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Manchuria (1931-33) and abyssinia (1935-36)

Manchuria (1931-33) and abyssinia (1935-36). Japan. Puyi – Last Emperor of China, Emperor of Manchukuo. The Dispute:

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Manchuria (1931-33) and abyssinia (1935-36)

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  1. Manchuria (1931-33)andabyssinia (1935-36)

  2. Japan

  3. Puyi – Last Emperor of China, Emperor of Manchukuo

  4. The Dispute: In 1932, the Japanese army invaded Manchuria and  threw out the Chinese.   They set up their own government there and called it Manchoukuo. China asked the League to help.   What the League did: The League sent a group of officials led by Lord Lytton to study the problem (this took a year). In February 1933 it ordered Japan to leave Manchuria. What happened: Japan refused to leave Manchuria. Instead, Japan left the League. Many countries had important trading links with Japan. The League could not agree on sanctions or even a ban on weapons sales. Britain and France did not want a war, so nothing was done. The Japanese stayed in Manchuria. The League had failed.   JAPANESE INVASION

  5. 1935-1936 Turning Point: League of Nations Italian Foreign Policy ABYSSINIAN WAR

  6. Haile Selassie

  7. His Imperial Majesty,Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God, Emperor of Ethiopia.

  8. Hitler was becoming increasingly aggressive in international politics • Withdrew from League of Nations (1933) • Collapse of Geneva disarmament talks • Re-armament policies • Mussolini at this time needed to counter-balance Germany • Met with France & Britain and signed the Stresa Front Accords 1935 (to resist German attempts at revising Versailles) • Mussolini thought they would support his colonial ambitions in return for his support against Hitler BACKGROUND CONDITIONS

  9. 2 1

  10. Mussolini needed to look for increased power and importance elsewhere • Fascist national pride and strength • Dreams of a new Roman Empire • Increased resources and markets • Increased territory for Italian population Con’t…

  11. 1 2

  12. Mussolini invaded Abyssinia in order to divert the Italian people’s attention away from the problems at home • Dennis Mack Smith • The invasion was an outgrowth of fascism itself, its need to fight and win battles • (Intentionalist school of thought) Martin Blinkhorn HISTORIOGRAPHY MOMENT

  13. “unclaimed” territory in Africa (available) Located next to 2 Italian colonies (convenient) Failed to conquer the area in 1896 (revenge) Return to a Roman Empire in North Africa Believed there were oil deposits Stresa Front Accords conceded Abyssinia within the Italian Sphere of influence WHY ABYSSINIA?

  14. December 1934 - Italian troops provoke a clash at WalWal(border skirmish between Abyssinia & Italian Somaliland) • The incident was referred to the League for arbitration (report Sept. 1935 – no clear conclusion) • October 1935 - Italian invasion begins (tanks & planes!) • Nov 18 – 51 states voted to impose economic sanctions against ItalyBUT • NOT oil and steel (strategic materials) • Suez Canal remained open • Japan, Germany & US were not bound by the sanctions Timeline of Events

  15. What could they do?? • Uphold the sanctions (and the League) • Placate Italy to maintain an ally against Hitler • What DID they do?? • Hoare-Laval Pact (SECRET compromise) • GIVE Mussolini 2/3 of Abyssinia • Plan was abandoned when the public reacted negatively • They would NOT resort to force FRANCE & BRITAIN

  16. May 1936 Abyssinia was taken over by Italy Exposed the League of Nations (and Collective Security) as ‘Hollow’ UK and France would denounce aggressors but not prevent actions *(Hitler invades Rhineland) Showed Mussolini that the UK and France did not support his colonial ambitions. The Stresa Front collapses Hitler & Mussolini sight Rome-Berlin Axis 1936 Italy withdraws from the League of Nations 1937 So…….

  17. FAILURE OF COLLECTIVE SECURITY THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

  18. Emperor Sellasie’s appeal http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/selassie.htm

  19. The League died in 1935. One day it was a powerful body imposing sanctions, the next day it was a useless fraud, everybody running away from it as quickly as possible.   Hitler watched. AJP Taylor (1966) Manchuria demonstrated that the league was toothless.   However, the blow to the League was not a mortal one and the decisive test came two years later in the Abyssinian crisis...   The Abyssinian crisis delivered a death blow to the League.   It was already weakened by the departure of Japan in March 1933 and Germany in October.   Italy left in 1937.   While Britain and France were distracted, Hitler made his first major territorial move, sending a force of 22,000 men into the demilitarised Rhineland. AP Adamthwaite (1977)

  20. GENEVA THE DOORMAT JAPAN MANCHURIAN CRISIS 1931-1932

  21. Effects of the Manchurian and Abyssinian Crises 'The Doormat' - David Low This cartoon by the British cartoonist David Low attacks the weakness of the League in the face of Japan. A Japanese soldier walks all over the League, while League officials bow to him and the British foreign secretary John Simon powders the League's nose using a 'face-saving kit'. It is as important that you know the effect the two crises had on the League, as it is that you know the story of the events themselves: • It became clear that if a strong nation was prepared to ignore the League, the League could do nothing about it. • The League's delays and slowness made it look scared. • Sanctions were shown to be useless. • Everybody realised that Britain and France were not prepared to use force. • The four major powers - Japan, Italy, Britain and France - all betrayed the League. • Smaller nations realised that the League could not and would not protect them. • Britain and France decided that the League was useless to stop war, and followed instead the policy of appeasement. • Hitler was encouraged to move ahead with his plans.

  22. MAP OF THE WESTERN FRONT WESTERN CIVILIZATION

  23. league

  24. Extract from "Journal of Negro History": "Oil has been revealed as one of the chief villains of the Ethiopian drama. Mussolini is not fighting for a desert waste. On August 31, 1935, the public was astounded by the news of the Rickett concession, whereby vast oil areas were sold to Anglo-American interests by Ethiopia. Francis M. Rickett, a British promoter, communicated to the Associated Press that Emperor Haile Selassie, seeking to stop an expected Italian advance into Ethiopia, deeded more than half his empire to Anglo-American interests for exploitation and development. The grant embraced an area of 150,000 square miles to the Standard Oil Company and British industrial interests under a 75-year charter....." [p.168] http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/group/league-nations-italy-and-abyssinia

  25. An embarrassing moment for the man at the door.

  26. Notes Both Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Italy were members of the League of Nations, based in Geneva. When Italy invaded Abyssinia in 1935, she contravened the covenant of the League of Nations, which pledged non-aggression. The League's reaction was weak. Sanctions were imposed but these sanctions excluded an oil embargo, the only sanction which would truly have damaged the Italian war effort. Moreover, Britain and France undermined the League's activities by pursuing independent alliances with Mussolini out of vested interests. The Ethiopian Emperor, HaileSelassie, spent five years in exile in England, from 1936 to 1941, following the conquest of Addis Ababa by the Italians. All League sanctions against Italy were dropped following this conquest, and no further action was taken. Italy withdrew from the League in December 1937.

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