导读:九一八事变（又称奉天事变、柳条湖事件）是日本在中国东北蓄意制造并发动的一场侵华战争，是日本帝国主义侵华的开端。

Mukden Incident, (September 18, 1931), also called Manchurian Incident, seizure of the Manchurian city of Mukden (now Shenyang, Liaoning province, China) by Japanese troops in 1931, which was followed by the Japanese invasion of all of Manchuria (now Northeast China) and the establishment of the Japanese-dominated state of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo) in the area. Most observers believe the incident was contrived by the Japanese army, without authorization of the Japanese government, to justify the Japanese invasion and occupation that followed. It contributed to the international isolation of Japan and is seen as a crucial event on the path to the outbreak of World War II.

奉天事变(1931年9月18日)，又称满洲事件，即1931年日军侵占中国东北城市奉天(现中国辽宁省沈阳市)事件，随后日本大举侵略满洲(现中国东北)并建立由日本主导政权的满洲国。多数观察人士认为，这一事件是日本军队在未经日本政府授权的情况下策划的，目的是为日本随后的侵略和占领辩护。它助长了日本在国际上的孤立，并被视为导致第二次世界大战爆发的关键事件。

Throughout the early 20th century the Japanese had maintained special rights in Manchuria, and they had felt that the neutrality of the area was necessary for the defense of their colony in Korea. They were thus alarmed when their position in Manchuria was threatened by the increasingly successful unification of China in the late 1920s by the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi), at the same time that Soviet pressures on Manchuria increased from the north. Responding to this pressure, officers of the Japanese Kwantung (Guandong) Army, which was stationed in Manchuria, initiated an incident in Mukden without the approval of the civil government of Japan.

在整个20世纪早期，日本人在满洲拥有特殊的权利，他们认为该地区的中立对于保卫他们在朝鲜的殖民地十分必要。上世纪20年代末随着中国国民党领袖蒋介石日益统一中国，日本人感觉自己在满洲的地位受到威胁，同时苏联对满洲的压力也从北方逐渐增加。在双重压力下，驻扎在满洲的日本关东军军官在未经日本文官政府批准的情况下，在奉天发动了一场事变。

On the night of September 18, 1931, Japanese troops used the pretext of an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway to occupy Mukden; the explosives did little damage to their railway, and trains continued to use the route. Nevertheless, in retaliation for this "Chinese attack," the Japanese army began artillery attacks on a nearby Chinese garrison the next day. On September 21, Japanese reinforcements arrived from Korea, and the army began to expand throughout northern Manchuria. Japanese troops had spread throughout Manchuria after three months.

1931年9月18日晚，日军以其控制的南满铁路爆炸为借口，占领奉天，实际上炸药对他们的铁路并没有造成什么损害，后来火车使用的还是这条铁路。但是为了报复所谓的“中国的攻击”，日本军队第二天开始对附近的中国驻军进行炮击。9月21日，日本增援部队从朝鲜抵达，军队开始在满洲北部扩张。三个月内，日军已遍布满洲。

The Kwantung Army met little resistance in its conquests because Chiang Kai-shek, who was intent on establishing his control over the rest of China, ordered the commander of the Chinese forces in Manchuria, Zhang Xueliang, to pursue a policy of nonresistance and withdrawal. The League of Nations, Chiang announced, would determine the outcome of the case. The Lytton Commission appointed by the League to investigate the situation labeled Japan as the aggressor, but Japan withdrew from the League and continued to occupy Manchuria until 1945. Few countries recognized the new puppet state of Manchukuo.

关东军的入侵几乎没有遇到抵抗，因为蒋介石一心要控制中国其他地区，他命令中国驻满洲司令张学良实行不抵抗、不撤退的政策。蒋介石宣布，国际联盟将决定此案的结果。由联盟指派的利顿委员会来调查日本侵略事件，但日本已经退出联盟并继续占领满洲，而这一占领就持续到1945年。不过很少有国家承认伪满洲国。