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147-452: The county, which is not large, is accessible via a four-hour shuttle coach riding on the Chengnan expressway from Chengdu (Shiling public bus station) and a two-hour driving from the municipality city Chongqing on the south. The county is rich in natural resources, and has reservoirs of coal and sweet natural gas . Strategically, Linshui County is on the only path out of Sichuan province in

294-637: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

441-564: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

588-513: A metropolis or a capital). The present spelling is based on pinyin romanization ; its Postal Map romanization was "Chengtu". Its former status as the seat of the Chengdu Prefecture prompted Marco Polo 's spellings "Sindafu", "Sin-din-fu", &c. and the Protestant missionaries ' romanization "Ching-too Foo". Although the official name of the city has remained (almost) constant,

735-503: A 500-member underground church, the Early Rain Covenant Church , led by Pastor Wang Yi . Over 100 members of the church were arrested including the pastor and his wife. The church's kindergarten and theological college were raided and the church's media outlets were closed down. Before his arrest, church member Li Yingqiang declared: "Even if we are down to our last five, worship and gatherings will still go on because our faith

882-557: A city of gastronomy. It is associated with the giant panda , a Chinese national symbol, which inhabits the area of Sichuan; the city is home to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding . Founded by the Kingdom of Shu in 4th century BC, Chengdu is unique as the only major Chinese settlement that has maintained its name unchanged throughout the imperial , republican , and communist eras for more than two thousand years. It

1029-584: A hub of Air China and Sichuan Airlines , is one of the 30 busiest airports in the world, and the Chengdu railway station is one of the six biggest in China. Chengdu is considered a "Beta + (global second-tier)" city classification (together with Barcelona and Washington, D.C.) according to the GaWC . As of 2023, the city also hosts 23 foreign consulates, the fourth most in China behind Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Chengdu

1176-536: A large 5-star hotel, a skating rink and a 15,000-spot parking area. According to the 2020 Chinese census , the municipality had 20,937,757 inhabitants; the metropolitan area itself was home to 16,045,577 inhabitants including those of the 12 urban districts plus Guanghan City ( in Deyang ). Chengdu is the largest city in Sichuan and the fourth largest in China. 21,192,000 for 2021 , adding more residents than any other city in

1323-693: A level head-on attack against an incoming coming raid of 72 IJANF G3M bombers (Capt. Cen chose this tactic knowing that the operation of the Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20mm autocannon in his D.510 is likely to fail under the g-loads of a high-deflection diving attack), with Capt. Cen pummeling the lead G3M of the IJN's 13th Kōkūtai's CO Captain Kikushi Okuda with cannon fire, sending the G3M crashing down in flames over Chengdu, along with three other G3M bombers destroyed in

1470-484: A link between Eastern China and Western China expanded, with railways built to Chongqing in 1952, and Kunming and Tibet afterward. In the 1960s, Chengdu became an important defense industry hub. Chengdu is now one of the most important economic, financial, commercial, cultural, transportation, research and communication centers in China. Its economy is diverse, characterized by the machinery , automobile , medicine, food, and information technology industries. Chengdu

1617-664: A mixture of descriptive prose and verse during the Tang dynasty; Li Bai and Du Fu , the most eminent poets of the Tang and Song dynasties respectively; Yang Shen'an , a famous scholar of the Ming dynasty; and Guo Moruo and Ba Jin , two well-known modern writers. Chang Qu , a historian of Chengdu during the Jin dynasty, compiled the earliest local historical records, the Record of Hua Yang State . Zhao Chongzuo ,

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1764-668: A poet in Chengdu during the Later Shu Kingdom, edited Among the Flowers , the first anthology of Ci in China's history. Meng Chang , the king of Later Shu, wrote the first couplet for the Spring Festival, which says, "A harvest year accepts celebrations, good festivals foreshadow long springs." In 2023, Chengdu hosted the 81st World Science Fiction Convention , having beat out Winnipeg, Canada, in site-selection voting in 2021. During

1911-514: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

2058-765: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

2205-469: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

2352-616: A separate ancient bronze-wielding culture that, following its partial sinification , became known to the Chinese as Shu . Shu was conquered by Qin in 316   BC, and the settlement was re-founded by Qin general Zhang Yi . In the early stage of the Xia dynasty or even earlier, the ancient Shu Kingdom located on the Chengdu Plain has formed a relatively developed bronze civilization, becoming an important source of Chinese civilization and one of

