Remembering July 7, 1937

Tomorrow marks the 68th anniversary of the Battle of Lugou Bridge, marking the beginning of the Japanese Imperial Army's thrust into Beijing from the southwest. Beijing would be in the hands of the Imperial Japanese by July 29, 1937, eventually culminating in the infamous Rape of Nanking in December of 1937. Meanwhile, the "Great Nations" of the World stood by and watched.

Actually, that's not a fair statement. I seem to recall that there may have been at least one or two stern-ish pronouncements from the Chamberlains down at the League of Nations that fascists should perhaps, you know, if it's, well, not too terribly inconvenient, try to, say, avoid raping and pillaging their neighbors in an overly brutal manner, if possible.