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86-925: After the Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria and, by February 1932, it had captured the entire region. The last emperor of the Qing dynasty , Puyi , who was living in exile in the Foreign Concessions in Tianjin , was convinced by the Japanese to accept the throne of the new Empire of Manchukuo , which remained under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army . In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo's southern borders,

172-945: A conference in the Chinese government was convened, but the Guangzhou faction of the Kuomintang insisted that Chiang Kai-shek step down to take responsibility for the Manchurian debacle. On December 15, Chiang resigned as the Chairman of the Nationalist government and was replaced as Premier of the Republic of China (head of the Executive Yuan ) by Sun Fo , son of Sun Yat-sen . Jinzhou , another city in Liaoning,

258-638: A conflict with Chinese troops stationed in Manchuria and the subsequent establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo. The 9.18 Incident Exhibition Museum (九・一八歷史博物館) at Shenyang, opened by the People's Republic of China on September 18, 1991, takes the position that the explosives were planted by Japan. The Yūshūkan museum, located within Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, also places the blame on members of

344-521: A joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe . After conquering that province by March, it drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall into Hebei Province. From the start of hostilities, China had appealed to its neighbors and the international community but received no effective support. When China called an emergency meeting of the League of Nations , a committee

430-523: A major influence in the prewar Seiyūkai cabinets, had become the first commoner to serve as prime minister. He took advantage of long-standing relationships he had throughout the government, won the support of the surviving genrō and the House of Peers, and brought into his cabinet as army minister Tanaka Giichi , who had a greater appreciation of favorable civil-military relations than his predecessors. Nevertheless, major problems confronted Hara: inflation,

516-630: A new order in the Pacific region. Japan's economic problems made a naval buildup nearly impossible and, realizing the need to compete with the United States on an economic rather than a military basis, rapprochement became inevitable. Japan adopted a more neutral attitude toward the civil war in China, dropped efforts to expand its hegemony into China proper , and joined the United States, Britain, and France in encouraging Chinese self-development. In

602-502: A pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria . On September 18, 1931, Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit  [ ja ] of the 29th Japanese Infantry Regiment  [ ja ] detonated a small quantity of dynamite close to a railway line owned by Japan 's South Manchuria Railway near Mukden (now Shenyang ). The explosion was so weak that it failed to destroy

688-496: A third power, and miscellaneous other political, economic and military controls, which, if achieved, would have reduced China to a Japanese protectorate. In the face of slow negotiations with the Chinese government, widespread anti-Japanese sentiment in China and international condemnation forced Japan to withdraw the final group of demands and treaties were signed in May of 1915. Japan's hegemony in northern China and other parts of Asia

774-739: Is usually distinguished from the preceding chaotic Meiji era and the following militaristic -driven first part of the Shōwa era . The two kanji characters in Taishō ( 大正 ) were from a passage of the Classical Chinese I Ching : 大亨以正 天之道也 (Translated: "Great prevalence is achieved through rectitude, and this is the Dao of Heaven.") The term could be roughly understood as meaning "great rectitude", or "great righteousness". On 30 July 1912, Emperor Meiji died and Crown Prince Yoshihito succeeded to

860-502: The Gen'yōsha ( 玄洋社 , "Black Ocean Society", founded in 1881) and its later offshoot, the Kokuryūkai ( 黒竜会 , "Black Dragon Society" or "Amur River Society", founded in 1901) . These groups became active in domestic and foreign politics, helped foment pro-war sentiments, and supported ultra-nationalist causes through the end of World War II . After Japan's victories over China and Russia,

946-583: The Seiyūkai and the Rikken Minseitō alternated in power. Despite the political realignments and hope for more orderly government, domestic economic crises plagued whichever party held power. Fiscal austerity programs and appeals for public support of such conservative government policies as the Peace Preservation Law—including reminders of the moral obligation to make sacrifices for

