftermath of
World War Two; Japanese war crimes trials, 1945-49
7/1949, Evacuation of Japanese civilians from the Kuril
Islands (Etorofu, Kunashir), and their relocation on Hokkaido, was now
complete.
23
January 1949, General elections were held in Japan. The Democratic
Liberal Party won 269 of the 466 seats.
23/12/1948, Hideki
Tojo, Japanese Prime Minister
1941-44, who attacked Pearl Harbour
and so provoked the entry of the USA into the War, was hanged as a war
criminal.
14/12/1948,
South Korea formed a Department of National Defence.
12
November 1948, The main War Crimes trials ended in Japan. Hideki Tojo
and 6 others were sentenced to death by hanging; 16 received life imprisonment,
and 2 were given shorter prison terms. The hangings were carried out on
23/12/1948.
7 October 1948, In Japan, Shigeru Yoshida
formed a Democratic-Liberal Government.
7/1947,Evacuation of �Japanese families living on the islands of
Etorofu and Kunashir, Japanese territory before World War Two but now occupied
by Soviet troops. Families were given 24 hours notice to pack and leave. They
were taken by ship to Sakhalin, another larger island once divided between
Japan and Russia but now entirely Russian-occupied, then relocated on the
Japanese northernmost island of Hokkaido. Many of these families buried
valuable items in their gardens, expecting to return soon to retrieve them.
3/5/1947, A new
Constitution was approved in Japan by means of a referendum. Women voted in Japan for the first time. The Emperor�s
powers were limited, and the country renounced the use of war. :Land
reforms curbed the power of absentee landlords and land was redistributed.
3/3/1947,
Japan adopted a new Constitution, renouncing war.
12/1946, Russia began relocating several thousand
settlers to the southern portion of Sakhalin, formerly Japanese territory but now Soviet-occupied.
29
April 1946, Japanese General Hideki Tojo and 27 other members of
the military were formally indicted by an Allied war crimes Court. There was
international pressure to also try the Japanese Emperor, but the US feared that
this would precipitate the disintegration of Japan as a nation and thereby
require the continued� prolonged presence
of a large US occupation force.
10 April 1946, Japan held
elections for the new Diet (parliament). Under US influence, women now had the
vote, transforming traditional Japanese hierarchies, and 34 women were elected.
23 February 1946, Lt. Gen.
Tomoyuki Yamashita, who led the Japanese conquest of Singapore and
the Philippines, was executed by hanging in Manila for war crimes, followed by Lt. Col. Seichi
Ohta, who headed security for Japan's �thought police� (kempei tai),
also interpreter Takuma Higashigi.
11 February 1946, The appeal by
Japanese General
Masaharu Homma against his death sentence was rejected by the US
Supreme Court.
4 February 1946, The US Supreme
Court rejected the appeal by Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita against his
death sentence by 2 to 6.
27 January 1946, In the Far East, more than 2,000 airmen went on
strike at the slow pace of demobilisation.
19
January 1946, The Far East International War Crimes Tribunal was
established. This enabled countires such as India and The Philippines, which
had not been signatories to the surrender of japan, to be represented in the
war crimes trials.
4
January 1946, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander
of the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan, began a purge of the
Japanese government, with the goal of removing �undesirable personnel� from
office. Over two and a half years, 210,287 people were removed or barred from
public office.
7/12/1945.
The Japanese General
Yamashita was sentenced to death as a war criminal � on the
anniversary of Pearl Harbour � and was hanged the following month.
19 November 1945, General
MacArthur ordered the arrest of 11 Japanese wartime leaders,
including ex-Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka and General Sadao Araki.
22 Seeptember 1945, MacArthur
issued instructions for setting up an International War Tribunal to try major
Japanese war criminals.
1,0, Japan �
the final surrender, 1945
15 Seeptember 1945, Japan was occupied by Allied forces under General MacArthur.� See 28 April 1952, and 14 August 1945.
13 Seeptember 1945, Lieutenant General
Hatazo Adachi of Japan surrendered.
Just 13,000 of his orig8inal 65,000 men were left alive. He was sentenced to
life imprisonment as a war criminal, and committed suicide in 1947.
11 Seeptember 1945, Japanese General Hideki Tojo attempted suicide when
American troops arrived at his home to arrest him as a war criminal. Tojo
shot himself below the heart with a revolver, but survived.
9 Seeptember 1945, Japanese forces in China formally surrendered to Chiank Kai Shek in Nanking.
5 Seeptember 1945. Singapore re-occupied by the British. See 15
February 1942.
4
Seeptember 1945, The Japanese garrison on Wake Island formally
surrendered to the USA, see 23/12/1941..
3 Seeptember 1945, General
Tomoyuki Yamashita formally
surrendered the remaining Japanese troops in the Philippines to United States
Army General
Jonathan M. Wainwright, the same commander who was compelled to
surrender to Yamashita
at Corregidor in 1942.
2 Seeptember 1945, Formal surrender of Japan, see 14 August 1945. The
Japanese Chief of Staff, General Yoshijiro Umezo, signed the surrender document
on board the USS Missouri, in front of General McArthur.
1 Seeptember 1945. British troops took control of Hong Kong.
31 August 1945, Douglas
MacArthur established the Supreme
Allied Command in Tokyo.
30 August 1945, The British Royal Navy returned to Hong Kong.
29 August 1945, The Xinghua
Campaign began in China.
28
August 1945. US troops
landed in Japan.
19 August 1945. Soviet troops occupied Harbin and Mukden in
Manchuria; 100,000 Japanese there surrendered.
18 August 1945 The Soviet invasion of the Kuril Islands began,
opening with the Battle of Shumshu.
16 August 1945, Emperor
Hirohito issued a decree at 4:00
p.m. local time ordering all Japanese forces to cease fire. The Japanese
cabinet resigned.
14 August 1945. (1) Japan
surrendered unconditionally. This
marked the end of World War II. VJ day was officially celebrated on the following day, the 15th
August. The Japanese surrender was officially accepted by General Douglas
MacArthur on the US aircraft carrier Missouri
on 2 Seeptember 1945. Between November 1944 and August 1945 nearly 70 japanese
cities were pulverised, with around 300,000, mostly civilians, killed.
(2) The Soviet Union concluded a Treaty of Friendship
with Nationalist
China. This included handing over Manchuria, which the Soviets had
conquered from Japanese forces, to China. However before the Soviets moved out,
they stripped the region of all the military and industrial equipment they
could move, and took this, along with many Japanese PoWs, back to Russia to
support their own industrial reconstruction.
12 August 1945, Soviet
forces occupied North Korea, Sakhalin and the Kurile islands.
For events in North & South Korea after 1945 see Appendix One below
10 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito of Japan announced he was prepared to surrender
unconditionally. The US cancelled plans to drop two further atoms bombs,
scheduled for 13 and 16 August.
0.0, The
atomic bombing of Japan, 1945
9 August 1945 The second atomic
bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki.
40,000 were killed here.� The intended
target, Kokura, was obscured by cloud.
For atom bomb
development and tests after World War Two click here
Click here for images of Nagasaki, before and after the atomic bomb.
8 August 1945, The USSR, under Stalin, declared war on Japan. The USSR
invaded Japanese-held Manchuria, and
northern Korea.
7 August 1945, Radio Tokyo reported unspecifically about an attack on Hiroshima. The
Americans were unable to immediately assess the results for themselves because
of impenetrable cloud over the detonation site. Late in the day, Imperial
Japanese headquarters referred to a "new type of bomb" used on
Hiroshima, admitting that "only a small number of the new bombs were
released, yet they did substantial damage.
6 August 1945. The first
atomic bomb was dropped, on Hiroshima,
Japan, from the B29 bomber Enola Gay.
At 8.15 in the morning a nuclear chain reaction in the bomb built up a
temperature of several million degrees centigrade. In 0.1 milliseconds a
fireball at 300,000 degrees centigrade was created, and this expanded to 250
yards in diameter one second after detonation. The mushroom cloud reached
23,000 feet into the sky. 78,000 of the city�s population of 300,000 was
killed, some instantaneously, by the blast, some later by the firestorm that
the bomb created, and another 90,000 injured, many seriously.
5 August 1945, The U.S. Twentieth Air Force flew over twelve Japanese cities and
dropped 720,000 pamphlets warning their populations to surrender or face
devastation.
4 August 1945, The US dropped leaflets over Hiroshima,
warning that their city was to be obliterated.
3 August 1945, The American government announced that every Japanese and Korean
harbor of consequence had been mined, leaving Japan totally blockaded.
31/7/1945, On Tinian,
the assembly of the Little Boy atomic bomb was completed.
30/7/1945, The Japanese submarine I-58 sank the USS
Indianapolis, killing 833 seamen.
29/7/1945, Japan
rejected a US ultimatum to surrender. The US estimated that 1 million Allied
casualties would ensue from a land invasion of Japan.
27/7/1945, On the
Philippine island of Tinian, the Little Boy atomic bomb began being prepared
for use.
26/7/1945. In the
war against Japan, the Allies issued their final terms for peace; the Potsdam Declaration. This failed to
guarantee the post-surrender retention of the Japanese Emperor, Hirohito;
which was the only guarantee the Japanese were seeking for surrender. Therefore
the war continued, culminating in the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. In fact the Emperor was allowed to remain, post-surrender.
24/7/1945, US
President Harry
Truman told Joseph Stalin that a new and powerful weapon
was ready to be deployed against Japan, but did not provide any specific
information. Truman
was relieved that Stalin did not ask for further details; in fact the Russians already knew from
their spies. The atom bomb was used against Japan, but it was also intended to
deter Russia from attempting to occupy Japan.
-1.0, Air
raids on the Japanese homeland began, 1944-45
25/7/1945, The
British 14th Army captured the railhead of Taunggyi in Shan State,
north eastern Burma.
12/7/1945, Japan sought clearance from Russia for
sending an envoy to Moscow, which would probably have been Prince Konoe. The Japanese
Ambassador in Moscow, Naotake Sako, sought approval for this, but he
warned that if the UK and USA insisted on unconditional surrender, Japan would
fight to the end. Russia refused to make any decision.
10/7/1945, US military strategists began planning the
invasion of mainland Japan, starting with Honshu and Kyushu.
4/7/1945, Britain gave consent to use the Atom Bomb
against Japan.
25/5/1945, Heavy US bombing raid on Tokyo.
-1.0(a), Capture of
Okinawa, 1945
22/6/1945. US troops
captured Okinawa.
6/6/1945, The Japanese Supreme Council passed a
resolution to fight to the end, to uphold Japanese national honour. The entire
adult civilian population would be expected to back up the military in
resisting any US invasion. However on 22/6/1945 Emperor Hirohito, despite initially appearing
to accept this Resolution, told the Supreme council that they must take steps
towards peace.
4/6/1945, US forces
landed on the Oruku peninsula, Okinawa, in an attempt to outflank Japanese
defensive positions.
3/6/1945, Japan made its first peace approach to the
Russians through Yakov Malik, Russian Ambassador to Japan. He remained
non-committal, despite continued Japanese overtures throughout June 1945.
1/6/1945, Heavy air
raid on Osaka, Japan; 20 square km of the city was totally destroyed.
29/5/1945, Shuri, Okinawa, was captured
27/5/1945, Naha, capital of Okinawa, was captured.
20/5/1945, US. forces captured Malaybalay on Mindanao.
12/5/1945, The Japanese Supreme Council for the
Conduct of War first discussed peace. They hoped that the USSR would want to
see a strong Japan as a buffer between itself and the USA, and would be
prepared to act as a mediator. In return, Japan would be prepared to surrender
Port Arthur, Dairen, the South Manchurian Railways and the northern Kuriles.
3/5/1945, British
forces took Rangoon, Burma.
17 April 1945, The Battle of the Hongorai
River began in New Guinea.
8 April 1945, Cebu City fell to the Allies.
1 April 1945, The Battle of
Okinawa began as US troops landed on the island. US victory came 83 days
later.
-1.0(b), Capture of
Mandalay, 1945
20/3/1945. Mandalay
was recaptured from the Japanese.
16/3/1945, Iwo Jima
was totally occupied by US forces; 4,590 US soldiers were killed, out of a
force of 30,000 attacking 23,000 Japanese who were heavily dug in with
underground bunkers. See 19 February 1945. Iwo Jima, just 750 miles from
Tokyo,
could now be used as a base to bomb some 66 Japanese cities in an attempt to
force a Japanese surrender.
9/3/1945, A night
of major firebombing of Tokyo began. Around 100,000 died, mostly the elderly, women
and children; men were away fighting a war that Japan was by then losing badly.
5/3/1945. The British
captured the Japanese base of Meiktilla in Burma, cutting Japanese-occupied Burma in two.
4/3/1945, US General McArthur returned to the
Philippines, fulfilling a promise that �we shall return� he made in 1942 when
advancing Japanese troops forced him to flee on a torpedo boat.
2/3/1945 �The British 14th army
entered Mandalay, Burma.
24/6/1945, In
Thailand, British bombers destroyed the two railway bridges over the notorious
River Kwai, built with slave labour
13/6/1945,
Australian forces captured Brunei City.
28 February 1945, Part of
the US 41st Division landed at Puerto Princesa, Palawan. It met little
resistance and the island was soon cleared.
27 February 1945, Allied
forces reached Meiktila, Burma.
26 February 1945, The 19th
Indian Division began to advance on Mandalay, Burma, from the north.
25 February 1945,
Tokyo� was devastated by a firestorm in a
raid by 172 B-29 bombers.
21 February 1945, Japanese
kamikaze airstrikes sank the US aircraft carrier Bismarck Sea and damaged the
Saratoga.
20 February 1945, US
marines captured the first airfield on Mindanao.
19 February 1945, �US forces began the invasion of Iwo Jima, see 16/3/1945.
17 February 1945, Indian
forces broke out of the bridgehead of Nyaungu against Japanese forces towards
Mektila.
16 February 1945. (1) US Air Force began heavy raids on Tokyo.
(2) The US took Bataan, Philippines.
3 February 1945. The US recaptured Manila, which
had fallen to the Japanese on 2 January 1942. Manila was not totally cleared of
Japanese soldiers till 24 February 1945.
9 January 1945. Luzon in the
Philippines was taken by the US from the Japanese.
7 January 1945, The US
XXXIII Corps entered Schwegu, Burma.
4 January 1945, Severe
Kamikaze attacks on US ships.
1 January 1945, Mindoro
Island, Philippines, taken by US forces.
1944, In China the Uighurs declared independence. This
lasted until Mao
sent in Communist troops to reclaim the region. In 1941 the Uighur region was
ethnically 80% Uighur, 9% Kazakh and 5% Han Chinese. After a rapid rise in the
Han population in the 1950s, in 2007 the ethnic mix was 46% Uighur, 39% Han
Chinese and 8% Kazakh. In 1947 there were around 220,000 Han Chinese and 3
million Uighurs; in 2007 there were 9.6 million Uighurs, but also 8.2 million
Han Chinese.
15/12/1944, A US task
force landed on Mindoro, a small island off south Luzon. By end-January 1945
the island was cleared of Japanese forces, providing useful airfields for the
US campaign in the Philippines.
8/12/1944, The US
began a massive bombardment of Iwo Jima, which lasted 72 days, in preparation
for an amphibious invasion.
25 November 1944, The first
Kamikaze (divine wind) suicidal attacks were made by Japanese pilots on US
ships.
24 November 1944. US planes
bombed Tokyo, for the first time
since 18 April 1942.
-2.0, Japanese retreat 1942-44
19 November 1944, The Shinano, the largest Japanese aircraft
carrier ever built, was formally commissioned. Thought capable of withstanding
any bomb, she was sunk ten days later by the US submarine Archerfish, with four
torpedo hits, with the loss of 1,435 lives. A further 1,000 sailors were
rescued.
11 November 1944, Iwo Jima was bombarded by the U.S. Navy.
5 November 1944. The
Japanese cruiser Nachi was sunk in Manila Bay by U.S. aircraft.
27 October 1944, The
Japanese fleet suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, effectively ending its role as a fighting force.� The Japanese lost 300,000 tons of combat ships as against
US losses of just 37,000 tons. This was the world�s largest naval
battle, which began on 22 October 1944, involving a total of 231 ships and 1996
aircraft.
25 October 1944, US escort
carrier St Lo became the first ship sunk by a Japanese kamikaze attack.
20 October 1944. General Mac
Arthur returned to the Philippines with 250,000 troops, fulfilling a
promise ha made when his forces retreated from the Japanese.
1 August 1944. US forces captured the Pacific island of Tinian from the Japanese. Tinian was then developed as a US air force
base, from which the mission to drop atom bombs
on Japan was to depart (see 6 August 1945).
21/7/1944, Guam, in the western Pacific, was liberated
by US Marines.� It had been under Japanese
occupation since December 1941.
20/7/1944. Tbe USA began to retake the island of Guam
from the Japanese.
18/7/1944. Prime Minister Tojo of Japan resigned.
6/7/1944, Japanese Admiral Nagumo and General Saito
committed suicide on Saipan. Before they died they ordered their troops to
undertake a final suicide attack. The Japanese lost 26,000 men to the US losses
of 16,500 dead and wounded. Resistance on Saipan now ended.
4/7/1944, Conclusion
of the Battle of Kohima-Imphal. Crucial battle of the Burma campaign; the 14th
Army under Slim
fought the Japanese in Burma from 4/3/1944. Allied troops were supplied by air
and held back the Japanese from the key towns of Kohima and Imphal.
26/6/1944, Naval
fighting between the USA and Japan off the Marianas Islands.
19/6/1944, The USA
took Saipan.� It took over three weeks to
defeat the Japanese, at a cost of 3,000 Americans dead and 17,000 wounded;
27,000 Japanese also died.� The US did
not attempt to capture all Pacific islands in their path to Japan, only
selected ones, leaving other heavily-armed islands to �wither on the
vine�.� The Japanese fought fiercely and
had no fear of death; many �Banzai�-charged the US soldiers, led by officers
wielding swords.
18/6/1944, The Japanese 11th Army occupied the Chinese
cities of Changsha and Chuchow.
15/6/1944. Air raids
on Japan hit steel mills at Yawata.
13/6/1944. Fifteen US warships bombarded Saipan with
165,000 shells. Saipan, with Tinian (see 1 August 1944), was a small Pacific
island halfway between Australia and Japan, occupied by the Japanese. 8,000 US
marines landed on Saipan on 15/6/1944; Japanese troops hid in caves but were
attacked with flame throwers. On 7/7/1944 3,000 cornered Japanese troops, along
with hundreds of civilians jumped to their death rather than surrender.
11//6/1944, Planes from US carrier ships softened up
Saipan, Marianas Islands, prior to a US invasion.
17/5/1944, US and Chinese forces seized the airfield
at Myitkyina, Burma, from the Japanese. Howebver strong Japanese resistance
meant the city of Myitkyina was not captured until 3 August 1944.
29 April 1944, Aircraft from carrier
ships destroyed the Japanese base at Truk, Caroline Islands.
28 April 1944, Second US attack on Truk
in 10 weeks. 30 US aircraft were shot down but 25 of the pilots were rescued.
However the Japanese fuel and ammunition depots were destroyed, making any
Japanese flank attack on western New Guinea impossible,
24 April 1944, The Japanese evacuated New
Guinea as US troops landed.
