By 1931, China's political climate was a tad complicated. Jiang Jieshi and the ‘Young Marshal’ Zhang Xueliang were BFFs in an alliance. Now, the Guandong Army? A bit feisty.

• Manchurian Incident
  • Post-incident, Jiang said to Zhang: "Chill, don’t respond to Guandong Army's provocations."
  • Why? Jiang didn't fancy a war with Japan. He was low-key hoping that:
  • Japan would limit their territorial snatch game.
  • Western heroes would swoop in and set things right.
• Guandong Army's Ambition
  • They didn’t just take a little; they wanted the whole Manchurian pie.
  • Tactics? Flexed their muscles, bombed cities, and played the bully.
  • Extra Japanese backup? Yep. And here's the tea: they came from Korea without Tokyo’s green light. So, not only were they grabbing land (which Fenby labeled as “the biggest land grab in history”), but they were also freestyling it.
• Jiang’s Dilemma
  • To challenge Japan or not? 🤔
  • Side note: Jiang was multitasking; besides the Japan issue, he was playing cat and mouse with Chinese Communists in Jiangxi.

• There was massive pushback against Japan.
  • In Shanghai: "Skip the Japanese shops and their goods!".
  • In Nanjing: Men said, "Send us to fight!" and women were like, "We'll come too, but as nurses!".
  • Pop slogans? “Death before Surrender” & “Supreme Sacrifice”.
• The Impact
  • Japanese banks? 🚫 Boycotted!
  • Japanese factories? 🚫 Strikes!
  • Imports from Japan? Down 30% by end of 1931 and a whopping 90% in 1932! 📉