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1032-763: The Allied expeditionary force sent to Siberia in July 1918 as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War . On October 9, 1916, Terauchi Masatake took over as prime minister from Ōkuma Shigenobu . On November 2, 1917, the Lansing–Ishii Agreement noted the recognition of Japan's interests in China and pledges of keeping an " Open Door Policy " ( 門戸開放政策 ) . From July to September 1918, rice riots erupted due to increasing price of rice. The large scale rioting and collapse of public order led to

1118-599: The Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies from the Peace Preservation Corps and provided for any disputes that could not be resolved by the Peace Preservation Corps to be settled by agreement between the Japanese and the Chinese governments. Harried by their civil war with the communists and unable to win international support, Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese government agreed to virtually all of Japan's demands. Furthermore, most of

1204-776: The Comintern . The Comintern realized the importance of Japan in achieving successful revolution in East Asia and actively worked to form the Japanese Communist Party , which was founded in July 1922. The announced goals of the Japanese Communist Party in 1923 included the unification of the working class as well as farmers, recognition of the Soviet Union, and withdrawal of Japanese troops from Siberia, Sakhalin, China, Korea, and Taiwan. In

1290-612: The Four-Power Treaty on Insular Possessions signed on December 13, 1921, Japan, the United States, Britain, and France agreed to recognize the status quo in the Pacific, and Japan and Britain agreed to formally terminate the Anglo-Japanese Alliance . The Washington Naval Treaty , signed on February 6, 1922, established an international capital ship ratio for the United States, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy (5, 5, 3, 1.75, and 1.75, respectively) and limited

1376-575: The General Election Law in 1925 benefited communist candidates, even though the Japan Communist Party itself was banned. A new Peace Preservation Law in 1928, however, further impeded communist efforts by banning the parties they had infiltrated. The police apparatus of the day was ubiquitous and quite thorough in attempting to control the socialist movement. By 1926, the Japan Communist Party had been forced underground, by

1462-689: The Great Wall in Hebei Province, while the troops north of the wall were scattered throughout Manchuria. Therefore, deploying Zhang's troops north of the Great Wall meant that they lacked the concentration needed to fight the Japanese effectively. Most of Zhang's troops were under-trained, poorly led, poorly fed, and had poor morale and questionable loyalty compared to their Japanese counterparts. Japanese secret agents had permeated Zhang's command because of his and his father Zhang Zuolin 's past reliance on Japanese military advisers. The Japanese knew

1548-481: The Japanese people (including Koreans and Taiwanese as both regions were under Japanese rule at this time) who had settled frontier lands, opened stores or built their own houses in China were expelled without any compensation. Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin tried to deprive Japanese concessions too, but he was assassinated by the Japanese Kwantung Army . Zhang Xueliang , Zhang's son and successor, joined

1634-452: The League of Nations . In English, the Mukden incident is also known as the Manchurian incident. In Japanese, "Manchurian incident" ( Kyūjitai : 滿洲事變 , Shinjitai : 満州事変 , Manshū-jihen ) usually refers to the entire sequence of events (including the invasion), rather than just the initial September 1931 attack on the railway line. In Chinese, the attack on the railway line is known as

1720-554: The Liutiao Lake incident ( traditional Chinese : 柳條湖事變 ; simplified Chinese : 柳条湖事变 ; pinyin : Liǔtiáohú Shìbiàn ) and the "9.18/September 18 incident" ( 九・一八事变 ; Jiǔyībā Shìbiàn ) refers to the entire sequence of events. Japanese economic presence and political interest in Manchuria had been growing ever since the end of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). The Treaty of Portsmouth that ended

1806-514: The Meiji Restoration in 1868 had seen not only the fulfillment of many domestic and foreign economic and political objectives—without Japan suffering the colonial fate of other Asian nations—but also a new intellectual ferment, in a time when there was worldwide interest in communism and socialism and an urban proletariat was developing. Universal male suffrage , social welfare , workers' rights , and nonviolent protests were ideals of

