Editing Second Sino-Japanese War (section)

==Invasion of Manchuria and Northern China==
{{Further|Japanese invasion of Manchuria}}
[[File:Mukden 1931 japan shenyang.jpg|thumb|Japanese troops entering [[Shenyang]] during the [[Mukden Incident]]]]

The internecine warfare in China provided excellent opportunities for Japan, which saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials, a market for its manufactured goods (now excluded from the markets of many Western countries as a result of [[Great Depression|Depression]]-era [[tariff]]s), and a protective [[buffer state]] against the Soviet Union in [[Siberia]]. As a result, the Japanese Army was widely prevalent in Manchuria immediately following the Japanese victory in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, where Japan gained significant territory in Manchuria. As a result of their strengthened position, by 1915 Japan had negotiated a significant amount of economic privilege in the region by pressuring [[Yuan Shikai]], the president of the Republic of China at the time. With a widened range of economic privileges in Manchuria, Japan began focusing on developing and protecting matters of economic interests. This included railroads, businesses, natural resources, and a general control of the territory. With its influence growing, the Japanese Army began to justify its presence by stating that it was simply protecting its own economic interests. However militarists in the Japanese Army began pushing for an expansion of influence, leading to the Japanese Army assassinating the warlord of Manchuria, [[Zhang Zuolin]]. This was done with hopes that it would start a crisis that would allow Japan to expand their power and influence in the region. When this was not as successful as they desired, {{citation needed|date=November 2018}} Japan then decided to invade Manchuria outright after the [[Mukden incident]] in September 1931. Japanese soldiers set off a bomb on the Southern Manchurian Railroad in order to provoke an opportunity to act in "self defense" and invade outright. Japan charged that its rights in Manchuria, which had been established as a result of its victory in 1905 at the end of the [[Russo-Japanese War]], had been systematically violated and there were "more than 120 cases of infringement of rights and interests, interference with business, boycott of Japanese goods, unreasonable taxation, detention of individuals, confiscation of properties, eviction, demand for cessation of business, assault and battery, and the oppression of Korean residents".<ref>[http://ibiblio.org/pha/monos/144/144chap1.html Political Strategy Prior to Outbreak of War Part I] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225142637/http://ibiblio.org/pha/monos/144/144chap1.html |date=25 February 2021 }} Japanese monograph No. 144</ref>

After five months of fighting, Japan established the puppet state of [[Manchukuo]] in 1932, and installed the last Emperor of China, [[Puyi]], as its puppet ruler. Militarily too weak to challenge Japan directly, China appealed to the [[League of Nations]] for help. The League's investigation led to the publication of the [[Lytton Report]], condemning Japan for its incursion into Manchuria, causing Japan to withdraw from the League of Nations. No country took action against Japan beyond tepid censure. From 1931 until summer 1937, the Nationalist Army under Chiang Kai-shek did little to oppose Japanese encroachment into China.<ref name="Crean">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |year=2024 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London}}</ref>{{rp|69}}

Incessant fighting followed the Mukden Incident. In 1932, Chinese and Japanese troops fought the [[January 28 Incident|28 January]] battle. This resulted in the demilitarization of [[Shanghai]], which forbade the Chinese to deploy troops in their own city. In Manchukuo there was an [[Pacification of Manchukuo|ongoing campaign]] to pacify the [[Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies]] that arose from widespread outrage over the policy of non-resistance to Japan. On 15 April 1932, the [[Chinese Soviet Republic]] led by the Communists declared war on Japan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Iriye |first1=Akira |title=The Origins of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific |publisher=Routledge |year=1987 |jstor=j.ctv9zckzn.9 }}</ref>

In 1933, the Japanese [[Defense of the Great Wall|attacked the Great Wall]] region. The [[Tanggu Truce]] established in its aftermath, gave Japan control of [[Rehe Province]], as well as a demilitarized zone between the Great Wall and Beijing-Tianjin region. Japan aimed to create another buffer zone between Manchukuo and the Chinese Nationalist government in Nanjing.

Japan increasingly exploited China's internal conflicts to reduce the strength of its fractious opponents. Even years after the Northern Expedition, the political power of the Nationalist government was limited to just the area of the [[Yangtze River Delta]]. Other sections of China were essentially in the hands of local Chinese warlords. Japan sought various [[Hanjian|Chinese collaborators]] and helped them establish governments friendly to Japan. This policy was called the ''Specialization'' of [[North China]] ({{zhi|c=華北特殊化|p=huáběitèshūhùa}}), more commonly known as the North China Autonomous Movement. The northern provinces affected by this policy were [[Chahar Province|Chahar]], [[Suiyuan]], [[Hebei]], [[Shanxi]], and Shandong.

This Japanese policy was most effective in the area of what is now [[Inner Mongolia]] and Hebei. In 1935, under Japanese pressure, China signed the [[He–Umezu Agreement]], which forbade the KMT to conduct party operations in Hebei. In the same year, the [[Chin–Doihara Agreement]] was signed expelling the KMT from Chahar. Thus, by the end of 1935 the Chinese government had essentially abandoned northern China. In its place, the Japanese-backed [[East Hebei Autonomous Council]] and the [[Hebei–Chahar Political Council]] were established. There in the empty space of Chahar the [[Mengjiang|Mongol military government]] was formed on 12 May 1936. Japan provided all the necessary military and economic aid. Afterwards Chinese volunteer forces continued to resist Japanese aggression in Manchuria, and [[Actions in Inner Mongolia (1933–1936)|Chahar and Suiyuan]].

Some Chinese historians believe the 18 September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria marks the start of the War of Resistance.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Mitter |first=Rana |title=China's good war: how World War II is shaping a new nationalism |year=2020 |publisher=The Belknap Press of [[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-98426-4 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=90–94}}</ref> Although not the conventional Western view, British historian [[Rana Mitter]] describes this Chinese trend of historical analysis as "perfectly reasonable".<ref name=":2" /> In 2017, the Chinese government officially announced that it would adopt this view.<ref name=":2" /> Under this interpretation, the 1931–1937 period is viewed as the "partial" war, while 1937–1945 is a period of "total" war.<ref name=":2" /> This view of a fourteen-year war has political significance because it provides more recognition for the role of northeast China in the War of Resistance.<ref name=":2" />