Background
After the Mukden Incident of September 18, 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army invaded Manchuria, and by February 1932 had captured the entire region. The last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, who was living in exile in the Foreign Concessions in Tianjin was convinced by the Japanese to accept the throne of the new Empire of Manchukuo, which remained under the control of the Imperial Japanese Army. In January 1933, to secure Manchukuo’s southern borders, a joint Japanese and Manchukuo force invaded Rehe, and after conquering that province by March, drove the remaining Chinese armies in the northeast beyond the Great Wall into Hebei Province.
The Western powers condemned Japan's actions but did little else. When the League of Nations demanded that Japan stop hostilities, the Japan withdrew from the League on March 27, 1933.
As the Japanese army was under explicit instructions from Emperor Hirohito (who wanted a quick end to the China conflict) not to go beyond the Great Wall, the Japanese halted their offensive in May 1933.
Read more about this topic: Tanggu Truce
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