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{{Short description|1931 Japan false flag railway explosion}}
{{distinguish|Mudan incident}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Mukden incident
| partof            = the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Interwar period|interwar period]]
| image             = [[File:Mukden 1931 japan shenyang.jpg|250px|Japanese troops entering [[Shenyang]] during Mukden incident]]
| caption           = Japanese troops entering [[Shenyang]] during the Mukden incident
| date              = September 18, 1931
| place             = near [[Mukden|Mukden city]] (now [[Shenyang|Shenyang city]]), [[Manchuria|Manchuria region]], [[Nationalist government|Republic of China]]
| coordinates       = {{Coord|41.834610|N|123.465984|E|display=inline,title}}
| result            = Japanese victory
*[[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]]
| combatant1        = {{flagcountry|Republic of China (1912–1949)}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = {{Plainlist|
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg|size=23px}} [[Zhang Xueliang]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg|size=23px}} [[Ma Zhanshan]]
*{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Republic of China Army.svg|size=23px}} [[Feng Zhanhai]]
}}
| commander2        = {{Plainlist|
*{{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Shigeru Honjō]]
*{{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Jirō Minami]]
*{{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Kanji Ishiwara]]
*{{flagdeco|Empire of Japan|army}} [[Seishirō Itagaki]]
}}
| strength1         = 160,000
| strength2         = 30,000–66,000
| casualties1       = Western claim: 340+ killed<br><br>Chinese claim:<ref>{{cite book |title= 日本侵华的铁证: 日本记者镜头下的九一八事变 |page=15 |date=2005 |publisher=吉林文史出版社 |last1=Zhiwen| first1=Kang| last2=Chunhe| first2=Xie}}</ref><br>5 officers and 144 soldiers killed<br>14 officers and 172 soldiers wounded<br>483 soldiers missing<br><br>Japanese claim:<ref name ="Senman hattatsu shi">{{cite book |title= Senman hattatsu shi |page=535 |publisher=Sen-Man Jigyō Kyōkai| date=1934}}</ref> 320 killed
| casualties2       = Western claim: 25 killed<br><br>Japanese claim:<ref name ="Senman hattatsu shi"/> 2 killed, 22 wounded
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Second Sino-Japanese War}}
{{Japanese colonial campaigns}}
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|s= 九一八事变
|t= 九一八事變
|p= Jiǔyībā Shìbiàn
|altname= Alternative name |s2=沈阳事变|t2=瀋陽事變
|kanji= 満州事変
|kana= まんしゅうじへん
|romaji= Manshū Jihen
}}
The '''Mukden incident''' was a [[false flag]] event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]].<ref>''The Cambridge History of Japan: The Twentieth Century'', p. 294, Peter Duus, John Whitney Hall, Cambridge University Press: 1989 {{ISBN|978-0-521-22357-7}}</ref><ref>''An instinct for War: Scenes from the battlefields of history'', p. 315, Roger J. Spiller, {{ISBN|978-0-674-01941-6}}; Harvard University Press</ref><ref>''Concise dictionary of modern Japanese history'', p. 120, Janet Hunter, University of California Press: 1984, {{ISBN|978-0-520-04557-6}}</ref>

On September 18, 1931, Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the {{ill|Independent Garrison Unit|ja|独立守備隊}} of the {{ill|29th Japanese Infantry Regiment|ja|歩兵第29連隊}} detonated a small quantity of dynamite<ref name="auto">''The Cambridge History of Japan: The Twentieth Century'', p. 294, Peter Duus, John Whitney Hall, Cambridge University Press: 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-521-22357-7}}</ref> close to a railway line owned by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]'s [[South Manchuria Railway]] near Mukden (now [[Shenyang]]).<ref>Fenby, Jonathan. ''Chiang Kai-shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost''. Carroll & Graf: 2003, p. 202</ref> 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 [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria#Initial annexation|occupation of Manchuria]], in which Japan established its [[puppet state]] of [[Manchukuo]] five months later. 

