◀ Manchuria
Comprehensive index starts
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Manchurian Incident
Jiǔ Yībā Shìbiàn ​九 一 八 事 变
In an attempt to bring China into a confrontation with Japan over control of Manchuria,
Japanese troops used explosives to destroy
a segment of the Manchurian railway. This
bombing became known as the Manchurian
Incident, and the events that followed positioned Japan for its attempt at Asian and Pacific conquest during World War II.
T
he Manchurian Incident (also called the “Mukden
Incident,” the “September 18 Incident,” or the “Liutiaoguo [ditch worker] incident”) occurred on 18
September 1931 when explosives destroyed a section of the
South Manchurian railway near the city of Mukden (Shenyang) in Liaoning Province. Japanese troops stationed
near the railroad were responsible for the bombing, which
was intended to draw China into a confrontation with
Japan over control of Manchuria. Although the Chinese
government did not respond to the provocation by declaring war, Japan mobilized troops, occupied the region, and
established the puppet state of Manchuguo.
Background
The Treaty of Shimonoseki ending the First ­Sino-​­Japanese
war of 1894–​1895 originally ceded Formosa (Taiwan), the
Pescadores, and Liaodong Peninsula to Japan. France,
Germany, and in particular Russia objected to Japanese
control of Liaodong and pressured Japan to return the territory in exchange for an increased indemnity of 30 million taels (currency based on the weight of silver). Almost
immediately Russia began construction of a new South
Manchurian railway, linking Harbin (a major city on the
East Manchurian railway) with Port Arthur (Lushan) on
the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. These two rail lines,
bisecting Manchuria and protected by 175,000 czarist
troops, effectively brought the region under Russian control. The Japanese considered Russian aggrandizement in
Manchuria a direct threat not only to their national security via a possible attack through Korea but also to their
own imperialist ambitions in East Asia. The inevitable
confrontation between the two began on 8 February 1904
when the Japanese navy launched a surprise attack on the
Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur. Japan’s capture of
Port Arthur in January 1905 and the destruction of the
Baltic fleet at the Battle of Tsushima in May 1905 forced
Russia to sue for peace. The Treaty of Portsmouth (5 September 1905) ending this conflict stipulated that Japan
would assume Russian leases on the Liaodong Peninsula
as well as control of the South Manchurian Railway. Both
nations agreed to withdraw from Manchuria and to recognize China’s sovereignty over the region.
The collapse of the Qing dynasty (1644–​1912) led to
the rise of warlords in China. By the early 1920s one of
the most powerful of these was Zhang Zuolin, who controlled all of Manchuria through his Fengtian Army, a
­well-​­equipped fighting force of 100,000 troops. At this
time approximately ten thousand Japanese soldiers of
the Guandong Army were also stationed in Manchuria
1382
© 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC
Manchurian Incident n Jiǔ Yībā Shìbiàn n 九一八事变
1383
“The first battle near Manturia (i.e., Manchuria). The Japanese soldiers defeated the
enemy’s cavalry.” Lithographic print, Tokyo, Shobido & Co., (c. 1919). Sovereignty over
Manchuria had been contested for decades before the Manchurian Incident took place.
Library of Congress.
to protect the railroad. Many young officers in this army
were eager to spark a war with China in order to annex
Manchuria as Japan had done to Korea in 1910. As Zhang
was returning to Shenyang from Beijing on the morning of 4 June 1928, a bomb planted by one of these young
officers exploded near his private train, killing him instantly. Chiang ­K ai-​­shek, the leader of the newly formed
Nationalist government in Nanjing, cautioned against
reprisals. Zhang’s son, Zhang Xueliang (known as the
“Young Marshall”) took over his father’s position as warlord of Manchuria and agreed to follow Chiang’s directives. War was averted, although the situation remained
tense and uncertain.
The Incident
In December 1928 Zhang Xueliang pledged his loyalty to
the Nanjing government and much to Tokyo’s disappointment brought the three provinces of Manchuria back under China’s nominal control. He maintained a hard line
in negotiations with the Japanese, refusing to approve
any new concessions and seeking to recover those already granted. Meanwhile he continued to strengthen his
armed forces, which increased to nearly 250,000 troops.
