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What happened during the Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931?

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Map of eastern Asia highlighting Manchuria in northeastern China, which includes the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The highlighted area borders Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea. — Manchuria The historical region of Manchuria shown with the boundaries of the modern-day Chinese provinces in its place as well as the portion of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region that is often considered part of Manchuria.

The Mukden Incident was a staged event on September 18, 1931, in which officers of the Japanese Kwantung Army orchestrated an explosion along the South Manchurian Railway near the city of Mukden (now Shenyang).1

Although the explosion caused minimal damage, the Japanese military used it as a pretext to claim a Chinese attack, subsequently launching artillery strikes against a nearby Chinese garrison and occupying the city. Most historians agree that this operation was contrived by the Japanese army without the authorization of their own civil government to justify the full-scale invasion and occupation of Manchuria.1

Following the incident, the Japanese military expanded its control throughout the region, eventually establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo. Despite the Lytton Commission of the League of Nations identifying Japan as the aggressor, Japan refused to withdraw and instead resigned from the League in 1933. This event is widely regarded as a critical precursor to the outbreak of World War II.12