The "September 18 Incident", also known as the Fengtian Incident and the Wicker Lake Incident, which occurred on the night of September 18, 1931, was a war of aggression against China deliberately created and launched by Japan in northeast China, and the beginning of the Japanese imperialist invasion of China.
That night, under the arrangement of the Japanese Kwantung Army, the railway "garrison" blew up the south-Manchuria railway tracks near Shenyang's Wicker Lake and blamed it on the Northeast Army. The next day, the Japanese army invaded and occupied Shenyang, and successively occupied the three northeastern provinces. In February 1932, all of Northeast China fell.
It can be said that this is the inevitable result of Japan's long-term policy of aggression and expansion toward China. However, the problem lies in the word "inevitable", and some remarks believe that the "September 18 Incident" was a private action of the Japanese Kwantung Army and did not represent the "public opinion" of the whole of Japan. So, what exactly is the truth? Professor Hiroshi Takeuchi, who teaches pedagogy at Kyoto University in Japan, in his book "The Age of Maruyama Maruo", tells about a terrible era, and people can't help but sigh that "there is no unjust soul under the atomic bomb"!
The University of Tokyo, then called Tokyo Imperial University, was the highest institution of learning in Japan, and it was full of "proud sons of heaven", compared with the simple-minded, impulsive, and easily instigated soldiers or ordinary people, these highly learned students should be more rational and have a longer vision, and the University of Tokyo has erupted in the situation of expelling speechmen from power, so how do they view the war of aggression against China? Conclusion subverts our traditional perception!
In July 1931, two months before the September 18 Incident, the Japanese military conducted a survey of students at the University of Tokyo, and the question was, "Is it justified to use force for the sake of manchuria and Mongolia?" ”
Surprisingly, 12 percent of students said "no use of force," while 88 percent of UTokyo students answered "yes." Of the students who endorsed the use of force, 52 per cent believed that "force should be used immediately" and 36 per cent that "force should be used after diplomacy has been exhausted".
It can be seen that the students of Japan's highest school at that time were very enthusiastic about the war of aggression against China.
After the outbreak of the "918 Incident", the Attitude of the Japanese Government was "no policy of expansion".
On September 19, 1931, the Japanese government convened an emergency cabinet meeting. Minister of War Minamijiro stressed that this was an act of self-defense by the Kwantung Army, but Foreign Minister Kishigero Motohara (Baron) suspected that this was a conspiracy of the Kwantung Army and tried to resolve the incident diplomatically.
On September 24, 1931, the Cabinet decided on the policy of "not further expanding the situation." However, the Kwantung Army ignored the government's decision and continued to expand its front in the name of self-defense.
On December 11, 1931, The Cabinet of Reijiro Wakataki resigned. The next day, Inuyasha became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and Sadao Araki became Minister of War.
It is reasonable to say that the Japanese government's "no expansion policy" attitude will have an impact on the students of the University of Tokyo, thus reducing the fanatical attitude of the students of the University of Tokyo in invading China. However, the Japanese military's investigation conclusions once again subvert cognition!
On September 30, 1931, less than half a month after the September 18 Incident, the University of Tokyo held a "Lecture on the Popularization of National Defense Ideology", followed by a questionnaire survey of 854 students with two questions.
First, do you think the Manchurian-Mongolian region is the lifeblood of Japan?
Second, do you think that the problems in manchuria and Mongolia should be solved through military action?
The results were similar to the first time, this time 90% of the students answered "yes".
Judging from the conclusions of the two surveys, in the 1930s, Japan had a highly consistent enthusiasm for Manchuria and Mongolia and its invasion of China. The University of Tokyo, Japan's most critical spirit, is like this, and the whole Japanese mood can be seen in the tube.
Retired Major General Charles Sweeney of the United States Air Force (see pictured above), twice bombed Japan atomically, directly or indirectly killed countless Japanese, so many Japanese questioned him whether he regretted it, but this Jun directly refuted that he did not regret it at all, "There is no wronged soul under the atomic bomb", every Japanese is a war criminal! Judging from the two questionnaire surveys of the University of Tokyo before and after the 918 incident, there was indeed no wronged soul under the atomic bomb!