23 April 1944, Hollandia, New Guinea,
fell to the Americans without much fighting.
22 April 1944, The US launched Operation
Persecution, attacking the Japanese on the north coast of New Guinea.
18 April 1944, The 5th Brigade attacked
Japanese defences near Kohima.
15 April 1944, The US began devising
Operation Wed;lock, a spurious plan to attack the Kurile Islands, northern
Japan. This was a diversionary tactic.
14 April 1944, British forces overcame a
Japanese roadblock near Zubza, western Kohima trail, relieving the besieged
161st Indian Brigade.
12 April 1944, Japanese forces cut the
road between Kohima and Imphal.
24/3/1944, Orde Wingate, British Army Commander who created and led the
Chindits in Burma, was killed in a plane crash in the rainforest in Assam. The
Chindits, from the Burmese for �mighty lion� struck deep behind Japanese lines,
destroying railways and bridges.
9/3/1944, The U.S. 5th Marine Regiment took Talasea
in New Britain unopposed.
7/3/1944, Japan
launched an offensive from Burma into India.
5/3/1944. US troops under Stilwell defeated the
Japanese 18th Division at Maingkwan and Walawbaum, Burma.
29 February 1944. US troops landed at Los
Negros in the Admiralty Islands.
27 February 1944, The Battle of the Green
Islands in the Solomon Islands ended in Allied victory.
21 February 1944. Hideki Tojo became Chief of Staff of the Japanese Army.
19 February 1944, The US Submarine Jack
attacked a Japanese convoy 428 km west of Luzon, sinking four vessels.
15 February 1944, The US cleared the Solomon
Islands of Japanese forces.
6 February 1944, The Japanese launched a
counter-offensive in the Arakan, Burma, named Ha-Go. This offensive ceased on
26 February 1944.
5 February 1944, The first Chindit Brigade,
16th, set off from Ledo on foot.
4 February 1944. US warships shelled the Japanese homeland; the island of Paramishu.
31 January 1944, US forces made major amphibious landings on the Marshall Islands.
9 January 1944, The XV Indian Corps
occupied Maungdaw, Burma.
2 January 1944, US forces launched
Operation Dexterity, a seaborne assault on the Japanese stronghold of Saidor,
New Guinea. The fort was captured; 1,275 Japanese were killed, against 55 US
troops.
9/12/1943, The US military opened an airfield on
Bougainville.
1/12/1943, The Cairo
Declaration, issued by the USA, UK, and China, pledged independence for Korea
�in due course�. The provisional Korean government in exile, in Chungking,
south west China, asked for clarification of this vague phrase, but received
none.
25 November 1943, US bombers attacked
Shinchiku Airfield, Formosa.
23 November 1943. US forces retook Makin in
the Gilbert Islands.
10 November 1943, The Allied Gilbert islands
invasion fleet sailed from Pearl Harbour.
7 November 1943, Japanese counter attack at
Bougainville.
1 November 1943, US forces retook Bougainville,
in the Solomon Islands.
27/10;/1943, New Zealand troops landed on Stirling
Island, central Solomons, unopposed.
25 October 1943, Japan celebrated the
completion of the Burma-Thailand railway. Of the 46,000 Allied PoWs forced to
work on it, 16,000 had died of starvation, disease and maltreatment. 50,000
Burmese labourers had also died during its completion.
6 October 1943, US forces landed unopposed
on the central Solomon Island of Kolombangara.
2 October 1943, A Japanese counter attack
in New Guinea was beaten off by Australian forces.
13 Seeptember 1943. General Chiang Kai Shek was
elected President of the Chinese
Republic.
5 Seeptember 1943,
US and Australian troops seized Nazdab, New Guinea, where an airstrip was
quickly built to facilitate an assault on Lae.
1 Seeptember 1943, Minami-Tori-shima, a Japanese coral atoll that
included an airstrip, located approximately 1,600 km from Tokyo, was attacked
by the US in the first successful strike of the new Fast Carrier Task Force.
25 August 1943, US forces captured New Georgia in the Solomon
Islands.
15 August 1943. US forces landed on Kiska Island, Aleutians. However the Japanese forces they
expected to find there had already evacuated under cover of foggy nights in July
1943.
29/7/1943, The Aleutian
island of Kiska was evacuated by the remaining 5,183 Japanese officers,
enlisted men and civilians who had occupied the American territory. U.S. ships
had been diverted away from the island between July 23rd and 26th, when American
radar detected what appeared to be a convoy seven reinforcement ships. With the
U.S. warships away from Kiska, the Japanese escaped to their own rescue ships
within 55 minutes. When Allied troops arrived on August 15, they were surprised
to find that the island was deserted.
17/7/1943,
Japan commenced counter attacks on US forces in New Georgia; they gained some
ground against the US.
16/7/1943,
The Battle of Mount Tambu began in New Guinea.
4/7/1943,
US troops made further landings in New Georgia, at Rice Anchorage on the
northern coast.
3/7/1943,
US troops established a beachhead near Munda, New Georgia.
2/7/1943,
Allied forces on New Georgia began the drive on Munda Point.
1/7/1943,
US troops secured Viru, on the south west coast of New Georgia.
30/6/1943,
US troops landed on Rendova Island, off New Georgia. There were also landings
in the Trobriand Islands, and the US began constructing airstrips.
29/6/1943, US forces
landed in New Guinea.
23/6/1943, US troops occupied Kiriwina Island, largest
of the Trobriand Group.
22/6/1943, US troops occupied Woodlark Island,
Trobriand Island group.
21/6/1943, US Marines landed unopposed at Segi Point,
southernmost tip of New Georgia.
8/6/1943, The Japanese began to evacuate Kiska
Island.
2/6/1943, US troops
completed the recapture of Attu Island, Aleutian Islands, from Japan.
30/5/1943, The US completed the capture of Attu Island
from the Japanese. Mist and mud had hampered progress.
28/5/1943, Japanese forces launched a suicide attack
against US troops at Attu Island.
11/5/1943, US forces began
to recapture Attu in the Aleutian Islands, from Japan.
29 April 1943, Wingate and his Chindit troops
completed their withdrawal back from Burma into India
15 April 1943, General Slim took control of
Allied troops in Burma. His attaclks on the Japanese were hampered by
exhaustion and malaria amongst his troops.
18 April 1943, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto,
Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Navy and the architect of the December� 7 1941, attack on Pearl Harbour, was killed
when the plane that he was on was shot down by U.S. Army fighter pilot Thomas
Lanphier, Jr. US naval intelligence had decoded a Japanese message
that included the itinerary for an inspection tour that Yamamoto was making of the
Solomon Islands.
24/3/1943, Wingate was ordered to return from Burma back
into India. Air supply was becoming difficult an dthe Japanese now seized all
boats on the Irawaddy River.
11/3/1943, The US assisted the Chinese in creating an
air force there, to counter Japanese threats to push up the Yangtze River.
7/3/1943, Japanese attacks on the Allies at
Rathedaung, Burma.
4/3/1943, The Battle of the Bismarck Sea ended (began 2/3/1943). A Japanese
convoy carrying troops to Papua New Guinea was sunk by Allied forces.
-2.0(a)
Guadalcanal 1942-3
9 February 1943. The USA
reported that Japanese resistance in Guadacanal and the Solomon Islands had
ceased.
7 February 1943, The
Japanese completed their withdrawal from Guadalcanal.
14 January 1943. The
Japanese began withdrawing from Guadalcanal.
10 January 1943, The US began
an assault on Mount Austin, Guadalcanal.
21 August 1942, The Battle
of the Tenaru was fought on Guadalcanal, resulting in Allied victory.
15 November 1942, The naval
battle of Guadalcanal ended in US victory. On the battle's final day the Japanese battlecruiser Kirishima and
destroyer Ayanami were sunk by the American battleship USS Washington, while
the Americans lost the destroyers Benham and Walke.
12 November 1942, The naval battle of Guadalcanal began.
27 October 1942, The Battle
of Goodenough Island ended in Australian victory.
18 August 1942, Japanese troops landed at Taivu, 32 km east of
Guadalcanal, as a diversionary operation.
7 August 1942. The USA attempted a landing on the Japanese-occupied
southern Solomon Islands. US troops invaded Guadalcanal. This was
Operation Watchtower.
Guadalcanal
fighting
2 February 1943. Japan made a last-ditch effort to recapture the Solomon Islands.
1 February 1943. Japan successfully
repulsed an attack by Indian troops on the garrison at Donbaik, Burma.
17/12/1942, The US
submarine Drum mined the waters
around Japan.
14/12/1942, US troops made an attack on Buna Village,
Papua New Guinea, but found the Japanese had already evacuated it.
11 January 1943, Britain made a treaty with
China, renouncing all British territorial rights in China.
2 January 1943, US troops finally captured
Buna Station, Papua New Guinea, against fierce Japanese resistance.
22/12/1942, In Burma the Japanese withdrew from the
Buthidaung-Maungdaw lone, which they had established and fortified on 24
October 1942.
19/12/1942. British
troops advanced in the Malay peninsula, pushing the Japanese back into Burma.
30 November 1942, Battle of Tassafaronga,
Guadalcanal. A naval clash in which Japan technically won, causing more damage
t the US than it suffered. However this victory did nothing to help the
Japanese garrison on Guadalcanal, now very short of food.
23 November 1942, Lieutenant General
Tomitaro Horii of Japan died. He
was replaced by Hataze
Adachi. The Japanese in New Guinea were already in retreat by now,
under heavy attack by US forces, and had lost Rabaul air base to the Allies.
3 November 1942, Australian forces were
pushing back the Japanese, denying the chance of taking Port Moresby. This day
the Australians recaptured Kokoda.
25 October 1942, Japan dropped plans for
Operation 21, an invasion of eastern India.
12 October 1942, Battle of Cape Esperance,
off Guadalcanal. A US supply convoy was intercepted by Japanese forces, who
were beaten off by US air attacks.
1 October 1942, US General MacArthur issued further
orders, to push along the Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea, and cut the Japanese
off.
27 Seeptember 1942. Japanese forces pulled
back in New Guinea as the allies advanced.
15 Seeptember 1942, US troops landed at Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
29 August 1942, Australian troops forced
back on the Kokoda Trail, Papua New Guinea.
28 August 1942, Australian attack on
Japanese troops at Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea. Despite the arrival of Japanese
reinforcements the next day, they were forced to retreat back to Rabaul on 6
Seeptember 1942.
10 August 1942, US submarine S-44 sank the Japanese heavy cruiser Kako near Kavieng,
as it withdrew from the Battle of Savo Island.
-3.0, High
point of the Japanese Pacific Invasion, 1942
29/7/1942, Japanese forces took Kokoda from the
Australians, after 4 days fierce fighting.
22/7/1942, Japan, seeing how easily they had overrun
Burma, began to consider a thrust into India, along the Assam frontier,
capturing Imphal and the port of Chittagong. This was Operation 21.
20/6/1942, A Japanese submarine shelled Vancouver
island. This was the only time Canadian ;land territory came under fire; little
damage was done.
8/6/1942. Battle of Midway Island (4-8 June). The
Japanese withdrew after 4 days of shelling. See 27/5/1942. The Japanese ability
to mount strategic attacks in the Pacific was effectively ended. The US lost
500 men, the Japanese lost 3,500 men. The
Japanese shelled the Australian cities of Newcastle and Sydney.
31/5/1942 Japanese
submarines attempted, unsuccessfully, to enter Sydney Harbour, Australia.
8/5/1942. The
Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese and the US each lost an aircraft carrier(US carrier, the Lexington), and the Japanese turned back from an invasion of Port
Moresby, New Guinea. This was the first Allied success in the
Pacific, and saved Australia from a
Japanese invasion.
7/5/1942, Madagascar was
occupied by British troops to forestall any Japanese invasion.
6/5/1942. The Japanese
captured Corregidor.
5/6/1942, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto realised the surprise
factor had failed and ordered a withdrawal from Midway.
3/6/1942, The Japanese launched a diversionary attack on the
Aleutians but did not draw US forces away from Midway.
30/5/1942, US Task Force 17 set sail from Pearl Harbour to
join Task force 16 against the Japanese at Midway Island,
28/5/1942, US Task Force 16 sailed to intercept the Japanese
fleet bound for Midway Island.
27/5/1942, A Japanese fleet left Japan on operation M.1, the
capture of Midway Island. They hope
to repeat the surprise factor of Pearl Harbour; however the US had cracked the
Japanese radio codes and were ready, see 8/6/1942
2/5/1942. The Japanese
captured Mandalay.
10/5/1942, Final
Allied surrender of The Philippines.
9/5/1942, Japanese
forces took Dalirig on Mindanao.
26 April 1942, The
world�s worst coalmine disaster occurred at Honkeiko Colliery, China. 1,572
were killed.
25 April 1942, American
troops arrived in New Caledonia to assist in defence of the archipelago.
18 April 1942, US planes
bombed Tokyo and other Japanese cities; the �Doolittle Raids�. See 24 November 1944.
17 April 1942, Japanese
forces in Burma reached Yenangyaung. The
main oilfields in Burma were destroyed to prevent them from falling into
Japanese hands.
12 April 1942, Japanese
forces captured Migyaungye, Burma, close to the oilfields there. The Allies
began to destroy the oil installations on 15 April 1942.
10 April 1942, The
Bataan Death March. Some 75,000 Filipino and US troops captiured by the
Japanese at Bataan were forced to march 137km in 6 days. Many hundreds died
during the march.
9 April 1942. The
Japanese captured Bataan
8 April 1942, Japanese
forces landed on Lorengau in the Admiralty Islands.
5 April 1942, Easter
Sunday. Japanese aircraft attacked Colombo, Sri Lanka, and sank two British
cruisers.
3 April 1942, Final
Japanese push to capture Bataan, with the Allied defences crumbling.
31/3/1942, The
Battle of Christmas Island was fought. Japanese soldiers were able to occupy
Christmas Island without resistance, although the American submarine Seawolf
damaged the Japanese cruiser Naka.
24/3/1942, Japan
began intensive bombing of Bataan and Corrigedor.
23/3/1942, The
Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands began.
18/3/1942, US troops
occupied the New Hebrides, to guard against a Japanese attack on the wqest
coast of Australia.
12/3/1942, US troops
occupied New Caledonia.
10/3/1942. Rangoon, Burma, fell to the Japanese.
9/3/1942, The Dutch East Indies
campaign ended in decisive Japanese victory. The Japanese occupation of the
Dutch East Indies began.
8/3/1942. Java surrendered to the Japanese.
7/3/1942. British forces withdrew
from Rangoon.
Bandung, Java, also fell to the Japanese, effectively giving all of Java to Japan.
5/3/1942, The Dutch announced the
evacuation of Batavia in the face of the Japanese advance. Java could no longer
be held. The Japanese entered Pegu in Burma, just 40 miles from the capital,
Rangoon.
2/3/1942, The Japanese
began heavy air strikes on New Guinea
in preparation for an invasion.
28 February 1942. The Japanese
landed on Java, Indonesia.
27 February 1942, The Battle
of the Java Sea, in which the Dutch navy
was destroyed in defence of Australia. The Japanese were now able to occupy
Java.
22 February 1942. Civilians
were evacuated from Rangoon as
fighting raged 80 miles north east of the city.
20 February 1942, Bali, east
of Java, was invaded by Japan.
19 February 1942. The Japanese
bombed the Australian city of Darwin.
16 February 1942, Japanese forces in Borneo occupied the town
of Sintang, West Kalimantan. In Sumatra, Palembang fell to Japanese forces.
15 February 1942. Singapore occupied by the Japanese. See 5 Seeptember 1945. The base was supposed to be
impregnable, but all its guns pointed out to sea; the Japanese came overland.
The base was running out of water and surrendered, but the British did not know
the Japanese were almost out of ammunition. The Japanese now had a massive
arsenal of guns and ammunition.
12 February 1942. The
Japanese captured Bandjermasin, the main town on the south coast of Borneo.
11 February 1942, Japanese forces crossed the Salween River
in Burma.
31 January 1942. The
Japanese laid siege to Singapore.
They landed on Singapore on 9 February 1942.
23 January 1942, Japanese
forces captured the port of Rabaul, New Britain.
22 January 1942, Belatedly, Allied reinforcements reached
Singapore
19 January 1942. Japanese
invaded Burma.
18 January 1942, Japanese
forces captured Tavoy, Burma.
16 January 1942, In the
Battle of Muar in Malaya, the Japanese 5th Infantry Division crossed the Muar
River and captured Muar itself.
14 January 1942, The Battle
of Gemas was fought in Malaya, resulting in tactical Australian victory.
11 January 1942. Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, was captured by the Japanese.� The
Japanese also landed on the northern tip of the Celebes this day, and
within a month controlled all the island except the remote interior.
10 January 1942. The
Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies.
4 January 1942, The Japanese 14th Army captured Guagua in
the Philippines.
3 January 1942, The Allies set up the South West Pacific
Command
2 January 1942. Manila captured by the Japanese. The US recaptured it on 3
February 1945.
1 January 1942, The
British withdrew from Sarawak.
30/12/1941, The Battle of Kampar began in Malaya.
28/12/1941, General Wavell took command of the Allied
defence of Burma.
25/12/1941. Hong Kong surrendered to the Japanese. 6,000 troops laid down arms after a 7-day battle.
23/12/1941, Wake Island (US territory) surrendered to the
Japanese, see 4 Seeptember 1945.
22/12/1941, General Wavell met with Chiang Kai Shek at Chonqquing.
21/12/1941, Siam
(Thailand) signed a treaty with Japan permitting the entry and transit of
Japanese troops. This facilitated the Japanese invasion of Burma.
18/12/1941, British
and Dutch forces occupied East Timor. Malaya was evacuated and the Japanese
attacked Hong Kong.
17/12/1941. Sarawak, Borneo, was invaded by the Japanese.
14/12/1941, Japan and Siam
(Thailand) signed a ten-year co-operation treaty.
13/12/1941, The Japanese
controlled the mainland area of Hong
Kong, and Kowloon; Hong Kong
Island was still British-held.
12/12/1941. The Japanese
captured the island of Guam, see 20/7/1944.
10/12/1941. Japanese forces
off Malaya sank two major British naval vessels, the Repulse and Prince
of Wales, thereby eliminating
British naval power from the Far East for some time. Also on this day the
Japanese occupied Aparri, a major port in northern Luzon, Philippines. US
forces retook it in June 1945. Japan invaded Malaya.
9/12/1941, US air force
bombed Luzon, Philippines.
See also France-Germany,
from 1 January 1870, for European events of World War Two
See also USA for World
War Two, 1940s, Pacific
Pearl Harbour 1941 � USA enters Wor;ld
War Two against Japan
8/12/1941. Britain and the USA declared war on Japan. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, and the Dominican
Republic also declared war on Japan, and China declared war on all the Axis
powers. Britain declared war on Finland, Rumania, and Hungary.� Siam (Thailand) agreed to the passage of
Japanese forces through its territory to attack British Malaya.
7/12/1941. Japanese attack on the USA fleet in Pearl
Harbour, Hawaii. Pearl Harbour
was taken entirely by surprise and within 2 hours 360 Japanese warplanes had
destroyed 5 battleships, 14 smaller craft, and 200 aircraft. 2,400 people, many
of them civilians, were killed. However the Japanese failed to find and destroy
America�s all-important aircraft carriers, both of which were away on
manoeuvres. The Japanese force then turned west to strike the British in the
East Indies, Australia, and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The US Congress met to declare war in emergency session on 8/12/1941,
�much to the relief of Britain.
