The League of Nations criticised Japan for taking Manchuria but did nothing to make it leave, so Japan kept its gains.
Manchuria is a region in north-east China. In September 1931, Japanese troops used a railway explosion near Mukden as an excuse to take it over. In 1932, Japan set up Manchukuo, a puppet state it controlled. China appealed to the League of Nations, a body set up to keep peace.
The League relied on collective security, members acting together against an aggressor. Its Lytton Report rejected Japan's excuses, and the League condemned the takeover. But words did not remove Japanese troops. The League had no army of its own.
Big powers, hit by the Depression, did not want to lose trade or risk war. The USA was not a member. So no one acted. Japan kept Manchuria and left the League in 1933. Military leaders learnt that criticism cost little. This weakened restraint on later choices, although it did not make war in 1941 certain.
- September 1931
- Japan seizes Manchuria after the Mukden incident.
- Lytton Report
- League report that rejected Japan's excuses.
- 1933
- Japan announces it is leaving the League.
Worked example: Why keeping the land mattered
The League criticised Japan, but Japan kept control of Manchuria.
- Japan gains land, and no country forces it out.
- Supporters of expansion say criticism is a small price to pay.
- This encourages more risk-taking later, though war was not yet certain.
Watch out for this
Once the League condemned Japan, it had stopped the aggression.
Condemning is not stopping. Japan kept Manchuria because no one enforced the League's decision.
Check your understanding
Why did the League fail to remove Japan from Manchuria?
- The Lytton Report supported Japan's takeover.
- Member states would not take strong action, and the League had no army.
- The USA led League forces but was defeated.