SHANGHAI 1937: Stalingrad on the Yangtze

1-201170

The struggle for China's largest city over three months was a sinister forewarning of what was in store for the rest of mankind only a few years hence, in theaters around the world. It demonstrated how technology had given rise to new forms of warfare, or had made old forms even more lethal. Amphibious landings, tank assaults, aerial dogfights and most importantly, urban combat, all happened in Shanghai in 1937. It was a dress rehearsal for World War II-or perhaps more correctly it was the inaugural act in the war-the first major battle in the global conflict.