Manchurian Incident

Japanese: 満州事変 - まんしゅうじへん

The Japanese military's war of aggression against Manchuria (northeastern China) began with the Mukden Incident on September 18, 1931 (Showa 6).

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

Early History

Manchuria, especially southern Manchuria, became a capital investment, commodity market, and heavy industrial raw material supply area for Japanese capitalism after Japan acquired the Changchun (Kuanchengzi)-Lushun railway and its associated interests and leased the Kwantung Leased Territory after the Russo-Japanese War, and was valued as a special interest area and a "lifeline" for Japan. After World War I, Japan supported the Mukden warlord Zhang Zuolin while aiming to invade Kannai in China, but after Zhang Xueliang joined Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government after the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in 1928 (Showa 3), movements to recover imperialist interests and to exclude Japanese goods intensified in Manchuria as well. Furthermore, the Great Depression caused a downturn in the Manchurian agricultural economy, whose main export product was soybeans, and this, combined with the industrial depression, led to a deterioration in the business performance of the South Manchuria Railway. On top of this, the Nationalist government and the Zhang Xueliang administration planned to build a so-called Manchuria Railway Encirclement Line (parallel line) to transport goods from North Manchuria to Yingkou in South Manchuria using railways other than the South Manchuria Railway line, posing a threat to the Railway. These were publicized in Japan as the "Manchuria-Mongolia Crisis" and, together with the Wanbaoshan Incident in July 1931 and the Captain Nakamura Incident, which was made public in August, were used to promote xenophobia.

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

Mukden Incident

The Kwantung Army's senior staff officer, Colonel Itagaki Seishiro, and its chief staff officer for operations, Lieutenant Colonel Ishiwara Kanji, had been working on a plan to take possession of Manchuria and Mongolia for some time. Based on the experience of the March Incident in 1931 and the rising anti-foreign sentiment, the Kwantung Army, in contact with the General Staff's First Operations Department Chief, Major General Tatekawa Yoshitsugu, and the central military headquarters, blew up the South Manchuria Railway tracks in Liutiaohu Village on the outskirts of Fengtian at 10:30 p.m. on September 18th, and claimed that this was the work of Zhang Xueliang's army, launching a military operation. The operation began with an attack on Zhang Xueliang's army's camp, Beidaying, and Fengtian Castle, and the next day they occupied Fengtian and other major cities along the South Manchuria Railway line. Furthermore, on September 21st, the Korean army, led by Lieutenant General Hayashi Senjuro, unilaterally crossed the border after dispatching troops to Jilin, and the fighting spread throughout southern Manchuria. Immediately after the incident broke out, the Wakatsuki Reijiro cabinet, which had adopted a policy of non-escalation, did not pursue the violation of supreme command authority by unilaterally crossing the border at a cabinet meeting on the 22nd, but instead acknowledged the fait accompli along with other military actions and approved budget expenditures. On the 24th, the government issued a statement on the legitimacy of the Japanese military's military actions and the policy of non-escalation in the future, officially recognizing the incident.

