九•一八事变

九•一八事变

九•一八事变，又称奉天事变、柳条湖事件。它是日本在中国东北地区蓄意制造并由此而发动的一场侵华战争，是日本帝国主义侵华的开端。1931年9月18日夜，在日本关东军安排下，日本铁道“守备队”蓄意炸毁沈阳柳条湖附近日本修筑的南满铁路路轨，并栽赃嫁祸于中国军队。日军以此为借口，炮轰东北军的驻地北大营，是为“九•一八事变”。次日，日军侵占沈阳，此后不到半年的时间内，整个东北三省100万平方公里的土地被日军占领。

九•一八事变同时也揭开了第二次世界大战东方战场的序幕。

The September 18th Incident

The September 18th Incident, also known as the Fengtian Incident or the Liutiaohu Incident, marked the start of imperial Japan’s invasion of China. It was meticulously devised and executed by Japan in Northeast China, in preparation for a war of aggression. On the night of September 18, 1931, Japanese soldiers from Japan’s “garrison unit” blew up a section of the Japanese-built South Manchuria Railway near Liutiaohu outside Shenyang. The explosion was a ruse orchestrated by Japan’s Kwantung Army in order to lay the blame on the Chinese forces. Using this incident as a pretext, the Japanese army fired artillery rounds at China’s Northeastern Army garrison nearby, an action that was subsequently termed the September 18th Incident. The following day the Japanese army occupied Shenyang, and in less than six months the three provinces of Northeast China, covering an area of one million square kilometers, had fallen under Japanese occupation. The September 18th Incident was also a prelude to the start of the Second World War in the eastern theater.