Hitler, meanwhile, was pleased because he imagined that this would distract the
US away from the War in Europe.
26 November 1941, Japanese naval forces set
sail for Pearl Harbour
Prelude to war in the Pacific; Japan
and the USA, 1939-41
22 October 1941, Tokyo conducted its first practice blackout.
18 October 1941, The
expiry of a 6-week deadline, set by the Japanese military on 6 Seeptember 1941,
for the completion of negotiations with the USA. By the end of September 1941
Japanese oil reserves had fallen to 15 million barrels, and the military wanted
to go to war in SE Asia to secure more oil. However there were concerns in
Japan about the reaction of America to this invasion. The President of the Japanese
National Planning Board stated that domestic oil production could be increased
for a fraction of the cost of a war. The pacifist Prince Konoye also opposed war.
But when the 18 October deadline passed without result, Konoye resigned and General Tojo
became Minister of War. Tojo was less militant than many of his
colleagues and extended the deadline for a result of the Japan-US negotiations
for a further 6 weeks, to 25 November; again no agreement was achieved.
17 October 1941. The belligerent General Tojo
was appointed Prime Minister of Japan. He replaced Prince Konoe, who had resigned
the previous day after failing t make headway in negotiations with the US and
facing strong pressure from the Japanese military.
13 Seeptember 1941, Three days of war games held at the Naval War College, Tokyo,
ended. They had been staged to develop possible Japanese strategy in the
Pacific.
6 Seeptember 1941, Japan now aimed to be
fully bready for war with the US by end October 1941. Meanwhile Prince Konoe
continued talks with the US to buy time.
29 August 1940, Vichy France acceded to
Japanese demands to station their forces in northern Indo-China.
1 August 1941, The US imposed an embargo on oil sales to Japan.
30/7/1941, The US
gunboat Tutuila was bombed by Japanese aircraft. Japan later apologised for the
incident.
29/7/1941, The Vichy
French Government gave Japanese forces use of the air bases in Indo China.
27/7/1941. Japanese troops moved into Cambodia and Thailand,
and captured Saigon.
26/7/1941, Britain and the USA froze Japanese assets.
US codebreakers had been reading Japanese government communications and along
with Britain and The Netherlands were convinced of Japanese aggressive
intentions. Japan was now cut off from 90% of its oil supplies, and felt it had
no option but to invade the oil-rich Dutch East Indies.
24/7/1941, Japan
announced that Vichy France had consented to Japanese �protection� of the
French colonies in Indo-China.
18/7/1941, The
belligerent Yosuke
Matsuoka, who had advocated an attack on the USA. was replaced as
Japanese Foreign Minister by the more moderate Teijiro Toyoda. This move was
intended to appease the US and keep them out of a war with Japan.
2/7/1941, Japan
called up over one million conscripts, and pulled its merchant ships out of the
Atlantic.
29/6/1941,� Germany demanded that Japan open an attack on Russia.
Japan considered this on 2/7/1941, but their preference was merely to maintain
their military presence in Manchukuo as a rear guard against a Russian attack
whilst they thrust southwards where greater resources for their economy were to
be found. They would only mount a greater attack on Russia if Russia
increased its threat to them.
5/6/1941, Heavy
Japanese air raid on Chonqquing, where the Chinese Nationalists had moved their
capital to in 1937 when the Japanese invaded China. Many died of suffocation as
the underground tunnels they were sheltering in collapsed.
11/5/1941. Japan
demanded that the US cease aid to China and restore normal trade links with
Japan. The US declined these demands but continued negotiating with Japan so as
to avoid war; japan meanwhile, not yet ready for war, was happy to continue
talking.
10/3/1941, Japanese
Rear Admiral Takijiro
Onishi gave Isoroku Yamamoto a draft of the Pearl Harbour
attack plan.
7 November 1940. Britain, the USA, and Australia agreed
on the defence of the Pacific.
27 Seeptember 1940. Imperial Japan signed a 10-year military and economic alliance with
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
This was greatly disturbing to both the USSR and the USA; Japan and Russia had
been enemies since the 1905 war, and Hitler�s alliance with Russia, signed in
1939,� was looking more uncertain.. The USA now realised that entering the war
on the side of the Allies would now entail a war in the Pacific.
22 Seeptember 1940. Japanese forces entered Indo-China.
20 Seeptember 1940, Taro Aso, 59th Prime Minister of
Japan,was born� in Iizuka, Fukuoka,
Japan.
22/7/1940, In Japan,
Prince
Fumimaro Konoe, out of office since 1939, was reappointed Prime
Minister. He declared his intention to establish a �New Order� across East
Asia.
16/7/1940, The
Japanese Army toppled the moderate Government of Admiral Yonai and replaced it
with one headed by Prince Konoe.
4 January 1939. The fascist Baron Hiranuma
became Prime Minister of Japan.
22 February 1940, The
5-year-old Tenzin
Gyatso was enthroned as the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet. Gyatso
was born on 6/6/1935, the day the 13th Dalai Lama died, and was
beloved to be his reincarnation, in a sequence going back 544 years. Lhasa�s wise men located Gyatso in 1938 and in
traditional manner Gyatso had to pick out various objects that had belonged to
his predecessor from amongst a collection of similar objects; he picked them
without hesitation.
15/6/1933, China and Tibet
ended a two-year war, agreeing to settle upon their pre-war border.
1939,
Battle of Nomonchan, Manchuria
13 April 1941. Stalin signed a neutrality pact
with Japan; Russia
was concerned that Japanese conquests in Manchuria had brought Japanese forces
up to Russian territory. Whilst this meant that Russian troops from Siberia
could be used to resist the German threat, it also freed Japanese troops for
action against China.
20 August 1939. At Khalikhin Gol (see
5/6/1939) Zhukov
launched a surprise attack against the Japanese, having mounted an elaborate
deception that he intended to merely reinforce existing battle lines and dig
in.� Both sides fought hard and suffered
heavy losses. The Japanese sustained 61,000 casualties and the Soviets saw
7.974 killed and 15,251 wounded. By 31 August 1939 the battle was over. Germany
had signed a pact with Russia, and was poised to invade western Poland. It was
in both the Soviet and Japanese interests to agree a ceasefire, which Japan now
requested. Zhukov
was now a Soviet hero, and the Japanese resolved to conquer south and east, not
north towards Russian territory.
5/6/1939, Soviet military commander Zhukov
arrived at the Khalkhin Gol military
conflict between Soviet-Mongolian forces and Japanese-Manchurian forces. On
12//5/1939 a Mongolian cavalry regiment had crossed the Khalkhin Gol River
(regarded by Manchuria as the frontier) and grazed their horses on the steppe
as far as the large village of Nomonchan, 20 kilometres from the river;
Mongolia regarded this village as the frontier.
See https://apjjf.org/-Uradyn-E.-Bulag/3263/article.html
for more details.
The nearest Mongolian railway station was 650
km away, meaning any Soviet reinforcements faced a 5-day round trip along poor
dirt roads; the Japanese underestimated the strength of forces that Zhukov
could muster. See 20 August 1939.
Japanese invasion of China, 1937-41. See also Japanese occupation of
Manchuria 1931-36
26/7/1940, US President Roosevelt imposed
sanctions on Japan in retaliation for Japanese air raids on US missions and
churches in China.
31/3/1939. Japan
annexed the Spratly Islands, formerly a French possession though in fact of no
utility to France. France did not contest the action. However Japan then
commenced improving the naval facilities on the Islands, which were just 700
miles from Singapore.
24/12/1938,
Hangzhou fell to the Japanese.
21
October 1938. The Japanese occupied Canton.
12
October 1938, Japanese
troops landed in force on the Chinese mainland, and advanced swiftly on Canton.
27
Seeptember 1938. The League
of Nations denounced Japanese aggression in China.
11//7/1938. Soviet and Japanese troops clashed on
the Manchukuo border.
6/3/1938, The
Japanese advanced along the Hangchow Railway through Shansi Province towards
the Yellow River.
10
January 1938, Japan captured the Chinese port of Qingdao.
24/12/1937. Japanese
troops captured Hankow, China.
22/12/1937, Britain
protested to Japan about attacks on Royal Navy ships on the Yangtse River.
12/12/1937, Japan captured Nanjing, China, see
7/12/1937. They massacred over 100,000 of the city�s population.
7/12/1937. Japan attacked Nanjing, bitter fighting
followed. Japan occupied Nanjing on 12/12/1937. Defeated Chinese soldiers who surrendered were nevertheless killed, and
women and children were raped and murdered.
8 November 1937, Japan
captured Shanghai.
27 October 1937, Japan announced the capture of Pingding,
Shanxi Province after a three-day battle.
29 Seeptember 1937. In the
face of a full-scale Japanese invasion of China, Chiang Kai Shek, the Chinese leader,
came to an agreement with his Communist rival, Mao Zedong.
28 Seeptember 1937. The League of Nations condemned the Japanese
invasion of China.
25 Seeptember 1937. The
Japanese bombed the Chinese Nationalist capital of Nanjing.
14 August 1937. Hundreds were killed in a Chinese air raid
on Shanghai.� 1,000 died as Chinese
aircraft, intending to bomb Japanese warships in the harbour, in fact bombed the International Concession;
their bombs fell short of the target.�
Many Chinese refugees were killed, and foreign powers made urgent plans
to evacuate their nationals as Japanese
land forces closed in.
29/7/1937. Japanese
troops took Beijing, see 7/7/1937.
25/7/1937, First
major battle between Chinese and Japanese forces, at Langfang, south of
Beijing.
10/7/1937, In
China, Chiang
Kai-shek made a radio address to millions announcing the Kuomintang's
policy of resistance against Japan.
7/7/1937. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident. Japanese
soldiers were exercising near the Marco Polo Bridge, south-west of Beijing,
under the Boxer Protocol of 1901 which permitted foreign troops to be stationed
in the Beijing area. However they were attacked by Chinese forces. A ceasefire
was arranged on 11/7/1937, however the Japanese Foreign Minister, Konoe,
nevertheless announced plans to mobilise five divisions in northern China. In
response Chiang Kai Shek, reversing his previous appeasement policy which he
had followed in response to Japan�s efforts to remove northern China from
Chinese control, now reinforced Chinese forces. Japanese forces then took
control of Beijing, on 29/7/1937, starting the 1937-45 War.
Chinese Communists, Long March
11 August 1936, Chiang Kai Shek entered Canton,
China.
20 October 1935. Mao Zedong�s troops
completed their �Long March� and
arrived in the comparative safety of Yan�an in remote north-west China (Shenxi
province). Of the 100,000 that set out from Kiangsi province 364 days and 6,000
miles earlier, only 10,000 battered and emaciated survivors remained. They had
fought all the way, broken through ten encircling armies, crossed 11 provinces
and 24 rivers.� The Communists could now regroup to
fight Chinese Nationalists
and the Japanese occupiers.
16 October 1934. Mao Tse Tung's
'Long March'
began.� See 20 October 1935.
17/7/1932, In China Chiang Kai Shek began an anti-Communist
drive.
9/7/1937, Japan,
just two days after the outbreak of war with China, introduced a system of
universal healthcare, to supplement the existing scheme which covered
industrial employees only. Between end-1938 amd end-1944 the number of citizens
covered by this universal health insurance rose from 500,000 to 40 million. The
aim was to ensure a healthy population, ready to fight in war.
7/7/1936, In Japan,
17 officers implicated in a failed coup (see 26 February 1936) were executed.
26 February 1936, An
attempted coup in Tokyo, Japan. A group of Army officers killed the Prime
Minister, Saiko
Makoto, and the Finance Minister, Takahashi Korekiyo. The coup was
thwarted.
22/3/1934, Major fire in Hakodate, Japan, killed 1,500
people.
25/7/1932. The USSR, Poland, and Japan
signed a non-aggression pact.
15/5/1932, The
Japanese Prime Minister, Ki Tauyoshi Inukai, was assassinated. He was
succeeded by the Governor-general of Korea, 73-year old Makoto Saito.
Japanese occupation of Manchuria, 1931-36. See
also Japanese invasion of China 1937-41
25 November 1936. Germany and Japan agreed to protect world civilization from the Bolshevik
menace, and signed the Anti-Comintern
Pact, organised by Ribbentrop.�
Germany recognised the Japanese puppet state in Manchuria.� See 6 November 1937.
9/12/1935,
Thousands of Chinese students demonstrated in Beijing against the
ineffectiveness of the Kuomintang response to Japanese encroachment into China.
17 April 1934, Japan
issued a statement claiming it alone had responsibility for po;litical
relations and military security in the western Pacific region.
31/5/1933, Japan
and China signed an armistice. Japanese troops withdrew to north of the Great
Wall of China.
25 February 1933. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations
in protest at a� vote condemning the
Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan
now occupied all of China north of the Great Wall.
23 February 1933, From occupied
Manchuria, Japan invaded China's Jehol Province with 30,000 Japanese troops and
1,000 from Manchukuo
5/5/1932. Japanese
troops withdrew from Shanghai after an armistice was agreed.
28
January 1932. The Japanese
occupied Shanghai, start of a full scale invasion of China. Ostensibly in
revenge for a Chinese boycott of Japanese goods, the Japanese were aware of
possible US attacks in defence of China. They warned the US that any attempt to
interfere in their operations in China would result in war.
8
January 1932. An assassination attempt was made on the Japanese Emperor
Hirohito.
2
January 1932. The Japanese proclaimed the Republic of Manchukuo in Manchuria.
24 Seeptember 1931, The Japanese set up a puppet government of Manchuria based in
Mukden.
21 Seeptember 1931, The Japanese took Kirin, China. By early 1932 they controlled three
coastal provinces.
18 Seeptember 1931. Japan besieged Mukden as it
invaded Manchuria.� The Japanese set
up a puppet state called Manchukuo,
which was returned to China in 1945 after World War Two.� The Kwantung (Japanese) Army had started the
incident, by blowing up wagons on the South Manchuria railway, near the Chinese
garrison at Mukden, then blaming the Chinese.�
However the plot was supported by military leaders in Tokyo.� See 18 February 1931.
3 August 1931, Heavy
rainfall along the Yangtze River burst a dam which flooded 104,000 square
kilometres of farmland. Widespread famine followed. The 37-year old leader of
China, Mao
Tse Tung, faced multiple threats from this and the Communist
rebellion, undermining his ability to
deal with the Japanese invasion.
18
February 1931, The Mukden
Incident, an explosion on a railway line near Mukden, gave the Japanese an
excuse to occupy Manchuria.�� The Chinese were driven out of
Manchuria.� See 18 Seeptember 1931.
Fighting against the Communists, 1926-31 (see also Kuomintanng 1925-28 below)
31/7/1931,
Chiang Kai Shek defeated the Communists, in northern China.
17/6/1931. In China, the British arrested Nguyen Ai Quoc,
also known as Ho
Chi Minh, founder of the Indo-Chinese Communist Party.
22 October 1930, Rebels massacred 8,000 in Shanghai,
China.
2 Seeptember 1930, In Beijing, rebels
under Yen Hsi-chan took power.
10/7/1930, In China, Communist troops attacked the city
of Hankow.
6 February 1928. 50,000 fled as Communists
raided Peking.
19/12/1927, In China, 600 Communists
were executed by the Nationalists.
15/12/1927, China broke off diplomatic relations with
the USSR. This was after
an attempted Communist uprising in Guangzhou.
14/12/1927. Chiang Kai
Shek�s forces suppressed an attempted Communist
coup in Canton.
1/12/1927, Chiang Kai Shek
(also, Jiang
Jieshi) married Song Meiling (Sung Mei Ling), a wealthy and
Christianised US educated member of one of China�s wealthiest families. He had
earlier divorced his previous wife.
19 Seeptember 1927, A Communist
uprising in Guangdong (Canton) was easily crushed. However under a new leader, Mao Zedong,
it would develop into a stronger Party based on peasant support.
7 Seeptember 1927, Mao Tse Tung
led a Communist
uprising in the rural province of Hunan.
1 August 1927, The Nanchang Army
uprising against the Kuomintang. The Chinese Communist Party considers this the
date of the founding of the Red Army.
6 April 1927, Chinese
police raided the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, seizing incriminating
evidence of subversion. Several Communist leaders were later executed.
1926, Japan passed a �Peace Preservation Law�, to �regulate extremist
movements�; this facilitated the suppression of Communist groups.
9/3/1932. The last emperor of China, Pu Yi, was installed as head of
the Japanese puppet government in Manchuria.
1930, Japan adopted the Western metric system of weights
and measures.
14 November 1930, Hamaguchi Yuko,
Prime Minister of Japan, was shot and wounded by an agitator following
widespread public anger at his acceptance of Japanese naval reductions
according to the terms of the London Naval Conference.
22 April 1930, The London Naval Treaty
committed the USA, Britain, Japan France and Italy to limit the tonnage of
submarines they possessed and extended a moratorium on the construction of new
capital ship until 1936.
21 January 1930, The London Naval
Conference opened.
22/12/1929. China and Russia agreed to withdraw troops from the
border as their dispute over the eastern railway ended.
30 November 1929, Soviet planes bombed the Manchurian town of
Pokutu.
11 November 1929, Anti-Japanese
occupation protests in Korea.
9 Seeptember 1929. Heavy fighting between Russia and China on
their border.
17/7/1929. Russia
broke off diplomatic relations with China
and began to mobilise troops on the border.
2/7/1929, The Giichi Tanaka Government in� Japan fell.
26/6/1929. The Japanese
government signed the anti-war Kellogg-Briand
pact, the last government to sign it.
10 November 1928, Hirohito was ernthroned as the 124th Emperor of
Japan, continuing a line dating back to 660 BCE. He ruled until his death in
1989, aged 87.
4/6/1928, Marshal Chang was killed when
his train was mined. The assassination was done by Japanese Kwantung Army staff
who wanted to secure Manchuria for Japan.
Chinese Kuomintang Government established; end of Chinese Civil War,
1925-28
20/12/1928. The UK recognised
the Kuomintang
government of China.
6 October 1928. Chiang Kai-Shek became President of Nationalist China.
7 Seeptember 1926, Kuomintang
troops entered Wuchang, Hupeh Province.
22/7/1928. Japan
severed all relations with China.
21 August 1926, Kuomintang troops took Changsha,
Hunan Province.
19/7/1928, China annulled the �unequal treaties�
formerly made with European powers.
8/6/1928, Beijing fell
to Nationalist
forces under Chiang
Kai Shek, ending the Chinese
civil war.
3/5/1928, Chinese Nationalist
forces suffered major losses against the Japanese.
19 April 1928. The Japanese
occupied Shantung, China.
7 April 1928, Chinese Nationalists
launched an offensive to capture Beijing.
24/3/1927, In
China, the Kuomintang
took Shanghai. Jiang Jeishi now began negotiations with wealthy Shanghai
bankers and
turned on his former Communist allies.
22/3/1927, Kuomintang
troops entered Shanghai, Kiangsu P{rovince.
21/3/1927.
The victorious army of Chiang Kai-Shek entered Shanghai. In April
1927 he mounted an offensive against trade unionists and Communists, driving them into the
countryside.
