Mukden incident
The Mukden incident was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.[1][2][3]
Not to be confused with Mudan incident.Mukden incident
九一八事變
九一八事变
瀋陽事變
沈阳事变
満州事変
まんしゅうじへん
Manshū Jihen
Manshū Jihen
On September 18, 1931, Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit of the 29th Japanese Infantry Regiment detonated a small quantity of dynamite[4] close to a railway line owned by Japan's South Manchuria Railway near Mukden (now Shenyang).[5] The explosion was so weak that it failed to destroy 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 the League of Nations.[6]
Names[edit]
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 attack on the railway line. In Chinese, the attack on the railway line is known as 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.
Historiography[edit]
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 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.[25]