Chinese Revolution · TURNING POINT · 1931

Mukden Incident (1931)

On the Chinese Revolution map as “The Mukden Incident”

18 Sep 1931 — Kwantung Army officers bomb their own railway and blame China. Against Tokyo’s orders, and to national applause, they overrun Manchuria in five months. Chiang is in the middle of a campaign against the soviets; he orders non-resistance and appeals to the League. Its report changes nothing. Here the world’s security system fails its first great test.

When: 18 Sep 1931
Type: Turning point
Chapter: Jiangxi Soviet and the encirclements (chapter 6 of Chinese Revolution)
Atlas: China in Revolution, 1911–1949
Also in: Road to WW2

Open this map in the interactive atlas →

Chapter 6 is included with every paid plan. WW2 is free in full, and chapter 1 of every atlas is free. A free account opens 3 more chapters a day. Starter, at $9 a month, opens all 21 with no daily limit — see the plans.

Free printable Chinese Revolution study guide, sent by email ↓

Map showing Mukden Incident (1931), turning point in China in Revolution, 1911–1949 — TURNING POINT · CHINA IN REVOLUTION, 1911–1949

These maps are reconstructed from published sources · USOfficeoftheHistorian — ChineseRevolutionof1949 · Cliopatria v 0.2.1 — dated political boundaries · US diplomatic records — Jehol occupation,March 1933 · Natural Earth — physical reference geography · Tangku Truce Agreement,31May1933 — published primary text · USMA: Warlords, 1925 · USMA: Long March, 1934-35 · USMA: Japanese Occupation, 1940

Source details

USOfficeoftheHistorian — ChineseRevolutionof1949. Historical facts consulted; original prose/artwork not republished
Cliopatria contributors / Seshat Global History Databank. CC BY4.0 · Dated polity and constituent territory selections; campaign-dependent occupation overlays reconstructed separately.
US diplomatic records — Jehol occupation,March 1933. Historical facts consulted; no source artwork or prose republished
Natural Earth. Public domain
Tangku Truce Agreement,31May1933 — published primary text. Historical facts consulted; original prose/artwork not republished
United States Military Academy, Department of History, Digital History Center. Source-map facts used for independent geographic reconstruction; original chart artwork is not republished
United States Military Academy, Department of History, Digital History Center. Source-map facts used for independent geographic reconstruction; original chart artwork is not republished
United States Military Academy, Department of History, Digital History Center. Source-map facts used for independent geographic reconstruction; original chart artwork is not republished

Warlord regions use the nearest published coalition map from 1925 or 1928–1937. District-level allegiances changed, so these are represented by a disclosed regional reference.

proxy: 1938–1945 earliest separate multipart source reference · reconstruction: 1932–1935source regionalreference · reconstruction: 1933-05-31 · reconstruction: 1933.45 · reconstruction: 1936–1937reference forpost1933Manchukuo · trace: 1925 regionalcoalitions · trace: 1933occupation;1940publishedprovince reference · vector: 1932–1937

Layer records and reconstruction methods