By design or chance, Mutaguchi had played a major part in several Japanese victories, ever since the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937.

A second full-scale war between Japan and China began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937.

By the next day, this incident (the Marco Polo Bridge Incident) had escalated into hostilities with Chinese troops.

In the summer of 1937, soon after the Marco Polo Bridge incident, Guo returned to China to join the anti-Japanese resistance.

Some historians hold him to be one of the prime instigators of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1 July 1937.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurs, which most historians regard as the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

July 7 - Protests in Hong Kong and Taiwan mark the 73rd anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

The outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident ceased tram service temporarily.

Elements of the 9th Division were at the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and the Division subsequently saw combat at the Battle of Shanghai.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident marking the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Tōjō ordered his forces to attack Hopei and other targets in northern China.

He had played a major part in several Japanese victories, ever since the Marco Polo Bridge incident in 1937, and believed it was his destiny to win the decisive battle of the war for Japan.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact was signed and large Soviet support was given to China by the Soviet Union, including the volunteer squadrons.

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Ma Zhanshan was appointed as Commander of the Northeastern Advance Force in charge of the four northeastern provinces Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and Rehe.

The Imperial General Headquarters (GHQ) in Tokyo were initially reluctant to escalate the conflict into full scale war, being content with the gains acquired in northern China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

In September 1937, Japan invaded China with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and started the Second Sino-Japanese War (which later became part of World War II), thus the planned games in 1938 were cancelled.

The Japanese 2nd Army was raised again on August 23, 1937 and placed under the command of the Japanese Northern China Area Army as reinforcement to Japanese forces in China following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident.

In 1938, a year after the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Okamura was assigned as the commander in chief of the Japanese Eleventh Army, which participated in numerous major engagements in the Second Sino-Japanese War, notably the Battles of Wuhan, Nanchang and Changsha.