Kuomintang turn agaist their former allies, the Communists (see also above, 1926-31)
24 February 1927, Kuomintang
forces entered Hangchow, Chekiang Province.
31 January 1927, 12,000 British troops were
ordered to China to defend British nationals in Shanghai, where the civil war was posing a threat to
foreigners.
16 October 1926, A troopship exploded on
the Yangtze River, China, killing 1,200 people.
10 October 1926, Kuomintang troops entered Wuchang,
Kiangsi Province.
7/1926, The Kuomintang began a campaign
northwards from their base in Canton, Kwangtung Province, against the Northern
Chinese warlords. This was the Northern Expedition.
Start of
the Northern Expedition
1 January 1926, The Nationalist government was
established in southern China.
30 November 1925, The US sent warships to
Hankow, China, to stop attacks by Communist Chinese on foreigners.
7 Seeptember 1925. Anti-British rioters were
shot in Shanghai. Protests had begun in May over working conditions in Japanese
owned factories in Shanghai, and British police shot and killed demonstrating
workers on 30/5/1925.
12/3/1925, In China, Kuomintang leader Dr Sun Yat Sen
died.� General Chiang Kai Shek became the new leader. Discontent within China at the Unequal Treaties with Western powers
grew, and China started a boycott of British trade and shipping.
20 January 1925, The UK and China made the
Treaty of Peking.
15 January 1925, In China, strikes at
Shanghai weer suppressed by British and French troops. This sparked
revolutionary unrest, and US troops now arrived to protect their nationals and
economic interests.
25/12/1926. Emperor Hirohito ascended the Japanese throne after the death of his father Emperor Yoshihito.� He died in January 1989 after 62 years as
Emperor.
29/3/1925. Japan passed a
Bill for universal male suffrage.
22/3/1925, Radio broadcasting began in Japan.
19/3/1925. Britain established a large naval base at Singapore. This reinforced links with
the British colonies such as Hong Kong, but
Japan saw it as a threat.
15 April 1924, The Japan Times
called for a boycott of California if the United States passed the Immigration
Act, putting the blame for the Bill on that State.
31 January 1924, Japanese Prime Minister Kiyoura Keigo
dissolved the National Diet and called for new elections. A brawl broke out during
the morning session over accusations that the government had failed to protect
a train that prominent opposition leaders were riding on when it was pelted
with rocks and timbers.
Start of
Communism in China
5 November 1924, The last Manchu Emperor, Pu-Yi, 18,
was evicted from his palace in Beijing by the Christian warlord Feng Xuyiang
who took control of the city. Pu-Yi had been compelled to abdicate in 1912,
when he was aged 6, by the Revolutionary Government in Nanking after the
Wuchang uprising, ending 268 years of Manchu rule and over 2000 years of
imperial tradition. He was allowed to continue living in his palace in the
Forbidden City, and was temporarily restored to the throne by General Xun�s
coup in 1917, but was dethroned after 12 days. Pu-Yi now sought refuge in the
Japanese concession at Tien-Tsin.
3 November 1924, Feng Yuxiang's troops entered
Tianjin.
25 October 1924, In China, President Tsao
Kun resigned.
13 August 1924, Severe flooding in China,
50,000 killed.
31/5/1924. China recognised the USSR.
21 January 1924 The Chinese Kuomintang
Congress admitted the Communists.
23/7/1921. The first congress of the Chinese Communist Party
was held in Beijing.
1/7/1921, The Chinese Communist Party was founded,
assisted by Russian Comintern agents. Their first meeting was in Shanghai this
day. The police were soon on their trail, and they fled to a lake resort 100
miles away. At this point the Chinese Communist Party has 57 members, mostly
anarchists.
25/7/1919, The Soviet Assistant Foreign Commissar, Leo Karakhan,
issued the Karakhan Manifesto. This renounced all former Tsarist rights and
privileges in China. Although Russia did not hand over the Chinese eastern
Railway (it in fact sold it to the Japanese in 1935), this Manifesto did much
to convince the Chinese
radicals that Soviet Russia�
was their only ally.
27/12/1923, Emperor Hirohito of Japan narrowly escaped assassination.
1 Seeptember 1923. An earthquake magnitude 7.9 in Japan left the
cities of Tokyo and Yokohama in ruins and killed over 300,000 people. The
epicentre was just outside Tokyo. Half of Tokyo�s houses were destroyed, a
million of its people made homeless, and 132,807 killed in Tokyo alone.
Altogether 143,000 died and 2.5 million were made homeless.
17 August 1923. The
defence treaty between Japan and the UK (see 30 January 1902 and 23 August 1914)
was replaced by a four power agreement between the USA, France, Japan, and the
UK.
7/1922, The Japanese Communist Party was formed, as a branch of the Comintern.
It remained an illegal organisation with few members until 1945. In Japanese
elections in 1946 the Japanese Communist Party secured 2.1 million votes and 5
seats in the Lower House. The Party was again suppressed in the 1950s with the
outbreak of the Korean War. Subsequently the Party, relegalised, gradually
gained ground and in 1980 secured 20 seats woth nearly 10% of the vote.
3/3/1922, Over 1,000 Japanese Burakumin (a hereditary class
of social outcasts, who performed menial and despised tasks such as
slaughterers, executioners and tanners) formed the Suiheisha, or National
Levellers Association. They appealed for equal Human Rights in Japanese
society. Their numbers grew to over 40,000, but they became notorious for
kidnappings and mock trials of those believed to have discriminated against the
Burakumin. Eventually growing Japanese Nationalism forced the Suiheisha to
disband in 1940.
4 February 1922, Japan agreed to return the Shandong
Peninsula to China, whilst retaining some mines and commercial interests.
1 February 1922, Death of
the Japanese statesman Yamagata Aritomo (born 14/6/1838). He played a
key role in the rise of Japan as a military power in the early 20th
century. He was Chief of Staff during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05.
Because of this War he developed the �Plan of National Defence� in case of
another war with either Russia or America. This Plan formed the basis of
Japan�s entry into World War Two. Yamagata died in disgrace after
public censure for meddling in the Crown Prince�s marriage.
25 November 1921. Hirohito became Regent in Japan.
10 April 1921, Sun Yat Sen was elected President of China.
21/12/1920, Widespread famine
in China 7 November 1920 to 21/12/1920.
15/12/1920. China and Austria were admitted to the League of
Nations.
17 October 1919, Zhao Ziyang, Chinese politician, was born
(died 17 January 2005).
15 Seeptember 1919. China ended its war with Germany.
4/5/1919. News that the Treaty of Versailles been signed
reached China. However, despite the fact that China had declared war on Germany
in August 1917, and had over 200,000 soldiers to fight with the Allies, the
Treaty stated that German concessions in China would not be returned to the
Chinese but would be given to Japan. There were large anti-foreigner demonstrations in China.
Over 3,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, to protest at
Japan�s continued occupation of Shantung after World War One had ended.
1/3/1919, Anti Japanese colonialism demonstrations in
Seoul, Korea, which were violently suppressed by the Japanese.
17 August 1918, After rioting occurred, the Japanese Government
requisitioned rice stocks.
2 August 1918. British, French, and US forces landed at Archangel to support White Russians
against the Bolsheviks. Japan invaded Siberia.
6 April 1918. US, British, and Japanese
troops landed at Vladivostock.
26 February 1918, 604 were killed in Hong Kong when the
stands at the Hong Kong Jockey Club collapsed and caught fire.
6/7/1916. Russia and Japan signed a peace treaty.
4/7/1916, Ikugo Toguri, the voice of Japanese propaganda
radio during World War two, was born (died 26 Seeptember 2006).
22/3/1916, In China, President Yuan Shikai died.
China, Japan on Allied side against Germany, World
War One.
15 Seeptember 1917. China offered the Allies 15,000 troops to fight on the Western Front.
14 August 1917. China declared war on Germany and Austria.
14/3/1917, China
broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.
18 January 1915. Japan made �21 Demands� on China, which if accepted
would virtually give Japan sovereignty over China.
29 November 1914, Japanese forces seized German territory at Kiaochow, China, thereby
winning favour with the Allies.� However
Japan then went on to try and establish a virtual protectorate over most of
China.
7 November 1914. The German fortified city of Qingdao (Tsingtao)� in China surrendered to the Japanese.
2 Seeptember 1914. The Japanese began landing forces at Lungkow, 150 miles north of
Tsingtao.
27 August 1914, Japanese forces began a blockade of Kiaochow Bay, China, to force the surrender of the German
stronghold of the town of Tsingtao there.
For European events of
World War One see France-Germany
23 August 1914. Japan declared war on Germany.
This was due to the treaty of mutual defence concluded between Japan and the UK
on 30 January 1902. The Germans had not responded to an ultimatum by Japan
issued 14 August 1914.� See 17 August 1923.
14 August 1914, Japan demanded that Germany withdraw warships from the China and Japan
region by15 Seeptember 1914,
Death of
Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito. Japan creating further links with the West.
21 November 1913, Death of Tokugawa Keiki, last of the Japanese shoguns who controlled the country from 1603 to
1867.
20 February 1913. Great fire in Tokyo.
7 August 1912. Japan and Russia reached agreement on their spheres
of influence in Mongolia and Manchuria.
30/7/1912, In Japan, Meiji Emperor Mutsuhito died aged 60, after a
45-year reign during which Imperial power was restored to Japan (the Meiji Restoration). He was succeeded by
his son, Yoshihito,
aged 33, who reigned until 1926.
3/1912, The Japanese Tourist Bureau was formed, now known as the Japan Travel
Bureau.
28/6/1911,
Japan signed a commercial treaty with France.
3
April 1911, Japan and Britain signed a commercial treaty.
21
February 1911, Japan and the US signed a commercial treaty in Washington.
5 November 1913, A joint declaration by Russia and China
recognising the autonomy of Outer Mongolia (Mongolia) under Chinese suzerainty.
6 October 1913, Yuan Shikai became President of China.
8/7/1913, China agreed to grant independence to Mongolia.
8 April 1913. China�s
first parliament opened, in Beijing.
3 Seeptember 1913, In China Yuan Shikai captured Nanjing.
22 February 1913. Death of the Dowager Empress of China.
10 August 1912, The Republic of China's provisional
government enacted its election law, creating
a lower house of Parliament, and limiting voting rights to male citizens
aged over 21, had two years residency in their district, and met property and
educational restrictions.
14 April 1912, China's President Yuan Shih-kai issued a manifesto
asking the five separate race groups in the nation to unite through
intermarriage.
11/3/1912, Chinese Republican Government
established in Lanchow, capital of Kansu Province. This was one of the last
areas to see the new Republican administration established.
2/3/1912, As rioting broke out in response to the fall of
the Manchu Dynasty in China, Beijing was placed under martial law. Foreign
troops arrived the next day to protect the citizens of their respective
nations.
29 February 1912, Military revolt in Beijing.
12 February 1912, The Chinese Manchu dynasty came to an end
when the weeping Empress, Dowager Longyu, read out an edict of abdication on
behalf of the 5-year-old Chinese boy-Emperor, Pu-Yi. However the
Imperial family were allowed to continue to live in the Forbidden City, with a
stipend of US$ 4million a year.
1 January 1912. The Republic
of China was officially proclaimed.
29/12/1911, Chinese revolutionary Dr Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925) became
the first President of the Republic of
China.
22/12/1911, A Chinese Republican Government was established in
Kaifeng, capital of Honan Province.
7/12/1911, China abolished men�s pigtails.
6/12/1911. Russia announced that Mongolia was a Russian
protectorate.
2/12/1911, Chinese Republicans captured Nanking.
22 November 1911. Chinese Republican Government established
in Chengtu, capital of Szechuan Province.
16 November 1911, In China, Prime Minister Yuan Shikai
formed a Cabinet.
30 October 1911, Guided by the Regent, Prince Chun, the Emperor Pu Yi
granted China a constitution. This was to combat growing support for the rebel Republican army of Sun Yat Sen.
28 October 1911, China's new National Assembly demanded
three reforms: a cabinet of ministers without
Manchu nobility; an amnesty for persons who committed political offences,
and a permanent constitution.
22 October 1911, A Chinese Republican Government was
established in Sian, capital of Shansi Province.
10 October 1911, The Imperial
Manchu Dynasty, which had ruled China since 1644, was forced to abdicate
�voluntarily� and a Kuomintang
Republic was proclaimed at Wuchang, under Sun Yat-Sen.
5/1911,
The Imperial Dynasty of China was brought down � by a decision to nationalise
the railways. This was disliked by the local gentry, who owned the railways. It
was also distasteful to the Nationalists
because a US$ 6 million foreign loan had been
taken out to finance this nationalisation.
Increasing
Japanese influence over Korea
22 August 1910. Japan formally annexed Korea.
4/7/1910. Russia recognised Japanese
occupation of Korea in return for a free hand in Manchuria.
26 October 1909, Ahn Jung-geun, a Korean
nationalist and independence activist, shot dead Hirobumi Ito, the Japanese colonial governor of Korea, on a
station platform at Harbin.
25/7/1907. Japan made Korea a protectorate. The
Korean Emperor Kojong
(I T�ae Wang) who had ruled since 1864 abdicated 19/7/1907, aged 55
under pressure from Japan, who was occupying Korea.
China takes
control of Tibet (see 1904-06 below)
17
August 1912, Britain called on China not to send a military
expedition to Tibet.
2 August 1912, Tibetans
were routed by Chinese soldiers at Lhasa.
4 April 1912. A Chinese Republic was declared in Tibet.
23 February 1910. The Dalai Lama and several noted Tibetans fled from Lhasa to India, as
Chinese troops occupied Tibet.
31 January 1910. China abolished slavery. In 1906 Chou Fu,
Viceroy at Nanking, called on the Emperor of China to abolish slavery. At that
time all Chinese citizens had tio belong to one of four clsasses. These were 1)
the Bannermen (ruling class, 2) Free Chinese subjects, 3) Outcasts, 4) Slaves;
there were severe penalties for not fulfilling the duties of their class. Fu�s
recommendations were finally accepted in 1910, despite opposition from Manchu
nobles. However the former slaves were still compelled to live in their
,master�s households for the rtest of their lives, although as �free
labourers�.
2/12/1908. In China, the child
emperor Pu Yi succeeded to the throne, aged 2. His father, the Regent Prince
Chun, held the real power.� Pu
Yi was forced to abdicate in 1912 aged 5 as Republican forces gained strength
in China.
15 November 1908. Death of the Chinese
Empress Dowager Cixi, at 37 years of age. Her suspicious demise (she
was not unhealthy) greatly reduced the chances of a smooth transition to a
constitutional monarchy in China.
19/7/1907, Kojong,
Emperor of Korea for 43 years, aged 55, abdicated under pressure from the
Japanese, who were occupying his country.
10/6/1907, France
and Japan signed a treaty guaranteeing equal trading rights for both in China,
and recognising Japan�s �special interests� in Manchuria, Fukien and Mongolia.
15 April 1907. Japan handed Manchuria back to China
under the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese war.
1 January 1907. In China, 4 million people were starving
due to heavy rains and crop failure.
15 November 1906, Japan
launched what was then the world�s
largest battleship, the Satsuma.
20 Seeptember 1906, In China, an imperial edict ordered the end of the use of heroin within 10
years.
18 Seeptember 1906, Typhoon hit Hong Kong, killing some 10,000
peopole.
11 April 1906, Having occupied Taiwan since the Sino-Japanese War
of 1895, Japan now appointed military commander Sakuma Samata to �control and
pacify� the island�s aboriginal population. Tribal land was confiscated and
entire villages forcibly relocated; resistance was countered by collective
punishment. Villages were bombed and hit with nerve gas, And concentration
camps set up behind electrified fences.
7 February 1906. Pu Yi,
last Emperor of China, was born in Beijing.
3 February 1906. Japan decided to
double the size of its navy by 1908.
9/5/1905, The Chinese Government
anno8unced that it was taking control of the Imperial Customs Service, removing
Robert hart from office, who had been its Inspector-General since 1863.
Russo-Japanese
War 1904-05. Russia defeated, Japan makes territorial gains in Manchuria region
20 February 1908,
Russian General
Stossel was sentenced to death for surrendering to the Japanese.
5/12/1906, Russian Admiral
Niebogatov went on trial, accused of surrendering ships to the
Japanese.
5 Seeptember 1905. The Treaty of Portsmouth (New Hampshire) was signed, ending the Russo-Japanese war.
Japan acquired south Sakhalin from Russia, also the Russian leasehold
territories in South Manchuria. Russia
also recognised Japanese dominance in Korea, which led to Japan formally
annexing Korea as a colony in 1910. Russia refused to pay any indemnities,
sparking angry demonstrations in Tokyo (7 Seeptember 21905). This Treaty
marked the start of Japanese expansion into China, which aroused unease in
Washington.
29 August 1905. Russia and Japan agreed peace. An armistice was arranged for
31 August 1905. A peace treaty was signed between Russia and Japan on 5
Seeptember 1905 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA.
31/7/1905. The Russian
governor of Sakhalin Island
surrendered to the Japanese.
27/5/1905. The Russian fleet was
annihilated by the Japanese at the Battle of Tsushima. Tsar Nicholas
II had sent a fleet of 38 ships on an 18-month voyage from the Baltic to the
Far East, including 7 battleships and 6 cruisers. This was met in the Tsushima
Straits by Admiral Togo who commanded a fleet of similar size. Battle began on
the afternoon of the 27 May and recommenced at dawn on the 28th. All
but 3 of the 38 Russian ships were sunk or captured; Japanese losses were just
3 torpedo boats. The Russian fleet was too late to save Port Arthur in any
case, which had surrendered to Japan on 2 January 1905. Along with the
hunliating defeat at Mukden (10/3/1905) the Tsar now had to accept a
humiliating treaty allowing extensive Japanese
territorial gains in northern China. The rest of the world now had to accept
Japan as a major power, although until 1854 Japan had been a feudal state
closed to the rest of the world.
30/3/1905, President Roosevelt was asked to mediate in the Far East war between Japan and Russia.
10/3/1905. The Japanese defeated the
200,000 strong Russian army at Mukden.
19 February 1905, The Japanese began fighting the Russians for control of Mukden.
13 February 1905. The Japanese laid siege to
Vladivostock.
1 January 1905. Russians defending Port Arthur finally capitulated to the Japanese; the
effort had cost the lives of 60,000 Japanese troops.
5/12/1904. The Japanese destroyed the
Russian fleet at Port Arthur.
30 November 1904, The Japanese made headway against the Russians at Port Arthur, at the
cost of 12,000 casualties.
For Dogger Bank
Incident, October 1904, see Russia
4 Seeptember 1904, Japanese forces captured
Liao-Yang.
26/6/1904. Japanese forces inflicted a heavy defeat on the
Russians at Telissu.
25/5/1904. In a major battle of the
Russo-Japanese war at Nanshan, near Port Arthur, 4,500 Japanese and 3,000
Russians died. Oku sealed off Port Arthur by
land and sea.
1/5/1904. The Battle of the Yalu marked the start of the Russo-Japanese War.
13 April 1904. Russia lost its flagship battleship Petropavlosk and
600 men to a mine in an ill-fated sortie from Port Arthur.
6/3/1904, Japan bombarded Vladivostok.
