Key Terms You Must Know

📖 Key Terms You Must Know

Mukden Incident (September 1931)

The staged explosion on the South Manchurian Railway near Mukden (now Shenyang) that Japan used as a pretext to invade Manchuria. Almost certainly organised by officers of the Japanese Kwantung Army without full authorisation from Tokyo. The explosion caused minimal damage but provided the legal justification Japan needed. The "incident" followed a well-established pattern in Japanese foreign policy: manufacture a crisis, then use it to justify military action that had already been planned.

Lytton Commission/Report

The commission of inquiry sent by the League of Nations to investigate Japan's actions in Manchuria, led by British Lord Lytton. It took a full year to investigate and published its report in October 1932. The report concluded that Japan had acted as an aggressor and recommended that Manchuria be returned to China. The League Assembly formally voted to condemn Japan in February 1933. Japan then walked out of the League in March 1933 rather than comply. By the time of the condemnation, Japan had fully consolidated control of Manchuria and renamed it Manchukuo. The commission's 14-month process from crisis to condemnation is itself evidence of the League's slowness.

Manchukuo

The puppet state created by Japan in Manchuria in 1932 after its conquest. Japan installed the last Chinese Emperor, Puyi (then aged 25), as nominal ruler — "Emperor of Manchukuo" — to give the conquest a veneer of legitimacy. In reality, Manchukuo was completely controlled by Japan's Kwantung Army. No major power except Japan and its allies recognised Manchukuo as a legitimate state. Manchukuo provided Japan with coal, iron ore, and soya beans — the raw materials essential for further military expansion.

Kwantung Army

Japan's elite military garrison stationed in Manchuria to protect Japanese-owned railway and business interests. By 1931, the Kwantung Army had become increasingly independent of civilian government in Tokyo, dominated by aggressive nationalist officers who believed Japan's future lay in East Asian dominance. It was Kwantung Army officers who staged the Mukden Incident — acting ahead of formal government authorisation, knowing the army leadership would support them. The Kwantung Army's insubordination illustrated the breakdown of civilian control over the Japanese military.

Great Depression (from 1929)

The worldwide economic crisis triggered by the Wall Street Crash (October 1929). It devastated international trade, caused mass unemployment, and drove countries inward — raising tariffs, cutting trade, abandoning international cooperation. For Japan, the Depression made expansion seem economically necessary. For Britain and France, it made military spending politically impossible and international action against distant aggression very unappealing to voters. The Depression directly contributed to the League's inability to respond to Manchuria.