Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast episode 610, The Final Frontier, Part 6.

It's not uncommon when we talk about the state of Manjou-wo slash Manchuquo to talk about it as,

essentially, a fake country.

And what I mean by that is that the fiction this was an independent state, driven by local

self-determination by the desire of its inhabitants

for independence, was so utterly, totally, completely, and transparently a lie that Manchuria

is often described during the lead-up to World War II as just Japanese occupied territory.

And to be clear, there's a very good reason for that.

Certainly the idea that any decision made by the Manchurian government during this time

on any question of actual significance was made independently, it's ridiculous on its face.

Even so, it's worth taking time to look at how this state actually operated because doing

so reveals some very interesting things about the nature of Japanese rule in Manchuria,

and especially how that was both similar to and different from other Japanese colonial possessions.

Now from the jump, one of the first things you notice looking at the history of Japanese rule in Manchuria is that Japanese rule looks very different depending on who was being dealt with.

As a general rule, Zhang Shui Liang's government had never had terribly strong control over the entirety of Manchuria in the first place, and many local elites, wealthy landlords and villages, big merchants in the cities, local politicians, even military commanders, largely had done things their own way.

When they rolled into Manchuria, the leadership of the Guangdong army took advantage of that to offer a simple bargain to the local notables.

Work with us, and you'll keep your position.

Fight us, and you'll lose it.

As you might imagine, most of the privileged and powerful of Manchuria, given those choices, chose to collaborate,

and as a general rule, they were rewarded for it.

This obviously served the interest of the Guangdong army and others who backed the New Order in Manchuria

because it created the appearance of local support for their actions.

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