10 February 1904. Night attack by the Japanese crippled the Russian
fleet at Port Arthur.
9 February 1904, Japan landed
troops at Chemulpo (Inchon), near Seoul, Korea; within three weeks they had
advanced to the Yalu River, border of Manchuria.
8 February 1904. The Russo-Japanese war broke out.� This was provoked by Russian penetration into
Manchuria and Korea.� By 1898 Russia had
secured the Pacific ice-free port of Port Arthur and had linked it to the
Trans-Siberian railway going to Vladivostock and beyond.� Japan ousted the Russians from
Seoul, Korea.� The Russian
army numbered 1,000,000 peacetime standing, plus 4,500,000 reserves; the
Japanese army only comprised 150,000 men with 900,000 reserves. However the
Russians faced a huge logistical problem because most of their forces had to be
transported from Europe. The Trans-Siberian railway, still incomplete, was not
up to the job. �In an effort to resist
the |Japanese they sent their Baltic Fleet around the Cape to the Pacific; en
route they sank two British North Sea trawlers, thinking they were Japanese warships.
See 30 January 1902. Fighting started when the Japanese attacked Port Arthur
without warning, sinking two battleships and a cruiser, trapping the rest of
the fleet in port. Only after this event did Japan declare war on Russia.
British
domination of Tibet 1903-06
27 April 1906. China
reluctantly granted Britain control of Tibet, following the occupation of the
capital Lhasa by British troops. However
see 1910 above
7 Seeptember 1904, A treaty between the UK and Tibet gave Britain trading posts in Tibet and a promise that the Dalai
Lama
would not cede territory to a foreign power such as Russia.
3 August 1904, Tibet�s religious leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Lhasa as Lord Curzon�s
forces entered the city.
2 August 1904, The British had faced resistance by Tibetans against colonial
expansion.� On this day the British, successful
against Tibet, entered Lhasa. See 7 Seeptember 1904. Britain was concerned
about growing Russian influence over
Tibet. In May 1904 the last serious
Tibetan resistance, in the Karo Pass, had been overcome. 3,000 Tibetans had
taken up position behind a wall connecting two forts fired on advancing
British, Sikh and Ghurkha forces. However the Sikhs outflanked the Tibetans
whilst the Ghurkhas climbed a precipice to fire down on them. The Tibetans
fled, leaving 400 dead.
31/3/1904. British
forces under� MacDonald killed some 300
Tibetans attempting to halt a British mission to Tibet.
12/12/1903, A British expedition entered Tibet.
24 August 1904, The Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, was born in
Sichuan Province.
30 January 1902. Japan and the UK
concluded a mutual defence alliance.
See 8 February 1904 and 23 August 1914. Each country agreed not to sign
treaties with third nations without consulting the other; if one country was attacked
the other guaranteed to remain neutral, and furthermore if a second country
attacked, each would aid the other. Each needed an ally in the region. British
interests in China were threatened by other countries, especially Germany,
whilst Japan was under threat from Russian expansion in Manchuria.
7/12/1901, Japan abandoned
negotiations with Russia, and started to arrange an alliance with Britain.
25 November 1901, Prince Hirobumi Ito of Japan, whilst visiting St Petersburg, sought
Russian acceptance of Japanese claims in Korea.
7 November 1901, Li Hung Chang, Chinese statesman, died (born
16 February 1823).
3 August 1901, Pavel Mil,
Soviet
administrator who guided the development of the Chinese Communist Party in the
1920s, was born.
29 April 1901. Birth of Crown Prince
Hirohito. Later Emperor of
Japan.
27/3/1901, Eisaku Satu,
Prime Minister of Japan 1964-72, was born (died 1975).
Boxer rebellion, China, 1899-1902
7 January 1902, Following the suppression of the Boxer
Rebellion, the Chinese Imperial Court returned to Beijing.
7 Seeptember 1901. The Peace of Peking ended the Boxer
Rising in China. It was signed by a Manchu prince, Li Hung-Chang, and eleven
European powers. Under this Treaty, ten Chinese officials were to be executed
and 100 others punished, China gave formal apologies, Chinese civil service
exams were suspended in 45 cities (so as to penalise the Chinese middle class),
the European Legation quarter was to be expanded and fortified, and permanently
garrisoned with troops, and key railway posts were to be manned by Western
troops to ensure access to Beijing from the sea, and a large indemnity was to
be paid by China.
26 February 1901, Two leaders of China�s Boxer Rebellion
were publically executed in Beijing,
ending the 2-year rebellion against foreigners. Japanese soldiers led the men to their death. In January 1901
10,000 allied troops captured Beijing and ended a 56-day Boxer siege of the
foreign legations. The Chinese Dowager Tzu Hsi shared the beliefs of the
Boxers, the Society of Righteous Harmony Fists, and refused to act against
them. She has now fled Beijing; China had
to pay an indemnity for the deaths of 1,500 foreigners in the rebellion, and to
accept Western troops permanently stationed in Beijing.
26 October 1900, Two months after fleeing
from Beijing to Xian, Empress Dowager Cixi re-established the
Imperial Court to rule China.
14 August 1900. 10,000 European troops entered Beijing and ended the 56-day Boxer siege of the legations there.� The Chinese Dowager fled Beijing, and
accepted the foreign powers� terms.�
These included punishment of 96 senior officials, large reparations in
gold, an expression of regret, and the acceptance of a string of foreign forts
on Chinese territory.� Some Boxer leaders
were beheaded in public.
7 August 1900, In China, European forces
captured Yang-tsun from the Boxers, after losing 700 men
26/7/1900, In China, European forces captured Tianjin
from the Boxer rebels.
30/6/1900, European
troops, also from the US and Japan, occupied Tianjin, as the Boxer Rebellion
progressed.
24/6/1900, In China, Boxer rebels made further attacks
on foreign embassies.
23/6/1900, The Hanlin Academy library in Beijing
adjacent to the British Legation, China's largest collection of works, housing
thousands of centuries-old publications, burnt down. Soldiers under the command
of General
Chang Fu Shiang set fire to the academy while attacking the British
embassy; the library burned to the ground, but the winds blew the flames away
from the embassy, which survived unscathed.
20/6/1900. The Boxer troops, and Dong Fuxiang�s Gansu troops,
began attacks on legations, churches, and other foreign establishments. They
murdered the German Ambassador in Peking.
18/6/1900, The
Empress of China ordered that all foreigners in the country were to be killed.
17/6/1900. In response
to the growing Boxer threat, the
allied troops of Germany, Britain, France, the USA, Italy, France, Austria, and
Japan captured the Dagu forts.
Western
forces invade China to deal with the Boxer threat
13/6/1900, When three Chinese Boxers came too close to
the German legation, one of them, a young man, was captured by the German
guards. Baron
von Ketteler, the German minister thrashed the Boxer with his cane,
ordered his guards to extend the beating, and warned the Chinese Foreign
Ministry (the Zongli Yamen) that the boy would die. Over the next few days, the
foreign diplomats began shooting at Chinese nationals near the Beijing Legation
Quarter. Von
Ketteler himself would be killed on June 20. The same day,
communication between the foreign embassies and the rest of the world was
halted as their telegraph lines were severed.
10/6/1900, Western forces under Admiral Seymour set out from
Tianjin to protect the Beijing Legations form the Boxers.
3/6/1900, The railway
between Beijing and Tianjin was cut by Boxer rebels.
30/5/1900, Diplomats
representing foreign powers in China requested troops to protect them from
increasing threats from Chinese nationalists.
7 April 1900, Britain, France, Germany and the US warned China to suppress the Boxer movement, or face invasion.
20/3/1900, The USA, Britain, Germany, France, Japan
and Russia agreed to an �open door� policy in China that would avoid each one
carving out exclusive areas of influence, whch might lead to the partition of
China. However anti-foreigner sentiment was already growing fast in China.
27 January 1900, European diplomats
demanded that China curb the Boxers.
9 February 1899, The Boxer Rebellion gained momentum in
China. Lack of rain had caused
crops to fail, and Boxer pamphlets blamed the Churches for �standing in the way
of Heaven and angering the Gods�. The Boxer publicity blamed �blue-eyed
barbarians� for angering the ancestors and said railways, electric wires and
ships must be destroyed. Britain, France, Germany and Russia had forced
territorial concessions from China. The Boxers, or �society of harmonious
fists�, were a secret society, originally formed to promote boxing, who became
dedicated to removing foreign influence from China.
Russian
ambitions in Manchuria, Korea, as China weak; curbed by China, with European
support, 1898-1903
10 November 1903. 10,000 Chinese troops moved
into Manchuria.
8 April 1902. Russia signed an agreement with China,
promising to withdraw its troops from Manchuria.
2 April 1901, A
proposed agreement between Russia and China for Russian occupation of Manchuria
was cancelled by China, after Chinese appeals for support from Britain, Japan
and Germany. For details see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchuria
4 Seeptember 1900, Russia
seized south Manchuria from China.
21/5/1900. Russia annexed Manchuria.
27/3/1900, A Russian fleet arrived at Korea. Russia
was taking advantage of a weak China to increase its influence in Manchuria and
Korea. This was alarming to Japan.
30/12/1899, A British missionary was murdered in China,
close to Tsinan. As a result the British consul in Shanghai ordered that three
Chinese should be beheaded, also one to be strangled, another to serve 10 years
in prison, and another to be banished; furthermore, three village elders were
to be flogged. This incident illustrates
the weakness of the Chinese State at the time against British colonialism.
21 Seeptember 1898, In China the Dowager
Empress Tzu Hsi seized power, and began reversing the reformist policies of her
nephew Emperor Guangxu.
1/7/1898,
China leased the New Territories (Hong
Kong) to Britain for 99 years.
25
April 1898, Under the Nishi-Rosen Protocol,
Russia and Japan agreed that neither would interfere in Korean internal
affairs, although Japan would be allowed to develop its economic interests
there.
14
November 1897, German forces occupied Qingdao
(Tsing-Tao) in China following the murder of several German missionaries. This
invasion sparked a rush by other European powers for trade and territorial
concessions in China.
Foot-binding curbed in China, 1897-1902
1 February 1902, Foot binding was declared
illegal in China.
30/6/1897,
The Shanghai Foot Emancipation Society
was founded. It was one of several such organisations dedicated to eliminating the custom of foot-binding
which had been practiced on young aristocratic Chinese girls, leaving them in
some cases scarcely able to walk. This practice dated from the 10th century AD;
in China bound (small) feet were considered a mark of beauty, and also a sign
that the woman was wealthy enough not to have to work. It also made her totally
dependent upon her husband. As Christianity penetrated China in the 1880s a
move to make women equal in status to men began, and to eliminate foot-binding.
The Hundred Days Reform in 1898 also
aimed to stop this practice. By 1899 some 800,000 Chinese people has joined
anti-foot-binding societies. However the practice continued into the 20th
century, and in 1949 the Communist administration found it necessary to ban the
practice, still underway in remote rural areas. China retains a ban on
foot-binding today.
5/3/1898, Zhou Enlai,
Chinese Premier, was born.
28/3/1897, The Japanese Yen went on the Gold Standard.
19 January 1896, The first motor vehicle was operated in Japan. It was a motorcycle
made in Germany.
1 August 1895. The people of Gutian in Fujian Province,
destroyed churches and killed more than ten Australian and British
missionaries, including women and children.
2/6/1895, Japan took formal
possession of Formosa (Taiwan) from
China.
29/5/1895, The Japanese landed near Keelung on the northern
coast of Taiwan, and in a five-month campaign swept southwards to Tainan.
17 April 1895. Japan
and China signed the Peace Treaty of
Shimonoseki. China recognised the independence of Korea (although Japan did not have to recognise this), and
ceded Formosa (Taiwan), the
Pescadores Islands, and the Liaodong Peninsula, to Japan. China also had to pay a huge indemnity to Japan, and allow Japanese trade in four treaty ports, which would be exempt from
Chinese taxation. Rivalry between Japan and China over Korea had started this
war; the immediate cause was the assassination of a pro-Japanese politician in Korea, which gave Japan an excuse to send in troops. Japan opened hostilities without declaring
war, by sinking a Chinese troopship and machine-gunning the survivors. However
on 23 April 1895 Russia, France, and Germany intervened, forcing Japan to hand back the Liaodong Peninsula.
30 November 1895. China and Russia made a secret treaty so
that Russia could build the Trans-Siberian railway through Manchuria to the
port of Vladivostock.
21 November 1894. Japan
defeated China at Port Arthur.
1 August 1894. War was formally declared between China and Japan.
27/7/1894, Korea declared
war on China.
25/7/1894, Japanese
forces sank the Kowshing, a British ship carrying Chinese forces to
Korea.
26/12/1893. Mao Tse Tung,
Chinese Communist leader, was born
in Hunan.� He was the son of a peasant
farmer.
28 October 1891, A severe earthquake hit Osaka, Japan;
10,000 were killed.
31 October 1887, Chiang Kai-Shek, Chinese military leader and
politician, was born in Fenghua, Chekiang province.
9/6/1885, The Treaty
of Tientsin was signed, under which China recognised the French
Protectorate of Indo-China in return for France agreeing to respect China�s
southern border. See 26 October 1884.
17 November 1884. Chinese Turkestan was given provincial
status, and renamed Xinjiang, or New Frontier.
26 October 1884, China declared war on France after France
bombarded Taiwan as reprisal for China�s refusal to acknowledge the French
Protectorate of Indo-China, see 9/6/1885.
11 Seeptember 1883, Anti-European riots in Canton, China
25 August 1883, A Treaty was signed at Hue recognising
Tonkin, Cochin China and Annam as French Protectorates. However China rejected
the Treaty and resisted French interference in the region.
22/5/1882, The USA signed a treaty with Korea recognising its independence from China, Russia, and Japan.
27 February 1876, Japan and Korea
signed the Treaty of Kanghwa. Until
1873 Korea, governed by the xenophobic Regent Taewon-Gun, had rejected
diplomatic approaches by Japan. In 1875
Japanese gunboats off Kanghwa Island, near Seoul, were fired upon by the Koreans. Japan used this incident to force
closer commercial and political links with Korea,
backed up by the Japanese Navy. The
Treaty of Kanghwa encouraged Western powers to also seek closer links with Korea, ending its isolation and its status as
a vassal state of China.
26 April 1875, Synghman Rhee, South Korean statesman, was
born.
22 February 1875, Tensions between London and Beijing
increased after Augustus
Margary, a British official, was killed by bandits close to the
Burma-China border.
1/1875, Chinese Emperor Mu Zung
died aged 19. He was succeeded by his cousin Zaitian as the Guangxu Emperor.
10/1874, China agreed to pay
compensation to Japan, and Japan
withdrew its invasion force from Taiwan.
4/1874, Japan invaded Taiwan, justifying the action because
of the murder of 54 Japoanese sailors who had been shipwrecked there in 1871.
24 October 1871. In Los Angeles, 19 Chinese were killed in anti-Chinese riots.
1/6/1871, US Rear-Admiral John Rodgers attempted to emulate
Commodore Perry�s opening up of Japan to US trade, by arriving off Seoul in his
ship, the Colorado. His ship[s were
fired upon as he approached Fort Chojijin on the Salee River. Receiving no
apology for this, Rodgers then destroyed the fort, then left believing he had
made his point of US domiinance. However the Koreans beliebved they had
repulsed the enemy. It was not until 1876 that Japan succeeded in forcing open
Korea to trade and then only for Japan. US trade with Korea only began in 1883.
21/6/1870, The
Teintsin Massacre. Many Chinese resented the arrival of Christian
missionaries, and to stir up trouble they spread rumours that the foreigners
were sorcerers. At Tientsin the French Sisters of Mercy ran an orphanage and
gave small cash rewards to people who brought in homeless or unwanted children;
this gave rise to rumours of child kidnap and abuse. This day an angry Chinese
crowd led by a magistrate assembled outside the orphanage; the French consul
ordered his guards to fire on the crowd to disperse it. The Chinese now stormed
the orphanage, killing 18 Europeans including the consul and 10 nuns. France
demanded punishment as both Rome and France protested. Western naval ships
sailed to Teintsin, 16 Chinese were executed amd China made an official apology
to France.
12 November 1866, Sun Yat Sen, President of China, was born.
6 Seeptember 1866, Three
British tea clippers reached London within hours of each other after a 16,000
mile race from China. The Serica,
Taiping and Ariel left Foochow at the end of May 1866 ; the 200 foot clippers
were the fastest ships yet built, sailing at over 20 mph.
Russian gains from China 1858-71
4/7/1871. Russian troops occupied the Ili area of Chinese
Turkestan.
7 August 1865. In the continuing Muslim rebellion in
Chinese Turkestan, Ya�qub Beg captured the oasis towns of Kucha and Aksu
and took the ruler Burhanuddin as prisoner. On 7 Seeptember 1865 Ya�qub Beg
captured Kashgar, slaughtering some
4,000 Han Chinese.
28/5/1858. Russia under Czar Alexander II acquired from
China large swathes of territory, over which they generally already had de
facto control. These included land to the north of the Amur River and east of
thye Ussuri River, to the Pacific coast, also land between Lake Baikal and the
present-day frontier woth western Choina and the NW Mongolian frontier. Russia
was exploiting the weakness of the Chinese State at the time, with both
Eng;land and France waging war against it. This was the Treaty of Aigun. It was signed by a local Chinese Commander, in the
city of Aigun, locsate edon the Amur River. However the Manchu Dynasty refused
to recognise this Treaty. Then, further incursions into China by the English
and French, even to the looting of the Forbidden City, also the Taiping
Rebellion, gave China little choice but to sign the Treaty of Peking, on 14
November 1860, affirming the transfer of territories form China to Russia.
19/7/1864, The British Army
under General Gordon assisted Tseng Kuo Fan�s Army to sack Nanjing. Hung Hsiu
Chuan committed suicide by poison as over 100,000 were killed, and the Taiping Rebellion was finally ended.
See 19/3/1853.
20 August 1862, US mercenary Frederick
Townsend Ward led Imperial Chinese forces to victory over the
Taiping rebels at Tzeki, near Shanghai.
3/3/1857, Britain and France declared war on China, using the killing of a missionary as a
pretext.
7 Seeptember 1853, Shanghai fell to
rebels as the Taiping Rebellion
continued.
19/3/1853, Taiping (Heavenly Peace) rebels in China, a Protestant movement, challenged the
ruling Manchu Ch�ing dynasty by taking the city of Nanjing. See 19/7/1864.
1863,
Start of the reign of boy-King Kojong in Korea (ruled until 1907).
19 October 1851, Myeongseong, Empress
of Korea, was born.
22 August 1849, Amaral, the Portuguese Governor of Macao, was
assassinated for his pro-Chinese policies.
Second Opium War, West uses military force to open China to trade
14 November 1860, China, under duress from
Western powers, signed the Beijing Convention, ratifying the Treaty of Tainjin
(1858)
24 October 1860. China gave way to trade demands from Britain and France after fighting.
Beijing was captured on 6 October 1860.
18 October 1860, The Old Summer Palace in Beijing was
looted, then destroyed and burnt by British soldiers, in revenge for the killing
of British negotiators by the Chinese.
6 October 1860, An
Anglo-French force invading China captured Beijing
25 August 1860, British
and French forces took the port of Tianjin.
