Japanese invasion of Manchuria

Lore & Background

On the night of 18 September, a bomb was placed near the tracks of the South Manchuria Railway at Mukden, detonated at around 10:20 pm. Fighting ensued, and within fifteen hours all important military installations in and about Mukden were in Japanese hands. The Kwantung Army commander-in-chief General Shigeru Honjō ordered expansion of operations, and by the end of 19 September, Japanese forces occupied Yingkou, Liaoyang, Shenyang, Fushun, Dandong, Siping, and Changchun. Tokyo was shocked by the Army acting without orders, but as quick victories mounted, the civilian government felt powerless and sent three more infantry divisions from Japan.

Reader's Guide

The Japanese invasion of Manchuria marked a significant escalation in Japan's imperial expansion and a direct challenge to the international order. The commission recommended that the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo not be recognized and that Manchuria be returned to Chinese sovereignty. This prompted the Japanese government to withdraw from the League entirely. The invasion also highlighted the phenomenon of gekokujō (the low overturns the high), as radical military officers acted without orders from the civilian government, which was held hostage by the Army and Navy's constitutional necessity for cabinet formation. The resistance of Muslim General Ma Zhanshan at Nenjiang Bridge made him a national hero in China and inspired more volunteers to join Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies. The occupation lasted until mid-August 1945, ending with the Soviet and Mongolian Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.

Did You Know?

• The Mukden incident was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext to invade Manchuria.
• General Ma Zhanshan became a national hero in China for his resistance at Nenjiang Bridge, which was widely reported in the Chinese and international press.
• The Japanese civilian government was thrown into disarray by the Army's act of gekokujō insubordination, but felt powerless to oppose the Army as reports of quick victories arrived.