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Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16.<br/><br/> Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin.<br/><br/>
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
Chinese residents of the city of Harbin welcome Soviet sailors of the Amur Military Flotilla, 1st Brigade following the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation.<br/><br/> The campaign began on 9 August 1945, with the Soviet and Mongolian invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northeastern China and was the largest campaign of the 1945 Soviet-Japanese War, which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.<br/><br/> The rapid defeat of Japan’s Kwantung Army has been argued to be a significant factor in the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II, as Japan realized the Soviets were willing and able to take the cost of invasion of its Japanese Home Islands, after their rapid conquest of Manchuria and southern Sakhalin. Harbin, Heilongjiang, Republic of China. August 1945.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
Soviet troops liberated the Chinese port city of Dalian from Japanese occupation in August, 1945, as part of the Manchurian Strategic Offensive.<br/><br/> The campaign began on 9 August 1945, with the Soviet and Mongolian invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northeastern China and was the largest campaign of the 1945 Soviet-Japanese War, which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.<br/><br/> The rapid defeat of Japan’s Kwantung Army has been argued to be a significant factor in the Japanese surrender and the end of World War II, as Japan realized the Soviets were willing and able to take the cost of invasion of its Japanese Home Islands, after their rapid conquest of Manchuria and southern Sakhalin. Harbin, Heilongjiang, Republic of China. August 1945.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin.<br/><br/> Sir Reginald Fleming Johnston, KCMG, CBE (13 October 1874–6 March 1938) was a Scottish academic and diplomat who served as the tutor and advisor to Puyi, the last Emperor of China and as the last colonial governor of Weihaiwei.<br/><br/> Isabel Ingram (Mayer) (1902–1988) was an American tutor of Wan Rong, Empress and wife of the last emperor of China.
The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. It was the last campaign of the Second World War, and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.<br/><br/> Temporary Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia and northern Korea. The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.<br/><br/> Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin.<br/><br/>
The Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation began on 9 August 1945 with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. It was the last campaign of the Second World War, and the largest of the 1945 Soviet–Japanese War which resumed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan after almost six years of peace.<br/><br/> Temporary Soviet gains on the continent were Manchukuo, Inner Mongolia and northern Korea. The Soviet entry into the war and the defeat of the Kwantung Army was a significant factor in the Japanese government's decision to surrender.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/>The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/>In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
During late 1920s and 1930s Japan, a new poster style developed that reflected the growing influence of the masses in Japanese society. These art posters were strongly influenced by the emerging political forces of Communism and Fascism in Europe and the Soviet Union, adopting a style that incorporated bold slogans with artistic themes ranging from Leftist socialist realism through Stateism and state-directed public welfare, to Militarism and Imperialist expansionism.<br/><br/> Though diverse in their messages, all bear the stamp of the ovebearing proletarian art of the time, reflecting shades of Nazi Germany, Socialist Russia and Fascist Italy in the Far East.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War is usually dated from 1937 to Japan's final defeat in 1945, but in fact Japan and China had been in a state of undeclared war from the time of the Mukden Incident in 1931 when Japan seized Manchuria and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. The Japanese installed the former Qing Emperor Puyi as Head of State in 1932, and two years later he was declared Emperor of Manchukuo with the era name of Kangde ('Tranquility and Virtue'). Manchukuo would remain in Japanese hands until the Red Army swept across the frontier from the Soviet Union in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, and routed the Japanese in several weeks of bitter fighting.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The Second Sino-Japanese War is usually dated from 1937 to Japan's final defeat in 1945, but in fact Japan and China had been in a state of undeclared war from the time of the Mukden Incident in 1931 when Japan seized Manchuria and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. The Japanese installed the former Qing Emperor Puyi as Head of State in 1932, and two years later he was declared Emperor of Manchukuo with the era name of Kangde ('Tranquility and Virtue'). Manchukuo would remain in Japanese hands until the Red Army swept across the frontier from the Soviet Union in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, and routed the Japanese in several weeks of bitter fighting.
The Second Sino-Japanese War is usually dated from 1937 to Japan's final defeat in 1945, but in fact Japan and China had been in a state of undeclared war from the time of the Mukden Incident in 1931 when Japan seized Manchuria and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. The Japanese installed the former Qing Emperor Puyi as Head of State in 1932, and two years later he was declared Emperor of Manchukuo with the era name of Kangde ('Tranquility and Virtue'). Manchukuo would remain in Japanese hands until the Red Army swept across the frontier from the Soviet Union in 1945, at the end of the Second World War, and routed the Japanese in several weeks of bitter fighting.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin. She was portrayed memorably if somewhat inaccurately by Joan Chen in the 1987 picture 'The Last Emperor'.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China.<br/><br/> He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
Gobulo Wan Rong ('Beautiful Countenance') was the daughter of Rong Yuan, the Minister of Domestic Affairs of the Qing Government and head of one of Manchuria's most prominent, richest families. At the age of 17, Wan Rong was selected from a series of photographs presented to the Xuan Tong Emperor (Puyi). The wedding took place when Puyi reached the age of 16. Wan Rong was the last Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty in China, and later Empress of Manchukuo (also known as the Manchurian Empire). Empress Wan Rong died of malnutrition and opium addiction in prison in Jilin. She was portrayed memorably if somewhat inaccurately by Joan Chen in the 1987 picture 'The Last Emperor'.
