Japanese invasion of Manchuria

This article is about the 1931 invasion. For the 1894 invasion, see Japanese invasion of Manchuria (1894).
Japanese invasion of Manchuria
Part of the interwar period and the Chinese Civil War

Japanese troops marching into Qiqihar on September 18, 1931
DateSeptember 18, 1931 – February 27, 1932
(5 months, 1 week and 2 days)
Location
Manchuria, Republic of China
Result

Japanese victory

Territorial
changes
  • Manchuria seized by the Kwantung Army
  • Establishment of Manchukuo as a Japanese puppet state
    • Belligerents

     Japan

    		 China
    Commanders and leaders
    Shigeru Honjō
    Jirō Tamon
    Hideki Tojo[1]
    Senjuro Hayashi
    Puyi
    Zhang Haipeng    		 Zhang Xueliang
    Ma Zhanshan
    Feng Zhanhai
    Ding Chao
    Strength
    30,000–60,450 men[citation needed] 160,000 men
    Japanese invasion of Manchuria
    Chinese name
    Traditional Chinese九一八事變
    Simplified Chinese九一八事变
    Transcriptions
    Alternative name
    Traditional Chinese瀋陽事變
    Simplified Chinese沈阳事变
    Transcriptions
    Japanese name
    Kanji滿洲事變
    Kanaまんしゅうじへん
    Transcriptions
    RomanizationManshū Jihen

    The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded the Manchuria region of the Republic of China on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden incident,[2] a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext to invade. At the war's end in February 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. The occupation lasted until mid-August 1945, towards the end of the Second World War, in the face of an onslaught by the Soviet Union and Mongolia during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

    The South Manchuria Railway Zone and the Korean Peninsula had been under the control of the Japanese Empire since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Japan's ongoing industrialization and militarization ensured their growing dependence on oil and metal imports from the US.[3] The US sanctions which prevented trade with the United States (which had occupied the Philippines around the same time) resulted in Japan furthering its expansion in the territory of China and Southeast Asia.[4] The invasion of Manchuria, or the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 7 July 1937, are sometimes cited as alternative starting dates for World War II, in contrast with the more commonly accepted date of September 1, 1939.[5]

    With the invasion having attracted great international attention, the League of Nations produced the Lytton Commission (headed by British politician Victor Bulwer-Lytton) to evaluate the situation, with the organization delivering its findings in October 1932. Its findings and recommendations that the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo not be recognized and the return of Manchuria to Chinese sovereignty prompted the Japanese government to withdraw from the League entirely.

    1. ^ "Tōjō Hideki - prime minister of Japan". britannica.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
    2. ^ "Milestones: 1921–1936 - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
    3. ^ Walker, Michael (2017). The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew. Modern War Studies. ISBN 978-0700623754.
    4. ^ Meyer, Michael (9 February 2016). In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1620402887.
    5. ^ Simkin, John (February 5, 2007). "Sterling and Peggy Seagrave: Gold Warriors". The Education Forum. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008. Americans think of WW2 in Asia as having begun with Pearl Harbor, the British with the fall of Singapore, and so forth. The Chinese would correct this by identifying the Marco Polo Bridge incident as the start, or the Japanese seizure of Manchuria earlier.