What happened during the Mukden Incident of 1931?
The Mukden Incident was a staged event on September 18, 1931, in which Japanese troops seized the city of Mukden (now Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China).1
Officers of the Japanese Kwantung Army, acting without the authorization of the Japanese government, used a minor explosion along the South Manchurian Railway as a pretext to occupy the city and attack a nearby Chinese garrison. This act of aggression served as a justification for the subsequent Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the eventual establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo.12
At the time, Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek ordered his forces in the region to pursue a policy of nonresistance, hoping the League of Nations would resolve the conflict. Although the Leagueâs Lytton Commission later identified Japan as the aggressor, Japan rejected the findings and withdrew from the organization. The incident is widely regarded as a critical step toward the outbreak of World War II.12