Asia 811
a truce on May 5, Japan issued an ultimatum that called for the KMT to withdraw from
Tsinan within 12 hours. The KMT did not, so Japanese forces shelled the city, killing
hundreds of soldiers and civilians. The KMT withdrew from Tsinan on May 11. The
Nationalist government and Tso-lin’s government protested to the League of Nations,
but the League took no action. On May 16, Tanaka issued a memorandum that Japan
would protect Manchuria from Kaishek and Tso-lin. Negotiations began in October,
and the both sides reached an agreement on March 28, 1929.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from April 10, 1928. End Date changed from
November 18, 1928.
MID#129
Dispute Number: 129
Date(s): September 18, 1931 to May 31, 1933
Participants: 740 Japan/710 China
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (Imposed)
Fatalities: >999 deaths
Narrative: The Second Sino-Japanese War fought between 1931 and 1933 largely
concerned Japan’s push west for hegemony in northeast China (Manchuria). The
opportunity to make further incursions into Manchuria presented itself to Japan
around 1929 and 1930, when China became involved in conflicts with Russia (see
MID#041) and civil conflicts with Chinese warlords in the west and the growing
Communist faction. The casus belli was the Mukden incident of September 18, 1931,
when a section of the Japanese-owned South Manchuria Railway was dynamited
under suspicious circumstances. While potential Japanese planning of this explosion
remains a debate, Japan certainly used the event as a pretext to begin a conflict against
China. The conflict quickly escalated to war. Protests ensued from observing states,
like Britain, France, and the United States. Two years into the conflict, Japan was able
to overwhelm the Chinese troops and coerce them into an armistice that conceded
defeat. The fighting stopped on May 22, 1933, and the armistice was signed on May
31 of the same year. Conflicts between China and Japan would later resume in 1937,
ultimately getting absorbed into World War II. Japan left the League of Nations amid
the protests of this war.
MID#2211
Dispute Number: 2211
Date(s): April 2, 1933 to August 1933
Participants: 740 Japan/710 China
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (Imposed)
Fatalities: 101–250 deaths
Narrative: This dispute describes the Japanese occupation of the Chahar Province in
Inner Mongolia, constituting a western push into China for an expanding Japan that
experienced significant success with the establishment of Manchukuo in 1932. After
concluding an occupation of Jehol in March 1933, Japanese troops entered Chahar.