Responding to critical economic issues at home, military
and civilian officials in Tokyo were preparing to issue directives prohibiting deliberate provocation by Japanese
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1384
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库
山
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troops in Manchuria. As the window of opportunity began to close, young Japanese officers again took matters
into their own hands. On 18 September 1931 they detonated explosives along the South Manchurian Railway on
the outskirts of Mukden near the largest Chinese garrison
in the region. Chinese soldiers investigating the explosion
were fired upon by Japanese troops, who pursued them
back to their barracks and attacked the garrison.
As news spread of the alleged Chinese attack, Tokyo cautioned restraint, but the military responded aggressively. The commander of Japanese forces in Korea
dispatched troops across the border into southern Manchuria. The Guandong Army was quickly mobilized,
fanning out to occupy Mukden and other major cities.
Surprisingly the army met with only sporadic resistance.
Under orders from Chiang ­K ai-​­shek, Zhang’s troops had
been forbidden to engage the Japanese in battle. Moreover, within three months all of Zhang’s forces had been
redeployed south of the Great Wall, leaving Manchuria
completely in the hands of the Japanese.
Implications
The abandonment of Manchuria sparked massive protests in China. A virulent ­a nti-​­Japanese boycott spread
throughout China, raising fears in Shanghai’s foreign
settlements of violent reprisals. In late January Japanese
marines who had been landed in the city to protect its
businesses and citizens clashed with Chinese troops. In
retaliation the Japanese bombed Zhabei, a residential and
industrial suburb of Shanghai, and invaded the city. After
fierce fighting an armistice was signed in May 1932.
By that time two other major events related to the
Manchurian Incident had transpired. In the first event,
just days after the first shots were fired, the Japanese had
already approached the last Qing emperor, Puyi, about
the possibility of his restoration as head of a new Manchu
state. In November he left Tianjin for Changchun and in
March 1932 was installed as chief executive of the new
state of Manchuguo. The second event was China’s appeal
全
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Berkshire Encyclopedia of China
to the League of Nations demanding Japan’s withdrawal
from Manchuria. In November the league sent a delegation to Manchuria headed by Lord Lytton of Great Britain
to investigate the situation. Lytton’s report concluded that
the Manchurian Incident was a Japanese fabrication and
that Manchuguo was not a sovereign nation but rather a
puppet state of the Japanese military. The League of Nations voted to uphold the findings of this report, and Japan
responded by withdrawing from the organization.
Now firmly entrenched in Manchuria and isolated
from the international community, Japan was poised to
embark on its imperialist conquest of Asia and the Pacific
during World War II.
Daniel J. MEISSNER
Further Reading
Anti-Japanese economic disruption movement in Shanghai:
After the outbreak of the Manchurian Incident. (1932).
Tokyo: League of Nations Association of Japan.
Borg, D. (1964). The United States and the Far Eastern
crisis, 1933–​38. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Doenecke, J. (1984). When the wicked rise: American
­opinion-​­makers and the Manchurian crisis of 1931–​33.
Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press.
Guo Yingjie. (2004). Cultural nationalism in contemporary
China: The search for national identity under reform.
New York: Routledge.
He Baogang & Guo Yingjie. (2000). Nationalism, national
identity, and democratization in China. New York:
Ashgate.
Koo, V. K. Wellington. (1933). The Manchurian question:
China’s case against Japan. Beijing: Northeastern Affairs Research Institute.
Morely, J. (1984). Japan erupts: The London Naval Accords
and the Manchurian Incident. New York: Columbia
University Press.
Moses, D. (1982). The role of the League of Nations in
the Manchurian crisis, 1931–​1933. Rexburg, ID: D. J.
Moses.
Wilson, S. (2002). The Manchurian crisis and Japanese society, 1931–​33. New York: Routledge.
Mandarin © 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC
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