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| The 1920s had been times of prosperity and democracy. But, after 1930, there was the Great Depression. It turned international diplomacy on its head. In the 1930s, cooperation was replaced by competition, morality by might. Countries now wanted – needed – to increase their wealth at other nations' expense. Fascist governments which believed in the survival of the strongest came to power in Germany and Italy. In the 1920s, the League had been quite successful. In the 1930s, it floundered. This page looks at its failure in Manchuria, and the next spread looks at its failure in Abyssinia.
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Going DeeperThe following links will help you widen your knowledge: Impact of the 1930s Depression on international relations Japanese foreign policy - summary
Powerpoint - Manchuria
YouTube: Japanese Invasion - BBC2 Curriculum Bites The Japanese Attack Manchuria - WWII newsreel
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Failure in Manchuria, 1932-33The Dispute In the 1930s there was a world-wide economic depression. Japan tried to overcome the depression by building up an empire. Since 1905, the Japanese had had the right to run the South Manchuria Railway. Now they used it as a pretext for invasion. On 18 September 1931, they damaged the railway and blamed it on the Chinese (the 'Mukden Incident'); the next day the Japanese army invaded Manchuria. In February 1932, the Chinese surrendered and, on 1 March, the Japanese formally set up their own ‘puppet state’ there with the former Chinese Emperor Pu Yi as its nominal ruler, and called it Manchukuo. China asked the League to help.
What the League did: The League had immediately (22 September 1931) issued a moral condemnation, and in December 1931 it sent a group of officials led by Lord Lytton to study the problem. In October 1932, the report was published; it stated that the state of Manchukuo should not have been set up, and that the Japanese Army should leave Manchuria. In February 1933 the League ordered Japan to leave Manchuria.
The Outcome: Japan refused to leave Manchuria. Instead, on 24 February 1933, Japan walked out of the League. Many countries had important trading links with Japan. The League could not agree on sanctions or even a ban on weapons sales. Britain and France did not want a war, so nothing was done. The Japanese stayed in Manchuria. The League had failed.
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Japanese expansion in the far east, 1930-39.
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Manchuria: Consequences• The League was humiliated by a determined aggressor. • The Nine-Power Treaty (1920), the Washington Naval Treaty (1922) and the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) were violated. • Japan’s leaving the League increased the difficulty of achieving diplomatic solutions in the far east. • Japan grew in confidence, occupied Jehol in 1934, invaded China in 1937 (starting the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-45), and set about creating an empire – the Co-Prosperity Sphere – in the far east which would eventually lead to the attack on Pearl Harbor and WWII. • Other aggressors were encouraged to be similarly aggressive – particularly Mussolini (Abyssinia, 1935) and Hitler (Rhinland, 1936).
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Did You KnowThe US Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, also opposed the Japanese annexation, and on 7 January 1932 he sent the Japanese government a note saying that the USA would not recongise any treaty imposed by force (the 'Stimson Doctrine'). The USA, did not impose sanctions, but did send a General as a member of the Lytton Commission. This is interesting because you have been taught that the USA not being a member weakened the League ... but in the Manchuria crisis, the USA worked with the League (to no effect).
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Source AThe invasion of Manchuria had two important side effects - putting aside for a moment its dreadful revelation that the League was powerless in the face a determined aggressor. First, it raised the prestige of the Japanese Army. Second, it made it possible for the Army to pressurise the Japanese government to undertake a policy of armed expansion. Tony
Howarth, Twentieth Century History (1979).
Source BAmerica's consistent refusal to use nothing more than words in support of the League had shown just how toothless and helpless the international community was when it came to enforcing and upholding the peace. A dangerous precedent had been set. John Costello, The Pacific War (1981)
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Source CI know this sounds all wrong, perhaps immoral, when Japan is flouting the League of Nations, but: (1) she was greatly provoked, (2) she must ere long expand somewhere - for goodness sake let (or rather encourage) her to do so there instead of Australia and (3) her control of Manchuria means a real block against Communist aggression. A letter from the Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge University,
Consider:1. Using sources A-E, find and list all the results you can see of the League's failure in Manchuria. 2. Was the League 'fatally' damaged by Manchuria?
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Source DThis cartoon of 1933,
by the British cartoonist David Low, is entitled: 'The
Doormat'. Click here for the interpretation
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Source EThis cartoon was produced in 1933. What is the cartoonist suggesting about Japan? Click here for the interpretation
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Consider:1. The 'Why the League Failed' webpage suggests seven reasons why the League failed. How many of these factors can you see at work in the League's failure in the Manchurian crisis: 1. Weak powers 2. America was not a member 3. The League's structure/organisation was inefficient 4. World Depression made nations less cooperative 5. The more the League failed, the less authority it had 6. Its own members betrayed it and let it down 7. The League faced aggressive military fascist powers 2. Taking these ideas into account, WHY did the League fail in Manchuria?
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