| On July 7th, Japanese troops clashed in maneuvers with Chinese troops at the Marco Polo bridge, ten miles west of Peking. Three weeks later, the Japanese invaded in large numbers. In order to circumvent the pledge made in the Kellogg Pact, Japan did not officially declare war, but called the event the "China Incident." President Roosevelt took advantage of Japan's reluctance to declare war, using it as a loophole in the neutrality act allowing the United States to continue shipment of weapons to the Chinese. |
