3. Japanese expansion: International response 1931 - 1941
As you have seen from the previous pages, the League of Nations' response to the invasion of Manchuria was ineffective and the key Chinese response only came in December 1936 with the formation of the Second United Front to resist Japan. As the war in Asia developed the US policy of isolationism shifted and it applied sanctions on Japan. Ultimately, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor drew a direct declaration of war from President F D Roosevelt in December 1941.
Guiding questions:
- How did the League of Nations respond to the Mukden Incident September 1931?
- What was the Lytton Report and what were its effects?
- How did the US respond to the Manchurian crisis?
- How did the political situation in China develop in response to Japanese expansion?
- What was the response of the US to events in China up to 1938?
- Why did US policy towards Japan change after 1938?
- What was the US response to the attack on Pearl Harbor?
Japan's action in the Mukden Incident was the first significant challenge by a major power to the new international system that had been set up in Europe after the First World War. This system was based on the idea of collective security - that states would work together to deal with aggression. The League of Nations, as well as the various treaties signed in the 1920s such as the Washington Conference System, the Nine-Power Treaty and the Kellogg-Briand Pact, all reinforced the idea of co-operating internationally to minimise the threats to international peace.
Read the articles of the Covenant of the League of Nations which can be found here.
Look carefully at Articles 10 to 15 in particular.
- According to these articles, what actions could the League take against aggression?
- Discuss in pairs how effective you think each of these might be in dealing with aggression.
After the Mukden incident, China as a member state appealed to the League of Nations to take action against Japan in line with Article 16 of the Covenant. However, the League acted cautiously.
- Several meetings were held to discuss what action should be taken. Meanwhile the Kwantung army continued to consolidate its control in Manchuria - defying the League's request to withdraw Japanese troops
- The League then decided to send a fact-finding commission led by Lord Lytton to Manchuria; the Commission took several months to reach Manchuria
- By the time Lytton arrived in the territory, Japan had declared the state of Manchukuo in March 1932; The Japanese claimed that the Manchurians had desired independence from China and were now free from Chinese domination
David Low cartoon. January 1933.
Questions:
- What does the cartoon above suggest about the League of Nations' response to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria?
- In pairs discuss the initial response of the League of Nations to the Mukden Incident and how this cautious approach may have encouraged the consolidation of Japanese control in Manchuria.
Lord Lytton's commission took several months to complete its report on the situation and it was a year before its findings were published.
It stated the following:
- Japan did in fact have special interests in Manchuria but the use of force by the army, and its takeover of the whole of Manchuria, was unacceptable and unjustified.
- Japan should give up the territory and withdraw its forces.
- Manchukuo was not an independent state and could not be recognized as such.
- Manchuria should become independent but under Chinese sovereignty.
- The problem of Manchuria could only be solved by an improvement in Sino-Japanese relations.
The League recommended that after Japan’s withdrawal of troops to the railway zone, the two countries should negotiate a non-aggression pact and a trade agreement.
Issues with the report and Japan's response
The League's recommendations ignored the fact that Japan wanted Manchuria and was not prepared to compromise. As a result:
- Japan declared that the League’s members were hypocritical in their stance towards Japanese actions in China pointing out that the British and French had used force and war to establish enclaves in China.
- Japan did not accept the report and withdrew from the League in protest in March 1933.
However, no further action was taken against Japan because:
- France felt that it had no real reason to alienate Japan as the French were a colonial power in Indo-China. It also had much to gain from a weakened China.
- Britain was also cautious as it was unwilling to act when its own interests were not at stake. It also lacked the military means to resist Japan.
- Britain and France were suffering from the economic effects of the Great Depression which made them hesitant to spend resources on either economic or military actions.
- Britain in particular feared the spread of communism and this meant that Japan was viewed as an ally in containing communist Russia in the Far East.
Results of the League's response to the Manchurian Crisis
Historian Richard J Overy writes: 'In 1933 Japan left the League and effectively removed the Far East from the system of collective security'
The failure of the League to respond to the Manchurian incident meant that Japan was able to continue with its expansion.
The exposure of the League's weakness may also have contributed to Mussolini’s decision to invade Abyssinia in 1935.
The main foreign policy concern for the US in the 1930s was to stay out of international crises and to pursue its own interests - a policy known as 'isolationism'. This was because:
- Following the First World War, many in the US did not want to get dragged into disputes which did not directly affect them.
- The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and economic crisis reinforced the US’ concentration on its own issues.
From 'Move to Global War' OUP by Keely Rogers and Jo Thomas, pg 70
The response of the US government to the Manchurian Crisis and the creation of Manchukuo was to issue a non-recognition doctrine on 7 January, 1932 (also called the Stimson Doctrine after Secretary of State Henry Stimson).
