The Japanese invasion of Manchuria began on 18 September 1931, when the Kwantung Army of the Empire of Japan invaded Manchuria immediately following the Mukden Incident. At war’s end in February of 1932, the Japanese established the puppet state of Manchukuo. Their occupation lasted until the success of the Soviet Union and Mongolia with the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation in mid-August of 1945.
The South Manchuria Railway Zone and the Korean Peninsula were already under the control of the Japanese Empire since the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Japan's ongoing industrialization and militarization ensured their growing dependence on oil and metal imports from the US.[2] The US sanctions which prevented trade with the United States (which had occupied the Philippines around the same time) resulted in Japan furthering their expansion in the territory of China and Southeast Asia.[3] The invasion is sometimes cited as an alternative starting date for World War II, in contrast with the more commonly accepted one of September 1939.[4]
With the invasion having attracted great international attention, the League of Nations produced the Lytton Commission (headed by British politician Victor Bulwer-Lytton) to evaluate the situation, with the organization delivering its findings in October 1932. The label of the invasion as ethically illegitimate prompted the Japanese government to withdraw from the League entirely.
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