Our history teacher, Lenny Ambrosini, asked us to watch a video talking about the Manchurian Crisis. This is because, at the moment we are studying the League of Nations in the 30s.
How does the video open? What might the connection between the League and the opening scenes in Poland be?
I want to mention 2 things about the opening scenes. Firstly what we see, which is Poland being bombarding, which shows the failure of the League to maintain peace. Then, it starts by saying «The League of Nations had failed, (…) it failed to maintain peace» with this two things we know
What problems did Japan face? (Mention ALL of them)
Japan had suffered the most from the Depression in Usa. This was because it didn’t have many natural resources so they had to rely on internation countries for exporting goods and raw material. Also their population was growing and there wasn’t enough jobs to sustain the people nor food since there had been an agricultural failure. They entered their convulsive period of history which was that the politicians took a secondary role while the military were the real authorities and madde the decisions.
What was the role of the army in Japan?
The army was very influential, strong and powerful in Japan. They controlled the education system which meant that they could adapt their thought into the people since they were young. The administration to martial arts was compulsary from a very early age.
What did army leaders believe Japan needed?
The generals believed that the terrietorial gain of Eastern Asia would benefit the great empire of Japan.
What was the value of Manchuria?
Manchuria was rich in resources that the Japanese didnt have, but desperately needed for its economy. Japanese people also thought that chinese people were a sub-human raze, so it was a perfect way to weaken them and to be a step closer to their elimination.
What happened at Mudken?
Japan owned a railway in Mudken. Suddenly there was an explosion, which they accused the chinese for it. They said that it was neccesary for them to defend themselves and that the bomb was unacceptable. So they took the matter into their own hands and invaded Manchuria.
What did the League do about it?
China appalled to the League of Nations for help, who contacted the Japanese leaders and told them to withdraw. Japan’s army had other thoughs, and so the League send a member to right a report. It took about a year and their final decision was that Japan should leave Manchuria and that it should become a semi-independent country.
What was Japan’s reaction to the decision of the League?
Japan didn’t accept the League’s decision and decided to leave the League instead. This really showed how little authority and power the League had, and weakend its image greatly. They had lost a very important member, which would later become one of their enemies since they would join Germany on WW2.