The Battle of Nanking, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was a particularly horrific battle during World War II from December 9, 1937 to January 31, 1938. After World War I, the Japan was suffering crucial economic complications. Due to the fact that America was going through the stock market crash, they were not buying goods from the Japanese and business was deteriorating. They started demanding more territory and were annoyed that countries were investing more in China. The Japanese considered China a threat and murdered Chang Esolin and blew up one of their railways which was located in South Manchuria on September 18, 1931. They not only blew up the railway, but also killed the Chinese guards. and made up a story that made the Chinese look atrocious. This then gave the Japanese justification to obtain Manchuria and rename it Manchukuo. The Chinese were exasperated by this action and a group of Japanese Buddhist priests were besieged by a Shanghai mob. One of the priests was murdered and the Japanese immediately retaliated by bombing the city of Shanghai. The bombings killed thousands of civilians and exasperated the Chinese so deeply that they provoked an actual war with the Japanese. When the Japanese arrived at their destination in Nanjing, the Chinese were apathetic towards their demands for surrender. General Iwane Matsui together with Lieutenant General Prince Asaka tasked the Japanese 36th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Division to bombard the Chinese at Guanghua Gate. Their technologically advanced weapons completely devastated the Chinese troops, who managed to enter Nanjing through the demolished gate. Tang Shengzhi, the leader of the fundamental Chinese troops... in the center of the paper... Matsui had said: “Both Prince Asaka and Lieutenant General Yanagawa... were there. I told them that everything was lost in an instant due to the brutality of the soldiers. And you can imagine, even afterward, those soldiers were laughing at me. Tang Shengzhi was the first commander of the Chinese during the battle, as Chiang Kai-Shek did not want the burden. Works Cited na, . "Nanjing Massacre". New World Encyclopedia. np, 5 September 2008. Web. 8 March 2014.C. Peter Chen, . "Battle of Nanjing and the Rape of Nanjing." World War II database. Development of lava. Network. 8 March 2014.na, . “Nanjing Rape.” Constitutional Rights Foundation. Constitutional Rights Foundation. Network. 8 March 2014.C. Peter Chen, . "Iwane Matsui." World War II database. Development of lava. Network. March 8, 2014.Chang, Iris. Rape of Nanjing. New York: Basic Books, 1997. Print.