"The years from 1911 to 1949 were…years of transition…[involving] a process of wrenching and revolutionary change which, with the collapse of traditional political and social norms, not only encouraged the emergence of new social forces but also the reconstruction in new forms of certain old ones." (Martin, 87, Skaff italics)
Economic Depression
Turbulent Politics
Rise of Nazism and Fascism in Europe
Stalinism in Soviet Union
US and W. Europe
Domestic liberal politics
Colonial empires
Protectorate, 1905
Colony, 1910
*S. Manchurian Railway Company
*Kwantung Army
Port Arthur (Lüshun) 1905
Mukden 1928
Zhang Zuolin
Assassinated 1928
Zhang Xueliang
"The Young Marshall"
Liaodong Peninsula
S. Manchurian Railway Company
Kwantung Army
Right wing leadership
Fear of GMD strength
Markets and raw materials
Mukden (Shenyang), Sept. 1931
Kwantung Army Japanese
Japanese Cabinet vs. General staff
Lack of GMD resistance
Jan.-May 1932
Puyi, Last Qing Emperor
“Chief Executive” March 1932
Emperor, March 1934
Rehe incursions, Feb.-May 1933
Tanggu truce
N. Hebei demilitarized