The puppet state of Manchukuo was the creation of Imperial Japan. It was designed to be an industrial center supporting their military forces in China:
"As Japan has no natural resources of her own, the nation is dependent on Manchuria to keep its factories humming and maintain the nation's credit, so that it was not surprising that, when Chinese soldiers allegedly tore up part of the [Trans-Siberian] railroad a year ago, Japanese soldiers seized Mukden. This act, petty as it may have seemed to the world in general, largely precipitated the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and later drew several nations, including the United States, dangerously close to the brink of war during the Shanghai invasion by Japan."
Pictured above is Japan's puppet emperor in Manchuria, Prince Henry Pu Yi (1906 - 1967).
Click here to read about his 1945 capture...
