Audiobook1 hour
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria: The History of the Occupation of Northeastern China that Presaged World War II
Written by Charles River Editors
Narrated by Colin Fluxman
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Though scarcely mentioned in the world of early 21st century politics, Manchuria represented a key region of Asia during the first half of the 20th century. Once the heartland of the fierce Manchu empire, this northeastern Chinese region's rich natural resources made it a prize for nations in the process of entering the modern age, and three ambitious nations in the midst of such a transformation lay close enough to Manchuria to attempt to claim it: Japan, Russia, and China.
For countries attempting to shake off their feudal past and enter a dynamic era of industrialization, Manchuria's resources presented an irresistible lure. With immense natural resources coupled to economic activity more concentrated than elsewhere in China, this region, abutting Mongolia, Korea, the Yellow Sea, and the Great Wall “accounted for 90 percent of China’s oil, 70 percent of its iron, 55 percent of its gold, and 33 percent of its trade. If Shanghai remained China’s commercial center, by 1931 Manchuria had become its industrial center.” (Paine, 2012, 15).
Thus, it’s not altogether surprising that Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931 resulted from a long, complex chain of historical events stretching back to the late 19th century. Approximately 380,000 square miles in extent, or 1.4 times the size of the American state of Texas, Manchuria came into Imperial Russia's possession in 1900 due to the “Boxer Rebellion” in China, but the Russians held it only briefly; their defeat in the Russo-Japanese War shook loose their control from important parts of Manchuria by the end of 1905.
The Japanese gained two important footholds in Manchuria thanks to their victory. One consisted of Port Arthur (renamed Ryojun by the Japanese), an economically and strategically vital harbor city on the Liaodung Peninsula, plus the peninsula itself. The other comprised the South Manchurian Railway, which the Russians gave to the Japanese as a prize of war, in lieu of a cash indemnity. The Japanese subsequently formed the South Manchurian Railway Company, mostly owned by the Japanese Army, and Japanese civilians began investing heavily in Manchuria's lucrative industries. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs flooded into Manchuria, greatly strengthening Japan's interests in the area. The Japanese Army stepped up their presence in this economically vital region, creating a quasi-independent military force and government known as the “Kwantung Army.”
Naturally, the Chinese also wanted their portion of the tempting Manchurian feast. Unable to go head to head with the organized, thoroughly militaristic Japanese, they sent some 6 million emigrant laborers and settlers into the area as a sort of “demographic occupation.” Nominally Chinese but subject to massive Japanese investment and military infiltration, filled with bandits and rival chieftains, Manchuria hovered on the brink of another conflict in the 1920s.
The Kwantung Army deliberately shoved it over that brink in 1931, and the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria is sometimes described as the true beginning of World War II. At the very least, it marked the expansion of Japan’s imperial empire, its ongoing friction with China, and what would turn into a Chinese resistance campaign that would last nearly 15 years until the end of World War II. Given its importance, the invasion of Manchuria continues to be remembered as one of the seminal events of the 20th century.
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria: The History of the Occupation of Northeastern China that Presaged World War II examines the important events in northeastern China.
For countries attempting to shake off their feudal past and enter a dynamic era of industrialization, Manchuria's resources presented an irresistible lure. With immense natural resources coupled to economic activity more concentrated than elsewhere in China, this region, abutting Mongolia, Korea, the Yellow Sea, and the Great Wall “accounted for 90 percent of China’s oil, 70 percent of its iron, 55 percent of its gold, and 33 percent of its trade. If Shanghai remained China’s commercial center, by 1931 Manchuria had become its industrial center.” (Paine, 2012, 15).
Thus, it’s not altogether surprising that Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931 resulted from a long, complex chain of historical events stretching back to the late 19th century. Approximately 380,000 square miles in extent, or 1.4 times the size of the American state of Texas, Manchuria came into Imperial Russia's possession in 1900 due to the “Boxer Rebellion” in China, but the Russians held it only briefly; their defeat in the Russo-Japanese War shook loose their control from important parts of Manchuria by the end of 1905.
