THE MUKDEN INCIDENT 18 Sep 1931 : Bomb exploded on the Japanese-owned South Manchurian Railway near Mukden that night A train containing Japanese and other passengers was blown up This was the Mukden Incident

THE MUKDEN INCIDENT The Japanese army blamed on the Chinese Fighting broke out between the Chinese and Japanese armies Within a short time, the militarily superior Japanese forces had defeated the Chinese troops The Japanese army took over not just Mukden but the whole of Manchuria

THE MUKDEN INCIDENT Highly probable that the explosion was planned and carried out by a few Kwantung Army officers as an excuse to seize control of Manchuria The army quickly occupied Mukden and other areas north of it Govt in Tokyo was horrified at these events but unable to stop the army By Dec 1931, the army had occupied the whole of Manchuria

THE MUKDEN INCIDENT The Kwantung Army had initially wanted to turn Manchuria into a Japanese colony as part of the Japanese Empire In the end, Japan formed Manchuria into an independent puppet state called Manchuko with former Chinese Emperor Pu Yi as its head In effect, Manchuko did become part of the Japanese empire As for Pu Yi did as he was told by Japan

PU YI

THE MUKDEN INCIDENT We have seen how economically important Manchuria was for the Japanese Politically, the seizure of Manchuria held significant advantages It was from this point onwards that the army or the militarists more-or-less ran the government The army’s morale was raised tremendously Its power and prestige had increased among the people

THE MUKDEN INCIDENT The militarists saw Manchuria as the beginning of the Japanese Empire, not the end And they wanted the empire to be further expanded

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA China appealed to the League of Nations for help against Japan The League reacted quickly, meeting one day after the Mukden Incident to consider China’s appeal for help Many words of support for China but no action A series of meetings followed in which the Japanese representative appeared twilling to cooperate

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA 30 Sep 1931 : Japan accepted the Council’s demand to withdraw its troops to their original positions as as stipulated in the “Twenty-one Demands” along the South Manchurian Railway But it was an empty promise – they did not act on this Dec 1931 : League sent a commission to Manchuria Led by Englishmen, Lord Lytton No hurry to get to Manchuria, travelling by sea rather than by air

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA In the meantime, Japan launched an attack on Shanghai in Jan 1932 It then declared the establishment of ‘Manchuko’ in Feb 1932 Mar 1932 : the General Assembly of the League met again to debate the issue but decided to wait for the commission’s report

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA Lytton Commission reported in Nov 1932, over a year after the Mukden Incident Condemned Japanese aggression and demanded that Japan withdraw its troops Japan had no intention of doing so Feb 1933 : The report was put to a vote – 42 voted for it, Siam abstained and Japan naturally voted against it Mar 1933 : Japan withdrew from the League of Nations

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA League took no further action; obviously powerless to stop a determined aggressor Economic and military sanctions were not applied Britain and France, both experiencing economic problems, were reluctant to apply sanctions in case it led to war The League of Nations had failed to act decisively when face d with opposition from a powerful country Historians see this event as the first stage in the collapse of the League

WORLD’S REACTION TO JAPANESE OCCUPATION OF MANCHURIA League’s only success : Persuaded Japanese Navy to leave Shanghai which it tried to capture in 1932 Only two countries recognised the new state of Manchuko : Germany and Italy All three countries in the mid-1930s were trying to expand their territories All were hostile to the League This friendship grew and led in to the signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact between the 3 countries

FURTHER EXPANSION BY JAPAN 1932 : PM Inukai criticized the military’s actions in Manchuria He was assassinated by a group of officers The militarists were now in control of the government and determined to expand beyond Manchuria Nationalistic feeling was running high, not just in the army but among the people too

FURTHER EXPANSION BY JAPAN Feb 1933 : Japanese troops took over the Chinese province of Jehol, next to Manchuria China was unable to further resist the Japanes and so signed the Truce of Tangku in Mar 1933

FURTHER EXPANSION BY JAPAN Terms of the truce : Japan’s control of Manchuria and Jehol reaffirmed Area between Manchuria and Beijing demilitarized – China could not guard that area with military forces But Japanese troops were stationed along an important railway between Tientsin and Beijing

FURTHER EXPANSION BY JAPAN : Kwantung Army strengthened Japanese control in eastern inner Mongolia : Growing intereference in nearby provinces of Hebei and Chahar As before, the Chinese govt was embroiled in a civil war and was powerless to intervene North China was now controlled by the Japanese

MARCO POLO BRIDGE INCIDENT 1937 : Marco Polo Bridge Incident, near Beijing An accident rather than a planned incident Japanese accused the Chinese of having fired on one of their night patrols Provided an excuse for a full- scale Japanese attack This time it was not just one province but the whole of China WWII had begun in East Asia