IGCSE History M. Nichols BWIC 2007
THE MANCHURIAN CRISIS (1931-33)
CAUSES
In _____the Japanese army staged an incident at______, which gave it an excuse to take over the whole of Manchuria, a province of ______, which it then re-named______.
Why had the Japanese army invaded another country, against its own politicians’ orders? The reasons can be summarised as:
1. Japan was a small, overcrowded country with a population of ____ increasing at a rate of nearly a million a year. The Japanese needed more ______.
2. Manchuria was full of the natural resources that Japan lacked. These included ______from the forests; ______from the ground and lots of______for Japanese settlers.
3. Japan was an exporting nation. It had thus been hit hard by the______which had begun in______. It needed new______.
4. The Far East and Pacific area was full of European and American colonies: British, French, US, Portuguese and Dutch. Why should the Japanese also not have a bigger ______than it had already?
5. The ______was the most respected institution in Japan. Why shouldn’t it decide what to do in the nation’s interests?
6. The country to be attacked was suffering a ______and so would be an easy target.
7. Manchuria bordered with the______and Japan wanted a buffer zone between it and the giant communist dictatorship.
EFFECTS & IMPLICATIONS FOR THE LEAGUE
The Manchurian crisis was a disaster for the League. Even though the country whose province had been invaded by the Japanese was a ______of the League and protested strongly, the League could do little to help. This was because:
1. Great Britain and______, both ______members were more worried about offending the Japanese and so endangering their own colonies. And so were not willing to do anything to help.
2. The League did not have an ______to make get the Japanese out.
3. The League could not even impose economic ______as the Great Depression meant countries did not want to see their trade even further damaged.
4. Instead, the League commissioned a report led by Lord______. It reported back in February 1933. It heavily criticised the Japanese and called for their withdrawal, but they just ignored it and left the League instead in______. They then stayed in Manchuria.
The League of Nations had shown it could do very little against a ______aggressor. Even its strongest members could and would do nothing to help enforce the League’s ______.