The Japanese gained two important footholds in Manchuria thanks to their victory. One consisted of Port Arthur (renamed Ryojun by the Japanese), an economically and strategically vital harbor city on the Liaodung Peninsula, plus the peninsula itself. The other comprised the South Manchurian Railway, which the Russians gave to the Japanese as a prize of war, in lieu of a cash indemnity. The Japanese subsequently formed the South Manchurian Railway Company, mostly owned by the Japanese Army, and Japanese civilians began investing heavily in Manchuria's lucrative industries. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs flooded into Manchuria, greatly strengthening Japan's interests in the area. The Japanese Army stepped up their presence in this economically vital region, creating a quasi-independent military force and government known as the “Kwantung Army.”
Naturally, the Chinese also wanted their portion of the tempting Manchurian feast. Unable to go head to head with the organized, thoroughly militaristic Japanese, they sent some 6 million emigrant laborers and settlers into the area as a sort of “demographic occupation.” Nominally Chinese but subject to massive Japanese investment and military infiltration, filled with bandits and rival chieftains, Manchuria hovered on the brink of another conflict in the 1920s.
The Kwantung Army deliberately shoved it over that brink in 1931, and the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria is sometimes described as the true beginning of World War II. At the very least, it marked the expansion of Japan’s imperial empire, its ongoing friction with China, and what would turn into a Chinese resistance campaign that would last nearly 15 years until the end of World War II. Given its importance, the invasion of Manchuria continues to be remembered as one of the seminal events of the 20th century.
The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria: The History of the Occupation of Northeastern China that Presaged World War II examines the important events in northeastern China.
More audiobooks from Charles River Editors
Project MK-Ultra: The History of the CIA’s Controversial Human Experimentation Program Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The East India Company: The History of the British Empire's Most Famous Mercantile Company Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnosticism: The History and Legacy of the Mysterious Ancient Religion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legends of the West: Deadwood, South Dakota Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arnold Rothstein and Meyer Lansky: The Lives and Legacies of the Gangsters Who Reformed Organized Crime in America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNineveh: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Assyrian Capital Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mossad: The History and Legacy of Israel’s National Intelligence Agency Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Life and Trial of Lizzie Borden: The History of 19th Century America's Most Famous Murder Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Midwest: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in America's Heartland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Denisovans: The History of the Extinct Archaic Humans Who Spread Across Asia during the Paleolithic Era Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ancient and Medieval Conspiracy Theories: The History of the World’s Most Persistent Conspiracy Theories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMysteries of the South: Ghosts, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena in Dixie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Life and Legacy of the Father of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vandals: The History and Legacy of Antiquity's Most Famous Barbarians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Related audiobooks
Japan and World War I: The History of the Japanese Empire’s Participation in the Great War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of Shanghai: The History and Legacy of the Battle that Started the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Emperor Hirohito: The Life and Legacy of Japan’s Ruler during World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cold War's Killing Fields: Rethinking the Long Peace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: History in an Hour Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Korean War: A Captivating Guide to Korean War History Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Cold War: A Captivating Guide to the Korean War and Vietnam War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStorm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931-1941 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Empire and Jihad: The Anglo-Arab Wars of 1870-1920 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Russia in Flames: War, Revolution, Civil War, 1914 - 1921 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Dragon's Shadow: Southeast Asia in the Chinese Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5March 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943-44 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Battle of Breitenfeld: The History and Legacy of the First Major Protestant Victory of the Thirty Years’ War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Russian History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mapping the Great Game: Explorers, Spies, and Maps in 19th-Century Asia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Total War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar on the Eastern Front: The German Soldier in Russia 1941-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Central Asia: A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944-45 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shortest History of Israel and Palestine: From Zionism to Intifadas and the Struggle for Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Japanese Invasion of Manchuria
Rating: 4.142857142857143 out of 5 stars
4/5
7 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great information.insightful.a forgotten theatre of conflict. ww2 could of been so different