Baron Giichi Tanaka. (Scan from The American Century: People, Power and
Politics - An Illustrated History, Chapter on Japanese Imperialism
1931-1938, page 266).
September 18th,
1931, 10:20 PM.
An explosion of
42 charges of dynamite on a railroad ceded by China first to Russia and then to
Japan caused the Imperial Japanese Army to begin seizing key positions in South
Manchuria because of the "provocation" committed by Chinese Nationalist
forces.
But the
incident at Mukden was not the work of Chinese Nationalists. The explosion was
caused by an agent of the intelligence service of the Japanese Army.
This incident,
as would be the case 8 years later at the border between Nazi Germany and Poland
(the Gleiwitz Incident), was a "False Flag" operation.
The Mukden
Incident can be seen as part of the Asian prelude to World War 2 (the
Sino-Japanese War of 1937 being the second part), just as the German invasion
of Poland was the European prelude, and Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia in
1935 was the African prelude.
Japanese
imperial expansion, which had already begun at the time of the annexation of
Korea in 1910, would come to be fuelled by expansionist ideologies held by
officers within the Japanese military. These ultranationalists were influenced
by theorists such as Ikki Kita and Okawa Shumei.
One example was
the formation in 1921 of the Futaba-kai (or "Double Leaf Society") by three young
Japanese military intelligence officers in a Turkish bath in Baden-Baden,
Germany. They were Major Tetsuzan Nagata, Major Yasuji Okamura and Major
Toshishiro Obata. In concert with Lieutenant Colonel Hideki Tojo, who as a
General would become the war time Prime Minister, they aimed to secure power at
home and extend the empire by conspiracy, assassination, and war.
The Futaba-kai and a counterpart association
of officers named the Mokuyo-kai (or “Thursday Society”), which was
headed by Lieutenant Colonel Teiichi Suzuki, merged in 1929 to form a new
informal association of army officers named the Isseki-kai (or “One
Evening Society”). At a meeting of the Mokuya-kai the previous year,
Lieutenant Colonel Kanij Ishiwara, who would be one of the masterminds of the
Mukden Incident, spoke of his “Final World War Theory,” which would involve a
decisive conflict with the United States of America.
During the era
of "Government by Assassination" in the 1930s, the Japanese military
was divided between two competing ideological factions: the Kodo-ha and the Tosei-ha. Both factions had the same goal of expanding Japanese
power abroad but differed as to the means of attaining this.
The Kodo-ha
(or “Imperial Way” faction) aimed to overthrow what they claimed were the
"evil" politicians and techocrats who were influencing government
policy. To them, Japan had deviated from the Kokutai or national polity,
a metaphysical expression representing the perfect relationship between the
Emperor, his People, and the State. The Emperor would be restored to power and
a totalitarian, nationalist system would replace what they considered as a
corrupt capitalist system.
Officers of the
Kodo-ha were behind the Niniroku Jiken (or "February 26th
Incident"), a failed military coup which ended the influence of the group,
and which also ended the era of “Government by Assassination”.
Another key
influence on Japan's military expansion was the role played by Baron Giichi
Tanaka (1864-1929), an army officer and politician who dreamed of a Japanese
empire extending to Siberia and China. Tanaka policies while Foreign Minister
such as Man-Mō bunri seisaku
("separation of Manchuria and Inner Mongolia policy") which aimed to
balkanise China, created the conditions for future Japanese expansion in the
Far East. For instance, between 1927 and 1928 he blocked the efforts of Marshal
Chiang Kai-Shek (the Chinese nationalist general) to unify China by sending
Japanese troops to Shandong Province on three separate occasions.
Tanaka was
claimed to have been the author of the Tanaka
Jōsōbun (or Tanaka Memorial) in 1927. This was a strategic document created
for Emperor Hirohito which contained detailed plans for Japanese conquest.
Most scholars
dispute its authenticity - even though much of what it contained did come to
pass.
© Adeyinka
Makinde (2022).
Adeyinka
Makinde is a writer based in London, England.
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