- The US declared that it would not recognize any agreement that violated China’s territorial or administrative integrity or that went against the 'open door' policy or the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
- This non-recognition doctrine allowed US President Herbert Hoover to uphold international law but also to avoid committing to economic sanctions.
Why did the US not act after the invasion of Manchuria?
- US interests and security were not directly threatened by the Manchurian incident.
- The US also lacked a credible naval force in the Pacific as Congress had refused funds to develop it.
- It had trade and investment interests in Japan which it did not want to jeopardize (far more important trade ties than with the much larger Chinese Republic).
- Some in the US believed that Japanese control would be more stable for business - China was unstable and its government engaged in a civil war with the communists.
Read the following statement which was written by the Japanese government in response to the Lytton Commission's Report.
- What response does it give to each of the recommendations (see above)?
- What is the tone of this response?
The civil war had been raging between the Guomindang (GMD) Nationalist government and the Chinese communist party (CCP) since 1927. Leader of the GMD, Jiang Jieshi had wanted to focus on destroying the communists within China before dealing with the threat posed by Japan. However, after the Tanguu Truce in 1933, this position was increasingly unpopular even within the GMD itself. There was an uprising among GMD troops in Fujian and protests broke out including a major demonstration against the policy in Beijing in 1935.
- In December 1936, Jiang was kidnapped by troops acting under the orders of General Zhang Xue-liang, the Manchurian warlord
- The leaders of the Communist Party in China (CCP) were involved in negotiations over Jiang’s release
- Jiang was forced to change his policy of attacking the Communists first before the Japanese.
- The Second United Front was formed between the GMD and the CCP in order to fight a 'war of national resistance'.
You will need to organise your class for a conference that has been called in 1937 following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident to discuss the Sino-Japanese war and its implications for international security.
Can Japan be stopped?
Key players and interested parties are attending this conference; these people are listed below.
You will be given one of the people below who is attending and your task is to:
- review the events leading up to 1937 and how would they have impacted on your character and/or the institution/country that your character represents
- write a speech setting out the views of your character regarding the situation in 1937 (give details of how events have impacted on you) and your views on what should happen regarding Japan e.g. should there be international action against Japan? If so, what kind of action?
The Characters
- General Tojo of the Kwantung Army
- Prince Konoye
- A Japanese citizen
- A Chinese citizen
- US government representative in favour of US isolationism
- US government representative in favour of US intervention
- Jiang Jieshi (leader of GMD)
- A representative of the League of Nations
- A member of the British government
This will be a formal debate. Each character will be given the opportunity to speak.
Any students in the class who do not have a specific character should ask each character questions.
One student will need to chair the conference and to summarise the conclusions of the conference at the end.
After the Marco Polo Bridge incident when a full scale war developed against Japan, Jiang announced that 'If we allow one inch more of our territory to be lost, we shall be guilty of an unpardonable crime against our race.' Communist leader Mao Zedong also declared a policy of 'total resistance by the whole nation'.
Despite the establishment of the Second United Front, the war went badly for the Chinese. By 1938, Beijing, Shanghai, Ghangzhou and Nanjing had all fallen to Japan and the GMD government had to withdraw their capital to Chongqing.
- From the start of 1939, the war entered a new phase with unprecedented defeats of the Japanese in key battles
- China then launched its first major counter-offensive, but due to its limited military industries and lack of experience in modern warfare this was halted by the Japanese.
- Jiang had lost his best troops before this point in the Battle of Shanghai and did not launch further major offensives
- Nevertheless, from 1940 the Japanese had huge difficulty controlling and administrating the territories it had taken.
- Japanese attempts to set up 'puppet regimes' such as Wang Jingwei's were unpopular and limited
- The Japanese did manage to recruit a large Collaborationist Chinese Army which was used for security in occupied territories.
In pairs investigate the successes of the Chinese in battles from 1939. Discuss the key events in the Sino-Japanese war up to 1940 and the extent to which the Chinese 'war of national resistance' was effective.
Franklin D Roosevelt became US president in March 1933:
- He continued with the same limited response to Japan.
- He was focused on the domestic economic crisis and getting through his 'New Deal' policies
- US attention was also on Hitler’s policies in Europe
- The US continued to export strategic materials to Japan
- After 1937 US interests in China were beginning to be threatened by Japanese expansion
Although Roosevelt and the US media were sympathetic to China, and the President gave financial aid to the Chinese government, he refused ten appeals from Britain to offer joint mediation in the Sino-Japanese war. Roosevelt was limited by US Neutrality Acts and the isolationist lobby in Congress. Even when a crisis developed following the sinking of the US gunboat, the Panay, on 12 December 1937 the US accepted a swift apology and compensation from Japan.
