Emboldened → radical elements within the military → especially in the Kwantung army → became more ambitious
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one such figure there was colonel ishiwara kanji.
- he was convinced that war between Japan and US → was inevitable and that japan should prepare for it.
- ishiwara → also had plans to settle Japanese farmers on Manchuria’s large and fertile agricultural lands.
- he wanted Japan to take control of Manchuria as a colony and build a new society in which all Japanese worked for each other and the emperor → not themselves or corporations.
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although they did not say so - many of the top commanders in Japanese military felt the same way as ishiwara.
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September 1931 → Kwantung Army blew up railway tracks at Mukden.
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they blamed it on the Chinese government + used it as an excuse to take over Manchuria.
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By December → Kwantung Army were in control of most of the region
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in march 1932 → Japanese renamed Manchuria as Manchukuo.
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in theory it was an independent state - but in reality it as a Japanese colony.
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military in Japan - supported Kwantung Army’s actions while the PM and civilian government were unable to control Ishiwara and his supporters.
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this incident → showed that civilian officers ha only a weak control over military - as military had greater say in japans foreign policy.
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Invasion of Manchuria - was extremely popular with the Japanese public
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Many of them → saw Manchuria was a solution to Japans economic problems.
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Victory was celebrated in Japan through songs, plays, newsreels, and radio broadcasts.
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Reports from the Japanese governments spy network stated that Manchuria had been a divine wind bringing about a new spirit of solidarity → overcoming the divisions of recent years.