1931-09-18 - 1931-09-19

Mukden Incident

Near Mukden and Liutiao LakeMukden · The Kwantung Army used the railway explosion near Liutiao Lake as the pretext for occupying Mukden and opening the Manchurian campaign.

Other events in this phase

Second Sino Japanese War81
  1. Mukden IncidentCurrent record
  2. Lee Bong-chang attempt in Tokyo
  3. January 28 Shanghai Incident
  4. Proclamation of Manchukuo
  5. Mongolian uprising of 1932
  6. Yun Bong-gil action at Hongkou Park
  7. May 15 Incident
See all 81

Context

The Mukden Incident marks the decisive turn by which Northeast China entered Japanese military control before the countrywide war. The gap between Kwantung Army action on the ground and later approval in Tokyo led into Manchukuo and the League of Nations crisis.

Sources

The National Diet Library exhibit and Britannica overview are cross-checked, with the railway-site photograph linked through its Commons file record.

Media

South Manchurian Railway sabotage photographVisual recordSouth Manchurian Railway sabotage photographJapanese investigators at the railway sabotage site after the incident.

Source Trail

ArchiveNational Diet Library · Manchurian Incident of 1931Open sourceReferenceEncyclopaedia Britannica · Mukden IncidentOpen sourceMedia RecordWikimedia Commons · Mukden incident railway sabotage photographOpen source