The abortive Brocade Flag Revolution did achieve one of its purposes: in the next few years it assured the success of the Manchurian adventure. It also convinced many Japanese that politics and business were so corrupt that a military-led reform had to be supported. At the same time it engendered such bitterness that the two wings of the reform movement began to split. One, nicknamed “the Control” clique by newsmen, believed it was not enough to take Manchuria, since security against a possible attack by the Soviet Union could be forestalled only by control of China itself. The Kita followers,
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