Manchurian Crisis

Why did the Japanese invade Manchuria?

• Depression had hit Japan very badly, the country was struggling to feed the rapidly growing population as a result. The Japanese military believed that the problems could be solved by creating an empire to provide Japan with the resources it needed.

• The Japanese military accused Chinese forces of blowing up the South Manchurian Railway. The railway transported goods from across Manchuria to Japan which were vital to the Japanese economy. It was a good excuse for the Japanese military to invade.

• An empire would provide cheap raw materials for their ecomomy. Japan had very little iron ore or coal which could be secured in Manchuria, as well as enough land to grow food for the growing population.

• The Japanese had long admired the British Empire. Japan felt they could buildan empire in Asia as Britain had done in other areas of the world.

Why did the League fail to deal effectively with Japan?

• The League was too slow to act. It took the League a full year to produce a report on the invasion and come to a decision.

• Economic sanctions were discussed however without the support of the USA they would be pointless as the USA was Japan's main trading partner, and were not members of the League.

• Self-Interest Britain and France were not prepared to risk their armies and navies on the other side of the world. Only the USSR were close enough to take action against Japan, however they were not members of the League either. Britain also didn't want a war against Japan as Japan might threaten the British Empire in the far east (places such as India and Singapore).

The conseqences of the League's failure.

As many critics had predicted the League was powerless to stop a strong country from persuing an aggressive invasion of a neighbour.

Japan had got away with an attack on a weaker neighbour. Both Mussolini and Hitler watched this with interest. Within three years they would both do the same.