==Names==
In English, the Mukden incident is also known as the Manchurian incident. In Japanese, "Manchurian incident" ([[Kyūjitai]]: {{Nihongo2|滿洲事變}}, [[Shinjitai]]: {{Nihongo2|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 the Liutiao Lake incident ({{lang-zh|s=柳条湖事变|t=柳條湖事變|p=Liǔtiáohú Shìbiàn|first=t}}) and the "September 18 incident" ({{lang-zh|s=九・一八事变|p=Jiǔyībā Shìbiàn|labels=no}}) refers to the entire sequence of events.

==Background==
[[File:1931年9月19日FT-17.jpg|left|thumb|[[Renault FT]] tanks captured by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese]] after the September 18th incident, September 19, 1931]]
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 the war had granted Japan the lease of the South Manchuria Railway branch (from [[Changchun]] to [[Lüshunkou District|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 the [[South Manchuria Railway Zone]]. Japanese railway guards were stationed within the zone to provide security for the trains and tracks; however, these were [[Kwantung Army|regular Japanese soldiers]], and they frequently carried out maneuvers outside the railway areas.{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}}
[[File:China exhibits new evidence of Japanese war crimes.webm|thumb|On the 91st anniversary of the September 18 incident, the [[Museum of the Imperial Palace of Manchukuo]] in [[Changchun]], [[Jilin|Jilin Province]], and the Museum of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in [[Harbin]], [[Heilongjiang]], released new findings.]]
Meanwhile, the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|newly formed Chinese government]] was attempting to [[Northern Expedition|reassert its authority over the country]] after over a decade of [[Warlord Era|fragmented warlord dominance]]. They started to claim that [[unequal treaties|treaties]] between China and Japan were invalid. China also announced new acts, so the [[Japanese people]] (including [[Koreans]] and [[Taiwanese people|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.<ref name="Zinbun">{{cite journal|url=https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/48355/1/68_129.pdf|url-status=live|last1=Shin'ichi|first1=Yamamuro|title=Manshūkoku no Hou to Seiji: Josetsu|journal=The Zinbun Gakuhō: Journal of Humanities|date=1991|volume=68|pages=129–152|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517002800/https://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2433/48355/1/68_129.pdf|archive-date=May 17, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Jx0BAAAQBAJ&q=manchuria+under+japanese+dominion&pg=PA10|title=Manchuria Under Japanese Dominion|author=Shin'ichi Yamamuro|translator=Joshua A. Fogel|year=2006|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|pages=10–13, 21–23|isbn=978-0-812-23912-6|access-date=2017-01-23}}</ref> Manchurian [[warlord]] [[Zhang Zuolin]] tried to deprive Japanese concessions too, but he was [[Huanggutun incident|assassinated]] by the Japanese [[Kwantung Army]]. [[Zhang Xueliang]], Zhang's son and successor, joined the [[Nationalist government|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.<ref name="Zinbun" /><ref>Yamaguchi, Jūji (1967). ''Kieta Teikoku Manshū''. The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. {{ASIN|B000JA85DK}}</ref>

The 1929 [[Sino-Soviet conflict (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 the CER in Manchuria but revealed Chinese military weaknesses that Japanese Kwantung Army officers were quick to note.<ref>Michael M. Walker, ''The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017), p. 290.</ref>

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 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.<ref>Michael M. Walker, ''The 1929 Sino-Soviet War: The War Nobody Knew'' (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2017), pp. 290–291. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03catqbPCmgC&q=ma+fuxiang+chiang+kai-shek+zhang+xueliang&pg=PA93|url-status=live|title= The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China|author=Jay Taylor|year=2009|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=93|isbn=978-0-674-03338-2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531135308/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=03catqbPCmgC&q=ma+fuxiang+chiang+kai-shek+zhang+xueliang&pg=PA93|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref> On the other hand, some officers of the Kwantung Army began to plot to [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria|invade Manchuria]] secretly. There were other officers who wanted to support plotters in [[Tokyo City|Tokyo]].{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