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1892-692: The Nanjing Government led by Chiang Kai-shek from anti-Japanese sentiment . Official Japanese objections to the oppression against Japanese nationals within China were rejected by the Chinese authorities. The 1929 Sino-Soviet conflict (July–November) over the Chinese Eastern Railroad (CER) further increased the tensions in the Northeast that would lead to the Mukden incident. The Soviet Red Army victory over Zhang Xueliang's forces not only reasserted Soviet control over

1978-469: The Russian Revolution . Wanting to seize the opportunity, the Japanese army planned to occupy Siberia as far west as Lake Baikal . To do so, Japan had to negotiate an agreement with China allowing the transit of Japanese troops through Chinese territory. Although the force was scaled back to avoid antagonizing the United States, more than 70,000 Japanese troops joined the much smaller units of

2064-614: The South Manchuria Railway Zone . Japanese railway guards were stationed within the zone to provide security for the trains and tracks; however, these were regular Japanese soldiers , and they frequently carried out maneuvers outside the railway areas. Meanwhile, the newly formed Chinese government was attempting to reassert its authority over the country after over a decade of fragmented warlord dominance . They started to claim that treaties between China and Japan were invalid. China also announced new acts, so

2150-482: The 1920s, Japan changed its direction toward a democratic system of government. However, parliamentary government was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the 1930s, during which military leaders became increasingly influential. These shifts in power were made possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the Meiji Constitution , particularly regarding the position of

2236-609: The 29th Infantry Regiment, which guarded the South Manchuria Railway, placed explosives near the tracks, but far enough away to do no real damage. At around 10:20 p.m. (22:20), September 18, the explosives were detonated. However, the explosion was minor and only a 1.5-meter section on one side of the rail was damaged. In fact, a train from Changchun passed by the site on this damaged track without difficulty and arrived in Shenyang at 10:30 p.m. (22:30). On

2322-462: The CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note. The Soviet Red Army performance also stunned Japanese officials. Manchuria was central to Japan's East Asia policy. Both the 1921 and 1927 Imperial Eastern Region Conferences reconfirmed Japan's commitment to be the dominant power in Manchuria. The 1929 Red Army victory shook that policy to

2408-537: The Chinese government, put China still deeper into Japan's debt. Toward the end of the war, Japan increasingly filled orders for its European allies' needed war material, thus helping to diversify the country's industry, increase its exports, and transform Japan from a debtor to a creditor nation for the first time. Japan's power in Asia grew following the collapse of the Imperial Russian government in 1917 after

2494-457: The Chinese troops at Mukden had put up such poor resistance, he told Manchukuo Emperor Puyi that this was proof that the Chinese remained loyal to him. Japanese intelligence used the incident to continue the campaign to discredit the murdered Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang for "misgovernment" of Manchuria. In fact, drug trafficking and corruption had largely been suppressed under Zhang Zuolin. Different opinions still exist as to who caused

2580-409: The Great Wall itself under Japanese control. No regular Kuomintang military units were to be allowed in the demilitarized zone, but the Japanese were allowed to use reconnaissance aircraft or ground patrols to ensure that the agreement was maintained. Public order within the zone was to be maintained by a lightly armed Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps . Two secret clauses excluded any of

2666-633: The Japanese Minister of War Jirō Minami dispatched Major General Yoshitsugu Tatekawa to Manchuria for the specific purpose of curbing the insubordination and militarist behavior of the Kwantung Army, Itagaki and Ishiwara believed that they no longer had the luxury of waiting for the Chinese to respond to provocations but had to stage their own. Itagaki and Ishiwara chose to sabotage the rail section in an area near Liutiao Lake ( 柳條湖 ; liǔtiáohú ). The area had no official name and

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2752-544: The Japanese government and called for the immediate stop to Japanese military operations in Manchuria, and appealed to the League of Nations, on September 19. On October 24, the League of Nations passed a resolution mandating the withdrawal of Japanese troops, to be completed by 16 November. However, Japan rejected the League of Nations resolution and insisted on direct negotiations with the Chinese government. Negotiations went on intermittently without much result. On November 20,