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in the Far East. The term Pacific War is used to encompass the Pacific Ocean theatre, the South West Pacific theatre, the South-East Asian theatre and the Second Sino-Japanese War, also including the 1945 Soviet-Japanese conflict.<br/><br/> It is generally considered that the Pacific War began on 7/8 December 1941 with the Japanese invasion of Thailand for the invasion of British Malaya, and the attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States' Territory of Hawaii by the Empire of Japan.<br/><br/> The Pacific War saw the Allied powers against the Empire of Japan, the latter briefly aided by Thailand and to lesser extent by its Axis allies Germany and Italy. The war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other large aerial bombing attacks by the United States Army Air Forces, accompanied by the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on 8 August 1945, resulting in the surrender of Japan and the end of fighting during World War II on 15 August 1945. The formal and official surrender of Japan occurred aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
The South Manchuria Railway was built as a part of the Chinese Eastern Railway in 1898-1903 by Imperial Russia according to the Russian-Chinese convention and the Convention of Peking 1860.<br/><br/> The South Manchuria Railway Company (南満州鉄道株式会社/南満洲鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki-gaisha, or 満鉄 Mantetsu) (Chinese: 南满铁路） was a company founded in the Empire of Japan in 1906, taken over after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905), and operated within China in the Japanese-controlled South Manchuria Railway Zone. The railway itself ran from Lüshun Port at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula to Harbin, where it connected to the Chinese Eastern Railway.<br/><br/> In 1945, the Soviet Union invaded and liberated the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. Rolling stock and moveable equipment was looted, and taken back to the Soviet Union, some of which was returned when the Chinese Communist government came into power. The South Manchuria Railway Company or Mantetsu was dissolved by order of the American occupation authorities in occupied Japan.
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), of the Manchu Aisin Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China. He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1917, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 to 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917. He was the twelfth and final member of the Qing Dynasty to rule over China proper.
During late 1920s and 1930s Japan, a new poster style developed that reflected the growing influence of the masses in Japanese society. These art posters were strongly influenced by the emerging political forces of Communism and Fascism in Europe and the Soviet Union, adopting a style that incorporated bold slogans with artistic themes ranging from Leftist socialist realism through Stateism and state-directed public welfare, to Militarism and Imperialist expansionism.<br/><br/> Though diverse in their messages, all bear the stamp of the ovebearing proletarian art of the time, reflecting shades of Nazi Germany, Socialist Russia and Fascist Italy in the Far East.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Battle of Khalkhyn Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese Border War fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The conflict was named after the river Khalkhyn Gol, which passes through the battlefield. In Japan, the decisive battle of the conflict is known as the Nomonhan Incident (Nomonhan Jiken) after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.<br/><br/> The battles resulted in total defeat for the Japanese Sixth Army. Casualty estimates vary widely: Some sources say the Japanese suffered 45,000 or more soldiers killed with Soviet casualties of at least 17,000. The Japanese officially reported 8,440 killed and 8,766 wounded, while the Soviets initially claimed 9,284 total casualties.<br/><br/> Although this engagement is little known in the West, it had profound implications on the conduct of World War II. It may be said to be the first decisive battle of World War II, because it determined that the two principal Axis Powers, Germany and Japan, would never geographically link up their areas of control through Russia. The defeat convinced the Imperial General Staff in Tokyo that the policy of the North Strike Group, favoured by the Imperial Japanese Army, which wanted to seize Siberia as far as Lake Baikal for its resources, was untenable. Instead the South Strike Group, favored by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which wanted to seize the resources of Southeast Asia, especially the petroleum and mineral-rich Dutch East Indies, gained ascendancy, leading directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor two and a half years later in December 1941.
The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945) was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the war merged into the greater conflict of World War II as a major front of what is broadly known as the Pacific War. Although the two countries had fought intermittently since 1931, total war started in earnest in 1937 and ended only with the surrender of Japan in 1945.<br/><br/> The war was the result of a decades-long Japanese imperialist policy aiming to dominate China politically and militarily and to secure its vast raw material reserves and other economic resources, particularly food and labour. Before 1937, China and Japan fought in small, localized engagements, so-called 'incidents'. Yet the two sides, for a variety of reasons, refrained from fighting a total war. In 1931, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria by Japan's Kwantung Army followed the Mukden Incident. The last of these incidents was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, marking the beginning of total war between the two countries.