DEPRESSION AND THREATS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND COLLECTIVE SECURITY:

1. DEPRESSION AND THREATS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND COLLECTIVE SECURITY: Manchuria 1931-3 and Abyssinia 1935-6

2. The impact of the Great Depression • The Great Depression is the single greatest reason for the collapse of international peace. • It led to aggression and the collapse of international co-operation. • The Manchurian crisis exposed both the L of N and collective security as hollow concepts.

3. Overview contd. • It brought Hitler to power and undermined the Geneva disarmament talks. • It weakened the UK and France. • This made it possible for Mussolini to engage in aggression in Africa ending hopes for preserving peace.

4. Impact of Depression on international relations. • The causes of the Great Depression are not the focus but how it influenced international relations. • The Great Depression had an impact on events in Manchuria and Abyssinia. • It also had an impact on the ability of the world to continue seeking peace and harmony.

5. The Great Depression • It was not caused by the Wall Street crash of 1929 this was a signal that it had arrived. • The roots can be found in the weakened states of many nations after WW1, in particular – Germany and the UK. • The turmoil in the USSR and Eastern Europe had further weakened trade and world markets. • The burden of war-debts, government deficits, and the political and social turmoil caused by WW1 all played a role.

6. Devastation • The Depression devastated the spirit of the world. • It resulted in a terrible struggle to survive by any means. • Nations were no longer willing to co-operate through trade and exchange.

7. Democratic states • Countries adopted a bomb-shelter mentality. • They cut off contact with their neighbors, raised tariffs and cared little for affairs outside of their own borders. • This insular attitude was worse in the democratic countries.

8. Insular Democracies • Citizens demanded that their govts give money to domestic problems and ignore the problems of the world. • No resources and energy should be wasted on international agreements or enforcing them. • Domestic hardship was to be the focus not armaments to control aggressive foreign states.

9. Aggressive states • Those who were driven to extremes of hardship saw war as a solution to their problems. • Japan’s attack on Manchuria was an example of this. • The Japanese argued that without Manchuria they would starve – it was every nation for himself.

10. Hitler • The great Depression, more than any other reason, brought Hitler to power. • His primary goal was the destruction the of Versailles settlement by whatever means. • His solution to economic weakness was to advocate Lebensraum – territorial expanses – to seize resources.

11. Great Depression – International Peace • It is important to understand the impact of the Depression on the efforts to maintain world peace. • It is the single greatest reason for the collapse of the previous efforts to develop international understanding and co-operation. • It destroyed the economic welfare of the world.

12. Destroyed Spirit • It also destroyed the optimism created by Locarno, Kellogg-Briand, the L of N and other attempts at international co-operation. • These progressive idealistic agreements were forgotten or ignored in the selfish, cynical world of the 1930’s. • Survival of the fittest was becoming the order of the day.

13. League Failure • The Depression created the reasons for aggression in the Manchurian crisis. • It also took away the ability and motivation of nations to work together to preserve the peace. • The League and its founding principle of collective security was exposed as a hollow idea unable to guarantee a peaceful future.

14. Weakness • The powers that had pledged to uphold collective security were now even less likely to stand behind it and had no desire to do so. • The Depression seriously weakened GB and France who had tried to defend Versailles and the precepts of the League. • Their weakness was exposed by the Manchurian crisis which encouraged Mussolini to attack Abyssinia which gave Hitler an ally in his desire for conquest.

15. Manchuria 1931 - 3 • A wide range of issues caused the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. • Japan had become the largest industrial power in Asia. • This growth and development was based on the success of her exports to the rest of the world.

16. Economy • Japan has few natural resources and because of her growth population could not feed herself. • She depended on the export of goods, primarily to the US, to maintain her prosperity. • The collapse of the US markets created enormous hardship in Japan with massive unemployment and starvation in rural areas.

17. Government • The disastrous economy led to a decline in the popularity of the liberal democrat government. • It led to demands of action by radical nationalist groups often made up of army officers. • They demanded the govt take action to protect the population from the failure of the liberal capitalist economic system.

18. Objective • The specific objective was to take over the Chinese province of Manchuria. • Manchuria held a vast wealth of natural resources of all kinds.

19. Decision • The decision to invade was made easy because Japan had made economic investments in the region since the Russo-Japanese War. • It had also kept troops in Port Arthur to protect her interests.

20. Expansion • As a result of the civil war in China, Manchuria had become its own autonomous province under a warlord. • Japan had been looking to expand into China and had increased her presence there under the T of V. • It had also increased its territory in concessions forced from a weak Chinese govt during WW1.

21. Military power • It made sense to invade Manchuria and posed very little risk. • Manchuria is very close to Japan and its colony Korea. (Japanese since 1910) • China was involved in civil war and offered no resistance.

22. Military might • Since the Washington Conference of 1922, Japan had military supremacy in E Asia. • None of the Great Powers had forces or bases in the region to oppose her. • The Depression had caused cuts in armaments spending in the West and the UK, France and the US were in no position to intervene.

23. Invasion • Japan invaded Manchuria claiming that her property and citizens had been attacked by Chinese troops. • This was completely fabricated by the radical nationalists to force the civilian govt to support military action. • The Chinese were defeated and in 1932, Japan created the puppet state of Manchukuo.

24. Collective Security • The invasion was a clear challenge to the principle of collective security and the League. • China was a member and asked for help against Japan. • The league sent officials to study the problem (this took a year.) • In Feb 1933 it ordered Japan to leave Manchuria. • Japan refused and instead left the league.

25. Legacy for the League • The Japanese withdrawal did not lead to the end of the L of N. • Japan and Manchuria were not important concerns of European powers. • No vital European interest had been at stake in Manchuria. • It did not threaten Europe.

26. Legacy contd. • The USA and the UK were not able to co-operate on a policy with respect to Manchuria. • Neither country wanted to take the lead. • This made it even less likely that any effective response could be mounted against the Japanese violation of the Covenant.

27. Appeasement • The UK and the USA had entered into a policy of appeasement . (Pg 69) • They hoped this would accommodate the demands of the revisionist powers. • In the hopes they would become less aggressive and not create conditions for another world conflict.