2838-576: The Japanese legation in China was raised to the status of embassy , and on June 10, 1935, the He-Umezu Agreement was concluded. The Tanggu Truce gave Chiang Kai-shek time to consolidate his forces and to concentrate his efforts against the Chinese Communist Party albeit at the expense of North China . However, Chinese public opinion was hostile to terms that were so favorable to Japan and so humiliating to China. Although

2924-533: The Kwantung Army. David Bergamini 's book Japan's Imperial Conspiracy (1971) has a detailed chronology of events in both Manchuria and Tokyo surrounding the Mukden incident. Bergamini concludes that the greatest deception was that the Mukden incident and Japanese invasion were planned by junior or hot-headed officers, without formal approval by the Japanese government. However, historian James Weland has concluded that senior commanders had tacitly allowed field operatives to proceed on their own initiative, then endorsed

3010-519: The Meiji period also continued. Notable artists, such as Kobayashi Kiyochika , adopted Western painting styles while continuing to work in ukiyo-e ; others, such as Okakura Kakuzō , kept an interest in traditional Japanese painting . Authors such as Mori Ōgai studied in the West, bringing back with them to Japan different insights on human life influenced by developments in the West. The events following

3096-547: The Northeastern Army very well and were able to conduct operations with ease. The Chinese government was preoccupied with numerous internal problems, including the issue of the newly independent Guangzhou government of Hu Hanmin , Chinese Communist Party insurrections, and 1931 China floods of the Yangtze River that created tens of thousands of refugees. Moreover, Zhang himself was not in Manchuria at

3182-528: The Western powers' rejection of its bid for a racial equality clause in the peace treaty, Japan emerged as a major actor in international politics at the close of the war. The two-party political system that had been developing in Japan since the turn of the century came of age after World War I, gave rise to the nickname for the period, " Taishō Democracy ". In 1918, Hara Takashi , a protégé of Saionji and

3268-521: The act. Honjō moved the Kwantung Army headquarters to Mukden and ordered General Senjuro Hayashi of the Chosen Army of Japan in Korea to send in reinforcements. At 04:00 on 19 September, Mukden was declared secure. Zhang Xueliang personally ordered his men not to put up a fight and to store away any weapons when the Japanese invaded. Therefore, the Japanese soldiers proceeded to occupy and garrison

3354-482: The coming years, authorities tried to suppress the party, especially after the Toranomon Incident when a radical student under the influence of Japanese Marxist thinkers tried to assassinate Prince Regent Hirohito . The 1925 Peace Preservation Law was a direct response to the perceived "dangerous thoughts" perpetrated by communist and socialist elements in Japan. The liberalization of election laws with

3440-564: The conservative forces formed a party of their own in 1913, the Rikken Dōshikai , a party that won a majority in the House over the Seiyūkai in late 1914. On February 12, 1913, Yamamoto Gonnohyōe succeeded Katsura as prime minister . In April 1914, Ōkuma Shigenobu replaced Yamamoto. Crown Prince Yoshihito married Sadako Kujō on 10 May 1900. Their coronation took place on November 11, 1915. World War I permitted Japan, which fought on

3526-511: The core and reopened the Manchurian problem. By 1930, the Kwantung Army realized they faced a Red Army that was only growing stronger. The time to act was drawing near and Japanese plans to conquer the Northeast were accelerated. In April 1931, a national leadership conference of China was held between Chiang Kai-shek and Zhang Xueliang in Nanjing . They agreed to put aside their differences and assert China's sovereignty in Manchuria strongly. On

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3612-540: The earlier politics of compromise. When Saionji Kinmochi tried to cut the military budget, the army minister resigned, bringing down the Rikken Seiyūkai cabinet. Both Yamagata Aritomo and Saionji refused to resume office, and the genrō were unable to find a solution. Public outrage over the military manipulation of the cabinet and the recall of Katsura Tarō for a third term led to still more demands for an end to genrō politics. Despite old guard opposition,

