On March 24, 1927, ships of the US Navy and the Royal Navy shell Nanking, China, in an effort to protect foreigners residing in the city. The shelling was the culmination of Chinese conflict between feudal warlord Zhang Zongchang and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) combined with growing anti-Western sentiment, itself due to methods used by Western nations to gain favorable (to them) agreements and treaties. Following the withdrawal of Zhang Zongchang’s forces from the city on March 23, what would become known as the Nanking Incident began on March 24 as the NRA advanced into the city. Though the day started rather peacefully with NRA forces searching the British, American, and Japanese consulates for any hiding opposition forces and leaving peacefully when none were found, rioting by NRA soldiers and local civilians soon broke out. Foreign nationals were attacked and a few killed and their homes burned. As a result, British and American ships which were assigned to patrol the Yangtze were ordered assist and protect the evacuation of the city. This in turned resulted in the cruisers and destroyers of the Royal Navy and US Navy shelling in order to drive back the rioters and cover the rescue of the foreign nationals by American military personnel. Machine gun fire was also utilized to suppress sniper attacks which were being conducted against the rescue fleet. This would carry on until order was restored by NRA commander Cheng Qian on March 26. Afterwards the evacuation carried on in peace.
The Nanking Incident contributed to Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek’s distrust of the communists within the NRA due to the NRA army which rioted in Nanking largely consisting of communist troops. This in turn resulted in Kai-Shek’s purging of communists from the Kuomintang and thus the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.
