Timeline - 1931 Sep 18

The Mukden Incident was initiated by the Japanese Kwantung Army in Mukden, without its own government's consent. It involved an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway. It was soon followed by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the eventual establishment of the Japanese-dominated state of Manchukuo to ensure a supply of natural resources. The neutrality of the area, and the ability of Japan to defend its colony in Korea, was threatened in the 1920s by efforts at unification of China. Within three months Japanese troops had spread out throughout Manchuria, an occupation that finally ended at the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945.