3698-557: The early leftist movement. Government suppression of leftist activities, however, led to more radical leftist action and even more suppression, resulting in the dissolution of the Japan Socialist Party ( 日本社会党 , Nihon Shakaitō ) only a year after its founding and general failure of the socialist movement in 1906. The beginning of the Taishō period was marked by the Taishō political crisis in 1912–13 that interrupted

3784-509: The emperor and the state—were attempted as solutions. While the impact of the American panic of October 1929 was still reverberating throughout the world, the Japanese government lifted the gold embargo at the old parity in January 1930. These two blows struck the Japanese economy simultaneously, and the country was plunged into a severe depression. There was a sense of rising discontent that

3870-474: The end of Terauchi Masatake government. The postwar era brought Japan unprecedented prosperity. Japan went to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as one of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of the "Big Five" nations of the new international order. Tokyo was granted a permanent seat on the Council of the League of Nations and the peace treaty confirmed

3956-618: The experienced Japanese troops. By the evening, the fighting was over, and the Japanese had occupied Mukden at the cost of five hundred Chinese lives and only two Japanese lives. At Dalian in the Kwantung Leased Territory , Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army General Shigeru Honjō was at first appalled that the invasion plan was enacted without his permission, but he was eventually convinced by Ishiwara to give his approval after

4042-511: The explosion on the Japanese railroad at Mukden. Strong evidence points to young officers of the Japanese Kwantung Army having conspired to cause the blast, with or without direct orders from Tokyo . Post-war investigations confirmed that the original bomb planted by the Japanese failed to explode, and a replacement had to be planted. The resulting explosion enabled the Japanese Kwantung Army to accomplish their goal of triggering

4128-506: The explosives at this site was to preclude the extensive rebuilding that would have been necessitated had the site actually been a railway bridge. Colonel Seishirō Itagaki , Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara , Colonel Kenji Doihara , and Major Takayoshi Tanaka had completed plans for the incident by May 31, 1931. The plan was executed when 1st Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit (獨立守備隊) of

4214-575: The growing national debt and the new election laws, which retained the old minimum tax qualifications for voters. Calls were raised for universal suffrage and the dismantling of the old political party network. Students, university professors, and journalists, bolstered by labor unions and inspired by a variety of democratic, socialist, communist, anarchist, and other Western schools of thought, mounted large but orderly public demonstrations in favor of universal male suffrage in 1919 and 1920. New elections brought still another Seiyūkai majority, but barely so. In

4300-507: The growth of the zaibatsu , could Japan hope to become dominant in Asia. The United States, long a source of many imported goods and loans needed for development, was seen as becoming a major impediment to this goal because of its policies of containing Japanese imperialism. An international turning point in military diplomacy was the Washington Conference of 1921–22 , which produced a series of agreements that effected

4386-471: The incident was handled by the League of Nations and the subsequent Lytton Report. A. J. P. Taylor wrote that "In the face of its first serious challenge", the League buckled and capitulated. The Washington Naval Conference (1921) guaranteed a certain degree of Japanese hegemony in East Asia . Any intervention on the part of America would be a breach of the already mentioned agreement. Furthermore, Britain

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4472-590: The influx of Western popular culture together led to the passage of the Peace Preservation Law in 1925, which forbade any change in the political structure or the abolition of private property. In 1921, during the Interwar period , Japan developed and launched the Hōshō , which was the first purpose-designed aircraft carrier in the world. Japan subsequently developed a fleet of aircraft carriers that

4558-458: The major cities of Changchun and Dandong and their surrounding areas with minimal difficulty. However, in November, General Ma Zhanshan, the acting governor of Heilongjiang , began resistance with his provincial army, followed in January by Generals Ding Chao and Li Du with their local Jilin provincial forces. Despite this resistance, within five months of the Mukden incident, the Imperial Japanese Army had overrun all major towns and cities in

4644-430: The morning of September 19, two artillery pieces installed at the Shenyang officers' club opened fire on the Chinese garrison nearby, in response to the alleged Chinese attack on the railway. Chang Hsueh-liang 's small air force was destroyed, and his soldiers fled their destroyed Beidaying barracks, as five hundred Japanese troops attacked the Chinese garrison of around seven thousand. The Chinese troops were no match for

