War in the Pacific

The Japanese needed a solution to the problems set forth by the great depression. Japan was hit extremely hard and a solution was to exploit the natural resources of Manchuria (Northeast China). The Mukden incident occurred. The Japanese needed a reason to invade Manchuria so they planted dynamite on a Japanese owned railway in the city of Mukden (now Shenyang). They blamed the explosion on the Chinese, then proceeded to invade Manchuria. The international community had been shocked by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. In response to League of Nation condemnation, Japan withdrew from the League. The international community did not see what happened in Manchuria as few Europeans lived there. And after the Japanese seized control, Manchukuo was essentially closed off the foreigners, especially journalists. The Japanese placed former Qing emperor PuYi onto its throne, creating a puppet regime with the fiction of an independent state. One of the key advantages of the weapon was that unlike bows, which required years of training largely available only to the samurai class, guns could be used by relatively untrained footmen. Samurai stuck to their swords and their bows, engaging in cavalry or infantry tactics, while the ashigaru wielded the guns. Some militant Buddhist factions, began to produce firearms in the foundries normally employed to make bronze temple bells.