==Events==
[[File:Japanese soldiers taking an offensive posture on the Mukden Little West Gate.jpg|thumb|Japanese soldiers of 29th Regiment on the Mukden West Gate]]
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 the Japanese [[Ministry of War of Japan|Minister of War]] [[Jirō Minami]] dispatched Major General [[Yoshitsugu Tatekawa]] to Manchuria for the specific purpose of curbing the insubordination and [[Japanese militarism|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.<ref name="ferrell_mukden">{{cite journal |last=Ferrell |first=Robert H. |date=March 1955 |title=The Mukden Incident: September 18–19, 1931 |journal= Journal of Modern History|publisher=University of Chicago Press |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages= 66–72 |doi= 10.1086/237763|jstor=1877701 |s2cid=144691966 }}</ref>

Itagaki and Ishiwara chose to sabotage the rail section in an area near [[Liutiao Lake]] ({{lang|zh-hant|柳條湖}}; ''liǔtiáohú''). The area had no official name and was not militarily important, but it was only eight hundred meters away from the Chinese garrison of Beidaying ({{lang|zh-hant|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 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" ({{lang|zh-hant|柳條溝}}; ''liǔtiáo'''gōu''''') or "Liǔtiáo Bridge" ({{lang|zh-hant|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 the explosives at this site was to preclude the extensive rebuilding that would have been necessitated had the site actually been a railway bridge.<ref name="ferrell_mukden" />

==Incident==
[[File:193109 mukden incident railway sabotage.jpg|thumbnail|Japanese experts inspect the "sabotaged" South Manchurian Railway.]]
Colonel [[Seishirō Itagaki]], Lieutenant Colonel [[Kanji Ishiwara]], Colonel [[Kenji Doihara]], and Major Takayoshi Tanaka had completed plans for the incident by May 31, 1931.<ref name="Behr p. 180">{{Citation|first=Edward|last=Behr|title=The Last Emperor|year=1987|location=New York|publisher=Bantam Books|page=[https://archive.org/details/lastemperor00behr/page/180 180]|isbn=978-0-553-34474-5|url=https://archive.org/details/lastemperor00behr/page/180}}</ref>

[[File:Mukden 1931 spoorweg.jpg|thumb|A section of the Liǔtiáo Railway]]
The plan was executed when 1st Lieutenant Suemori Kawamoto of the Independent Garrison Unit (獨立守備隊) of the 29th Infantry Regiment, which guarded the South Manchuria Railway, placed explosives near the tracks, but far enough away to do no real damage.<ref name="auto"/> At around 10:20&nbsp;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&nbsp;p.m. (22:30).<ref name="COMIE">[http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/events/1931.html Chronology of Major International Events from 1931 through 1943, with Ostensible Reasons Advanced for the Occurrence Thereof ] 78th Congress, 2d Session. ''"An explosion undoubtedly occurred on or near the railroad between 10 and 10:30 p.m. on September 18th, but the damage, if any, to the railroad did not in fact prevent the punctual arrival of the south-bound train from Changchun, and was not in itself sufficient to justify military action. The military operations of the Japanese troops during this night, ... cannot be regarded as measures of legitimate self-defense..."'' [Opinion of Commission of Inquiry], ibid., p. 71</ref>

==Invasion of Manchuria==
{{Main|Japanese invasion of Manchuria}}
On 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. [[Zhang Xueliang]]'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 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 dead.<ref>{{Harvnb|Behr|1987|p=182}}</ref>

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,<ref>Chen, World War II Database</ref> but he was eventually convinced by Ishiwara to give his approval after 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]] 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 the provinces of [[Liaoning]], Jilin, and [[Heilongjiang]].<ref name="ferrell_mukden" />

==Aftermath==
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 Zhang'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 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 [[Korea under Japanese rule|Japanese colony]], directly adjacent to Manchuria. Secondly, more than half of Zhang's troops were stationed south of 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 the Northeastern Army very well and were able to conduct operations with ease.<ref name="ferrell_mukden" />

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 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" ({{lang-zh|t=不抵抗將軍|p=Bù Dǐkàng Jiāngjūn}}).