12 August 1860, The
French and British bombarded Sinho, to force China to admit their diplomats.
29/6/1858, The
Treaty of Tientsin ended the Anglo-Chinese War. China agreed to open up more
ports to trade.
31/3/1858, China
gave in to British and French demands for trade concessions.
1856, The Second
Opium War began as Western powers made more demands on China to open up to
trade. Western troops seized Canton (Guangzhou)
25 February 1850, Daoguang,
Emperor of China, died.
25/7/1845. China granted
Belgium equal trading rights with Britain, France, and the USA. See 24 October 1844.
24 October 1844. France and China
signed the Treaty of Whampoa,
opening up Chinese ports to French trade. French traders came under French, not
Chinese, law, and the French gained the right to build Catholic churches in the
treaty ports of China.
3/7/1844.
China and the USA signed the Treaty of
Wanghiya, giving US citizens similar rights to those of the UK in the
Treaty of Nanjing signed in 1843. US traders now had access to the same five
Chinese trading ports as Britain did.
17 November
1843. In accordance with the Treaty of Nanjing (see 29 August 1842) Shanghai was opened
up to foreign trade.
8 October 1843,
Britain and China signed the British
Supplementary Treaty; an addition to the Treaty of Nanjing (29 August 1842),
giving Britain favourable trading terms
with China. See 3/7/1844.
Opium Wars
1908, The opium trade finally
ceased.
Opium imports
into China (selected years). One chest contained 150 lbs (67 kg) of opium,
netting the importer a profit of �20 in 1820.
Year |
Chests |
1850 |
52,000 |
1845 |
39,000 |
1839 |
20,000 |
1836 |
26,018 |
1830 |
18,760 |
1825 |
9,621 |
1820 |
4,770 |
1/12/1843. China
again banned opium smoking, the cause of the Opium War. However the
Chinese already had an insatiable appetite for it, and� ignored this decree. Opium smuggling into
China was rampant, run by gangsters such as the Triads.
29 August 1842. The Opium
War (1839-1842) between Britain and China ended (see 26 January 1841) with
the Treaty of Nanjing. China ceded Hong
Kong Island in perpetuity to Britain and opened up five ports to foreign
trade. There was further humiliation
for the Chinese; they were to pay
US$21million over the next 5 years for the opium they destroyed, which started
the war. On 5 April 1843 Queen Victoria
proclaimed Hong Kong a British Crown Colony.
26 January 1841. Hong
Kong was proclaimed British territory. It was occupied by British troops as
the Opium War with China continued. It was ceded by China on 20 January 1841,
in what the Chinese termed the �Unequal Treaties�.� The much larger area known as the �New
Territories� was leased from China until 1997.�
This area contained Hong Kong�s water supplies and the whole territory
was returned to China then.
See 5/7/1840, and 29 August 1842.
20 January 1841, Hong Kong was ceded to Britain by China, see 26 January 1841.
5/7/1840. In the Opium War (see 4
Seeptember 1839), British naval forces bombarded Dinghai on Zhousan Island and
then occupied it. See 26 January 1841. This war is not just about opium but the
right to force China to open its ports
to British trade.
20
February 1840, In the UK, Palmerston ordered the British Navy to attack China in
order to prevent the suppr4ession of the opium trade.
30
January 1840, The Emperor
of China, Emperor Daoguang,
forbade all trade with Britain. This was an effort to curb the flood of opium entering China.
3 November 1839, Britain
began to assemble an expeditionary
military force as relations with China
deteriorated over the opium trade
issue.
4 Seeptember 1839. The
British fired the first shots on the Chinese in the Opium War, see
24/3/1839. On 3 November 1839 British and Chinese forces clashed near the Bogue
Forts at the mouth of the Pearl River. The formal declaration of the Opium
War was in June 1840. see 5/7/1840.
21/5/1838, In an
attempt to placate �Liu Zexu,� European traders offered to surrender 1,034
chewsts of opium, valued at US$ 725,000. This was a fraction of the total
estimated exiting stock of 20,000 chests, and Liu
Zexu contemptuously refused this offer. Had the Chinese been
prepared to offer free trade in return for the abolition of the opium trade
this offer woiuld have been speedily accepted by the Europeans, However China
suspected the British of expansionist plans, not without basis in fact, and
this would have destabilised Chinese society.
17/5/1838, Liu Zexu summoned the Hong Kong opium
merchants to ascertain the names of the opium dealers, whom he then threatened
with execution.
24/3/1839. The Chinese blockaded foreign owned opium factories. This was to force the
factories to hand over their opium stocks for destruction. The Chinese
destroyed 20,000 chests of opium belonging to British traders, worth US$ 12
million. Opium had been imported from India to China since the 17th
century, but was now ruining the Chinese economy. European tea imports from China had been paid for in silver but the
merchants forced them to accept opium instead. The British also refused to
hand over sailors who killed a Chinese peasant in a drunken pub brawl. News of
this reached London on 5 August 1839, and on 23 August 1839 the British
assembled a fleet of warships off Hong Kong. See 4 Seeptember 1839.
10/3/1839, An
imperial Chinese official named Lin Zexu
arrived at Canton with orders from Emperor Daoguang to eradicate the opium trade.
12/12/1838. In
China, a riot broke out when British and American opium traders drove away
Chinese officials intending to execute a native opium dealer in front of the
foreign owned opium factories.
3/12/1838, Lin Zexu was appointed by Chinese Emperor Daoguang to halt the opium trade.
16 February 1823, Li Hung Chang,
Chinese statesman, was born (died 7 November 1901).
1799, China made opium illegal.
30 August 1785, Lin Tse Hu,
Chinese official whose attempt to halt the opium trade led to the Opium War,
was born in Hou-Kuan, Fukien Province, China (died 1850).
1729, China banned the sale and smoking of opium.
Emperor Qianlong
9 February 1796, Qianlong,
6th emperor of the Qing dynasty and the
leader of China at its pre-modern peak of power, size, and prestige, abdicated
in the 61st year of his reign in favor of his 35-year-old son. Though, until
his death three years later, Qianlong continued to exercise power from
behind the scenes, his abdication was crucial to his dynasty�s legitimacy. Qianlong abdicated one day before the length of his reign
would have matched that of his illustrious grandfather, Emperor Kangxi. Kangxi�s
unprecedentedly long reign was viewed as a kind of golden age, and Kangxi
was still held in high regard. For Qianlong to outshine his grandfather would
have been viewed as immodest, reflecting badly on the House of Aisin Gor. His
abdication preserved respect for the imperial office. �He was
succeeded by his 36-year-old son Chia Ch�ing who ruled until his death in 1820.
1775, The Yangtze Delta area of China was now the most economically
developed region of the country.
1736, Chi�en Lung became Emperor of China aged 25,
commencing the Ch�ing Dynasty that endured until 1796. He
extended Chinese control far into central Asia. He also spent huge amounts of
money on imperial leisure.
8 October 1735, Qianlong
succeeded Yongzheng
as Emperor of China.
1724, The huge Chinese encyclopedia, Gujin Tushu Jicheng, was printed using
movable type.
1723, Emperor Yongzheng acceded, ruled intil
1735.
Emperor Qing Kangsi
20/12/1722, Qing Kangxi, Emperor of China,
born 1654, died after the longest reign in China.
1720, Tibet became a dependency of China. Apart from
foreign and military affairs, China largely left Tibet alone until te 20th
century.
1696, China launched an invasion of Outer Mongolia.
7 Seeptember 1689, China
signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with Russia. This was the first treaty signed by China
with another country as opposed to a vassal state. The Treaty settled
border disputes with Russia in the Amur region.
1683, China took possession of Taiwan from the Dutch.
China heavily exploited this new territory, appointing absentee landlords who
confiscated land from the local people and forced them to work as serfs.
5
February 1661, Emperor Kangxi began his reign in China, then
aged 7; he ruled for over 61 years. �������
1650, Death of Prince Dorgon (born 1612). he
was the uncle of the child-Emperor and so exercised real power. He made
compulsory for all male Chinese the �queue�hairstyle,shaved at the front and a pigtail
at the back. This clashed with the Confucian ideal that hair,as a gift from
your parents,whouldnever be cut. Thousands of Chinese were executed for defying
the �Queue Order�.
1645, Construction of the Potala
Palace, the largest Buddhist monastery in Tibet, began.
25 April 1644, China�s
last Ming Emperor committed
suicide, as rebels led by Li Zi Cheng �reached the gates of Beijing. The Manchu Qing Dynasty began.
The Manchus invaded Korea, which became a vassal State to China.
1643, Abahai (born 1592), Manchu leader, 8th son of Nurhaci,
died. He rose to supremacy over the other senuor Manchu princes, becoming sole leader. Under his rule, from his
capital at Mukden Abahai extended the Manchu empire into Korea and Mongolia, and raided northern China.
In 1636 Abahai
proclaimed himself Emperor of the Qing Dynasty; then
invaded China in 1644.
1636, The Qing Dynasty
was founded by the Manchus.
1634, The English established a trading post at Canton.
1626, Manchu leader Abahai, 8th son of Nurhaci,
(1592-1643) succeeded him as ruler.
30 Seeptember 1626, Manchu
leader Nurhaci
died (born 1559)
1625, The Manchus established their capital at Mukden.
1624, The Dutch established a trading post in Taiwan.
3/1619, The Qing defeated the
Ming at the Battle of Sarhu.
1616, Manchu leader Nurhaci became Great Jin (khan) of China.
1593, Japan pulled its forces out of Korea following Chinese
military intervention. Japanese land forces had prevailed against the Korean
army, but well-armoured Korean naval forces had repulsed the Japanese navy.
Korea although victorious was devastated,and the cost of intervention bore
heavily on China, provoking riots against increased taxation and leaving the
country weakened on its strategic north-eastern frontier.
1588, Famine and lawlessness in China.
1581,The �Single Whip� tax reforms in China now entailed all
taxes being based on property ownership, as recorded in a central register, and
payable in silver. The aim was both to simplify the tax system and to avoid
inflation which had been caused by the debasement of a paper currency after the
inflow of Spanish and Japanese silver.
1573, In China, Wan Li became Emperor at age 10.
He ruled for 47 years to 1620
�as Emperor Shen Zong.
1566, End of reign of Jiajang
(acceded 1522).
1557, The Portuguese first obtained
permission from China to trade at Macao.
8/1517, The Portuguese became the
first Europeans to visit Taiwan.
They called it Ilha Formosa, meaning
�beautiful island�.
China bans
sea voyages, after Zheng He
1500, It became a capital offence for any Chinese to go to sea in a ship with
more than two masts, without special permission. This was a further measure
aimed at erasing the era of Zheng He�s voyages.
1477, Courtiers tentatively suggested reviving the voyages of Zheng He.
In response a group of civil servants led by Liu Daxia
destroyed all
the records of these voyages they could find, on the grounds that the expense,
and lives lost, did not justify the rewards.
30/7/1470, Hongzhi, Emperor of China, was born.
1464, Revolts broke out across Ming China,
as a result of famine. They were harshly suppressed by the rigid Ming
government, with the aid of 160,000 troops. However further such rebellions
broke out, in 1466, 1467 and 1475.
1436, Emperor
Zhengtong denied a
request from Nanjing shipyards for craftsmen to maintain Zheng He�s ships. However Zhengtong
was only 9 years old at this time and the real decision was made by his
advisors.
1433, Zheng He died (1371-1433) died.
1433, China
abrubtly halted its overseas
exploration,
even banning the construction of seagoing ships. One factor was the cost of these expeditions, draining
the Chinese Treasury. Zheng He�s voyages involved
some 60 large ships, several hundred smaller ones, almost 30,000 sailors, and
extensive gifts given as tools of diplomacy. The cost wasa met by increased
money printing and a rise in mining activities within China.
Zheng He�s ships could probably have reached North and South America
(although they almost certainly did not), making the Americas a Chinese
colony� decades before Columbus
got there. In fact Columbus might never have sailed, because the
large Chinese ships also had the capability to reach Europe, making vassal
states in Europe also.
However the great fleet of Zheng He
was left to rot at Nanjing shipyards, and in 1436 a request for craftsmen to
maintain these ships was denied. By 1500 the ships had rotted beyond repair.
1424, Emperor Yongle
died, and his successor�s first act was to halt overseas voyages. The Indian
Ocean States then stopped sending tribute, so Zheng He was sent out again in
1431.
5 August 1424, Emperor Chu Ti, also known as Yongle
or Ch�eng
Tsu, died (born 2/5/1360). Under his rule China sent out exploration
fleets, between 1403 and 1433, under the command of the Muslim eunuch Cheng Ho (Zheng He). These expeditions reached Java, southern
India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and eastern Africa as far south as
Zanzibar. He also maintained peaceable relations with the Mongols and other
peoples, as far as the Amur River and west to Herat and Samarkand.
1421, China transferred the capital from
Nanjing to the Forbidden City in Beijing.
1416, Zheng He�s ships reached Aden.
1405, Zheng He sailed from Nanjing to Sri Lanka. He led a fleet of nearly
300 ships, with 27,000 sailors.
1405, Chinese Emperor
Yongle announced plans to send ambassadors to �the various countries
of the Western (Indian) Ocean�, to create diplomatic links, bestow rewards, and
exact tribute.
1/1368, Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming (=
Brilliant) Dyansty, proclaimed himelf Emperor. He made Nanjing the
capital of China. The Mongols were evicted from China.
1332, China experienced very
heavy rains and severe flooding. Up to seven million may have died. There wasd
also a run of 35 consecutive secere winters at this time.
1/1328, Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the
Ming Dyansty, was born in poverty. He joined a Buddhist monastery as a teenager
but that too was poor and he had to beg for food on the streets. Soon, this
monastery was burnt down in China�s civil wars.
29 November 1394, The
capital city of the Joseon Dynasty in present-day Korea was moved from Gaegyeong (now Gaeseong) to Hanseong (now Seoul).
1392, The Yi Dynasty, which ruled
Korea until 1910, was founded by
warlord Yi Songgye.
He was a General under the Goryo regime.
11 October 1335, Yi Seong-gye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, was born in Korea.
Yuan
Dynasty
2/5/1360, Emperor Chu Ti, also known as Yung Lo
or Ch�eng
Tsu, was born. See 5 August 1424.
1355, Nanking was recaptured from the Mongols by 27-year-old Chinese patriot Chu Yuan Chang.
1287, The Mongolian hegemony permitted
safer travel across Asia. This year the first recorded visit by a person born
in China to Europe was made. Rabban Sauma, a Turk born in China, visited
Naples and then travelled on to Paris where he met French King Philip IV. He then
visited Bordeaux and met King Edward I of England.
19/3/1279, The last Song child-Emperor
was defeated by the Mongols at the Batlle of Yamen, a naval battle off the
coast of southern China.
1274, End of the seige of
Xiangyang (now, Xiangfan, Hubei Province). The Mongols had been besieging the city for 6 years, and finally
triumphed when they brought in counterweight trebuchets, that could catapult
huge stones up to 1 metre in diameter.
1267, Beijing was founded as a city called Khanbelig, founded by Kublai Khan.
1260, Yuan Dynasty
founded, by Kublai Khan, a 44-year-old grandson of the late
Ghenghis
Khan. It endured until 1368.
1243, The earliest evidence for footbinding in China; tiny shortened
slippers from the tomb of Huang Sheng, a 7-year-old girl buried this year.
Original 13 c footbindoing made the feet slimmer, but by the 17 c it was also
being used to make the feet shorter, grossly distorting and twisting the toes
back under the sole.
Mongol
attacks
1234, The Song Emperor
proposed an alliance with the Mongols against the Jurchen.
As before, this resulted in the Mongols taking over the Jurchen
Empire and bringing China to its knees. However China was saved from total
annihilation because Genghiz Khan had died in 1227, replaced by his
son Ogodei.
Other family members feared that allowing Ogodei to take over China would make him too
powerful, so the Mongol chiefs launched major raids into Europe, to distract
from the China adventure.
1215, The Mongols under Genghiz Khan raided and burnt
Beijing.
1211, The Mongols attacked the
Qin Empire, subduing it by 1215.
1205, The Mongols began
conquering the Xi Xia Kingdom in NW China, fully subduing it by 1209.
1194, The Yellow River burst its
banks, once again, destroying the dikes that brought coal and food to Kaifeng,
and carried its manufactured products out. This natural disaster had occurred
several times before, but now the Chinese State was weakened by wars with the
Mongols and Jurchen, and recovery was much
harder.
1191, A ban on Chinese
intermnarrying with Jurchen
(which hads been woidely disregarded anyway0 was rescinded.
1161, Battle of Zaishi; Southern Song repulsed a Jurchen Jin invasion .This victory, along with that off the Shandong
Peninsula, allowed the Song Rmpire to survive
another century before its conquest by the Mongols in 1279.
16 November 1161, The Jurchen Jin dynasty planned a seaborne invasion of southern Song China. Some 70,000 soldiers embarked on transport ships.
Their commander, Zheng Zia, was not intending to undertake a sea battle, a
form of warfare which his horseborne steppe warriors had no experience. However
the invasion fleet was intercepted by a squadron of Song
warships, commanded by Li Bao, in the islands off the Shandong
Peninsula. The Song warships included �tower ships�; these
had a trebuchet to hurl missiles. They also had inflammable gunpowder missiles
that set fire to enemy ships. Many Jurchen
soldiers drowned as they leapt off burning ships, including Zheng Zia.
1153, The Jurchen
Jin moved their capital from Manchuria to
Beijing.
1141, The Jurchen
Jin Empire
in northen China was established, with the Song Chinese Empire now
ruling a reduced territory in the south.
The two empires signed the Treaty of
Shaoxing and peaxe was established for the enxt 20 years.
1132, China, Song Dynasty, established its first permament navy, at
Dinghai.
9 January 1127, Kaifeng
in northern China was captured by the Jurchen, after
a siege that began in 12/2216,. The Jurchen�s �military technology and capability was rapidly
developing. They also captured the Song Emperor.
1125, Jin Dynasty
founded by the Jurchens.
1115, The �wild Jurchens� of Manchuria offered to ally with Emperor Hui
Tsung to help fight the Khitans, who also lived to the
north of China. This was a tactical error by Hui Tsung, who was more a lover
of high culture than a skilled statesman, for soon the Jurchens
turned against him and were themselves attacking northern China, see 9
January 1127.
1101, The Chinese Sung Emperor Hui
Tsung acceded, aged 19, to begin a 24-year reign.
1100, Chinese farmland was held
very unequally. The wealthiest 14% of the population owned 77.5% of the
farmland.
1071, Eastern Tibet disintegrated into small states, paving the way for
penetration by China.
1068, Chinese Emperor Shen
Tsung began a 17-year reign. He was a radical reformer.
30 April 1063, Renzong, Emperor of China, died.
1038, The Western Xia in north-west China declared independence.
Winter 1018/19, Some 100,000 Liao soldiers, a mix of Khitan mounted bowmen
and Chinese peasand conscripts, began an invasion of Goryo Kingdom, Korea. Goryo
had an army twice that soize but most were poorly-trained foot militaia with
just basic equipment. Gang Gam Chan, Goryo military commander,
failed to stop the Chinese advancing towards the Goryo capital, Kaesung, but
subjected them to constant harassment as they advanced further into enemy
territory. Tye Khitan commander, Xiao Baiya, became increasingly nervous and
finally he turned tail and made for home. The Koreans now attacked the hungry
exhausted Chinese as they withdrew; Goryo�s continued existence was assured,
and Gang
Gasm Chan hailed as a national hero.