4730-471: The need to adjust the Japanese economy to postwar circumstances, the influx of foreign ideas, and an emerging labor movement. Prewar solutions were applied by the cabinet to these postwar problems, and little was done to reform the government. Hara worked to ensure a Seiyūkai majority through time-tested methods, such as new election laws and electoral redistricting, and embarked on major government-funded public works programs. The public grew disillusioned with

4816-404: The new demilitarized zone was within the remaining territory of a discredited Manchurian warlord , Zhang Xueliang . The Tanggu Truce de facto resulted in the recognition of Manchukuo by the Kuomintang government and its acknowledgement of the loss of Rehe. It provided for a temporary end to the combat between China and Japan, and relations between both countries briefly improved. On May 17, 1935,

4902-502: The official timeline is part of a domestic "legitimizing narrative" that aims to enhance the CCP's prestige and discredit the Nationalist government's "nonresistance policy" at the time. Each year at 10:00 a.m. on 18 September, air-raid sirens sound for several minutes in numerous major cities across China. Provinces include Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hainan, and others. Taish%C5%8D period The Taishō era ( 大正時代 , Taishō jidai , [taiɕoː dʑidai] )

4988-472: The other hand, some officers of the Kwantung Army began to plot to invade Manchuria secretly. There were other officers who wanted to support plotters in Tokyo . Believing that a conflict in Manchuria would be in the best interests of Japan, Kwantung Army Colonel Seishirō Itagaki and Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara independently devised a plan to prompt Japan to invade Manchuria by provoking an incident from Chinese forces stationed nearby. However, after

5074-401: The political milieu of the day, there was a proliferation of new parties, including socialist and communist parties. In the midst of this political ferment, Hara was assassinated by a disenchanted railroad worker in 1921. Hara was followed by a succession of nonparty prime ministers and coalition cabinets. Fear of a broader electorate, left-wing power, and the growing social change engendered by

5160-472: The provinces of Liaoning , Jilin, and Heilongjiang . Chinese public opinion strongly criticized Zhang Xueliang for his non-resistance to the Japanese invasion. While the Japanese presented a real threat, the Kuomintang directed most of their efforts towards eradication of the communist party. Many charged that Chang's Northeastern Army of nearly a quarter million could have withstood the Kwantung Army of only 11,000 men. In addition, his arsenal in Manchuria

5246-471: The result after a positive outcome was assured. In August 2006, the Yomiuri Shimbun , Japan's top-selling newspaper, published the results of a year-long research project into the general question of who was responsible for the " Shōwa war ". With respect to the Manchurian incident, the newspaper blamed ambitious Japanese militarists , as well as politicians who were impotent to rein them in or prevent their insubordination. Debate has also focused on how

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5332-461: The sabotage appear more convincing as a calculated Chinese attack on an essential target, thereby making the expected Japanese reaction appear as a legitimate measure to protect a vital railway of industrial and economic importance. The Japanese press labeled the site "Liǔtiáo Ditch" ( 柳條溝 ; liǔtiáo gōu ) or "Liǔtiáo Bridge" ( 柳條橋 ; liǔtiáo qiáo ), when in reality, the site was a small railway section laid on an area of flat land. The choice to place

5418-432: The side of the victorious Allied Powers , to expand its influence in Asia and its territorial holdings in the north equatorial Pacific. Japan declared war on Germany on August 23, 1914, and quickly occupied German-leased territories in China's Shandong and the Mariana , Caroline , and Marshall islands in the north Pacific Ocean. On November 7, Jiaozhou surrendered to Japan. With its Western allies heavily involved in

5504-436: The situation. In March, the puppet state of Manchukuo was established, with the former emperor of China, Puyi , installed as head of state . On October 2, the Lytton Report was published and rejected the Japanese claim that the Manchurian invasion and occupation was an act of self-defense, although it did not assert that the Japanese had perpetrated the initial bombing of the railroad. The report ascertained that Manchukuo