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

Manchukuo

After occupying southern Manchuria through the bombing of Jinzhou in October 1931 and other means, the Kwantung Army planned to occupy northern Manchuria, occupying Qiqihar in November, followed by Harbin in February 1932, and subsequently occupying major cities in northern Manchuria. The Kwantung Army, which had initially planned to occupy Manchuria and Mongolia, decided in mid-September to change the method of ruling Manchuria to the establishment of a puppet state, and in October drew up the "Outline of the Governance of the Manchuria-Mongolia Republic," determining the governing policy and government organization, as well as having local warlords establish regional independent governments. In November, they allowed Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty, who had been in exile in Tianjin, to escape and made preparations to make him head of the new state. At the end of January 1932, a clash occurred between the Japanese Marine Corps and Chinese troops in Shanghai, where anti-Japanese movements were particularly intensifying (the First Shanghai Incident). In the meantime, on March 1st, the Northeast Administrative Committee, made up of former warlords including Zhang Jinghui, declared the establishment of "Manchukuo," and on the 9th, Puyi became regent, marking the start of the new state. "Manchukuo" was a puppet state with real power held by the Kwantung Army. Furthermore, Japan's military actions in Manchuria were appealed to the League of Nations by China, and the Lytton Commission was dispatched, but the date of the establishment of "Manchukuo" was the day after the commission arrived in Tokyo, and on September 15th, when Japan recognized "Manchukuo" and signed the Japan-Manchukuo Protocol, the commission had requested a postponement and was in the middle of writing its report. In both cases, Japan opposed the commission with fait accompli, and it was also a challenge to international public opinion. The process leading to the establishment of "Manchukuo" was primarily driven by the Kwantung Army, but this was within the bounds of tolerance of the government and the central military, and was also a demand from monopoly capital, as seen in the loans of 10 million yen each from the Mitsui and Mitsubishi financial conglomerates for the establishment of the Manchurian Central Bank in April, immediately after the establishment of "Manchukuo." In contrast, in China, the Kuomintang and Communist parties were in the midst of a civil war and were unable to unite in facing the national crisis. The Soviet Union, which shared a border with Manchuria, also prioritized domestic construction, and Britain and the United States, in the midst of the raging Great Depression, were appeasement toward Japan's invasion. It was under these conditions that the invasion of Manchuria was carried out.

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

North China Separation Plan

Japan had the Nationalist government virtually acknowledge its colonial rule of Manchuria through the Tanggu Armistice Agreement signed at the end of May 1933. However, in 1935, the Japanese Army began drawing up plans to separate the five provinces of northern China (Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Chahar, and Suiyuan) from the Nationalist government and place them under Japanese control. The reason for this was that the bases of the anti-Manchu, anti-Japanese forces were in northern China, and control of the five provinces was essential to stabilizing public order in Manchukuo. At the same time, Japan also aimed to take advantage of northern China's resources, such as coal and iron, as well as agricultural products and markets. Dealing with the Manchurian Incident necessitated a new invasion of northern China, and Japan and China eventually plunged into an all-out war.

[Kimishima Kazuhiko]

Keiichi Eguchi's "The History of Japanese Imperialism" (1975, Aoki Shoten) ▽ History Study Group (ed.) "History of the Pacific War 1: The Manchurian Incident" (1971, Aoki Shoten)

[References] | North China Separation Plan | Manchukuo | Lytton Commission | Mukden Incident

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

1931年（昭和6）9月18日の柳条湖(りゅうじょうこ)事件に始まった日本軍の満州（中国東北地域）侵略戦争。

［君島和彦］

前史

満州、とくに南満州は、日本が日露戦争後に長春(ちょうしゅん)（寛城子）―旅順(りょじゅん)間の鉄道およびその付属の利権を獲得し関東州を租借して以来、日本資本主義にとって資本投資・商品市場・重工業原料供給地となり、特殊権益地域、日本の「生命線」として重視された。日本は第一次世界大戦後、奉天(ほうてん)軍閥張作霖(ちょうさくりん)を援助しつつ中国関内への侵略をねらっていたが、1928年（昭和3）の張作霖爆殺事件によって、張学良(ちょうがくりょう)が蒋介石(しょうかいせき)の国民政府に合流〔易幟(えきし)〕して以来、満州でも帝国主義的利権の回収運動や日本商品排斥運動が激化した。また大恐慌によって、大豆をおもな輸出産物とする満州農業経済は不振となり、工業恐慌も加わって満鉄の営業成績が悪化した。そのうえに、国民政府や張学良政権による、満鉄線以外の鉄道を使って北満の物資を南満の営口(えいこう)などへ輸送するための、いわゆる満鉄包囲線（並行線）の建設計画が満鉄に脅威を与えた。これらが日本国内では「満蒙(まんもう)の危機」と宣伝され、31年7月の万宝山(まんぽうざん)事件や8月に公表された中村大尉事件とともに排外主義の高揚に利用された。

