IGCSE History Exams

(a) Describe how Manchuria became a crisis for the League of Nations in 1933. [5] Answer

(b) Why did the League of Nations response to the Japanese invasion fail? [7] Answer

(c) How far did the Manchuria crisis show that the League of Nations itself was a failure? Explain your answer. [8] Answer

Suggested Answers

Question 3a [Back to Questions]

Again this tests your factual knowledge of a defined series of events. (Mason 30-1 is a good summary) In 1933 the League of Nations accepted the findings of the Lytton Report that had found Japan guilty of unlawful invasion of  Manchuria. As a consequence the League decided that Japan should return Manchuria to China. Japan refused and left the LoN. The origin of the crisis was the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 which led to the complete occupation of Manchuria by February 1932. Manchuria was a country of rich soils and mineral resources and consequently much prized by a Japan suffering the effects of the Great Depression. Japan was also run by a militarist government (see the cartoon) that wanted to build an empire and create a ‘buffer zone’ between itself and communist Russia.

Question 3b [Back to Questions]

The League of Nations response failed because its members were unwilling to honour the principle of ‘collective security’.  Having condemned Japan’s actions and having failed to persuade Japan to withdraw, the League should have used economic sanctions and if necessary military action. Britain and France (two most important members) were unwilling to impose economic sanctions during the Great Depression. Britain also feared that she would be unable to guarantee the security of her colonies in the Far East esp. Singapore. The one country that might have made a difference, the USA was following a policy of ‘isolationism’.

Question 3c [Back to Questions]

Again you need to produce a balanced mini-essay that answers the question directly as it is set. Clearly the Manchuria crisis had weakened the League and historical hindsight shows us Italy and Germany would learn that it paid to be aggressive. However, in the years before 1933 the League had also had successes that might have continued. Examples: Aaland Islands 1920, Greek Bulgarian War 1925, work of ILO, Refugee Committee, Disarmament Commision etc. It was not until after the Abyssinia crisis and Hitler’s expansionist foreign policy after 1936 that the League of Nations was really shown to be a failure. The eventual failure of the LoN only looks inevitable to historians with the power of hindsight.