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Tanggu Truce Wikipedia

The Tanggu Truce (also sometimes called the Tangku Truce) was a cease-fire signed between Republic of China|China and Empire of Japan|Japan on May 31, 1933, which formally ended the Japanese conquest of Manchuria which had begun two years earlier.

On September 18, 1931, officers of the Japanese Guandong Army staged an explosion on the South Manchurian Railway in Manchuria. After blaming the blast on the Chinese, the Guandong Army invaded southern Manchuria, and by February of 1932 had captured the entire region. The Japanese subsequently recalled Pu Yi, who had been China's last emperor, and placed him on the throne of the puppet state of Manchukuo, which comprised Manchuria.

The Western powers condemned Japan's action in Manchuria but did little else. When the League of Nations demanded that Japan stop hostilities in China, the Japanese withdrew from the League in February 1933 (Matsuoka Yosuke personally led the Japanese delegation out the League Assembly Hall in Geneva).

In May of that year, after the Japanese had taken over the province of Jehol as well, the Tanggu Truce was signed. The Truce created a demilitarized zone in areas along the Great Wall of China, thereby detaching Manchuria from China proper and severing any ties the region had with the Chinese state.

The Truce did much to worsen Sino-Japanese relations in the coming years. The Second Sino-Japanese War would break out in 1937, which would eventually be merged into World War II (1939-1945).
category:History of the Republic of China
category:Second Sino-Japanese War

Last Modified:   2005-11-04