Manchukuo

From Wikinfo

Manchukuo (満州国 Pinyin: Manzhouguo, literally: "Nation of Manchuria") was a nominally independent puppet state set up by the Japanese in Manchuria which existed from 1931 to 1945. The Japanese instated Puyi, the last emperor of Qing Dynasty, as the puppet emperor of Manzhouguo and declared the country independent from China on February 18, 1932. Changchun (長春) was chosen as capital and renamed Xinjing or "New Capital".

The puppet state was not recognized by most of the nations of the world, and the declaration of the League of Nations that the Manchuria was still rightly part of China led to the Japanese resignation from the League in 1934. Peppeteer state Japan and his fascist allies Italy and Germany were the only major countries that diplomatically recognized Manzhouguo. In addition Manzhouguo was recognized by the Japanese collaborationist government of China under Wang Jingwei. Japanese capital investment in railroads, mining and manufacturing did carry forward an economic modernization of sorts.

At the end of World War II, Soviet Union occupied Manchuria under the agreement in Yalta Conference and then dismantled much of the industry constructed by Japan for relocation in the Soviet Union. Weapons captured from the defeated Japanese Kwantung Army helped to make the Chinese Communist Party's Red Army a more fomidible fighting force in the subsequent Chinese Civil War of 1945-1949.

Links

• Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
• Battle of Lugou Bridge
• Kwantung Army

Stamps and postal history of Manzhouguo

Manzhouguo issued its first postage stamps on July 28, 1932. There were a number of denominations, with two designs: the pagoda at Liaoyang and a portrait of Puyi. Originally the inscription read (in Chinese) "Manchu State Postal Administration"; in 1934, a new issue read "Manchu Empire Postal Administration". An orchid crest design appeared in 1935, and a design featuring the Sacred White Mountains in 1936.

1936 also saw a new regular series featuring various scenes and surmounted by the orchid crest. Between 1937 and 1945, the government issued a variety of commemoratives: for anniversaries of its own existence, to note the passing of new laws, and to honor Japan in various ways, for instance, the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese Empire in 1940. The last issue of Manzhouguo came on May 2, 1945, commemorating the 10th anniversary of an edict.

After the dissolution of the government, many of the remaining stamp stocks were locally handstamped with ideograms reading "Republic of China" and so forth. In addition, many were overprinted by the Port Arthur and Dairen Postal Administration between 1946 and 1949.

 Kangde (康德 kang1 de2) 1934

Sources

• Yoshihisa Tak Matsusaka. 2001. The Making of Japanese Manchuria, 1904-1932. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 0674003691.

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Manchukuo" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchukuo July 27, 2003