Japan's wartime experience with aircraft carriers began shortly after her forces invaded Manchuria in 1931. With this invasion, Japan extended her control over Chinese territory that had begun with the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894. After an "incident" near Shanghai in 1932, Japan attacked China. Japan's victory led to the establishment of Manchukuo, which persisted as a puppet state within the Empire of Japan until the end of World War II. In 1937, another "incident" at Wanping led to fighting near Beijing that escalated into the Second Sino-Japanese War. This conflict merged with others to comprise World War II.