Mengjiang

Mengjiang, also known as Mengkiang, officially the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, was an autonomous zone of the Wang Jingwei regime in Inner Mongolia. It was formed in 1939 as its own puppet state of the Empire of Japan, and from 1940 was placed under the sovereignty of the Wang Jingwei regime, which was itself a puppet government. It consisted of the previously Chinese provinces of Chahar and Suiyuan, corresponding to the central part of modern Inner Mongolia. It has also been called Mongukuo or Mengguguo (or Mengkukuo; ; in analogy to Manchukuo, another Japanese puppet state in Manchuria). The capital was Kalgan, from where it was under the nominal rule of Mongol nobleman Demchugdongrub. The territory returned to Chinese control after the defeat of the Japanese Empire in 1945.

== Background == Following Japan's occupation of Manchuria in 1931 and the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, Japan sought to expand its influence in Mongolia and North China. In a series of actions, starting in 1933, the armies of Manchukuo and Japan occupied Chahar and in 1936 proclaimed itself the independent Mongol Military Government, allied with Japan under Prince Demchugdongrub.