Popular opinion supported isolation and no sanctions were imposed on Japan. US trade was a key factor supporting the Japanese war effort.
Watch this newsreel on the sinking of the USS Panay. Discuss with a partner how the incident was reported in this media clip
Roosevelt had begun to use his Presidential powers to get around applying the Neutrality Acts to China and to give more support to the Nationalists from 1938.
There were several reasons for this change of approach:
The US was worried that if it did not give enough aid to Jiang, the Soviets would increase their support for the Nationalists
US public opinion began to swing in favour of Roosevelt's campaign to end the Neutrality Laws
Japan had taken advantage of the defeat of European countries to take over Dutch and French colonies in South East Asia. In June 1940, Japan proposed its vision for a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere under the leadership of Japan (see below). There was growing concern in the US regarding this new 'order' especially as Japan had suggested to Jiang that China could join this new order
In September 1940, Japan entered into the Tripartite Pact with the Fascist powers Germany and Italy. This stated that if Japan, Germany or Italy was attacked by any third power not then engaged in the European war or the China War, the other two Axis powers would aid the victim of the attack. This convinced many Americans that the war in Europe and the war in Asia were the same war.
- In January 1939 “a moral embargo” was placed on planes and aviation parts sales
- In February 1939 credit to Japan was stopped.
- In July 1939 a long-standing trade agreement with Japan was suspended.
- In June 1940 a partial trade embargo on aviation and motor fuel and high-grade melting scrap was imposed.
- Between 1940 and 1941 the US gave millions of dollars of aid to China.
- In October 1941 the US agreed more loans to China
- By June 1941 100 P-40 US fighter planes were sent to the depleted Chinese air force.
- In July 1941, after Japan moved south, the US froze all Japanese assets.
- 1st August the US imposed an embargo on oil to Japan
- In November a trade embargo was imposed
Why was the oil embargo significant?
Japan was dependent on imported oil from the US and the embargo created a crisis for the Japanese government. Without oil Japan could not continue its war in China.
As you have seen, if its oil reserves ran out, Japan would be unable to continue the war in China.
There followed negotiations and a diplomatic mission to the US. However, talks stalled over the fact that the US insisted that Japan withdraw from China.
Japan may have agreed to a withdrawal from southern Indo-China, but could not agree to removing its forces from China.
The official outline of the proposed basis for agreement between the US and Japan, also known as the Hull note, was the final proposal delivered by the government to the Empire of Japan before the attack on Pearl Harbor on 26 November 1941.
Task
In pairs read the proposals in the Hull note here.
- Discuss the extent to which it repeats previous US demands for Japan to withdraw from China and French Indo-China.
- The US had received intelligence by this time that Japan was preparing for an invasion of Thailand - does this context suggest that the proposals were genuinely attempting to secure peace in the region?
In order to get the resources they needed the Japanese decided that a war of conquest was necessary. The attack on Pearl Harbor united the US public for war against Japan. Congress agreed to Roosevelt’s request for a Declaration of War on 8 December with only one dissenting vote.
The attack on Pearl Harbour sank and disabled nineteen ship, destroyed 150 planes and killed 2400 Americans. The same day the Japanese attacked the Philippines, Guam, Midway Island, Hong Kong and the Malay Peninsula. However, the attack failed to achieve its aim of knocking the US out of the war and destroying its superiority in the Pacific. This was because
- the aircraft carriers were out at sea on a training exercise
- the crucial onshore factories and oil tanks that supplied the fleet were not attacked
In addition, the attack on America ended the debate over isolationism, united the American public and brought America into the war. However, the US was immediately drawn into a war on two fronts with a military that was at that moment ill-equipped to meet such challenges. Nevertheless, the huge resources of the US and the successful conversion to a war economy meant that the US would play a key role in final Allied victory.
Some revisionist historians, such as John Toland, have claimed that Roosevelt knew about the Japanese plans to bomb Pearl Harbour and did nothing to stop it knowing that such an event would galvanize the American public and force the US to enter the war.
However, Patrick Maney states, 'No persuasive evidence has ever surfaced to suggest that, as some people suspected, Roosevelt knew in advance of the attack on Pearl Harbour' (The Roosevelt Presence: The Life and Legacy of FDR, 1992).
Watch Roosevelt's speech in which he asks Congress to declare war.
A transcript of the speech can be found here
Discuss the language and tone of this speech.