In September 1931, acting on the pretext that Chinese troops had
attacked a Japanese railway near the northern Chinese city of Mukden,
Japanese military units stationed in the area seized control throughout
Manchuria. Although Japanese military authorities in Manchuria announced that
China had provoked the action, the “Mukden incident,” as it was called, had actually
been carried out by Japanese saboteurs. Eventually, worldwide protests against the
Japanese action led the League of Nations to send an investigative commission to
Manchuria. When the commission issued a report condemning the seizure, Japan
withdrew from the League. Over the next several years, the Japanese consolidated
their hold on Manchuria, renaming it Manchukuo and placing it under the titular
authority of former Chinese emperor and now Japanese puppet, Pu Yi.
Although no one knew it at the time, the Manchurian incident would later be
singled out by some observers as the opening shot of World War II. The failure of
the League of Nations to take decisive action sent a strong signal to Japan and other
potentially aggressive states that they might seek their objectives without the risk of
united opposition by the major world powers. Despite its agonizing efforts to build a
system of peace and stability that would prevent future wars, the League had failed
dismally, and the world was once again about to slide inexorably into a new global
conflict.
World History
