3.02 League of Nations

1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria (Manchurian Crisis)

• starts with an explosion at the South Manchurian Railway
• 🇯🇵 Japan invades Manchuria
• 🇨🇳 China appeals to the League
• the League was powerless to stop a strong nation like 🇯🇵 Japan
  • 🇬🇧 Britain wants to keep a good relationship with 🇯🇵 Japan (trade)
  • 🇬🇧 Britain and 🇫🇷 France don't want to risk their militaries
    • the 🇺🇸 USA and USSR have strong enough militaries to do something, but they aren't members of the League (at the time)
    • the 🇺🇸 USA is also 🇯🇵 Japan’s main trading partner, making it most important for sanctions to have any effect
  • members couldn’t agree on banning arms sales to 🇯🇵 Japan
• 🇯🇵 Japan commits aggresion and gets away with it
• 👤 Mussolini would later learn from this episode and use it to his advantage