[[File:SesiónDeLaSociedadDeNacionesSobreManchuria1932.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.5|Chinese delegate addresses the League of Nations after the Mukden incident in 1932.]]

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 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.<ref name="ferrell_mukden" />

On November 20, 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, was lost to the Japanese in early January 1932. As a result, [[Wang Jingwei]] replaced Sun Fo as the Premier.<ref>Ian Hill Nish, ''Japan's Struggle with Internationalism: Japan, China, and the League of Nations, 1931–3'' (Routledge, 1993).</ref>

On January 7, 1932, United States Secretary of State [[Henry Stimson]] issued his [[Stimson Doctrine]], that the United States would not [[Diplomatic recognition|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 the situation. In March, the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]] was established, with the former emperor of China, [[Puyi]], installed as [[head of state]].<ref name="Nish, 1993">Nish, ''Japan's Struggle with Internationalism: Japan, China, and the League of Nations, 1931–3'' (1993).</ref>

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 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.<ref name="Nish, 1993"/><ref name="ferrell_mukden" /> It thereafter became more aggressive in China.<ref name=":Gao">{{Cite book |last=Gao |first=Yunxiang |title=Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century |date=2021 |publisher=[[University of North Carolina Press]] |isbn=9781469664606 |location=Chapel Hill, NC}}</ref>{{Rp|page=18}}

Colonel [[Kenji Doihara]] used the Mukden incident to continue his campaign of disinformation. Since 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.<ref>{{Harvnb|Behr|1987|pp=182–183}}</ref>

==Controversy==
[[File:Jiǔ-yībā Lìshǐ Bówùguǎn九・一八歴史博物館106997.jpg|thumb|The September 18th History Museum in [[Shenyang]]]]

Different opinions still exist as to who caused 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 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 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 the result after a positive outcome was assured.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=James|last=Weland|title=Misguided Intelligence: Japanese Military Intelligence Officers in the Manchurian Incident, September 1931|journal=Journal of Military History|volume=58|issue=3|year=1994|pages=445–460|doi=10.2307/2944134|jstor=2944134}}</ref>

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 "[[Pacific War|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.<ref>{{cite news|title=War Responsibility – delving into the past (1) / Who should bear the most blame for the Showa War?|work=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]|date=2006-08-13|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/0007/01.htm|url-status=unfit|access-date=2008-09-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061225052512/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/0007/01.htm|archive-date=December 25, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=War Responsibility – delving into the past (1) / Manchuria start of slide into war|work=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]|date=2006-08-16|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/0007/i01.htm
|access-date=2008-09-18|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224152355/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/0007/i01.htm|archive-date=February 24, 2007}}</ref>

Debate has also focused on how 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 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".<ref>{{Citation|first=A. J. P.|last=Taylor|title=The Origins of the Second World War|year=1962|location=New York|publisher=Atheneum |page=91}}</ref>

== Historiography ==
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Matson |first=Emily |date=July 7, 2023 |title=How China's leaders changed the history of the War of Resistance to bolster Party prestige |url=https://nuvoices.com/2023/07/07/how-chinas-leaders-changed-the-history-of-the-war-of-resistance-to-bolster-party-prestige/ |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=NüVoices}}</ref>

