Wartime History
In 1927, the Kuomintang (KMT) under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek again established Nanjing as the capital of the Republic of China, and this became internationally recognized once KMT forces took Beijing in 1928. The following decade is known as the Nanjing decade, as they used the Presidential Palace in Nanjing as their headquarters.

Nanking Massacre (Rape of Nanking)
In 1937, Japan started the Second Sino-Japanese War. A few days before the fall of the city, the National Government of China relocated to the southwestern city Chongqing and resumed Chinese resistance. Japanese troops occupied Nanjing during December 1937 and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanking Massacre (Rape of Nanking). The total death toll could not be confirmed, since no official records were kept. Though often contested, most estimates, including those made by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal, estimate the number of dead between 300,000 and 350,000.

In 1940，a Japanese collaborationist government known as the "Nanjing Regime" or "Nanjing Nationalist Government" led by Wang Jingwei was established in Nanjing as a rival to Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalis Government based at Chongqing.

American missions against Nanking
November 12, 1944–July 31, 1945

Postwar
In 1946, after Japan's surrender, the KMT relocated the government back to Nanjing. On April 23, 1949, The People's Liberation Army conquered Nanjing.

Regarding airfields in Nanking. There is a civil airport inside the side called the Ming Ku Kung (Ming Palace 明故宮) Airfield (near the site of the old Ming Dynasty Palaces; 118 deg E, 32.03 deg N).

This airfield was closed in the 1950's and is the site of the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Ta Hsiao-Chang Airfield (Big Parade Ground Airfield)
Prewar airfield still in use today

Nanking Airfield (Nanjing, Ming Foo Kung, Tachiaochang, Daiko)
Wartime Airfield

Yangchow Airfield
Prewar airfield used by Chinese Air Force and occupied by the Japanese

Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall
Museum built in 1985 to commemorate the Nanking Massacre

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Last Updated
March 20, 2022