The Collapse of the League in the 1930s Flashcards
What was the emperor of Japan called?
Emperor Hirohito
When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 where had an explosion occurred?
Southern Manchurian Railway
Who was sent to investigate the Manchurian crisis taking a year to do so?
Lord Lytton
How did the Wall Street Crash lead to the Manchurian crisis?
In 1929, the Wall Street Crash led to the Great Depression in the USA. The USA was Japan’s main trading partner (80% of imports are from USA) causing it to also suffer to a great degree. It’s main export of silk, a luxury textile could not be afforded anymore, causing Silk prices to plummet more than 50%, and overall industrial production decreased by 30%.
By what percentage did Silk prices plummet due to the Wall Strret Crash?
50%
By what percentage did the overall Japanese industrial production plummet by due to the Wall Street Crash?
30%
How would invading Manchuria allow Japan to escape the crisis?
Unlike Japan, Manchuria was rich in natural resources such as coal and oil, which industry was least affected by the Great Depression.
Why did Emperor Hirohito specifically choose to invade Manchuria?
- Manchuria was an area extremely close to Japan.
- Japan already had industry, a railway and mining rights there, highlighting it as the ideal area to invade.
- He also wanted to create an Empire in Asia like the other European powers
What was the Mukden incident?
- 18th September 1931
- The Mukden Incident. An explosion occurred on the Japanese-owned Southern Manchurian Railway.
- This was conspired to be a ploy devised by the Japanese to be able to justify their invasion. Japan blamed China, but the Chinese denied any claims that they were involved.
How did the Japanese react to the explosion occurring on the Southern Manchurian Railway?
- February 1932
- Through this incident, the Japanese government wanted to establish a friendship with Manchuria
- This was opposed by the Japanese military (Kwantung Army) and the army initiated an invasion
- However, the Manchurian citizens reacted positively, thus the Japanese government allowed the invasion to resume and did nothing.
- Consequently, they had set up a puppet government and renamed the province from Manchuria to Manchukuo.
- The last emperor of China, Pu Yi, was placed in charge as a puppet ruler. This was done to create some familiarity between the Chinese Manchurian citizens and the Japanese and remove any enmity.
How did the League initially respond to the Manchurian Crisis?
- March 1932
- China filed an appeal to the league, which was reluctant to act due to Japan being one of the leading members and Manchuria being extremely far away from Geneva, Switzerland, where the League was headquartered
- Therefore, initially only morally condemned Japan
How did Japan react to being morally condemned in March 1932?
Japan ignored the league and continued it’s invasion.
Why could the League not effectively punish Japan?
- Military force was out of the question. The League did not have its own permanent army and had to rely on the goodwill of its other members for volunteers. However, it’s members did not want to send their own soldiers away to a faraway land, when tension and conflict were rising due to the Great Depression and war or an invasion could occur at any moment.
- Countries were also too focused on restoring order in their own country and on the needs of their own people, who were all suffering due to the Great Depression and did not have the resources, time and money to expend helping other countries.
- Economic Sanction were essentiallly useless against Japan whose main trading partner was the USA, who had established themselves as Isolationist since early 1920. Therefore, they would be able to pick-up and freely trade with Japan, if economic sanctions were put in place. However, still needed to trade to restore order due to the Great Depression, so economic sanctions were a bad idea.
What did the League ultimately choose to do against the actions of Japan?
- The League set up a commission
- The inquiry was led by Lord Lytton (a British Diplomat)
- Th report had taken approximately a year to complete, publishing this in October 1932.
- However, the invasion of Manchuria had been completed by this time
- The report concluded that both nations were guilty to an extent, however, that Japan had done the most wrongdoing and was labeled as the aggressor. Therefore, the league supported China.
- China was guilty for creating anti-japanese propaganda
- However, ultimately Japan was most guilty for its invasion and its unlawful aggression
What consequences did the Manchurian crisis and the Lytton Report create?
- Japan had totally ignored the League and left in March 1933
- Japan consequently went on to continue its conquest in China from 1933 to 1937 invading more Chinese territory such as the jehol province 1933 China’s capital Beijing in 1937.
- The league was humiliated, one of it’s own key permanent council members had essentially betrayed it. Japan had ignored the League’s moral condemnation and instructions to withdraw. This demonstrated that the League was powerless when facing strong countries.
- This led to other extremists having similar ideas and plans such as Hitler and Mussolini
What years did the Abyssinian Crisis start and then end?
1934-1937
How would the invasion of Abyssinia help the Italian people from the Great Depression?
The Abyssinian Crisis was Mussolini’s method of distracting people of the ongoing crisis (the Great Depression). Abyssinia was also a way to strengthen the Italian economy, due to the abundance of natural resources present and had fertile land for livestock.
Why did Mussolini, personally, want to invade Abyssinia? Why was Abyssinia also the perfect country to target?
Mussolini dreamed of rebuilding the Roman Empire, on one of the most powerful empires in History. Invading Abyssinia was the first step.
In 1896, Italy initiated an invasion towards Abyssinia, however failed and were humiliated when this poor country had defeated them. This was known as the Battle of Adowa- Mussolini strived for revenge.
During the time, Abyssinia was one of the only countries in Africa which was self-determined and not governed by any Empire.
Why was Mussolini confident that he would not face any opposition from the league and Britain and France?
This was due to the League backing down in the Corfu crisis of 1923 and also showing that
In 1935, during the same period of the Abyssinian Crisis, Britain and France formulated a pact with Italy, called the Stresa Front Pact. Mussolini did not think that Britain and France would endanger the new agreement by trying to stop him in Abyssinia.
Britain and France owned empires of their own therefore it would be hypocritical of them to oppose Italy.
What triggered the invasion of Abyssinia? When?
On December 1934, Italian troops clashed with Abyssinians near the border at Walwal, causing the death of 2 Italians and 150 Abyssinians. Mussolini was intent on war and this was his justification. However, Italy had provided no declaration prior.
