Page 65, 4th question.

1A

4.

LEYENDA:

Añadir

Many say that Western Powers didn’t intervene into Japan’s expansion into China, yet some actions
indeed were taken. After the Mukden Incident, having reasons to believe that it was staged by the
Japanese to have an excuse to start their invasion into Manchuria, the League of Nations decided to set
up a Commission under Lord Lytton to investigate it. Yet, these were the only measures taken and the
question is, why the League of Nations did not take stronger action to deal with the Manchurian crisis?

In continuation, the motives because of which more serious actions throughout the Manchurian crises
weren’t taken, will be examined.

Firstly, international involvement was reduced due to the economic struggles of Great Depression. As
well, it strongly affected US, League of Nation’s biggest allies. MIS CONOCIMIENTOS, UNOS CUANTOS
NÚMEROS, As the source C states, “Those powers that had constructed and preserved the international system –
advanced industrial economics – were in the midst of a severe crisis. … The situation severely affected their
economic interactions, and thus the world economy as a whole … international co-operation, in other words, had
already begun to break down when the Manchurian Incident broke out.” Also, League’s stronger actions required a
support from the US, yet it was not forthcoming, as Japan’s was its biggest trading partner and, as the source A
states, US “made it clear it would not support any League action.”

Secondly, Nazism was taking power in Europe, and League’s Nations, composed by European powers (SPECIFY
WHICH), saw it as a bigger threat than Japan’s expansion to China. (CONOCIMIENTOS MÍOS) As the future Prime
minister of the Great Britain, Winston Churchill, states in the source B, “The League has great work to do in Europe
… there is no more use affronting Japan than there would be in ordering the Swiss and Czechoslovak navies to the
Yellow Sea”.

Thirdly, League’s Nations, already demonstrating symptoms of what in future would be considered as the causes of
the Cold War between democracies and communism, emphasised with Japan fighting with an expanding
communism in its borders.

Thirdly, League’s Nation considered Japan as an allies in the conflict with communism.
(CONOCIMIENTOS MÍOS) As Winston Churchill states in the source B, “On the one side they see the dark menace of
Soviet Russia. On the other the chaos of China, four of five provinces of which are now being tortured under
Communist rule.”

In conclusion, the Western powers' limited intervention in Japan's expansion into China was influenced by several
critical factors: the economic constraints imposed by the Great Depression, the focus on the rising threat of Nazism
in Europe, and the ideological battle against communism, which made them view Japan's actions with a degree of
leniency.

En segundo lugar, otro de los principales inconvenientes, sin lugar a duda, era la falta de recursos
militares en el Pacífico. Durante la década de los años 20, un seguido de políticas hizo latente la
necesidad de suavizar la tensión entre las potencias en la zona del Pacífico. Por ello, durante la
Conferencia de Washington, se acordó reducir el número de embarcaciones en la zona, con el tratado
de las Cinco potencias. Por eso, tal y como se menciona en la fuente A, la Royal Navy no contaba con los
suficientes recursos para forzar “un embargo comercial”. No obstante, también cabe destacar el punto
de vista que ofrece la fuente B, donde se puede apreciar como el Partido Conservador británico no era
partidario de intervenir en Asia. Además, la Sociedad de Naciones, consideraba indispensable que
Estados Unidos se uniera a la causa si se iba a forzar un contexto beligerante, tal y como se menciona en
la fuente A, su apoyo “era vital”. Pero estos, des del fin de la Gran Guerra y con más motivo después del
crac, se mantuvieron fieles a su política de aislamiento. Además, Japón resultaba para EEUU, un gran
aliado económico, mucho más que China, con quien intercambiaba materias primas.