2499-743: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

2646-519: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

2793-621: Is Daxuetang (also known as Miaojiling) in Xiling Snow Mountain in Dayi County, with an altitude of 5,364 meters. The lowest point is the river bank at the exit of Tuojiang River in Jianyang City, with an altitude of 359 meters. Chengdu has a monsoon -influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ) and is largely warm with high relative humidity all year. It has four distinct seasons, with moderate rainfall concentrated mainly in

2940-465: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Chengdu Chengdu is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan . With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 census , it is the fourth most populous city in China , and it is the only city with a population of over 20 million apart from direct-administered municipalities . It is traditionally the hub of Western China . Chengdu

3087-409: Is a leading financial hub, ranking 35th globally the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index . Chengdu also hosts many international companies; more than 300 Fortune 500 companies have established branches in Chengdu. Chengdu is the third Chinese city with two international airports after Beijing and Shanghai. Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport , and the newly built Tianfu International Airport ,

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3234-401: Is a transliteration of ancient Shu place names. There is a saying that "Guangdu, Xindu and Chengdu" are collectively referred to as the "Three Capitals of Ancient Shu". Nowadays, there are many cultural relics of ancient Shu Kingdom in Chengdu Plain, such as Sanxingdui Ruins, Jinsha Ruins, Yufu Ancient City Ruins, Wangcong Temple, etc. Jinsha Ruins located in the urban area of Chengdu is a peak of

3381-551: Is also home to a large primitive forest with abundant biological resources and a giant panda habitat. East of Chengdu stands the low Longquan Mountains and the west bordering area of the hilly land of middle reaches of Min River , an area noted by several converging rivers. Since ancient times, Chengdu has been known as "the Abundant Land" owing to its fertile soil, favorable climate, and novel Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Chengdu

3528-429: Is also planned to be self-sustaining, with every residence being a two-minute walk from a park. In 2019, Chengdu overtook Shenzhen , China's technology hub, as the best-performing Chinese economy. The city has surged in population in the last two decades. Investments into a Europe-Chengdu Express Railway have been made, providing even more opportunity for the city to grow. As a way to preserve farmland and accommodate

3675-553: Is attested in sources dating back to the Warring States period . It has been called the only major city in China to have remained at an unchanged location with an unchanged name throughout the imperial , republican , and communist eras. However, it also had other names; for example, it was briefly known as "Xijing" (Western Capital) in the 17th century. Etymology of the name is unclear. The earliest and most widely known explanation, although not generally accepted by modern scholars,

3822-479: Is borrowed from the history of the establishment of the capital in the Western Zhou dynasty. The allusions of Zhou Wang Qianqi's "one year, he lived in a cluster, two years became a city, and three years Chengdu," because of the name Chengdu, it has been used to this day. Therefore, Chengdu has become a rare city in China and the world that has not changed its name since its establishment. Some people think that Chengdu

3969-571: Is concentrated in July and August, with very little of it in the cooler months. Chengdu also has one of the lowest annual sunshine totals nationally, with less sunshine annually than much of Northern Europe. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 15 percent in December to 32 percent in August, the city receives 1006 hours of bright sunshine annually. Spring (March–April) tends to be sunnier and warmer in

4116-450: Is hot and humid, but not to the extent of the " Three Furnaces " cities of Chongqing , Wuhan , and Nanjing , all of which lie in the Yangtze basin. The 24-hour daily mean temperature in July and August is around 25 °C (77 °F), with afternoon highs sometimes reaching 33 °C (91 °F); sustained heat as found in much of eastern China is rare. Rainfall occurs most frequently and

4263-479: Is in central Sichuan. The surrounding Chengdu Plain is known as the "Country of Heaven" and the "Land of Abundance". Its prehistoric settlers included the Sanxingdui culture. The site of Dujiangyan , an ancient irrigation system, is designated as a World Heritage Site . The Jin River flows through the city. Chengdu's culture largely reflects that of its province, Sichuan; in 2011, it was recognized by UNESCO as

