The Manchurian crisis

What year was the Manchurian crisis?

1931

Where is Manchuria and what is its significance?

It is a region in China which is rich in natural resources such as coal and iron ore

Why did Japan want to control Manchuria?

It had suffered in the Great Depression so had to look for natural resources in places other than its islands - since its economy was largely made up of silk production, exporting this to rich countries, it had been impacted greatly by the depression

How did silk depreciate in the Great Depression?

It fell in value by 4/5 by 1932, so many people became unemployed

Why didn’t China have good control over Manchuria?

It was divided and weak at the time since it was split into many regions, many of which were controlled by drug lords who ignored the national government

Why was Manchuria a good place for Japan to invade?

It was geographically close to Japan, previous industries and armies in a similar area made invasion easier, there was a history of confusion over who owned the land there, the Japanese people would be distracted from their problems at home if the invasion would start a war with Russia and the Japanese army was strong

Which countries had industrial factories in Manchuria?

Japan and Russia

What was the negative of Japan invading Manchuria?

It could start a war with Russia, which also held factories in the area

How did disagreements and aggression help cement Japan’s plans for invading Manchuria?

Many army generals and government politicians disagreed on how to act within Manchuria (the army wanted to invade and gain full control, while the politicians sought for a small navy and a good friendship with Manchuria). Many generals in the army also controlled its decisions through fear tactics so wanted Japan to take more aggressive policies

What was the Mukden Incident?

An excuse used by Japan to justify its invasion of Manchuria - the Japanese blamed the Chinese for setting off a bomb on the South Manchurian Railway, which Japan owned, even though it is likely that Japan set it off themselves. Under the pretence of defence, the army invaded successfully

When did Japan invade Manchuria?

September 1931

What did the Japanese set up in Manchuria to control the region?

They set up a puppet government which would behave exactly as Japan liked in February 1932

How did the League get involved in the Manchurian crisis?

It set up the Lytton Committee to produce a report on the situation

Why was the Lytton Committee so ineffective?

It took a year to produce a report due to long transport times, by which point Japan had almost finished the invasion

What did the report say?

Issued moral condemnation and told Japan to withdraw its troops - however, Japan refused and the League couldn’t stop it

Why couldn’t the League get involved in preventing Japanese invasion of Manchuria?

It relied on its member countries providing armies, but they couldn’t afford to send troops so far away from Europe, especially since they were still experiencing the Great Depression

Why were the League’s punishments ineffective?

They issued moral condemnation, which Japan wasn’t swayed by, and economic sanctions, which didn’t affect Japan much since America was its main trading partner, and Russia was Japan’s nearest powerful country (both of which weren’t part of the League, so didn’t have to restrict trade to Japan). The League was also reluctant to act as it wanted to avoid war and many people believed that Manchuria belonged to Japan anyway so Japan was in the right in this instance. Additionally, Manchuria was far away from Europe so the issue was commonly believed to be unimportant and not of real concern.

How did Japan’s position in the League help the invasion?

Since Japan was a powerful member of the League, many people chose to believe that China attacked Japan first, which meant that they didn’t have to get involved and that it was a good thing that Japan had invaded since China’s politics were disorganised, and that a Japanese influence would help restore order to the region

How did Japan invade the rest of China?

It used Manchuria to act as a base in order to invade the rest of China in 1937, succeeding in 1938

How does the Manchuria crisis show the League as weak?

It failed to stop Japan’s acts of aggression despite its policies against warfare and the League ultimately achieved nothing - their failure led the leaders of Italy and Germany to wonder how they might be able get around the League (despite being part of it) too

In what way was the League not proven to be that weak in its failure in the Manchuria crisis?

Many people still believed that the League had power to stop problems in Europe - since the crisis was in Asia, it wasn’t a fatal blow to the organisation