The mind of Ishiwara Kanji, mastermind of the Manchurian Incident (1931)

The Kwantung Army:

 Troops (The Kwantung Army) were stationed in Manchuria and central China after 1927 as a way to protect Japanese property and lives after a clash between the Chinese Nationalist army and English/Japanese interests in Nanjing, 1927.

The issue of Manchuria:

• Long believing that Japan could maintain its unequal treaties with China and ignore Chinese nationalism, the unification of China under the Nationalist government came as a shock.
• The non-compliance with Japan by Zhang Zuolin, the Manchu warlord, led to his assassination en route from Beijing to Manchuria in 1928.
• It was a plot by the Kwantung army to take over Manchuria in the face of Manchuria’s reunification with China (1928).