Strategic Disharmony: Japan, Manchuria, and Foreign Policy

On September 18, 1931, Japanese army officers instigated an incident in Manchuria at the town of Mukden. This incident led to Japan’s takeover of Manchuria, war with China, and, ultimately, war between the United States and Japan. The story of why and how Japan initiated war with the most populous nation in the world, and then the world’s greatest industrial power is replete with contradictions. Japanese foreign policy was formulated through struggles between the civil government and the military establishment. The related national security strategy was developed through struggles between the army and the navy. Once involved in Manchuria, Japan attempted to build a new and allied nation. They set up a puppet government, renamed the state Manchukuo, and then conducted a decadelong counterinsurgency campaign designed to consolidate their control of the new acquisition. Again, internal Japanese struggles, this time between their civil authorities and the military leadership, ensured their failure to develop sufficient popular support to mold and hold Manchukuo.

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