Japanese invasion of Manchuria
| Japanese invasion of Manchuria | |||||||||
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| Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the interwar period | |||||||||
Japanese troops marching into Qiqihar on September 18, 1931 | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| China | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Shigeru Honjō Jirō Tamon Senjuro Hayashi Puyi Zhang Haipeng |
Zhang Xueliang Ma Zhanshan Feng Zhanhai Ding Chao | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 30,000–60,450 men | 160,000 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Western claim: 10,000 dead from all causes |
Western claim: 50,000 military and civilian dead from all causes Chinese claim: Northeastern Army: 8,890 dead Police force: 244 dead Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies: 6,675 dead | ||||||||
| 4,108 Chinese civilians dead | |||||||||
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| Japanese invasion of Manchuria | |||||
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| Chinese name | |||||
| Traditional Chinese | 九一八事變 | ||||
| Simplified Chinese | 九一八事变 | ||||
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| Alternative name | |||||
| Traditional Chinese | 瀋陽事變 | ||||
| Simplified Chinese | 沈阳事变 | ||||
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| Japanese name | |||||
| Kanji | 滿洲事變 | ||||
| Kana | まんしゅうじへん | ||||
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The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded the Manchuria region of China on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden incident, 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.
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.