==Remembrance==
Each year at 10:00&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dream.sdchina.com/NewsArticle_3087737.html|title=Sept. 18 Incident marked across China_"中国梦 我的梦"_中国山东网|website=dream.sdchina.com|access-date=18 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051436/http://dream.sdchina.com/NewsArticle_3087737.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-09-18/213421129732.shtml|url-status=live|title=我国多个地区拉防空警报纪念九一八事变_新闻中心_新浪网|publisher=News.sina.com.cn|access-date=2019-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531140532/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2010-09-18/213421129732.shtml|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
* The Mukden incident is depicted in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' comic ''[[The Blue Lotus]]'', although the book places the bombing near Shanghai. Here it is performed by Japanese agents and the Japanese exaggerate the incident.{{sfnm|1a1=Farr|1y=2001|1p=52|2a1=Lofficier|2a2=Lofficier|2y=2002|2p=35}}
* The Chinese patriotic song ''[[Along the Songhua River]]'' describes the lives of the people who had lost their homeland in Northeast China after the Mukden incident.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFkEEAAAQBAJ|url-status=live|title=Remote Homeland, Recovered Borderland Manchus, Manchoukuo, and Manchuria, 1907–1985|first=Dan|last=Shao|year=2011|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0824860226|page=289|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531110121/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Remote_Homeland_Recovered_Borderland/XFkEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0|archive-date=May 31, 2023|accessdate=May 31, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y41FDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live|title=Culture, Music Education, and the Chinese Dream in Mainland China|first=Wai-Chung|last=Ho|date=2018|isbn=978-9811075339|publisher=Springer Nature Singapore|accessdate=May 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531110724/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Culture_Music_Education_and_the_Chinese/y41FDwAAQBAJ?hl=en|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref>
* In Akira Kurosawa's 1946 film ''[[No Regrets for Our Youth]]'', the subject of the Mukden incident is debated.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSS4EAAAQBAJ|url-status=live|title=The Russian Kurosawa Transnational Cinema, Or the Art of Speaking Differently|first=Olga V.|last=Solovieva|date=2023|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0192690845|page=17|accessdate=May 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531112047/https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Russian_Kurosawa/mSS4EAAAQBAJ?hl=en|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tohokingdom.com/blog/no-regrets-for-our-youth-a-retrospective-on-kurosawas-postwar-gem/|url-status=live|title=No Regrets for Our Youth: A Retrospective on Kurosawa's Postwar Gem – Toho Kingdom|first=Patrick|last=Galvan|date=January 17, 2019|website=tohokingdom.com|accessdate=May 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531112659/https://www.tohokingdom.com/blog/no-regrets-for-our-youth-a-retrospective-on-kurosawas-postwar-gem/|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Junji Kinoshita]]'s play ''A Japanese Called Otto'',<ref>''Patriots and Traitors: Sorge and Ozaki: A Japanese Cultural Casebook'', MerwinAsia: 2009, pp. 101–197</ref> opens with the characters discussing the Mukden incident.
* The 2010 Japanese [[anime]] ''[[Night Raid 1931]]'' is a 13-episode spy/pulp series set in 1931 Shanghai and Manchuria. Episode 7, "Incident", specifically covers the Mukden incident.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-05-10/senko-no-night-raid-7th-episode-streamed-not-aired|url-status=live|title=Senkō no Night Raid's 7th Episode Streamed, Not Aired|publisher=Anime News Network|date=2010-05-30|access-date=2010-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531113104/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-05-10/senko-no-night-raid-7th-episode-streamed-not-aired|archive-date=May 31, 2023}}</ref>
* [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[death metal]] band [[Hail of Bullets]] covers the event in the song "The Mukden Incident" on their 2010 album ''[[On Divine Winds]]'', a [[concept album]] about the [[Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II]].