1013, Fuel riots in Kaifeng. Ironworks
had stripped entire forests around the city for charcoal, driving the price of
firewood beyond affordability of many households. Fortunately Kaifeng was close
to coal deposits, which were soon
after this utilised for fuel.
1004, The earliest mention of gunpowder, in
China. Gunpowder, a mixture of saltpetre (potassium nitrate, the white
powder that forms in organic-rich environments protected from rainfall, sulphur
and charcoal, powdered together, is explosive because the potassium nitrate
provides the oxygen for very rapid combustion; gunpowder is stable at room
temperature but can be set off by temperatures above 300 C. Daoist alchemists
had reportedly discovered a crude form of gunpowder as early as 850, whilst loking for the
elixir of life, and by 950 this burning black powder was being catapulted as a
weapon, although at this date its explosive power was limited.
Gunpowder gave the West the gun, which was to demolish the ancient chivalric
knightly horse-based warfare of the Mediaeval period, and give the infantry the
upper hand. Gunpowder likewise demolished the
power of the Japanese Samurai, when the gun entered Japanese society. Early guns (cannon) were in
use in Europe by 1326, but were low-powered and inaccurate until metallurgists
found how to cast strong barrels to contain and direct larger explosive
charges, from the 1400s.
993, The Khitan, nomadic
horsemen from central Asia who now ruled much of northern China, now began
attempts to conquer te Korean Kingdom of Goryeo.
979, The Song Dynasty
conquered the Northern Han State.
978, The Wu-Yue State
suyrrendered to the Song Dynasty.
975, The Song Dynasty
conquered the Southern T�ang Kingdom
and Hunan province.
971, The Southern Han fell to
the Song Dynasty.
965, Northern Song armies
conquered the Later Shu Kingdom.
960, The Song Dynasty,
which ruled China until 1279, was established by Chao K�uang-yin who began to reunite China. However the
Khitan
could not be fully driven out of northern China and were allowed to continue
ruling there. He ruled until 976 as (Sung) T�ai Tsu. The Song Dynasty
overlapped with the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which
began in 1260.
951, The Chu State was taken
over by the Southern T�ang. The Later Zhou Dynasty was founded by Guo Wei. The
Northern Han Dynasty was founded by Lui Min, in northern China.
950, The fall of the Later Han
Dynasty.
947, The Khitan Empire
adopted the dynastic name �Great Liao�.
The Later Jin Dynasty fell to the Later Han Dynasty, founded by Gaozu
of Later Han.
945, The Southern T�ang Dynasty
conquered the Min Kingdom.
942, End of the Southern Han
Dynasty.
935, The Goryo Kingdom� was established in Korea, reuniting the
peninsula.
935, Later Shu, one of theTen
Kingdoms, was founded by Meng Zhixiang.
927, Chu State, one of the Ten
Kingdoms, was founded by Ma Yin.
925, The Shu Kingdom (one of
the Ten Kingdoms) fell to the Later T�ang.
924, The Qi State in north west
China fell to the Later T�ang Dynasty.
923, The Later Liang Dynasty
fell to the Later T�ang Dynasty (founded by Li Cunxu).
921, During the Later Liang
Dynasty, the Khitan stated that they had �pacified all barbarian tribes�.
908, Khitan Mongols under Ye-lu a-pao-chi began to conquer Inner
Mongolia and adjacent areas of China. The Khitan,
or Qidan, peoples, gavfe rise to the name Cathay in Europe.
T�ang Dynasty
907,
In China, fall of the T�ang Dynasty. Zhu Wen
established the Later Liang Dynasty.
This was the first of northern China�s Five
Dynasties; for
the next 50 years China was divided into many warring states.
905,
The Khitan Empire was set up in southern Manchuria.
902,
The Wu State was founded in Yangzhou, southern China by Yang Xingmi.
884,
The T�ang Dynasty suppressed the Huang Zhao rebellion, with the help of
the Shatuo Turkic tribes. However T�ang power was
weakend.
874,
Peasant revolt against the T�ang rulers after a
severe drought. In 880
Hunag Zhao, a peasant rebel turned
General, usurped the throne from the T�ang Emperor.
845,
Buddhism was banned in China. Emperor Wuzong was opposed to Buddhism,
and he took steps to regulate the monasteries, weeding out unregistered and
�undesiorable� monks, from 842 onwards. He was concerned at both the financial
resoucres being consumed by these monasteries and their growing influence over
Chinese morals, both political and family-related. In 845 some 4.600
monsateries, and 40,000 temples and shrines, were destroyed, and 260,500 monks
laicised. Millions of acres of (tax-exempt) Buddhist-owned farmland was
confiscated.
18 November
763, Forces of the Tibetan Empire under Trisong Detsan occupied the T�ang Chinese capital Chang�an for 16 days. Chang�an,
formerly a city of one million people, was virtually obliterated. The Tibetans then withdrew but made repeated
attacks through to 784, at which point both sides were exhausted from fighting.
A new Sino-Tibetan peace treaty was concluded, defining a mutual border (with
considerable territorial gains for Tibet). China now sought alliance with the
Uighurs to regain territory from Tibet, and China managed to regain control of
Nanzhao Territory from Tibet. In 821 China and Tibet made a new peace treaty, which this time
endured. China recognised Tibetan sovereignty, and Tibet acknowledged the
sovereignty, and regional hegemony, of China.
744 � 840,
Establishment of the Uighur Empire in what is now Mongolia. The Uigjhurs
generally supported a weaker Chinese State in return for large tribute
oayments, so both sides benefitted. The Uighurs were aware that it was in their
interests for the T�ang Dynasty to
continue. However
in 840 the Uighiur Empire was split by ba siccession dispute, and Kirghiz
tribes form thr nprth invaded and looted the Uighiur capital, Karabalgashun.
The fall of the Uighur empire therefore gravely weakened the T�ang Dynasty.
805-820, Rule of Xianzong, He was interested in Chan Buddhism, and encouraged major translation
projects of Buddhist textx into Chinese.
762-769, Rule of Daizong. He authorised large sukjms of money to be spent on the creation of
Buddhist monasteries.
762, Emperor Tang Xuanzong,
sixth emperor of the T�ang Dynasty, ruler
712-756, born 685, died. The 755 rebellion rebellion of An LuShan, a
frontier General, forced his abdication. The dynasty was restored, with reduced
power, in 763.
However the
Turkic rebellion was only curbed by inviting in other Turkic military men in
from the steppes and eventually further rebellions and Turkic incursions
ensued. Tax revenues fell as disorder grew, and eventually in 907 a warlord ended the T�ang Dynasty by murdering a teenage Emperor
and seizing power.
General An
Lushan, 740-755
757, General An Lushan
was assassinated. However see 762.
755, General An Lushan,
rather inevitably, turned on his Chinese ruler Emperor Tang Xuanzong
(see 740),
creating civil war within China. Xuanzong and Yuhian fled;
facing demands from the military for the execution of Yuhuan,
Xuanzong had her strangled by his chief
eunuch, to keep her out of the soldier�s hands.
7/751, Battle of Talas, on the Talas River in modern-day Kazakhstan. Chinese
expansion westwards had met Islamic Arab expansion estwards. Local Uighurs
asked the Arabs for protection. The Arab army under Ziadh Ibn Salih was
bosletered by Uighurs and Tibetans, giving it numerical superiority over the
Chinese forcres led by Korean-born General Gao Xianzhi. The Chinese were
attacked in the rear by Turkic nomadic horsemen, the Karluks, and defeated.
Many Chinese were taken prisoner, including two experts in papermaking. From
the Arab world, papermaking technology then reached the West. Maenwhile China
plunged ointo civil war and abandoned iyts expansion intio central Asia,
leaving the region to be Islamicised.
746, Emperor Tang Xuanzong
began to favour Taoism over Buddhism.
740, Emperor Tang Xuanzong
fell in love with a woman known as Guifei (meaning
�consort; real name Yuhuan) who was formerly his son�s wife. Yuhuan
demanded that Xuanzong favour a certain General An Lushan,
aTurkic soldier but fighting on the Chinese side. General Lushan was
allowed to accumulate great power and huge armies, However see 755.
733, China,under the T�ang Dynasty, now had 17,680 civil servants.
722, Continued Tibetan raids were repulsed by
China, and in 730
the Tibetan King recognised Chinese sovereignty, diplomatic relations were
established, and a mutual border demarcated. Hpowever Tibetan hostilities
recommenced in the 740s, mainly in the Gansu region. The Chinese won a major
victory against them at Gilgit, and in 755 the Tibetan King died. His successor
accepted Chinese hegemony and the Tibetan threat seemed over for now.
713, The Chinese Emperor Ming Huang acceded to the
throne; he ruled until 756. He promoted the arts and learning.
16/12/705, Empress Wu Zhou of China died.
Born in 625, she became a junior concubine in the palace of Emperor Taizong in 638; on his death in 649 she became
very close to his successor, Kao Tsung. In
655 she became Empress. By 660 Emperor
Kao Tsung was very ill and Wu Zhou was effective ruler of China. Between 655
and 675 China conquered Korea. In 690 Wu Zhou
officially became Empress. In February 705 Chinese government ministers forced
her to abdicate in favour of her son, Chung Tsung.
694, Empress Wu Zhou Tian conquered the kingdom of Khotan, western China.
690, Empress Wu Zhou Tian became Empress of China, founding the Zhou Dynasty. She was the only woman in
history to rule China. She ruled until her death in 705.
668, The Buddhist Silla Kingdom of Korea, backed up by China, conquered the other two
kingdoms on the peninsula, Paekche,
and Koguryo in the north, unifying
the region. However by the late 700s the Silla Kingdom broke up.
663, Battle
of Baekgang. China had remained unable to subdue the Gogyureo Kingdom of Korea, despite growing Chinese power. Hiowever
there were two other smaller Koirean kingdoms, Silla and Baekje, and these
offered China tye chance to open a second front against Goguryeo. China allied
with Silla and fought against Goguryeo and its ally Baekje. Meanwhile Japan
felt threatened by growing Chinese power in Korea, and assembled a fgleet to
carry 40,000 troops to aid Baekje. At this time Chinese and Silla forces were
besieging the the Baekje capital, Churyu. The Jaoanese fleet sailed to the
mouth of the Geum River, intendiong to sail upstream to relieve Churyu. �However the river estuary was blocked by a
smaller Chinese fleet, which sent the Japanese fleet into disarray. The Chinese
fired burning arrows at the Japanese ships, setting many on fire and drowning
many Japanese sailors. Eventually Baekje was defeated, and Silla went on to
contrioo the whole Korean Peninsula. Japan prepared elaborate defences on its
home island for a Chinese invasion that never came.
649, Emperor Taizong, second emperor of the T�ang Dynasty, ruler since 627 (born 600), died. He was
succeeded by his weak-willed son who was heavily influenced by Empress Wu.
644, The Chinese T�ang Dynasty
mounted an invasion of the Goguryo
Kingdom in Korea.
Tibetan expansion, 600s.
639, In Tibet, King Sbrong Tsan Sgam Po
introduced Buddhism from
India, and founded Lhasa. He expanded Tibetan influence,
attacking the Tuhuyun nomads who grazed theor herds around Lake Kokonor. These
nomads were finally expelled around 665. However this removed the only buffer
State between Tibet and China. Tibet now attacked China, seizing the Tarim
Basin, and, despite pushbacks by Chinese forces, gaining control of large parts
of Sichuan by 680.
631, Nestorian Christianity reached China (see
also Christian Missionary). The first Nestroain Church was built in
China in 638.
630, Emperor Taizong exploited civil strife within the Turkic
tribes to extend Chinese rule deeper into the Asian steppes. Meanwhile the
Chinese explorer Xuanzang
reached India on his overland travels west. He returned to China having visited
as far west as what is now Persia, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in 645.
627, Chinese Emperor Kao Tsu abdicated after a 9-year reign. He was succeeded
by his son who ruled as Emperor Taizong until
649.
624, The T�ang Court officially adopted Buddhism. The
Emperors�s son, Taizong, subdued
rebellons in northern China,consolidating their power.
621, In China, an imperial bureau was
established to regulate the manufacture of porcelain.
618, In China the T�ang Dynasty
began; it lasted until 907. This dynasty was founded by an official of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan, who now began ruling as Emperor Kao Tsu (meaning, High Progenitor).
T�ang Dynasty
617,
Sui Gong Di
succeeded Sui Yang Di
as Emperor of China.� The economic burden of China�s foreign conquets was now becoming very
heavy, leading to extensive rebellions in northern China.
615,
Turkic tribes invaded China.
612,
Koguryo, in modern-day Korea, opened negotiations with the Turkic tribes to raid China; the Sui Emperor of China was forced to act,
and sent a large army to vanquish Koguryo. However poor planning, bad
leadership and adverse weather ensured the failure of the Chinese force. In
613 the Emperor sent a second army, with the same
result, and again this happened to a third army in 614. The ongoing costs of raising a fourth army
brought about rebellions in China that rocked the State.
604,
Death of Emperor Wen
Di. Accession of Emperor
Yang Di. His rule was despotic and he was deposed in 617.
4 August 598,
Emperor Sui Wen
Di ordered his youngest son, Yang Liang, to conquer Korea during the rainy season, with a Chinese army (300,000 men).
589, Emperor Sui Wen Di,
first Sui
Emperor, conquered southern China. Northern State power now combined with southern rice resources.
587, End of the Nan Liang Dynasty.
585, Emperor Xiaojing
succeeded Emperor
Xiaoming as ruler of the Nan
Liang Dynasty.
581, The Sui
Dynasty replaced the Northern
Zhou Dynasty. The first ruler was Sui Wen Di.
579,
End of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
565,
Hou Zhu
succeeded Wu Cheng Di
as ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
562,
Nan Xiao Ming
Di succeeded Nan
Liang Xuan Di as ruler of the Nan
Dynasty.
561,
Wu Cheng Di
succeeded Xiao Zhao Di
as ruler of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
557,
Start of the Northern Zhou Dynasty;
the first ruler was Xiao
Min Di. In southern China the Liang Dynasty ended, and the Chen Dynasty began; the first Chen ruler was Chen Wu Di.
556,
End of the Western Wei Dynasty.
555,
Start of the Nan Lang Dynasty; the
first ruler was Nan
Liang Xuan Di. Liang
Yuan Di was succeeded by Liang Zheng Yang Hou and then Liang Jing Di.
554,
Wei Ging Di
succeeded Wei Fei Di
as ruler of the Western Wei.
551,
Liang Yuan Di
succeeded Liang Yu Zhang
Wang as ruler of the Liang Dynasty.
550,
In northern China the Eastern Wei
Dynasty was replaced by the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Qi Wen Xuan
was the first Northern Qi ruler..
549,
Emperor Jin
Wen succeeded Emperor
Wu Di (acceded 502)
as ruler of the Liang
Dynasty.
534,
The Northern Wei
Kingdom split into east and western States. The east was the more innovating
part; the west remained traditionalist.
629, Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Tang travelled to India, not returning to China
until 645.
534, Rapid growth of Buddhism in China 477-534.
Year |
Buddhists |
Monasteries |
Monks |
534 |
|
over 30,000 |
2 million |
500 |
10 million |
|
|
477 |
|
6,478 |
77,000 |
400 |
1 million |
|
|
400, There were now
about one
million Buddhists in China. However in the
politically-unstable north of China the Buddhists tended to cluster in the cities for protection. This rendered them
liable to government control. In 400 the Northern Wei, strongest of the northern Chinese kingdoms, set up a government
department to �supervise� Buddhists, and in
446 began persecution of them. In southern China the Buddhists enjoyed more freedom, and in 402 an Emperor even no longer
required them to bow to him.
Buddhist pigrims began to travel
outside of China, mainly to
vist India and SE Asia to obtain copies of Buddhist scriptures. An early siuch
pilgrim was Fa Xian, who in 399
travelled overland to India, then visited Sri Lanka and then (probably) Java,
returning toi Shandong on a 200-day voyage.
532,
Xiao Wu Di
succeeded An Ding Wan
as ruler of the Northern
Wei Dynasty.
530,
Guang Wang
succeeded Xiao Zhuang Di
as ruler of the Northern
Wei Dynasty.
528,
Xiao Zhuang Di
succeeded Xiao Ming Di
as ruler of the Northern
Wei Dynasty.
522,
The earliest known pagoda in China
was built at the Sung Yuen Temple in Honan. The structure derived from the tall
Indian stupa.
502,
End of the Southern
Qi Dynasty. End of the rule of Qi He Di. Start of the Liang Dynasty. Chinese Emperor Liang Wu Di began a 47-year reign.
501,
Qi He Di
succeeded Qi Dong Hun
Hou as ruler of the Southern Qi Dynasty.
496,
The ruling Tuoba family of the Northern Wei Dynasty
changed their name to Yuan.
493, The Northern Wei
capital moved to Luoyang.
479, End of the Song Dynasty;
start of the Southern
Qi Dynasty in southern China. Qi Gao Di was the first ruler of the Qi Dynasty.
471, Xiao Wen Di
succeeded Xian Wen Di
as ruler of the Northern
Wei.
465, Song Qian Fei Di
and then Song Ming Di
became rulers of the Song
Dynasty.
452, Tai Wu Di was
succeeded by Nan An Wang,
and then by Wen Cheng Di,
as ruler of the Northern
Wei.
450, Death of Cui Hao, main
architect of the Northern
Wei administrative reforms.
439, The Northern Wei
Kingdom began to unite the whole of
northern China.
430, Emperor Feng Ba
was succeeded as ruler by Feng
Hong as Emperor of the Northen Yan; one of the states competing for control of China.
427, The Korean King Changsu made
Pyongyang the capital of the country.
424, Song Wen Di
succeeded Song Shao Di
as Song Emperor.
420, End of
the Jin Dynasty; Liu Yu (Emperor Wu of Lui Song) became
first Emperor of the Song
Dynasty.
416, Emperor Gong
succeeded Emperor An
of the Jin Dynasty.
396, Emperor An
succeeded Emperor Xiaowu
as ruler of the Jin Dynasty.
393, Gao Zu succeeded Tai Zu as Emperor
of the Later Qin Empire in China.
380s, The Kingdom of the Northern Wei
(also known as the Tuoba
Wei, after the Tuoba
clan, who governed the State) was set up by the Xianbei. They reunified northern China.
383, At the Battle of Feishui (Fei River), the Jin Dynasty defeated
the Former Qin Dynasty. Fu Jian, founder
of the Former Qin Dynasty dynasty,
had expanded his rule into territories north of the Yangtse River, then turned
his attention southwards.He took the Jin satellite States
of Former Yan and Sichuan, then found further expansion blocked by the Eastern Jin . Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin
could only muster an army of 80,000 to meet the Former Qin army
of 900,000; however Xiaowu�s
army was well disciplined, against Fu
Jian�s largely reluctant-conscript army,many recruited from
conquered territories. The two armies met on opposite banls of the Fei River,
with Fu Jian
on the north bank. The river was too deep to ford at this point, so the armies
could not engage. The Jin Generals sent a
message to the Qin camp asking them to move upriver
to a point where they could do battle. The Qin
commanders were sceptical, because moving their huge 900,000 strong army would
be logistically difficult, but they agreed, confident of destroying the smaller
80,000 Jin army when they did meet. However Fu Jian�s troops,
undisciplined, were unnerved by the move, and the Jin
shouted out that it was a retreat; this rumour spread amongst the Qin
troops and soon it was believed by all of them. Fu Jian�s army fled in a
hopeless disorganised rabble, and was slaughtered by the Jin.
