Japanese troops that captured the Chinese capital of Nanking on Dec. 14, 1937 cheer and wave their flags.

In July 1937, militarists — now firmly in control of the Japanese government after a series of political assassinations — fomented a border clash with China to precipitate a full-scale invasion of northern China proper. The Japanese quickly occupied Beijing and Tianjin, and after a protracted struggle Shanghai and the national capital, Nanking, were conquered. The victorious Japanese general rewarded his troops by allowing them to run amok &mdasah; raping, torturing and murdering Chinese civilians for more than a month. The Western world watched in horror as more than 300,000 innocent victims were slaughtered. The horrific atrocities committed in Nanking led to both direct and indirect support of the Chinese by the U.S. government, and became a major source of U.S. propaganda against the Japanese in World War II.