Responses to Japanese expansion
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Question
What was the Lytton Commission?
Answer
A League of Nations team that investigated the Manchurian crisis; its 1932 report (debated 1933) blamed Japan but called for no force.
Question
What did Japan do after the League adopted the Lytton Report?
Answer
Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933.
Question
What was the Stimson Doctrine (1932)?
Answer
The US policy of non-recognition — refusing to recognise territory gained by force, but taking no physical action.
Question
Why was the League powerless against Japan?
Answer
It had no army, its members were unwilling to risk trade through sanctions, and the USA and USSR were not members.
Question
What was the Xi'an Incident (1936)?
Answer
Chiang Kai-shek was kidnapped by his own generals and pressured to stop the civil war and unite against Japan.
Question
What was the Second United Front (1937)?
Answer
An uneasy GMD-CCP alliance to resist Japan's full-scale invasion that began in 1937.
Question
Why was China unable to resist Japan effectively before 1937?
Answer
It was divided by the warlord era and the GMD-CCP civil war, so no unified national defence existed.
Question
How did the US response to Japan escalate by 1941?
Answer
Growing aid to China plus embargoes (e.g. oil, scrap metal) raised US-Japan tension, leading toward Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Question
Compare the League's and the USA's responses to Manchuria.
Answer
Both relied on condemnation rather than force: the League issued the Lytton Report; the USA issued the Stimson non-recognition policy. Neither used military action.
Question
Correct sequence: Xi'an Incident and Second United Front?
Answer
Xi'an Incident (1936) came first, leading to the Second United Front (1937).
Question
In one line, why did responses to Japanese expansion fail?
Answer
Every responder — the League, China, and the USA — substituted words for force, so Japan paid no real price for its aggression.
Question
Paper 1 skill: what do 'evaluate the League's failure' questions require?
Answer
Explaining WHY the response failed and weighing it against other causes (China's division, US caution), then reaching a supported judgement — not just narrating events.
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Full study notes for Responses to Japanese expansion
Topic 3.1 hub
Japanese expansion in East Asia (1931–1941)
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