5590-414: The size and armaments of capital ships already built or under construction. In a move that gave the Japanese Imperial Navy greater freedom in the Pacific Ocean, Washington and London agreed not to build any new military bases between Singapore and Hawaii. The goal of the Nine-Power Treaty also signed on February 6, 1922, by Belgium, China, the Netherlands, and Portugal, along with the original five powers,

5676-428: The summer of 1929 the party leadership had been virtually destroyed, and by 1933 the party had largely disintegrated. Pan-Asianism was characteristic of right-wing politics and conservative militarism since the inception of the Meiji Restoration, contributing greatly to the pro-war politics of the 1870s. Disenchanted former samurai had established patriotic societies and intelligence-gathering organizations, such as

5762-417: The throne as Emperor of Japan . In his coronation address, the newly enthroned Emperor announced his reign's nengō (era name) Taishō , meaning "great righteousness". The end of the Meiji period was marked by huge government, domestic, and overseas investments and defense programs, nearly exhausted credit, and a lack of foreign reserves to pay debts. The influence of Western culture experienced in

5848-407: The time, but was in a hospital in Beijing to raise money for the flood victims. However, in the Chinese newspapers, Zhang was ridiculed as "General Nonresistance" ( Chinese : 不抵抗將軍 ; pinyin : Bù Dǐkàng Jiāngjūn ). Because of these circumstances, the central government turned to the international community for a peaceful resolution. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a strong protest to

5934-407: The track, and a train passed over it minutes later. The Imperial Japanese Army accused Chinese dissidents of the act and responded with a full invasion that led to the occupation of Manchuria , in which Japan established its puppet state of Manchukuo six months later. The deception was exposed by the Lytton Report of 1932, leading Japan to diplomatic isolation and its March 1933 withdrawal from

6020-409: The transfer to Japan of Germany's rights in Shandong , a provision that led to anti-Japanese riots and a mass political movement throughout China. Similarly, Germany's former north Pacific islands were put under a Japanese mandate . Japan was also involved in the post-war Allied intervention in Russia and was the last Allied power to withdraw (doing so in 1925). Despite its small role in World War I and

6106-410: The truce provided for a demilitarized buffer zone, Japanese territorial ambitions towards China remained, and the truce proved to be only a temporary respite until hostilities erupted again in 1937 by the Second Sino-Japanese War . Mukden Incident Japanese victory Taishō period Shōwa period The Mukden incident was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as

6192-652: The ultra-nationalists concentrated on domestic issues and perceived domestic threats such as socialism and communism. Emerging Chinese nationalism, the victory of the communists in Russia, and the growing presence of the United States in East Asia all worked against Japan's postwar foreign policy interests. The four-year Siberian expedition and activities in China, combined with big domestic spending programs, had depleted Japan's wartime earnings. Only through more competitive business practices, supported by further economic development and industrial modernization, all accommodated by

6278-561: The war had granted Japan the lease of the South Manchuria Railway branch (from Changchun to Lüshun ) of the China Far East Railway . The Japanese government, however, claimed that this control included all the rights and privileges that China granted to Russia in the 1896 Li–Lobanov Treaty , as enlarged by the Kwantung Lease Agreement of 1898. This included absolute and exclusive administration within

6364-621: The war in Europe, Japan sought further to consolidate its position in China by presenting the Twenty-One Demands (Japanese: 対華二十一ヶ条要求 ; Chinese: 二十一条 ) to the Government in January 1915. Besides expanding its control over German holdings, Manchuria and Inner Mongolia , Japan also sought joint ownership of a major mining and metallurgical complex in central China, prohibitions on China's ceding or leasing any coastal areas to

6450-500: Was a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Taishō . The new emperor was a sickly man, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen (or genrō ) to the Imperial Diet of Japan and the democratic parties . Thus, the era is considered the time of the liberal movement known as Taishō Democracy ; it