* The television drama [[The Family Game (2013)|''Kazoku Game'']] ({{Langx|en|Family Game|italic=yes}}) deals with [[Japanese history textbook controversies|the history textbook controversy]] in episode 4, mentioning the Mukden incident.
* The 2024 Chinese drama [[War of Faith]] depicts the Mukden incident in episode 24.<ref>[https://www.iq.com/play/war-of-faith-1n8ymcpfi9g?lang=en_us War of Faith episode 24 Preview]</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal bar|Japan|China|History}}
* [[Events preceding World War II in Asia]]
** [[Jinan incident]] (May 1928)
** [[Huanggutun incident]] (Japanese assassination of the Chinese head of state Generalissimo [[Zhang Zuolin]] on 4 June 1928)
** [[Northeast Flag Replacement]] (by [[Zhang Xueliang]] on 29 December 1928)
* [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
** [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]] (1931)
** [[January 28 incident]] (Shanghai, 1932)
** [[Defense of the Great Wall]] (1933)
** [[Marco Polo Bridge incident]] (7 July 1937)
* [[History of Sino-Japanese relations#Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II]]
* [[History of the Republic of China]]
* [[Military of the Republic of China]]
* [[National Revolutionary Army]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |title=Tintin: The Complete Companion |last=Farr |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Farr |year=2001 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |isbn=978-0-7195-5522-0 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Ferrell |first = Robert H. |date=March 1955 |title = The Mukden Incident: September 18–19, 1931 |journal= Journal of Modern History |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages= 66–72 |doi= 10.1086/237763 |jstor=1877701 |s2cid=144691966 }}
* {{cite book|last=Jowett|first=Philip|year=2005|title=Rays of the Rising Sun, Volume 1: Japan's Asian Allies 1931–45, China and Manchukuo|publisher=Helion and Company Ltd.|isbn=978-1-874622-21-5}}
* {{cite book |last = Lensen |first = George Alexander |title = The Damned Inheritance: The Soviet Union and the Manchurian Crises 1924–1935 |year=1974 |publisher = The Diplomatic Press }}
* {{cite book |title=The Pocket Essential Tintin |last1=Lofficier |first1=Jean-Marc |last2=Lofficier |first2=Randy |year=2002 |publisher=Pocket Essentials |location=Harpenden, Hertfordshire |isbn=978-1-904048-17-6 }}
* {{cite book |last=Long-hsuen |first=Hsu |title = History of The Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) |year=1971 |publisher = Chung Wu Publishing |location = 33, 140th Lane, Tung-hwa Street, Taipei, Taiwan |edition=2nd |author2=Chang Ming-kai }}
* Lucas, David G. ''Strategic Disharmony: Japan, Manchuria, and Foreign Policy'' (Air War College, 1995) [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA328808.pdf online].
* {{cite book|last= Matsusaka|first= Yoshihisa Tak|year= 2003|title= The Making of Japanese Manchuria, 1904–1932|publisher = Harvard U Asia Center|isbn= 978-0-674-01206-6}}
* Ogata, Sadako N. ''Defiance in Manchuria: the making of Japanese foreign policy, 1931-1932'' (U of California Press, 1964).
* Yoshihashi, Takehiko. ''Conspiracy at Mukden: the rise of the Japanese military'' (Yale UP, 1963) [https://archive.org/details/conspiracyatmukd00yosh online]
* Wright, Quincy (1932–02). "The Manchurian Crisis". ''American Political Science Review''. '''26''' (1): 45–76.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{cite web|url=https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=18|url-status=live|title=Mukden Incident <nowiki>|</nowiki> World War II Database|author=C. Peter Chen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526202923/https://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=18|archive-date=May 26, 2023|accessdate=May 26, 2023}}
* [http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/11043/rec/66 Article on Japanese military cliques and their involvement in The Mukden Incident from Japanese Press Translations 1945–46]

{{Authority control}}
{{China–Japan relations}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1931]]
[[Category:1931 in Manchuria]]
[[Category:1931 in Japan]]
[[Category:Explosions in 1931]]
[[Category:1931 in rail transport]]
[[Category:September 1931 in Asia]]
[[Category:Prelude to the Second Sino-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Combat incidents]]
[[Category:False flag operations]]
[[Category:Military history of Manchuria]]
[[Category:League of Nations]]
[[Category:Acts of sabotage]]
[[Category:China–Japan military relations]]
[[Category:Japanese military scandals]]
[[Category:Military operations of the Chinese Civil War (1927–1937)]]
[[Category:Attacks on railway systems]]