365,In China, Emperor Fei
succeeded Emperor Ai.
361, In China, Emperor Ai
succeeded Emperor Mu,
350, One region in northern
China slaughtered over 200,000 central Asians in an orgy of ethnic cleansing.
Between 265 and 287, over 250,000 central Asians had migrated into China as climate change
made the central Asian steppes colder and drier. These new arrivals were
sometimes welcomed for the extra manpower they provided; at other times they
were seen as a political threat to the State.
349, The Mou-Jong (Mongols)
conquered northern China.
317, Yuandi became the
first Eastern Jin Emperor. The Eastern Jin
Dynasty (317-420) brought a period of stability fo China.
316, The Xiongnu sacked the
city of Chang�an, capitalof the Chinese Western Jin Dynasty. Jin Mindi, Emperor, (acceded
313) surrendered, ending the dynasty.
314, The Jin Dynasty
abandoned northern China to the Xiongnu.
311, Luoyang, the Chinese
capital,was sacked by a confederation of barbarians led by the Huns.The Chinese
Emperor was captured.
307, Jin Huai Di
became Emperor of China.
304, The Hun Lui Yan invaded China and established the Han Kingdom,beginning the Sixteen
Kingdoms Era in China.
291, The Western Jin
allowed steppe people from north of the Great Wall to settle inside China�s
borders.
290, Jin Hui Di
succeeded Jin Wu Di
as Emperor of China.
280,The Wu Kingdom
was subsumed by the Jin Dynasty, ending the
Three Kingdoms Period. China
was now united again under Sima Yao.
274, The Jin Dynasty
conquered the Eastern Wu.
265, Emperor Wu of Jin
founded the Jin Dynasty.
264, Sun Hao
succeeded Sun
Xiu as ruler of the Wu Kingdom.
263, The Wei Kingdom conquered the
smaller �Shu Han Kingdom.
260, Nanjing University
was founded.
249,
Collapse of the Wei
Dynasty. Its territory was taken by the Western Jin.
243, Sun Liang became
ruler of the Kingdom of Wu.
239, In the Chinese Wei Kingdom,
Qi Wang
succeeded Wei Ming Di.
234,� Zhuge Liang�s Fifth Northern
Expedition. Liang�s commander Sima Yi had
organised food supplies. Sima Yi,� Wei Kingdom, established
an impregnable position along the Wei River, and gradually wore down the Shu forces ina� series of pinprick raids. The Shu army was also hit by disease and
food shortages. Zhuge Liang himself
died in his camp. Demoralised, the Shu
army� began a retreat to carry their
revered leader�s body hume. Sima Yi
hesitated to pursue, unsure whether :Liang was really dead, or it was a ploy to lure him into a fight and defeat
him. In any case the Shu fell to
infighting as they straggled back south in disarray.
228, Zhuge Liang,
Shu Kingdom, began a series of �Northern Expeditions�
to defeat the Wei
and reunify China. There were major logistical problems, including marches
through rugged terrain and sparse food supplies.
226, Death of Chinese Emperor Cao Pi (born 186).
222, The Wu Kingdom
was established.
221, Liu Bei, a Chinese
warlord who was related to the Han Dynasty, proclaimed
himself Emperor.The Shu Han Kingdom
was established.
220, End of the Eastern Han Dynasty.It
was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms (, Wei Wu, and Shu Han) and then the Jin Dynasty. Cao Cao�s son Cao Pi forced Xiandi to
abdicate; by 222,
Cao Pi,
Liu Bei
and Sun Quan
all declared themselves Emperor; the
unity of China under the Han
Dynasty was over.
208, Battle of the Red Cliffs. Han Dynasty Minister Cao Cao
attempted to subdue rebellious warlords Lui
Bei and Sun Quan
in the south of China. Cao
Cao needed to win control of the Yangtze River, but his
army was unused to naval fighting. He advanced to the Yakngtze overland, then
captured a fleet of river boats, and sailed down to meet the warlords. However Cao Cao�s army was
unable to fight on moving ship decks, and encountered unfamiliar diseases in
southern China, causing many to fall sick. Cao Cao lashed some ships together to
stabilise the decks but Zhou
Yu, commander of the warlords� armies, then sent fireships into
Cao Cao�s
immobilised fleet. The massive casulaties this caused, and mass illness, caused
Cao cao to decide on a rapid retreat north. China then became divided into the Three Kingdoms,
led by the three combatants at Red
Cliffs; Cao Cao
in Wei,
Liu
in Shu, and Sun in Wu.
190, Accession of Xiandi, the last Han Emperor. Under
his reign internecine court fighting increased, wealth disparities grew, and
Xianbei raids on the northern frontier intensified.
189, Eunuch rule in China ended by General Dong Zhuo.
184, A rebellion by the Yellow Turban peasants weakened the Han Dynasty.
168, Accession of Emperor Lingdi
(ruled to 189). He was aged 12 upon accession, and Duo Maio was appointed Regent. However Duo Miao was
concerned at the power of the Eunuch
Faction and plotted to have them massacred. The plot was betrayed and Duo Maio was forced
to commit suicide. Several hundred of Duo Miao�s supporters were executed, and the
power of the Eunuch Faction was
greatly increased. The Han Empire was in serious
decline.
148, A
Parthian monk, An Shigao, made the first translation
of Buddhist textx into Chinese.
58, Emperor Ming-Ti of China introduced Buddhism.
146,� Accession of Emperor Huandi (ruled to 168).
125, Chinese General Pan Yong
reconquered the Tarom Basin from the Hsuing-Nu of central Asia.
125, Chinese Emperor Shaodi
was assassinated by the Eunuch Faction,
who were increasing in power.
89, The northern Hsuing-Nu confederation collapsed,
allowing Chna to regain control under General Bao (32 -102). Bao became
Protector-General of the Western Region, controlling the Silk Road.
88, The Han Dynasty
abolished the State monopolies on iron and salt.
48, Guang Wu Di
re-established Chinese rule over Inner Mongolia.
27, The Red Eyebrow Movement
was defeated.
25, Collapse of the H�sin Dynasty. The Han Dynasty was restored in China. Accession of Emperor Guang Wu Di,
first Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty; ruled until 57. He moved the capital east
again, from Chang�an to Luoyang. There were continual threats
from the Qiang, a
farmer-herder-nomadic people just to the west of China, who were growing in
numbers and continually taking over land in the western frontier region of
China. By 145-150, western Chinese landowners were having to organise their own
defences, seemingly forgotten by the State. There was dissatisfaction with the
ruling Han Dynasty, although the tax burden was also
less onerous.
25,
Accession of Emperor Gengshi; he was overthrown before the end of
the year, and replaced by Guang Wu Di. Gengshi failed to mollify the Red Eyebrows,
and he also alienated the nobility and beaurocrats by moving the Chinese
capital from Luoyang back west to Chang�an.
4 October 23, After disastrous floods in China as the Yellow River
changed course several times between 2AD and 11 AD, causing famine, starving
rebel peasants, the so-called Red Eyebrows, joined forces with Han loyalists and stormed the Chinese Imperial Palace. Emperor
Wang Mang attempted to marshal magical forces
in defence, in vain, and he was killed in fighting on 6 October 23. His
attempts to curb usury and promote social welfare had aroused considerable
hostility.
17, China imposed a tax on slave-holding.
12, Wang Mang�s land
reforms were reversed after major protests.
9, Wang Mang nationalised Chinese land, breaking
up large estates and establishing state granaries. He also forbade the private
sale of slaves, and reorganised command of China�s regions. He imposed greater
central State control, reinstating some State monopolies.
10 January 9, Wang Mang assumed
the title of Emperor of China, replacing the Han Dynasty by the new H�sin Dynasty.
3 February 6, Chinese
Emperor P�ing
suddenly died; some suspected Wang Mang of poisoning him. Wang Mang arranged for the youngest of some 50 possible successors,
a 1 year old baby, to be the new Emperor; Wang
Mang became Acting
Emperor.
15 August 1 BCE, Emperor Ai di of China died. Wang Mang became Regent once more, at the
behest of Wang Mang�s aunt, the Empress Dowager. Wang Mang quickly arranged for his 14 year old daughter to be the
Empress of the new Chinese Emperor, P�ing Di. See also Homosexuality.
1 BCE, Accession of Emperor Ping Di; he ruled to 6 CE.
27 August 7 BCE, Under the rule of Emperor Ai di of China, Wang Mang
resigned the regency. Ai di disliked Wang Mang, and he was sent to
his country estates.
7 BCE, Ai di became Emperor; he ruled to 1 BCE. Both Chengdi and Ai di created numerous marquisates
in the provinces, which were governed by sons of the kings of the re-emerging
kingdoms (see 49 BCE).
This weakened central control,and also caused dissent amongst Chinese nobles,
who felt their family members should have been awarded these marquisates.
17 April 7 BCE, Emperor
Chengdi of China died, without an heir.
28 November 8 BCE, Wang
Mang became Regent
of China.
14 BCE, Peasant revolt in China.
33 BCE, In China, Chengdi became Han Emperor; he ruled to 7 BCE. Having no male heir, he was succeeded
by his half-nephew Ai di.
49 BCE, Yuandi became Emperor; he ruled to 33 BCE. Economic cutbacks
continued, and some semi-independent Kingdoms earlier suppressed by the Han began to reassert themselves.
55 BCE, Breakup of the Xongnu Confederacy;
southern States became tributary to China.
73 � 49 BCE, Emperor Siuan Ti succeeded Tchao
Ti.
86 � 74 BCE, Emperor Tchao Ti succeeded Wu
Di.
Reign of Wu Ti
87 BCE, Wu Ti died; a period of disorder followed in China.
100 BCE, Chinese
maritime explorers first reached the coast of India.
108 BCE, Wu Ti conquered Choson.
111 BCE, China
invaded Annam.
115 BCE, Chinese
armies invaded the Lop Nor region and Tarim basin.
140 BCE, The
Chinese Han Dynasty Emperor, Wu Ti, began a 53-year reign during
which he conquered parts of Tonkin and Korea.
He also sent his emissariy, Chang
Ch�ien, far to the west to Bactria and Sogdiana, to seek
alliances against the Huns (Hsiung
Nu).
Accession of Wu Ti
139 BCE, In
response to raids by the Hsuing-Nu,
the Chinese Imperial Envoy, Zhang
Qian, travelled ascross central Asia seeking allies
against these raiders. Zhang
Qian was captured by the Hsuing-Nu and held for some years before he managed to escape.
154 BCE, Seven
feudal princes rebelled against the Han Dynasty.� The rebellion was suppressed, with difficulty.
177 BCE, Raids by
nomadic Hsuing-Nu tribes began to threaten the northern borders of China.
180 BCE, Wen-Ti became
Chinese Emperor; his reign provided 23 years of internal stability.
190 BC, Establishment of the Choson Kingdom, which occupied northern Korea and south Manchuria.
It was heavily influenced by Chinese culture. It began to conquer southern Korea but was itself overrun by the
Chinese Han Dynasty in 108 BC.
200 BCE, Accession
of the first Han Emperor, Gaodi.
��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������202 BCE, The last Qin
Emperor died. He was succeeded by a minor official,
inaugurating the Han Dynasty.
210 BCE, Shi Huangdi
died. Rebellions within the Qin Empire.
212 BCE, The Qin
Empire banned �non-scientific books�, and standardised and simplified the
Chinese script. All books not about agriculture,
medicine or divination were supposed to be destroyed. Fortunately for
historians today, some were not.
215 BCE, The Great Wall of China, 1,400 km long, was
completed. Each tower along the Wall could accommodate a small garrison, with
enough provisions for a 4-month siege. Beacons placed every 18 km allowed a
signal, by smoke in day or fire at night, to be sent the 2,400 km length of the
Wall in 24 hours. However the Chinese Empire could, even without the Wall,
easily see off any threats from northern tribes. The Wall did, though, provide
a place to send troublemakers to work, and kept the Chinese Army well away from
the capital where it might mount a coup.
221 BCE, Start of
the Qin Dynasty. China was
united (the unification/consolidation
process began around 231 BCE) under Zhao Zheng, now known as Qin Shi Huangdi,
or First Emperor. This ended the Warring States Period
(221). The Great Wall was built,
along with roads and canals, also the�
Chinese script, the system of weights and measures, and the legal
system, were standardised.
238 BCE, Death of Xunxi, Chinese philosopher, born 298 BCE.
246 BCE, Zhao Zheng
(Zheng the
Upright) ucceeded his father to the Qin
throne. With sound advice from his chancellor, Li Si, Zhao negan to conquer the other Warring States.
He overran Zhao and Yan, then Qin
forces captured Wei, and in 223 he
overcame Chu State. The last State, Qi, fell in 221 BCE, and China was united once more.
256 BCE, End of
the Zhou Dynasty. Last Zhou ruler deposed by the Qin
287 BCE, China�s
northern States began building a defensive wall.
289 BCE, Death of Mengzi (sometimes westernised as Mencius), born 372 BCE. He was a follower of
Confucius, and wrote down a large number of �sayings�, or proverbs
342 BCE, The Wei Army was attacking .the Han Kingdom, an ally of the Qi. The Qi now supported the Han
by mounting an attack on the Wei
capital, Daliang. The Wei king was forced to recall his army
from the Han (where ot had been on
the verge of victory). The Wei
forces were now too large for the Qi
to attack directly, so the Qi
withdrew from Dailang, with the Wei in pursuit. The Qi deliberately left deserted camps,
each successive one with a diminishing number of camp fires, and abandoned
weaponry, so the Wei concluded that Qi forces must be shrinking due to
desertions. The Wei stepped up ther
pace of pursuit, and were ambushed and routed at a narrow pass by the Qi. Wei now became
a vassal Stste of Qi.
353 BCE, Wei was defeated by Qi armies at Guiling.
356 BCE, The first
Great Wall was built, to protect
against Hun invasions. Wei became
temporarily powerful enough to force four other Warring States to attend its Court, but
this victory was short-lived.
364 BCE, Wei State was again defeated at the Battle of Shimen. Chu now declined and the capital of Wei was moved east to Dalian.
366 BCE, The Qin State won a major victory against Han and Wei forces.
380 BCE, Chu, the most southerly of the Warring States,
had become powerful through annexation of neighbouring smaller States.
.
403 BCE, Start of the Warring States Period
in China. Seven
principal States continually �manoeuvred
to weaken each other, sometimes erupting into full-scale war.This situation
lasted until 221 BCE.
End of Eastern Zhou Period This period is also known as
the Spring and Autumn Period, from the Spring and Autumn Annsals, which ceased
neing kept at 481 BCE, although extended in a form until 464 BCE in the
Zuozhuan.
479 BCE, Death of Confucius (Kung Fu-tse), Chinese philosopher (born 551 BCE).
27 Seeptember 551 BCE, Confucius was born.
565 BCE, Lao
Tse founded the belief system of Taoism.
604 BCE, Lao
Tse, Chinese philosopher, born.
643 BCE, Death of Qi Huan Gong, acceded 685 BCE;as Qi Emperor,
The Qi Empire held real power in the region.
700 BCE, The Zhou Emperors had little
real power, with actual control residing with the �Ba� (Senior Ones) from
neighbouring States.
End of Western Zhou Period;start of Eastern Zhou
Period
771 BCE, Armies from northern China destroyed the Zhou
capital of Hao, on the Wei River. The
Zhou capital was moved east to Luoyang,
marking the start of the Eastern Zhou Period.
China fragmented into perhaps as many as 148 separate States.
771, BCE, Rebellious vassal-state peoples, the Rong and Shen, attacked
and killed King
Yu. They installed his estranged son, Ping, on the throne (Ping
had earlier joined the rebel forces).
842 BCE, King
Li was forced into exile by conflict.
885 BCE, Conflict in China between different ruling Lords. King Yih
was deposed, but restored by one of his Lords.
1027 BCE, King
Wu of the Zhou defeated the last Shang �ruler, Di Xin.
1041 BCE, The Duke
of Zhou won the conflict for power (1043 BCE) but, realising he
could not fully control his domain, set up semi-independent city states ruled
by other members of the Zhou
clan.
1043 BCE, Wu
Wang died, His son, Cheng, was too young to rule, so Wu�s younger
brother, the Duke
of Zhou, agreed to act as Regent (or launched as coup for power).
King Wu�s two older brothers joined forces with the remnants of the �Shang Dynasty to overthrow the Duke of Zhou.
1046BCE, Battle of Muye. The Shang
Dynasty (see 1766 BCE) was overthrown by the Zhou
Dynasty, a Chinese speaking people from the Shanxi area. Due to a
collapsing economy and popular unrest, the Shang ruler Di Xing was unable to muster a decent
sized army to meet Wu Wang�s soldiers. Di Xing even resorted to
assembling an army of 170,000 slaves, whom he exhorted to defend �their�
country; unsupriusingly they immediately defected to the enemy side. This
prompted many of the actual soldiers in Di Xing�s Army to also defect; those who
stayed loyal were slaughtered.
Wu Wang, son of Wen Wang, was the first Zhou
ruler. Start of a flourishing of Chinese art, literature and philosophy; the
start of Confucianism. The Zhou
Dynasty endured until 256 BCE. Start of
the Western Zhou Period, which lasted until 771 BCE.
1100 BCE, First Chinese dictionary was compiled.
1192,
Death of King
Wuding.
1250,
Wuding
became king.
1300,
The final Shang Dynasty capital, Anyang, was established, on the Yellow River.
1766 BCE, Start of Shang Dynasty in China (see
1122 BCE); earliest recorded dynasty in China. Emerging from the earlier Hsia
(Xia) Neolithic culture (see 2205 BCE), the Shang was centred
on the Henan area; it was differentiated from the �barbarians to the north� by
sophisticated bronze tools,ancestor worship, and an established warrior
aristocracy with chariots.
1900 BCE, The city of Erlitou, in
the Yellow River valley, rose to prominence, hosting a population of 25,000 by
1700 BCE.
2205 BCE, Start of the Hsia Culture in China (see 1766 BCE).
2697 BCE, Start of reign of Huang-Ti, the �Yellow Emperor�. According to
legend, his wife was the first to unwind a silkworm cocoon and make silk.
2850 BCE, Supposed start of reign of Emperor Fu-Hi, first Emperor of China.
3500 BCE, Urban centres developed in China. Cities had walls and rammed-earth
platforms. Social stratification began with the wealthy trading in luxury
items.
4000 BCE, Earliest evidence of Feng Shui
building practice in China. Certain dwellings and graves were aligned on
astronomical principles.
7000 BCE, Start of sedentary agriculture, in Yellow River Basin, China.
8500 BCE, Estimated date of earliest known Chinese pottery.
9000 BCE, Evidence of hunter-gatherer and fishing lifestyle from caves in
central China.
Many dates for China here
from �Why the West Rules � For Now�, Ian Morris, Profile Books, 2011