Il Manchukuo attraverso la pubblicistica della Spagna franchista

In the first decades of the 20th century Manchuria was recognised as a 'land of opportunity', a 'promised land'. It was seen as a rich and prosperous place, an earthly paradise where anyone could achieve. Over time, the cruelty and false image constructed by the Japanese occupiers has been exposed by scholars and historians and Japan's aggression against Manchukuo and its inhabitants has been fully recognised. In the first chapter of my thesis I set out the history of the emergence of Manchuria, in particular the creation of the puppet state of Manchukuo and its inevitable dissolution at the end of the Second World War. I also analysed the opinions of various scholars as to whom this territory actually belonged to, China on the one hand and Japan on the other. I concluded the chapter by reporting the final decision of the League of Nations, which recognised Japan as the aggressor that had unjustly invaded Manchuria and that Manchuria should be returned to the Chinese. In the second chapter, I introduced the relationship between Japan and Spain at the time, and in particular I analysed the figure of the propagandist Gaspar Tato Cumming and his thoughts on the State of Manchukuo. I then translated his book El Imperio del Manchukuo, providing all the information that the journalist had recorded during his stay there, starting with information on the history and geography of the area, natural resources, industry, agriculture and cultural activities, then moving on to a description of the most important cities and concluding with an in-depth study of soya. Finally, I concluded my dissertation by reflecting on the way this issue has always been interpreted. Although Japan's action must be condemned on all fronts, there are still other points of view to analyse.