4410-611: Is located at the western edge of the Sichuan Basin and sits on the Chengdu Plain ; the dominating terrain is plains. The prefecture ranges in latitude from 30° 05' to 31° 26' N, while its longitude ranges from 102° 54' to 104° 53' E, stretching for 192 kilometers (119 mi) from east to west and 166 km (103 mi) south to north, administering 12,390 km (4,780 sq mi) of land. Neighboring prefectures are Deyang (NE), Ziyang (SE), Meishan (S), Ya'an (SW), and

4557-480: Is located has an elevation ranging from 450 to 720 meters (1,480 to 2,360 feet). Northwest Chengdu is bordered by the high and steep Longmen Mountains in the north-west and in the west by the Qionglai Mountains , the elevation of which exceeds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) and includes Miao Jiling (5,364 m, 17,598 ft) and Xiling Snow Mountain (5,164 m, 16,942 ft). The western mountainous area

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4704-482: Is provided in the 10th-century geographical work Universal Geography of the Taiping Era , which states that the ninth king of Shu 's Kaiming dynasty named his new capital Chengdu after a statement by King Tai of Zhou that a settlement needed "one year to become a town, two to become a city, and three to become a metropolis." (The character for cheng 成 may mean "turned into" while du 都 can mean either

4851-478: Is real. […] Persecution is a price worth paying for the Lord." Police are said to have told one member that the church had been declared an illegal organisation. Chinese media were banned from reporting the events. Video footage which found its way onto western social media showed arrests and photographs alleged to be of injuries inflicted by the police. From a photo of M s . Jiang's detention warrant it appears that

4998-519: Is the seat of the Western Theater Command region of the People's Liberation Army . In 2023, Chengdu became the third Chinese city to host the 31st FISU Summer World University Games , after Beijing 2001 and Shenzhen 2011 . Chengdu will also host the 2025 World Games . It is considered one of the best cities in China to live. It is also a national central city of China. Chengdu is one of

5145-588: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

5292-453: The Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with the latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of

5439-662: The British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East , the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of

5586-566: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

5733-814: The German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and

5880-567: The Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled

6027-537: The Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration ,

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6174-468: The Kuomintang (KMT) government under Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek ultimately retreated to Sichuan to escape from the invading Japanese forces. They brought with them into Sichuan business people, workers, and academics who founded many of the industries and cultural institutions which continue to make Chengdu an important cultural and commercial production center. Chengdu became a military center for

6321-682: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

6468-693: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

6615-707: The Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture (N). The urban area, with an elevation of 500 m (1,600 ft), features a few rivers, three of them being the Jin , Fu , and Sha Rivers . Outside of the immediate urban area, the topography becomes more complex: to the east lies the Longquan Mountains ( 龙泉山脉 ) and the Penzhong Hills ( 盆中丘陵 ); to the west lie the Qionglai Mountains , which rise to 5,364 m (17,598 ft) in Dayi County. The highest point in Chengdu

6762-510: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

6909-409: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

7056-421: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

7203-523: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

7350-428: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

7497-466: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

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7644-506: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

7791-401: The United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and

7938-426: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

8085-414: The Western Han ; the "Hibiscus City" (Rongcheng, 蓉 城), from the hibiscus which King Meng Chang of the Later Shu ordered planted upon the city wall during the 10th century . According to Étienne de la Vaissière , "Baghshūr" ( lit.   ' pond of salt water ' ) may be the Sogdian name for the region of Chengdu. This toponym is attested near Merv , but not far from Chengdu are found

8232-454: The Xiangyang–Chongqing line , runs west of these ranges, outside of the county's borders; the closest railway station, in Huaying , is almost 30 km (19 mi) away by road, and has very limited service. Plans exist for a high speed railway (Dazhou-Chongqing Intercity Railway, 达渝城际铁路 ) that would run from Chongqing to Dazhou , roughly parallel to the older Xiangyang–Chongqing Railway . In early May 2015, Linshui people learned that

8379-451: The aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting

8526-543: The only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including the Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in

8673-404: The reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered

8820-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

8967-447: The American XX Bomber Command launched Operation Matterhorn , an ambitious plan to base B-29 Superfortresses in Chengdu and strategically bomb the Japanese Home Islands . The operating base was located in Xinjin Airport in the southwestern part of the Chengdu metropolitan area. Because the operation required a massive airlift of fuel and supplies over the Himalayas, it was not a significant military success, but it did earn Chengdu

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9114-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

