Manchuria and Abyssinia

Manchuria & Abyssinia

Manchuria and Abyssinia were two nations conquered in the early 1930s. The invasions of these two nations destroyed the world’s belief in the ability and strength of the League of Nations. The authority of the League of Nations was lost during these two major events. This was due to the slow and poor reactions of the league in both situations. The League made inadequate decisions to suppress the attacking nations and this showed the world that the small and less powerful nations could not expect protection by the League and it also gave the aggressors and leaders the proof they needed to know there wasn’t anything standing in their way. These two major triumphs of invasion, made obvious to the world that the League was not competent in fulfilling its’ main objectives, which were to keep peace in the world by solving conflicts between nations in peaceful ways, and to prevent such invasions.

JAPAN & MANCHURIA:

The peace of Japan was disturbed in the late 1850s by the arrival of the American navy
1868, “samurai warriors” seize control of Japanese government and are determined to make Japan as rich and powerful as Britain and the USA.
In the late 19th century, Japan has a strong economy, well established workforce and are able to build armaments as powerful as those in Europe and the USA.
Japanese government wanted an empire in Asia after defeating Russia in 1905
Japanese government decided to start building an empire in Manchuria
1920s, very powerful Japanese army, politicians had no more authority over soldiers
September 1931, Japanese claim that Chinese soldiers sabotaged the Manchurian railway in Korea - which Japan controlled
September 1931, Japan attacked Manchuria, war followed
In January-March 1932, Japan attacked and captured the city of Shanghai
By February 1932, Japan had fully invaded and conquered Manchuria
In April 1932, the League delegation, a group known as the Lytton Committee, arrived in Manchuria to whiteness what was happening
The League could not agree on sanctions and Britain and France were not willing to send an army
In October 1932 the League of Nations declared that Japan should leave and criticized Japan
In February 1933, the assembly of the League voted against Japan
Japan left the League of Nations in 1933, not accepting any more criticism
The Japanese stayed in Manchuria and in July 1937, the aggressor nation also invaded China.

Japan which was a member of the League of Nations invaded Manchuria. The League did not react for almost a year and when they did, their reaction against Japan was weak and did not fulfill the set aim of the League which is to make sanctions to an aggressor until the desired outcome (in this case it would be to force Japan to set Manchuria free) is reached. In response, a commission was sent by the League and then it was declared that Japan ought to leave. Japan left the League and stayed in Manchuria. Reasons for the League not taking action quickly against Japan involved the great distance, the problem was not European and Asia was so far that the European nations did not feel involved. The League of Nations could not send an army and it needed the USA’s support to impose sanctions. Concluding, the League made poor decisions and did not fulfill its’ mission. The League suffered a complete humiliation with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria as it showed it’s weakness and its’ inability to make the right decisions and sanctions in order to make peace in between nations around the world.

ITALY & ABYSSINIA:

Late 19th century, Italy attempted to conquer the African state of Abyssinia (Ethiopia today)
1896 Abyssinian army destroyed an Italian army at Adowa
Italy, resentful, wanted to take revenge
Early 1930s Italy was in the midst of the Depression
Mussolini wanted a successful war to strengthen his position and strengthen Italy, in order to make Italy a great mediterranean power, leading him to reconsider the conquest of Abyssinia
Mussolini was concerned by the rise of Hitler who was planning to dominate central Europe, he saw the conquest of Abyssinia as an effective counterweight to the growing power of Hitler
Italy wanted to invade Abyssinia to earn prestige and build a larger Empire.
Abyssinia was selected for two main reasons: As the revenge for their defeat in 1896 and because it was the only country in Africa which was not yet colonized by the great empires
December 1934, dispute about the border between Abyssinia and the Italian Somaliland broke out
January 1935, Haile Selassia, the emperor of Abyssinia, asked the League to intervene
Tense from the thought of the growing power of Hitler and the empowerment of Germany, France and Britain were eager to stop Italy joining forces with Germany.
In order to stop Mussolini from joining forces with Hitler, France and Britain were ready to give Italy support during their conquest in Africa
April 1935, Mussolini met the French and British prime ministers in the Italian town of Stresa. The powerful leaders denounced the German violations of the treaty of Versailles.
The Stresa front became the anti-German grouping of Italy, Britain and France.
The Stresa agreements were vague and only verbal, they included talks about keeping peace in Europe, Mussolini understood this suggested that France and Britain would not object to the Italian use of force outside Europe. Mussolini therefore believed that in return for supporting France and Britain in Europe, he was authorized to attack Abyssinia without any interference from these other great powers or the League.
In response to Haile Selassia’s demand, the League took action against the dispute and in July 1935, the League banned arms sales to Abyssinia and Italy
September 1935, the League appointed a five power committee to arbitrate the problems
October 1935, the League’s committee suggests that Italy should be given some of Abyssinian land
October 1935, Italy invades Abyssinia with great force, using poison gas and attacking Red Cross hospitals.
Britain and France refuse to intervene
December 1935, secret plans are revealed through news leaks about the Hoare Laval Pact which was a secret plan made by the foreign secretary of Britain (Hoare) and the Prime Minister of France (Laval). It involved the split of Abyssinia into two parts and italy would be given the richer part.
As the details of the pact were leaked to the press, there was an uproar in Britain as the people understood it as a surrender to Italian aggression.
The Hoare-Laval Pact was discarded and Horare was forced to resign
Following the failure of the pact, France and Britain took a tougher measures against Italy by banning the sales of oil and petrol to the country
May 1936, Italy had fully conquered Abyssinia and the bans of sales to Italy had no effect
The League had failed, on July 15th all sanctions against Italy were finalized.
After Abyssinia, British and French governments expected to reestablish good relations with Italy, as Mussolini was not happy by the way France and Britain carried out “double dealings”, he turned to Hitler who had not interfered with over Abyssinia.
January 1936 Mussolini thanked Hitler and stated he was in agreement with the increase in German control over Austria (which had been opposed by Italy in 1934)
The Stresa Front against Germany saw its’ ending

Italy conquered Abyssinia in 1935-6. During times of invasion, the Abyssinian emperor Haile Selassie, went to the League to seek help. The League banned arms sales which by the end did more harm to Abyssinia than to Italy. A League commission called offered a part of Abyssinia to Italy but Italy invaded all of Abyssinia anyway. Britain and France made a secret pact (Hoare Laval Pact) with Italy in order to give part of Abyssinia to the aggressing nation, becoming known the pact was dismissed. The Stresa front kept France and Britain from reacting robustly against Italy during the invasion of Abyssinia. Following the successful conquest of Abyssinia by Italy, Mussolini turned to Hitler and supported his ideas of the Austrian control.

The events which occurred in Manchuria and Abyssinia were key steps leading to the second World War. These two invasions gave proof of the weaknesses of the League and made evidence for the lack of authority of the organization. Collective security terms of the League failed and the powers and measured expected to be taken by the League were left aside, leading to the failures of the League of Nations.

Carolina M Rosso