SDHF Newsletter No.422 The Road to the Greater East Asian War No. 36 Ch.10-2

THE ROAD TO THE GREATER EAST ASIAN WAR
Nakamura Akira, Dokkyo University Professor Emeritus
(English Translation: Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact)
Part 36, Chapter 10: The Manchurian Incident-2

April 4, 2025

What were the cumulative factors that, over a quarter-century, gave rise to the Manchurian Incident?
According to the Lytton Commission’s report, “the international politics of Manchuria for a quarter of a century have been largely railway politics.”

After the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese constructed a railroad in the wasteland that was Manchuria, established industries, built an underpinning for prosperity, and maintained public order. Then, each year, a million Han Chinese, desperate to escape the ravages of war in China, poured into Manchuria. The population of Manchuria, 18 million at the time of the 1911 Revolution, had increased to 30 million by 1931. Thanks to Japanese economic development efforts, Manchurian trade increased. In 1927, 20 years after the customs authority in Dalian opened, there was evidence of remarkable growth: the trade volume for China proper was 2.64 times, and that for Manchuria, 6.55 times the 1907 figure. Zhang Zuolin, then holding sway over Manchuria, realized how important and how profitable the railroads were and decided to exploit Manchurian economic benefits by constructing his own railroad.

The Treaty of Manchuria (December 1905), provided that the Chinese Government agree, “for the purpose of protecting the interests of the South Manchuria Railway, not to construct, prior to the recovery by them of the said railway, any main line in the neighborhood of and parallel to the railway, or any branch line which might be prejudicial to the interest of the above-mentioned railway.” However, Zhang violated the treaty by completing parallel lines in 1929.

Japanese land-lease and commercial rights in southern Manchuria were established by the Sino-Japanese Treaty of 1915. However, on June 24, 1915, just one month after the signing of that treaty, the Chinese issued a presidential decree promulgating a special criminal law called the Ordinance for Punishment of Traitors, which stated that anyone who leased land to a Japanese would be executed for treason. Such behavior does not even remotely resemble that of a modern, civilized nation. In July 1929 the Fengtian provincial government enacted the Provincial Ordinance Prohibiting the Theft and Sale of Land. It proceeded to convey secret orders to local officials within its jurisdiction, to execute or impose heavy fines on anyone who mortgaged or leased land to foreign nationals. The law was applied retroactively. The 1915 Sino-Japanese Treaty had been reduced to empty words it was now completely impossible for Japanese to exercise their commercial leasing rights in Southern Manchuria.

By requiring the inclusion of anti-Japanese education programs in schools and anti-Japanese propaganda in the military, as well as the singing of both civilian and military anti-Japanese songs, the GMD planted staunch anti-Japanese sentiment in the minds of the Chinese people.

As the anti-Japanese movement gained momentum, incident after incident arose. Typical were anti-Japanese acts committed by Chinese troops, interference with railway operation, and clashes between Japanese and Chinese officials prior to the Manchurian incident. According to a survey conducted by the Guandong Army’s Operation Section, the number of incidents from January 1927 to December 1930 was 240. Additionally, over 300 similar problems, including attacks on and persecution of Korean residents in Manchuria, were still unresolved when the Manchurian Incident broke out.

Not long before the Manchurian incident, Army Capt. Nakamura Shintarō, a member of the Operation Section, was killed by Chinese troops. The Lytton Report states that “the Nakamura case, more than any other single incident, greatly aggravated the resentment of the Japanese and their agitation in favour of forceful means to effect a solution of outstanding Sino-Japanese difficulties in regard to Manchuria.”

URL: 　https://www.sdh-fact.com/book-article/2295/
PDF: https://www.sdh-fact.com/CL/Road36E.pdf

MOTEKI Hiromichi, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact