The Manchurian Crisis1. The Mukden Incident and the Japanese Invasion of Manchuria

Like almost every other country in the world, Japan was hit hard(opens in a new tab) by the Great Depression. Due to financial constraints, countries were limiting their imports, which meant that Japan was struggling to find markets for its exports. The island nation needed the money from exports to pay for imported food, because it was not self-sufficient in food.

The Empire of Japan had been antagonising China for some time, and in 1905 through the Treaty of Portsmouth took control of Korea and secured some trading rights in Manchuria, an area in north-eastern China. To protect their trading rights, Japanese soldiers were stationed along the South Manchurian Railway. Manchuria is a resource-rich area, with significant mineral deposits, agricultural land and forestry. Controlling this area would therefore be a great help to the Japanese economy, because it would provide food and space to settle surplus population.

Japan wanted a reason to invade Manchuria. They therefore fabricated a pretext for invading. On 18 September 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army launched a false flag operation in order to fabricate a reason to invade Manchuria. They detonated a small amount of dynamite on a section of the South Manchurian Railway. The blast did not cause significant damage, because a train passed that area of the tracks safely later that day. However, it happened on a section of railroad occupied by the Kwantung Army, which responded almost immediately by taking over the nearby Chinese town of Mukden. From there, they continued to take over territory, eventually establishing the puppet state of Manchukuo with Puyi, the last Qing emperor (of imperial China), as head of state. As the invasion was underway, the Chinese government appealed to the League of Nations for a resolution.2. The League's Response

The Council of the League of Nations responded by demanding that Japan withdraw its troops from the railway zone by 16 November. Japan promised to withdraw its troops "when the time was right", but clearly had no intention of doing so and instead continued to take over territory. In December they took Chinchow and the following January they nearly took Shanghai.

The threat to Shanghai disturbed the European nations because they had business interests there. China asked the League to investigate the situation, but this was made more complicated by the fact that Britain, one of the most powerful members of the League, had a long-standing friendly relationship with Japan. Britain therefore argued that Japan had genuine grievances against China that also needed to be addressed. The League could not, however, simply ignore the issue. A large area in north-east China had been occupied illegally, and small states wanted to see the League act against the aggression of a great power.

2.1 The Lytton Commission

In December 1931, when it became clear that Japan had no intention of evacuating its troops from Manchuria, the League decided to establish a commission to investigate the incident. The commission was led by Lord Victor Lytton and is now known as the Lytton Commission. They took until February 1932 to travel to the Far East, which gave Japan enough time to secure its control over the region. By March, the puppet state of Manchukuo had been established. Lytton took until September 1932 to finish his report on the situation in Manchuria.The Lytton Report concluded that a discussion about the future of Manchuria should follow after the crisis had been resolved. It laid the blame on both China and Japan; China for spreading anti-Japanese propaganda and Japan for illegally invading Chinese territory. Lytton noted that most people living in Manchuria did not support Manchukuo and considered themselves to be Chinese. He therefore concluded that Manchuria should be an independent region of the Chinese state. The League's Assembly voted 42 to 1 in favour of the Lytton Report's recommendation to condemn Japan's act of aggression in Manchuria. As a result of this vote, Japan announced in March 1933 that it was leaving the League.

Tensions between China and Japan continued to grow until 1937, when Japan launched further hostilities against China that resulted in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which is often seen as one of the precursors of World War II in the east. In the end, the Lytton Report accomplished little apart from exposing the weaknesses of the League of Nations. No meaningful sanctions followed the report, and the League could do little else to resolve the issue. It had no army of its own to force Japan out of Manchuria, and moral disapproval simply didn't accomplish much. The Lytton Report also lost some credibility because it seemed to favour the Japanese position and did not recommend strong enough action against Japan. The Abyssinian Crisis1. Italy's Imperial Ambitions

In 1922, Italian journalist and politician Benito Mussolini led the March on Rome and seized control of the Italian government. King Victor Emmanuel III subsequently named him prime minister. Mussolini had grand ambitions for Italy; he wanted to revive the glory of the Roman Empire and make Italy "great, respected and feared". This, of course, meant expanding Italian territories beyond national borders. A greater empire would provide valuable raw materials to boost Italy's economy and industry, space for the growing Italian population, and the prestige that comes from having a large empire.

Like Japan, Italy was a member of the Council of the League of Nations and was a notable imperial power even before Mussolini became dictator. Italy had annexed parts of Eritrea and Somalia during the Scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, but was nowhere close to the extent of the British and French Empires. In an attempt to expand its empire, Italy had fought an unofficial war against Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) between 1887 and 1896, but was defeated and forced to surrender. The humiliating defeat at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 remained a sore point for Italy for years to come.

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) is known as the founder of fascism, a far-right political ideology which stresses ultra-nationalism, dictatorial power, and suppression of opposition. His March on Rome inspired the rise of fascist movements across the world and was a significant contributor to the rise of dictatorships after World War I.

Hitler and Mussolini developed a close working relationship. In 1940, Mussolini led Italy into World War II as part of the Axis powers with Germany and Japan. He was removed from the government via a vote of no confidence in 1943 and executed by firing squad in 1945.

2. The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia

Hostilities between Italy and Abyssinia continued after 1896, in part because Italian territory in Somalia bordered on Ethiopia and that border was disputed by both parties. Once Mussolini became prime minister in 1922, Italy's ambitions in Ethiopia were renewed. In 1934, a skirmish took place at the border post at Walwal in which 30 Italians and 90 Abyssinians died. Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie denounced Italian aggression, while Mussolini demanded compensation for the Italian casualties and a formal apology. In January 1935, Ethiopia appealed to the League for arbitration, but the League did nothing. As tensions increased, other great powers started to get involved, but they did so without reference to the League or its procedures. Their goal was to build an alliance with Mussolini as protection against the threat posed by Hitler and Nazi Germany. Britain decided to remove its fleet from the Mediterranean Sea, which cleared the way for Italy to Ethiopia. In February 1935, Mussolini mobilised and sent troops into Abyssinia. Shortly after, in March 1935, Abyssinia again requested the League's intervention but to no avail. Italy continued to send troops to the region and Abyssinia had to request League intervention a third time.

3. The League's Response

The League eventually held a special session to discuss the Abyssinian Crisis in May 1935. The decision was made to condemn Italy's act of unprovoked aggression and impose economic sanctions. The sanctions prevented the sale of weapons and arms to both Italy and Ethiopia, and cut credit to the Italian government and banks. However, Italy's economy emerged unscathed, because oil and coal (both essential for running the war) were not included in the sanctions. Britain left the Suez Canal open for the Italian fleet, which allowed Italy to continue sending supplies to its army. In September 1935, the League announced that it would hold neither Italy nor Ethiopia accountable for the Walwal incident. Thus, in October 1935, Italy invaded Abyssinia, prompting Abyssinia to declare war on Italy and triggering the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

4. The Hoare-Laval Pact

In December 1935, British Foreign Secretary Samuel Hoare and French Prime Minister Pierre Laval met with Mussolini in secret to discuss how to end the war. They drew up a plan to make a peace agreement that would cede two-thirds of Ethiopia to Italy, and in return give Ethiopia a small piece of land in Somalia so that they could have access to the ocean; this was done without the input of Abyssinian representatives.

The Hoare-Laval Pact was not supposed to be public knowledge, but the British press got hold of it. The subsequent public outcry condemned the plan to give Abyssinia to Italy, and both Hoare and Laval were forced to resign from their posts. Support for the League of Nations was considerable among the public, and the secret agreement created the impression that neither France nor Britain were serious about upholding the League's principles. The Pact was never enforced.4.1 Further Italian aggression in Abyssinia

Given the League's ineffective attempts at intervention, Italy remained undeterred and in January 1936 launched a fresh attack. This time they employed mustard gas, which gave them an advantage over the Abyssinians and allowed them to make greater progress. The League considered an embargo on oil, but France rejected the proposal. At this point, Europe was becoming ever more concerned with Hitler, who had openly stated that Germany was rearming and remilitarising the Rhineland, and therefore less concerned with whatever Italy was doing in Africa. In May 1936, Italy took the capital of Abyssinia, Addis Ababa.

In June 1936, Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie travelled to Geneva to address the League. His outrage over the use of chemical weapons against his people was communicated to the world, but League members had lost interest in imposing sanctions against Italy and did not want to antagonise Italy further lest a war with Germany break out. In July, sanctions were completely abandoned. In December 1937, Mussolini withdrew Italy from the League of Nations.

5. Consequences

The Abyssinian Crisis was the only time the League took large-scale action in the form of economic sanctions against one of its member states. However, the European states were so anxious about Germany's rearmament that they would do just about anything to maintain a good relationship with Mussolini; it was this anxiety in part that prompted the Hoare-Laval Pact. As a result, Britain and France had an inconsistent policy regarding the League, sometimes working within its structures and sometimes trying to bypass it. This made them look weak and confused to Mussolini.

Other members of the League saw that it was unable to prevent the complete destruction of Abyssinia, itself a member of the League, and therefore felt they could no longer trust the League of Nations. After this, the League and its goal of collective security became less and less relevant as members were more concerned with their own security and managing Germany's rapid remilitarisation.

Historians argue that the Abyssinian Crisis and the Hoare-Laval Pact were the events that finally marked the end of the League of Nations(opens in a new tab); it would never recover from its failure to prevent Italy from continuing its campaign in Abyssinia, and would soon after become redundant as World War II broke out in 1939.