Mukden Incident, (September 18, 1931), also called Manchurian Incident, seizure of the Manchurian city of Mukden (now Shenyang, Liaoning province, China) by Japanese troops in 1931, which was followed by the Japanese invasion of all of Manchuria (now Northeast China) and the establishment of the Japanese-dominated state of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo) in the area. Most observers believe the incident was contrived by the Japanese army, without authorization of the Japanese government, to justify the Japanese invasion and occupation that followed. It contributed to the international isolation of Japan and is seen as a crucial event on the path to the outbreak of World War II.

Mukden Incident Japanese troops gathering outside Mukden, Manchuria, September 1931. Heritage Image/AGE fotostock

Britannica Quiz Exploring China: Fact or Fiction? Chinese years are named after animals.

Throughout the early 20th century the Japanese had maintained special rights in Manchuria, and they had felt that the neutrality of the area was necessary for the defense of their colony in Korea. They were thus alarmed when their position in Manchuria was threatened by the increasingly successful unification of China in the late 1920s by the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi), at the same time that Soviet pressures on Manchuria increased from the north. Responding to this pressure, officers of the Japanese Kwantung (Guandong) Army, which was stationed in Manchuria, initiated an incident in Mukden without the approval of the civil government of Japan.

Mukden Incident: memorial museum Memorial museum for the Mukden Incident, Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. © beibaoke/Shutterstock.com

On the night of September 18, 1931, Japanese troops used the pretext of an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway to occupy Mukden; the explosives did little damage to their railway, and trains continued to use the route. Nevertheless, in retaliation for this "Chinese attack," the Japanese army began artillery attacks on a nearby Chinese garrison the next day. On September 21, Japanese reinforcements arrived from Korea, and the army began to expand throughout northern Manchuria. In Tokyo neither the high command of the Japanese army nor Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō proved able to restrain the Kwangtung Army in the field, and within three months Japanese troops had spread throughout Manchuria. Wakatsuki’s cabinet fell in December, and its successor reacted to a growing tide of public opinion by sanctioning the invasion.

The Kwantung Army met little resistance in its conquests because Chiang Kai-shek, who was intent on establishing his control over the rest of China, ordered the commander of the Chinese forces in Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang, to pursue a policy of nonresistance and withdrawal. The League of Nations, Chiang announced, would determine the outcome of the case. The Lytton Commission appointed by the League to investigate the situation labeled Japan as the aggressor, but Japan withdrew from the League and continued to occupy Manchuria until 1945. Few countries recognized the new puppet state of Manchukuo.

Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. Subscribe today

Losses: China, perhaps some 500; Japan, 2.