Manchuria Crisis

• In the 1920s, Japan began to lose confidence in its government.

  • At time was supporting international disarmament initiatives

  Japan was also suffering from economic issues

  • not resource rich, and combined with growing population, living standards there began to fall. Japanese people became disillusioned with the government.
• China offered a possible solution to Japan.

  1. Politically weak, and had a large supply of raw materials.
  2. Manchuria was good for farming and was rich in coal and iron.

  Japan already controlled land around the railway running through Manchuria due to 1905 treaty.
• China went to the league of nations after Japan took control of Mukden and subsequently of Chinchow, Manchuria's administrative capital.

  • Japan promised the league it would withdraw from them, but by January 1932 had taken Shanghai (China again appealed to league)
• In March 1932, Japan renamed Manchuria as Manuchuko, an 'independent' state occupied by the Japanese army.
• The League established the Lytton commission to investigate crisis from September 1931.

  They reported back the following year, that the people of Manchuria did not want to become Manuchuko, or be governed by Japan.
• The League advised Manchuria should become an autonomous (self-governed) Chinese state, and Japan should withdraw from the land given to them in 1905.

  February 1933: Assembly voted in favour of Lytton Committee, 42 votes to one.

  March 1933: Japan left League of Nations and kept control of 'Manuchuko'

  1937 - Launched full scale invasion of China.

  Japanese army controlled Japan's government and had established what became a military dictatorship.
• Why did the League not do more?

  As a key member of the League, with a permanent seat on the council, Japan's promises that it had no ambitions in the region could not be ignored.

  • Britain wanted to believe them.

  (needed a good relationship with Japan due to their own interests in far east + unwilling to challenge the Japanese)

  • Other nations didn't protest for economic reasons

  USA not in league and also didn't want to take action.

  Not doing anything also wasn't an option however, as smaller countries such as Finland demanded action.
• The impact of the League's response

  League's failure to deal with Japan's aggression in China, damaged its' reputation.

  Increasingly in the 1930s, nations returned to traditional methods of diplomacy, such as:

  • Bilateral treaties (treaties between two countries)

  Small alliances of carefully selected countries.

  Conference decisions began to be based on national interests over international principles - bad.
• Manchuria was underlined as a key factor of L of N weakness.

  • Great powers seemingly treated differently to smaller, less influential countries
  • Actions that the L of N could take did not deter aggressors, Japan had the option to simply leave the League with no repercussions to avoid sanctions.
  • League had no effective means of enforcing its decisions
• • Procedures took too long in comparison with pace of events - e.g. took a whole year for Lytton Committee to issue its report. (Japanese were already well established in Manchuria)
  • League could / would apply its covenant even when principles were defied.

  Further weakened League's international standing and importance.