In September 1931 Japan alleged that the Chinese had sabotaged part of the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway. The Japanese invaded Manchuria and gained control of the city of Mukden (now Shenyang) with its large Chinese garrison. They set up a puppet government and renamed the region Manchukuo. In response to Chinese resistance, in 1932 the Japanese attacked Shanghai and pillaged the countryside. The League of Nations branded Japan an aggressor in October and Japan withdrew from the league several months later. During the next few years Japanese forces in Manchuria exerted military pressure in northern China and by 1935 had moved into parts of Chahar (now part of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) and Hebei provinces.
see also:
Marco Polo Bridge Incident, 1937
Rape of Nanking
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