Manchukuo

Manchukuo was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan that existed in Manchuria, the northeastern region of China, from 1932 to 1945.

It was created in the aftermath of the Mukden Incident of September 1931, a sabotage attack staged by Japanese army officers as a pretext for the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria. Manchukuo was formally established on 1 March 1932, presented to the world as an independent state freely founded by the people of Manchuria, but in reality it was governed and controlled by Japan, principally through the Kwantung Army. The Japanese installed Puyi, the last emperor of China's fallen Qing dynasty, first as nominal regent and then, when the state was reconstituted as a monarchy in 1934, as the Emperor of Manchukuo. Puyi held no genuine power; real authority rested with Japanese officials and military commanders who directed administration, the economy, and security. Manchukuo served Japanese strategic and economic aims, providing raw materials, agricultural land, and an industrial base, and acting as a buffer and staging ground against the Soviet Union. Its creation drew international condemnation: the League of Nations refused to recognise it and endorsed a report identifying Japan as the aggressor, prompting Japan to withdraw from the League in 1933. The state received formal recognition mainly from Japan's allies and a handful of other governments, and was widely regarded as illegitimate. Within its borders, the regime promoted an official ideology of ethnic harmony while subjecting the population to harsh control, exploitation, and, in some areas, notorious abuses including biological-warfare experimentation by the Japanese military. Manchukuo collapsed at the very end of the Second World War. Following the Soviet declaration of war on Japan and the rapid Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945, the state disintegrated; Puyi attempted to flee but was captured by Soviet forces. With Japan's surrender, Manchukuo ceased to exist, and its territory was eventually returned to Chinese control.

Key figures