With the military in control of the government, Japan harbored imperialist ambitions that would lead to a world war in Asia and the Pacific. Seeking access to natural resources on the Asian mainland, Japan began with an invasion of Manchuria in northern China in September 1931. Immediately after the local military was defeated, the Japanese turned Manchuria into a colony for the Japanese Empire. Then, in 1937, a small incident between Japanese troops and Chinese troops quickly escalated. Soon, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China. After months of fighting, Japan seized control over Nanjing, the capital of China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Japanese soldiers killed and raped thousands of Chinese civilians living in the city of Nanjing that the six-week campaign is called the Nanjing Massacre or the Rape of Nanjing.
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