6536-479: Was considered the most modern in China, and his troops had possession of tanks, around 60 combat aircraft, 4000 machine guns, and four artillery battalions. Zhang Xueliang's seemingly superior force was undermined by several factors. The first was that the Kwantung Army had a strong reserve force that could be transported by railway from Korea, which was a Japanese colony , directly adjacent to Manchuria. Secondly, more than half of Zhang's troops were stationed south of

6622-441: Was established to investigate the affair. The Lytton Commission 's report ultimately condemned Japan's actions but offered no plan for intervention. In response, the Japanese simply withdrew from the League on March 27, 1933. The Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Japanese Emperor Hirohito , who wanted a quick end to the China conflict and for Japan not to venture beyond the Great Wall . Japan's negotiating position

6708-462: Was facilitated through other international agreements. One with Russia in 1916 helped further secure Japan's influence in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, and agreements with France, Britain, and the United States in 1917 recognized Japan's territorial gains in China and the north Pacific. The Nishihara Loans (named after Nishihara Kamezo, Tokyo's representative in Beijing) of 1917 and 1918, while aiding

6794-458: Was heightened with the assault upon Rikken Minseitō prime minister Osachi Hamaguchi in 1930. Though Hamaguchi survived the attack and tried to continue in office despite the severity of his wounds, he was forced to resign the following year and died not long afterwards. The victory of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1922 and their hopes for a world revolution led to the establishment of

6880-602: Was in crisis, having been recently forced off the gold standard . Although a power in East Asia at the time, Britain was incapable of decisive action. The only response from these powers was "moral condemnation". In 2017, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officially recognized the Mukden incident as the start of its "War of Resistance" against the Empire of Japan as opposed to the 1937 Marco Polo Bridge incident . Historian Emily Matson stated that this shift in

6966-532: Was lost to the Japanese in early January 1932. As a result, Wang Jingwei replaced Sun Fo as the Premier. On January 7, 1932, United States Secretary of State Henry Stimson issued his Stimson Doctrine , that the United States would not recognize any government that was established as the result of Japanese actions in Manchuria. On January 14, a League of Nations commission, headed by Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton , disembarked at Shanghai to examine

7052-433: Was not militarily important, but it was only eight hundred meters away from the Chinese garrison of Beidaying ( 北大營 ; běidàyíng ), where troops under the command of the "Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang were stationed. The Japanese plan was to attract Chinese troops by an explosion and then blame them for having caused the disturbance in order to provide a pretext for a formal Japanese invasion. In addition, they intended to make

7138-646: Was second to none. Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the Kenseikai ( 憲政会 , Constitutional Government Association) and the Seiyū Hontō ( 政友本党 , True Seiyūkai ) to merge as the Rikken Minseitō ( 立憲民政党 , Constitutional Democratic Party) in 1927. The Rikken Minseitō platform was committed to the parliamentary system, democratic politics, and world peace. Thereafter, until 1932,

7224-501: Was the product of Japanese military aggression in China, while recognizing that Japan had legitimate concerns in Manchuria because of its economic ties there. The League of Nations refused to acknowledge Manchukuo as an independent nation. Japan resigned from the League of Nations in March 1933. It thereafter became more aggressive in China. Colonel Kenji Doihara used the Mukden incident to continue his campaign of disinformation. Since

7310-601: Was to prevent a war in the Pacific. The signatories agreed to respect China's independence and integrity, not to interfere in Chinese attempts to establish a stable government, to refrain from seeking special privileges in China or threatening the positions of other nations there, to support a policy of equal opportunity for commerce and industry of all nations in China, and to reexamine extraterritoriality and tariff autonomy. Japan also agreed to withdraw its troops from Shandong , relinquishing all but purely economic rights there, and to evacuate its troops from Siberia. Overall, during

7396-528: Was very strong, as the Chinese Nationalists were under severe pressure from the simultaneous full-scale civil war against the Chinese communists . On May 22, 1933, Chinese and Japanese representatives met to negotiate the end of the conflict. The Japanese demands were severe: a demilitarized zone extending 100 km south of the Great Wall from Beijing to Tianjin was to be created, with

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