9261-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

9408-435: The Chengdu raid that day. With the death of Captain Okuda in the air battle over Chengdu, the IJN Kaigun-daisa ( 海軍大佐 ) became the highest-ranking IJN Air officer to be killed-in-action in the War of Resistance/World War II thus far. In mid-late 1940, unknown to the Americans and European allies, the Imperial Japanese appeared in the skies over Chongqing and Chengdu with the world's most advanced fighter plane at

9555-407: The Cultural Revolution, the Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church building was no longer in use and the building was entrusted to the nearby Chengdu City Second People's Hospital for management. The hospital used the chapel as a kindergarten and the office of the hospital equipment department. In 1984, the hospital returned the chapel building to the church. In December 2018 the authorities attempted to close

9702-405: The European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in the Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and

9849-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

9996-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

10143-435: The Han dynasty, Chengdu's literature and art also reached a high level. All the most famous literary masters in the Han dynasty were from Chengdu, including Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, and Wang Bao. In the former Han dynasty, the whole country was divided into 14 prefectural governors' departments, among which the Yizhou governor was established in Luoxian (now Guanghan City, Sichuan), and the governor later moved to Chengdu. In

10290-479: The KMT to regroup in the War of Resistance . Chengdu was beyond the reach of the Imperial Japanese ground forces and escort fighter planes. However, the Japanese frequently flew in the then-highly advanced twin-engine long-ranged G3M "Nell" medium bombers to conduct massive aerial bombardments of both civilian and military targets in Chongqing and Chengdu . The massed formation of the G3M bombers provided heavy firepower against Chinese fighter planes assigned to

10437-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

10584-505: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

10731-612: The Song, a rebel leader set up a short-lived kingdom known as Great Shu ( 大蜀 , Dàshǔ ). Allegedly the Mongols called for the death of a million people in the city but the city's population had less than 30,000 residents (not Chengdu prefecture). The aged males who had not fled were killed while in typical fashion, the women, children and artisans were enslaved and deported. During the Yuan dynasty , most of Sichuan's residents were deported to Hunan during

10878-584: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

11025-835: The Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and the Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and

11172-621: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

11319-738: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

11466-451: The US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago , the possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking

11613-568: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

11760-489: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

11907-455: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

12054-640: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

12201-540: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

12348-507: The authorities have charged the church's leaders with "inciting subversion of state power," which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years. World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and

12495-455: The birthplaces of the Chinese nation. According to records, there were five dynasties in the ancient Shu Kingdom, and their capitals were Qushang (now Wenjiang District, Chengdu), Piyi (now Pidu District), Xindu, and Guangdu. At the end of the Spring and Autumn period (around the 4th century BC), the fifth King Kaiming moved the capital to Chengdu. According to "Taiping Huanyu Ji", the name of the city

12642-451: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

12789-413: The city of Chengdu is to make the city 'a city within a park' rather than creating parks within a city. The Great City falls in line with the Chengdu 'park city' initiative, prioritizing the environment, public space and quality of life. It will consist of 15% park and green space and be situated on a 1.3 km (0.50 sq mi) area. Although 25% of the space will be dedicated to roads, one half of

12936-577: The city without any resistance after a deal was negotiated between the People's Liberation Army and the commander of the KMT Army guarding the city. On 10 December the remnants of the Nationalist Chinese government evacuated to Taiwan . The Chengdu Tianfu New Area is a sustainable planned city that will be outside of Central Chengdu, and is expected to be completely built later in the decade. The city

13083-410: The city. Li Bai praised it as "lying above the empyrean ." The city's present Caotang ("Grass Hall") was constructed in 1078 in honor of an earlier, more humble structure of that name erected by Du Fu in 760, the second year of his 4-year stay. The Taoist Qingyang Gong ("Green Goat Temple") was built in the 9th century. Chengdu was the capital of Wang Jian 's Former Shu from 907 to 925, when it

13230-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

13377-710: The country's cigar and cigarette production, the rest of the country long continuing to consume snuff instead. In 1911, Chengdu's branch of the Railway Protection Movement helped trigger the Wuchang Uprising , which led to the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty. During World War II , the capital city of China was forced to move inland from Nanjing to Wuhan in 1937 and from Wuhan to Chengdu, then from Chengdu to Chongqing in 1938, as

