In 1931, extremist elements in the Japanese army stationed in Kwangtung, who desired a more expansionist foreign policy, precipitated an incident at Shenyang (Mukden) and promptly overran all of Manchuria, which was detached from China and set up as the puppet state of Manchukuo. When the League of Nations criticized Japan's action, Japan withdrew from the organization. With its success in Manchuria, the military party gradually extended its influence over the Japanese government throughout the 1930s.