［君島和彦］

柳条湖事件

かねてから関東軍高級参謀板垣征四郎(いたがきせいしろう)大佐、同作戦主任参謀石原莞爾(かんじ)中佐らが中心となり、満蒙領有計画が立案されていた。1931年の三月事件の経験や、排外熱の高揚を踏まえて関東軍は、参謀本部第一（作戦）部長建川美次(たてかわよしつぐ)少将をはじめ軍中央部と連絡をとりつつ、9月18日夜10時半、奉天郊外の柳条湖村で満鉄線路を爆破、これを張学良軍の仕業と称して軍事行動を起こした。張学良軍の宿営北大営(ほくだいえい)と奉天城への攻撃から始まり、翌日には奉天市をはじめ満鉄沿線の主要都市を占領した。さらに吉林(きつりん)への出兵を機に、9月21日には朝鮮軍が司令官林銑十郎(せんじゅうろう)中将によって独断越境、戦火は南満州全体に拡大した。事件勃発(ぼっぱつ)直後、不拡大方針をとった若槻礼次郎(わかつきれいじろう)内閣も22日の閣議では、独断越境という統帥権干犯を追及せず、他の軍事行動とともに既成事実を追認、予算支出を承認した。24日には日本軍の軍事行動の正当性と今後の不拡大方針の声明を発表し、政府は事件を公認した。

［君島和彦］

満州国

1931年10月の錦州(きんしゅう)爆撃などにより南満州を占領したのち、関東軍は北部満州の占領を企図し、11月チチハルの占領に続いて32年2月にはハルビンを占領、以後北満の主要都市を占領した。当初満蒙領有を計画していた関東軍は9月中旬に満州支配方式を傀儡(かいらい)国家樹立に変更決定し、10月には「満蒙共和国統治大綱案」を作成、統治方針や政府組織を決めるとともに、各地の軍閥軍人に地域的独立政権をつくらせ、11月には天津(テンシン)に亡命中の清(しん)朝最後の皇帝溥儀(ふぎ)を脱出させ、新国家の元首にする準備を進めた。32年1月末、中国でとくに抗日運動の激化している上海(シャンハイ)で日本海軍陸戦隊と中国軍の衝突が起こった（第一次上海事変）。この間を縫って3月1日、張景恵(ちょうけいけい)ら旧軍閥軍人による東北行政委員会が「満州国」成立を宣言し、9日溥儀が執政に就任して新国家が出発した。「満州国」は関東軍がその実権を握った傀儡国家である。また満州での日本の軍事行動は、中国によって国際連盟に提訴され、リットン調査団が派遣されていたが、「満州国」成立の日は調査団が東京に着いた翌日であり、日本が「満州国」を承認し日満議定書に調印した9月15日は、調査団がその延期を要望し、報告書執筆中の時期であった。日本はいずれも既成事実で調査団に対抗したのであり、国際世論への挑戦でもあった。「満州国」成立に至る過程は、おもに関東軍の推進したものであるが、それは政府や軍中央部の許容範囲であり、三井(みつい)・三菱(みつびし)両財閥が「満州国」成立直後の4月に、満州中央銀行設立のために各1000万円の融資を行ったように、独占資本の要求でもあった。これに対し、中国では国民党と共産党が内戦中であり、一致して民族的危機に立ち向かえなかった。満州と国境を接していたソ連も国内建設を優先しており、大恐慌の荒れ狂う英米も日本の侵略に宥和(ゆうわ)的であった。満州侵略はこのような条件下で実行されたのである。

［君島和彦］

華北分離工作

日本は満州植民地支配を、1933年5月末の塘沽(タンクー)停戦協定によって国民政府に事実上認めさせた。しかし35年に入ると、日本陸軍は、中国の華北五省（河北、山東、山西、チャハル、綏遠(すいえん)）を国民政府から分離独立させ日本の支配下に置く計画をたて始めた。その理由は、反満抗日軍の根拠地が華北にあり、満州国の治安を安定させるためには、華北五省の支配が不可欠というものであり、同時に、華北の石炭、鉄などの資源と農産物、そして市場をもねらっていた。満州事変の処理が、新たに華北への侵略を必要とし、やがて日中全面戦争へと突入していくのである。

［君島和彦］

『江口圭一著『日本帝国主義史論』（1975・青木書店）』▽『歴史学研究会編『太平洋戦争史1　満州事変』（1971・青木書店）』

[参照項目] | 華北分離工作 | 満州国 | リットン調査団 | 柳条湖事件

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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