Manchukuo or Manchoukuo was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostensibly founded as a republic, its territory consisting of the lands seized in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria; it was later declared to be a constitutional monarchy in 1934, though very little changed in the actual functioning of government. Manchukuo received limited diplomatic recognition, primarily from states aligned with the Axis powers, with its existence widely regarded as illegitimate.