13524-464: The country. As of 2015, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) estimated the Chengdu metropolitan area's population to be 18.1 million. In 2006, China Daily named Chengdu China's fourth-most-livable city. Some of China's most important literature comes from Chengdu. The city has been home to literary giants, such as Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong , two masters of Fu ,

13671-622: The court accepted Liu Yan's suggestion and changed the provincial governors to state shepherds with actual recruitment and command power. In the fifth year of Chuping (194), it moved to Chengdu. At that time, the Yizhou Provincial Governor's Department was the place where the Hu people in the Western Regions were operating. Under the Han , the brocade produced in Chengdu became fashionable and

13818-515: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

13965-433: The day than autumn (October–November). The annual mean is 16.9 °C (62.4 °F), and extremes have ranged from −6.5 °C (20 °F) to 39.4 °C (102.9 °F). Chengdu is a sub-provincial city which has served as the capital of Sichuan since Chongqing 's restoration to provincial status in 1997. It has direct jurisdiction over 12 districts , 5 county-level cities and 3 counties : As of July 2013,

14112-500: The defense of Chongqing and Chengdu, which continued to cause problems for the Japanese attacks. Slow and vulnerable obsolescent Chinese fighter aircraft burning low-grade fuel were still sufficiently dangerous in the hands of capable pilots against the Japanese schnellbomber - terror bombing raiders; on 4 November 1939 for instance, Capt. Cen Zeliu ( Wade-Giles : Shen Tse-Liu ) led his 17th Fighter Squadron, 5th Fighter Group of seven cannon-equipped Dewoitine D.510 fighters in

14259-667: The development of ancient Shu culture. The Golden Mask of the Shang and Zhou dynasties at the Jinsha Site. The ancient state of Shu was the first target to be conquered by the Qin state in the process of unifying the world. King Huiwen of Qin had prepared for this for many years, and opened up the Shiniu Road (that is, the Jinniu Road) from Qin to Shu. In 316 BC, King Huiwen of Qin took advantage of

14406-789: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

14553-691: The distinction of launching the first serious retaliation against the Japanese homeland. During the Chinese Civil War , Chengdu was the last city on the Chinese mainland to be held by the Kuomintang. President Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo directed the defense of the city from the Chengdu Central Military Academy ( 黄埔军校成都分校 ) until 1949, when Communist forces took the city on 27 December . The People's Liberation Army took

14700-426: The doors of Chengtu's first Protestant Mission Headquarters were opened with over one thousand people of the community attending. The first Methodist religious service was held the following Sunday with only several attendants. The first western dispensary in Sichuan was opened 3 November 1892 with sixteen patients seeking care. The mission site became so popular that a larger space was secured near Chengtu's East Gate in

14847-576: The east, as the connecting point between Dazhou and Chongqing . The local economy is largely dependent on livestock and agricultural farming. Linshui County comprises 25 towns: Due to the peculiar local terrain—a series of parallel mountain ranges running in the SW to NE direction --, most roads in the area run in the valleys, also in the SW-NE direction. The G65 Baotou–Maoming Expressway runs through Linshui County, but no railway does. The closest railway to Linshui,

14994-637: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

15141-463: The end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming

15288-566: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

15435-598: The first year of Emperor Guangwu's reign (25 years) in the Eastern Han dynasty, Gongsun Shu established himself as the emperor in Chengdu, and the country's name was "married family". In the twelfth year of Jianwu in the Later Han dynasty (36 years), the Great Sima Wuhan of the Eastern Han dynasty finally captured Chengdu after five years of war, and his family perished. In the fifth year of Zhongping (188), Emperor Ling of Han,

15582-843: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

15729-469: The growing population of Chengdu, China is building a hyper-dense satellite city centered around a central mass-transit hub called the Great City where any destination within the city is within a 15-minute walk. This proto-type city is intended to provide affordable, high-quality lifestyle, which provides people-oriented spaces that does not require a car to navigate. Their current urban-planning focus in

15876-544: The insurgency of the western ethnic tribes of western Sichuan. Marco Polo visited Chengdu and wrote about the Anshun Bridge or an earlier version of it. At the fall of the Ming , the rebel Zhang Xianzhong established his Great Western Kingdom ( 大西 ) with its capital at Chengdu; it lasted only from 1643 to 1646. Zhang was said to have massacred a large number of people in Chengdu and throughout Sichuan. In any case, Chengdu

