Japanese+Invasion+of+Manchuria

Page by Brady Trettenero Sources: History 12 Workbook by Jerry Falk Wikipedia.org http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations6.htm


 * What Happened?**

The Japanese had special priveleges in Manchuria which is part of China becasue they had owned the South Manchuria railroad. In 1931, the Japanese carried out a military occupation of Manchuria and made it a part of the Japanese empire. Manchuria was renamed Manchukuo. The United States Minister to China reported to Secretary of State Stimson, in a telegram dated September 22, his opinion that this was "an aggressive act by Japan", apparently long-planned, and carefully and systematically put into effect. Minister Johnson found no evidence that it was the result of accident or the act of minor and irresponsible officials. He was convinced that the Japanese military operation in Manchuria "must fall within any definition of war" and that this act of aggression had been deliberately accomplished in "utter and cynical disregard" of Japan's obligations under the Kellogg-Briand Pact of August 27, 1928 for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.




 * Why did the Japanese Invade?**

The Wall Street Crash weakened the USA's economy and therefore they starting importing less. Japan was effected as they didn't get enough trade from the USA. One of Japan'smajor exports was silk and America decided to stop importing it, making it themselves instead. The invasion was also done by Japan to try and gain more natural resources and raw materials to support their massive expansion and militarization. They no longer wanted to rely heavily on the U.S for resources and decided Manchuria was ideal for a Japanese expansion since it was already fighting a civil war between nationalists, communists and warlords.Japan's industry and military powers were developing very fast during the 1920s to 1930s, and its population was rapidly increasing as well. Japan's land was getting crowded. Manchuria had nearly 200,000 square kilometres of land that could help Japan solve their population problem. Japan thought that Manchuria would have many resources, so the desire for taking over Manchuria became stronger and stronger. The Great Depression in US in 1929 hit Japan hard also. People lost their jobs and houses, and they didn't have the money for food.Many people saw Manchuria as a new opportunity, because they thought there would be new jobs and better lives.


 * Manchuria and the League of Nations**

This was a case for the League of Nations as both nations were members. The League appointed Lord Lytton to head the Lytton Commission. In 1932 Lytton reported that Japan's actions were unjustified and the province should be returned to China. It took the league until 1933 to approve the report. Instead of withdrawing, Japan just quit the League and invaded Northern China. The League told itself these Far East actions weren't important to Europe and ignored Japan. This was the first major blow at collective security.


 * Significance**

It showed that the League of Nations was powerless against aggression. Hitler also realized that the league would probably not do anything if the Germans tried to invade somewhere. Hitler was also encouraged to re-occupy the Rhineland becasue of how poorly the Manchurian and Abyssinian crises had been dealt with by the League.



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