FIFTH YEAR GCSE

THE LEAGUE IN THE 1930s - MANCHURIA AND ABYSSINIA

 
The Dispute :
What the League did :
What happened :
Manchuria 1932

In the 1930s there was a world-wide economic depression.    Japan tried to overcome the depression by building up an empire.
In 1932, the Japanese army invaded Manchuria and  threw out the Chinese.   They set up their own government there and called it Manchoukuo .
 
China asked the League to help.

The League sent officials to study the problem (this took a year).
 
In February 1933 it ordered Japan to leave Manchuria.
Japan refused to leave Manchuria.    Instead, Japan left the League.
Many countries had important trading links with Japan.    The League could not agree on sanctions or even a ban on weapons sales.    Britain and France did not want a war, so nothing was done.
 
The Japanese stayed in Manchuria.
The League had failed.
Abyssinia 1935 Mussolini got ready to invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia).    He wanted war and glory.
 
Abyssinia asked the League to help. 		The League talked to Mussolini – but he used the time to send an army to Africa.
The League suggested a plan to give part of Abyssinia to Italy.
 .		 Mussolini ignored the League, and invaded Abyssinia.
The League banned weapons sales, and put sanctions on rubber and metal.
The Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie went to the League to appeal for help, but it did nothing else – in fact Britain and France secretly agreed to give Abyssinia to Italy.
 Italy conquered Abyssinia
The League had failed.  
 



    


A British cartoon of 1933 shows Japan trampling all over the League, whilst Britain powders the nose of the League.


This cartoon of 1933 shows the Japanese actions destroying international agreements such as the Kellogg Pact and the League of Nations Covenant.

VIEWS OF THE ABYSSINIAN CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS.


Source A.
A British cartoon of 1935 shows international politics like a stage musical.    
Britain and France sing:
       ‘We don’t want you to fight,
       but by jingo if you do,
       We will probably issue a joint memorandum
       Suggesting a mild disapproval of you.’


Source B
The crisis was fatal to the League. Nobody took it seriously again. They got ready for the Second World War.
Written by the historian JR Western (1971)

Source C
After Manchuria and Abyssinia, people decided that it was no longer any use putting their hopes in the League.
Written by the historian J Joll (1976)

Source D
The League died in 1935.    One day it was a powerful body imposing sanctions, the next day it was a useless fraud, everybody running away from it as quickly as possible.   Hitler watched.
Written by the historian AJP Taylor (1966)