16023-463: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

16170-616: The large salt water wells of the Yangtze basin. The city logo adopted in 2011 is inspired by the Golden Sun Bird , an ancient relic unearthed in 2001 from the Jinsha Site . Archaeological discoveries at the Sanxingdui and Jinsha Site have established that the area surrounding Chengdu was inhabited over four thousand years ago, in the 18th–10th century   BC. At the time of China's Xia , Shang , and Zhou dynasties , it represented

16317-499: The late Qin dynasty and was called the "Land of Abundance", and this reputation has continued to this day. During the Han dynasty, the Chengdu economy, especially its brocade industry, prospered, becoming an important source of tribute to the court. The imperial court invested in Chengdu and specially set up Jinguan management and built "Jinguan City" in the southwest of Chengdu, "Jinguan City" and "Jincheng" becoming nicknames for Chengdu. In

16464-454: The meeting, it was proposed he lead this contingency; having built western hospitals, Boy's and Girl's schools at Missions he established on the Yangtze and Gan Rivers from 1866 – 1888. On 9 May 1891 Dr. Virgil Hart arrived in Chengtu and two weeks later bought a home and had it subdivided into living quarters and a dispensary, for the later arriving Missionary staff to move into. On 24 June 1892,

16611-426: The mutual attack between Ba and Shu, and sent Sima Cuo to lead his army into Shu along the Shiniu Road, and they captured the land in a few months. After that, the king of Qin established three abolitions of Shu Hou, and finally established Shu County, and the county seat of Chengdu County was established in Chengdu, the former capital of Shu. In 311 BC, Zhang Yi of the Qin dynasty built the Chengdu city wall according to

16758-636: The period of the Five Dynasties, Huang Quan, a painter in Chengdu, initiated the Fine-Brush Flower-and-Bird Painting School with other painters. At that time, "Hanlin Painting Academy" was the earliest royal academy in China. Chengdu contains official, Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations, some of which are underground churches . The Apostolic Vicariate of Szechwan (now known as Roman Catholic Diocese of Chengdu )

16905-497: The permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with

17052-571: The political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of

17199-583: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

17346-452: The railway would be routed (i.e. the valley in which it will run) was to be via Guang'an , hometown of Deng Xiaoping . Tens of thousands of residents marched in protest and were met by violent attacks by local police, including a Special Police Unit team, with two people reported dead. A violent reaction followed and the confrontation lasted all day and well into the night with many police cars damaged. This Sichuan location article

17493-693: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

17640-535: The roads will be pedestrian-oriented . This transit system provides direct transport to Chengdu itself. It is expected that the city will consume 48% less energy than cities of similar size. The goal of the 'park city' project is to allow a city like Chengdu to compete with Beijing and Shanghai without stripping the city of its character. The city of Chengdu is already known for its focus on quality of life, which includes affordable housing, good public schools, trees and bike lanes. The vast plain on which Chengdu

17787-428: The second year of Emperor Ping of the Yuan dynasty, the population of Chengdu reached 76,000 households, or about 354,000 people, making it one of the most populous cities at that time. Towards the six major cities. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Jing of the Han dynasty (141 BC), the Wen Dang, the prefect of Shu County, established the world's earliest local government-run school, "Wenweng Shishi", in Chengdu. In

17934-410: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

18081-426: The spring of 1893. This site is where the city's first Methodist church ( Sï-Shen-Tsï Methodist Church ) and hospital were built. These were later razed by rioting Chinese in 1895 and the Mission staff retreated to Chongqing and later Shanghai to escape the marauders. Dr. Virgil Hart traveled to Peking to demand redress and full payment of retribution was collected from Sichuan Viceroy Liu Ping Chang. The mission compound

18228-447: The start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed

18375-415: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

18522-430: The surrounding area has sometimes taken other names, including " Yizhou ". Chinese nicknames for the city include the "Turtle City" , variously derived from the old city walls ' shape on a map or a legend that Zhang Yi had planned their course by following a turtle's tracks; the "Brocade City" (see Sichuan brocade ), a contraction of the earlier "City of the Brocade Official", after an imperial office established under

18669-407: The system of the capital Xianyang, and built a large city and a small city. In 256 BC, King Zhao of Qin appointed Li Bing as the governor of Shu County. During his tenure, he presided over the construction of the world-famous Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. The Chengdu Plain has been fertile and wild for thousands of miles since then. After decades of operation, Chengdu replaced Guanzhong Plain in

