The July 7th Incident

On July 7, 1937, the Japanese imperialists provoked the Lugou Bridge Incident, and using this as the starting point, they launched a long-premeditated all-out war on China.

At 22 o'clock on the night of July 7, Japanese occupying troops began a military exercise near the Lugou Bridge in southwest Beijing (then Beiping), with taking the bridge as the supposed target. At about 23 o'clock using the pretext of a soldier supposedly gone missing during the exercise, they demanded to enter Wanping Town by the bridge to carry out a search. When this was refused by the Chinese troops garrisoned nearby, the Japanese immediately encircled the town, launched an attack at 04:50 on July 8, and besieged Shagang, northeast of Wanping. The Chinese troops were forced to fight back.

The KMT and the CPC both made rapid responses to the Japanese aggression expressing firm commitment to resistance. On July 8, the CPC issued a public call to arms, stating that a war of resistance by the whole nation was the only solution. It called on the whole country, the government, and the armed forces to unite and build a national united front as a "Great Wall" of resistance against the Japanese. On July 15, at a summer resort on Mount Lushan in Jiangxi, CPC delegates presented to Chiang Kai-shek an Announcement of the Central Committee of the CPC on Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation. The announcement set forth three basic objectives – to launch a national war of resistance, to put democracy into effect, and to improve the lives of the people.

On July 17, Chiang Kai-shek gave a speech calling for united resistance. He said, "Once war breaks out, every person, young or old, in the north or in the south, must take up the responsibility of resisting Japan and defending our homeland." On August 14, the National Government released a statement declaring that China must now act in self-defense and resist the unrelenting invasion by Japan.

On September 22, the KMT Central News Agency released the Announcement of the Central Committee of the CPC on Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation, and the next day Chiang Kai-shek made a statement about the CPC's announcement. These symbolized the formal creation of a national united front based on the second KMT-CPC cooperation.

The July 7th Incident marked the beginning of the Chinese people's all-out war of resistance against the Japanese occupation.

盧溝橋事變

1937年7月7日，日本帝國主義者以制造盧溝橋事變為起點，發動了蓄謀已久的全面侵華戰爭。

當日夜10時，日軍一部在盧溝橋以北地區舉行以攻取盧溝橋為假想目標的軍事演習。11時許，日軍詭稱演習時一士兵離隊失蹤，要求進入宛平城搜查。在遭到中國駐軍嚴詞拒絕后，日軍迅即包圍宛平縣城，并于8日晨4時50分，向宛平縣城猛烈攻擊，強占宛平東北沙崗。中國駐軍忍無可忍，奮起還擊。

盧溝橋事變爆發后，國共兩黨對日本的侵略迅速作出反應，表明了堅決抗戰的態度。7月8日，中國共產黨向全國發出通電，指出只有實行全民族抗戰，才是中國的出路，號召全國人民、軍隊和政府團結起來，筑成民族統一戰線的堅固長城，抵抗日本的侵略。7月15日，中共代表團在廬山向蔣介石提交《中共中央為公布國共合作宣言》，提出了迅速發動全民族抗戰、實行民權政治和改善人民生活等三項基本要求。7月17日，蔣介石在廬山發表談話稱，“如果戰端一開，那就是地無分南北，年無分老幼，無論何人，皆有守土抗戰之責任”。8月14日，國民政府發表《自衛抗戰聲明書》。9月22日，國民黨中央通訊社發表《中共中央為公布國共合作宣言》。9月23日，蔣介石發表《對中國共產黨宣言的談話》，標志著以國共合作為主體的抗日民族統一戰線正式形成。盧溝橋事變揭開了中華民族全面抗戰的序幕。