Mukden Incident

 "Terrorist attack"
Mukden Incident (explosion,  false flag attack,  casus belli)

Date	September 18, 1931
Perpetrators	Japan
Blamed on	China
Deaths	0
Injured (non-fatal)	0
Description	A particularly feeble excuse of a false flag used by the Japanese to try to justify their 1931 invasion of Manchuria

The Mukden Incident happened around 10:20pm on 18 September 1931 when a small amount of dynamite exploded on some railway tracks. Known as the Liutiao Lake Incident (traditional Chinese: 柳條湖事變; simplified Chinese: 柳条湖事变; pinyin: Liǔtiáohú Shìbiàn, Japanese: 柳条湖事件, Ryūjōko-jiken), and the entire episode of events is known in Japan as the Manchurian Incident (Kyūjitai: 滿洲事變, Shinjitai: 満州事変, Manshū-jihen) and in China as the September 18 Incident (traditional Chinese: 九一八事變; simplified Chinese: 九一八事变; pinyin: Jiǔyībā Shìbiàn). The widely acknowledged false flag incident started off a few invasions by Japan that led to the Asian theatre of World War 2.

Official narrative

Mukden incident - Bernice Lek

As per Wikipedia; "The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

On September 18, 1931, Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit of the 29th Japanese Infantry Regiment (独立守備隊) 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 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."

Background

On September 18 1931, the Independent Garrison Unit of the 29th Japanese Infantry Regiment bombed an area close to Mukden. The explosion was so weak that it failed to destroy the track, and train services continued as if nothing happened. The Imperial Japanese Army accused Chinese spies and dissidents and invaded the Chinese province of Inner Manchuria culminating in the Japanese established puppet state of Manchukuo.

Damage

The explosion was minor and only slightly damaged a 1.5-meter section on one side of the rail, not hindering a train from Changchun passing the damaged track without difficulty and arriving at Shenyang at 10:30pm, further placing questions as to why the Japanese would invade over this.

Response

At 0400 hours on 19 Sep, Mukden was declared secure. By dawn, aircraft from the Japanese Chosun Army were landing at Mukden airport.

Controversy

Full article: File:Lytton Report.pdf

David Bergamini's book Japan's Imperial Conspiracy argued 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. Others like James Weland has concluded that senior commanders had tacitly allowed risque statecraft to happen, and only not publicly acknowledge the plans that worked. The cover up was exposed by the Lytton Report of 1932, leading Japan to leave the League of Nations.

Interestingly, Japanese corporate media only started questioning this in the 2000s, with some plausible deniability: Newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun argued that Japanese soldiers went rogue.

Legacy

The United States sought its own solution, it also sent an unofficial delegate along with the League of Nations group investigating the incident. The Lytton Commission, divided blame for the conflict in Manchuria equally between Chinese nationalism and Japanese militarism. The new state of Manchukuo was a violation of League of Nations 9-Power Treaty. The Japanese delegation walked out and never returned to the League Council. The Chinese and Japanese signed a truce, that gave the Japanese control of Manchuria for the time being, soon leading to increased stimuli to start wars from Tokyo and Beijing.

American Gold Politics

Scholar like Alan Taylor argue that intervention on the part of US would've been a breach of the 1921 Washington Naval Conference. Furthermore, the UK was in crisis, having been recently forced off the gold standard. Refusing to intervene in East Asia at the time due to the economical consequences, the only response was "moral condemnation".

 

The Official Culprit

Name	Description
China	The most populous nation state in the world

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