January 28 incident

The January 28 incident or Shanghai incident (January 28 – March 3, 1932) was a conflict between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. In apparent response to a mob attack on Japanese Buddhist monks, the Japanese in Shanghai rioted and burned down a factory, killing two Chinese. Heavy fighting broke out, and China appealed to the League of Nations. A truce was finally reached on May 5, calling for Chinese military withdrawal, and an end to Chinese boycotts of Japanese products. It is seen as the first example of a modern war waged in a large city between two heavily equipped armies and as a preview of what was to come during the Second World War.

The episode helped undermine civilian rule in Tokyo; Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi was assassinated on May 15, 1932.

Naming

In Chinese literature it is known as the January 28 incident (simplified Chinese: 一·二八事变; traditional Chinese: 一·二八事變; pinyin: Yī Èrbā Shìbiàn), while in Western sources it is often called the Shanghai War of 1932 or the Shanghai incident. In Japan it is known as the First Shanghai Incident (Japanese: 第一次上海事変), alluding to the Second Shanghai Incident, which is the Japanese name for the Battle of Shanghai that occurred during the opening stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937.

Background

After the Mukden Incident, Japan had acquired control over Manchuria and would eventually establish the puppet government of Manchukuo, which had caused massive anti-Japanese demonstrations and boycotts across China, especially in major cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

However, Major Tanaka Ryukichi of the Kwantung Army conspired to further turn the combustibles in Shanghai, where many Japanese businesses, residents and international observers were present, into diversion of major proportions, as escalation into a military intervention by the Japanese navy in the international city would divert global attention from his colleagues' military actions in north Manchuria.