18816-412: The time: the A6M "Zero" fighter that dominated the skies over China against the increasingly obsolete Russian-made Polikarpov I-15/I-153s and I-16s that were the principal fighter planes of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force. This would later prove to be a rude awakening for the Allied forces in the Pacific War following the attack on Pearl Harbor . One of the first American ace fighter pilots of

18963-415: The two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as

19110-472: The war and original volunteer fighter pilot for the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, Major Huang Xinrui (nicknamed "Buffalo" by his comrades) died as a result of battling the Zero fighters along with his squadronmates Cen Zeliu and Lin Heng (younger brother of renowned architect Lin Huiyin ) defending Chengdu on 14 March 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor at the end of 1941, the United States began setting up stations at airbases in China. In 1944,

19257-407: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

19404-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

19551-420: The warmer months, and relieved from both sweltering summers and freezing winters. The Qin Mountains (Qinling) to the far north help shield the city from cold Siberian winds in the winter; because of this, the short winter is milder than in the Lower Yangtze . The 24-hour daily mean temperature in January is 5.9 °C (42.6 °F), and snow is rare but there are a few periods of frost each winter. The summer

19698-404: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

19845-483: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

19992-428: The world's largest building in terms of floor area, the New Century Global Center , is located in the city. The 100-meter-tall (330 ft) structure is 500 by 400 meters (1,600 by 1,300 ft) in size with 1,700,000 square meters (18,000,000 sq ft) of floor area, housing retail outlets, a movie theaters, offices, hotels, a water park with artificial beach and waves and a Mediterranean-style village comprising

20139-438: The world's top 25 cities by scientific research output , and home to the greatest number of universities and research institutes in Western China, notably Sichuan University , University of Electronic Science and Technology of China , Southwestern University of Finance and Economics , Southwest Jiaotong University , Chengdu University of Technology , Sichuan Normal University , and Xihua University . The name Chengdu

20286-554: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

20433-410: Was conquered by the Later Tang . The Later Shu was founded by Meng Zhixiang in 934, with its capital at Chengdu. Its second and last king, Meng Chang beautified the city by ordering hibiscus to be planted upon the city walls . The Song conquered the city in 965, introducing the first widely used paper money in the world. Su Shi praised it as "the southwestern metropolis". At the fall of

20580-458: Was established on 15 October 1696. Artus de Lionne , a French missionary of Paris Foreign Missions Society , was appointed as the first Apostolic Vicar. In 1890, the Canadian Methodist Mission was searching for more stations in Asia. In February 1891, Dr. Virgil Chittenden Hart  [ zh ] , who had been Superintendent of the New York Methodist Mission Society of Central China recommended that Chengtu be its first Mission sight. During

20727-455: Was exported throughout China. A "Brocade Official" ( 錦官 ; jǐnguān ) was established to oversee its production and transaction. After the fall of the Eastern Han, Liu Bei ruled Shu Han , the southwestern of the Three Kingdoms , from Chengdu. His minister Zhuge Liang called the area the "Land of Abundance". Under the Tang , Chengdu was considered the second most prosperous city in China after Yangzhou . Both Li Bai and Du Fu lived in

20874-403: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

21021-402: Was quickly rebuilt only to be destroyed once more in the riots of 1901. These were rebuilt a third time and later missionaries would relocate and expand the Boys' and Girls' Schools just south of the city, dedicating the Divinity College as Hart College in 1914; a part of the West China Union University , that is now Sichuan University and the West China School of Medicine (Huaxiyida). During

21168-657: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

21315-441: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

21462-399: Was said to have become a virtual ghost town frequented by tigers and the depopulation of Sichuan necessitated the resettlement of millions of people from other provinces during the Qing dynasty . Following the Columbian Exchange , the Chengdu Plain became one of China's principal sources of tobacco . Pi County was considered to have the highest quality in Sichuan, which was the center of

21609-428: Was the capital of Liu Bei 's Shu Han Empire during the Three Kingdoms Era, as well as several other local kingdoms during the Middle Ages. During World War II , refugees from eastern China fleeing from the Japanese settled in Chengdu. After the war, Chengdu was briefly the capital of the Nationalist republican government until it withdrew to Taipei on the island of Taiwan . Under the PRC, Chengdu's importance as

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