Learn about the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and China and its aftermath
The invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese imperial army and subsequent refugee problem, September 1931; from The Second World War: Prelude to Conflict (1963), a documentary by Encyclopædia Britannica Educational Corporation.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Japan's answer to the economic blizzard of the depression was war.
First an invasion of Manchuria, and then China.
Japan had few natural resources and a rapidly increasing population. She determined to take the raw materials and "living space" that she wanted, by force [music out]. Western reaction was disheartening, the League of Nations protested, and President Hoover applied meaningless "moral sanctions." Not surprisingly, the Japanese ignored both the League, and Hoover. The campaign went well, and the militarists became the controlling factor in Japanese politics.
As usual, it was the ordinary people who paid the price [music in]. The orgy of burning, looting, and mass murder which accompanied the Japanese onslaught aroused anger and sympathy in the democracies, but no action.
This bloody war would drag on for 13 bitter years, and through it all moved the refugees. But the very poor and the helpless remained--too threatened, too frightened, or too helpless even to move.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: Japan's answer to the economic blizzard of the depression was war.
First an invasion of Manchuria, and then China.
Japan had few natural resources and a rapidly increasing population. She determined to take the raw materials and "living space" that she wanted, by force [music out]. Western reaction was disheartening, the League of Nations protested, and President Hoover applied meaningless "moral sanctions." Not surprisingly, the Japanese ignored both the League, and Hoover. The campaign went well, and the militarists became the controlling factor in Japanese politics.
As usual, it was the ordinary people who paid the price [music in]. The orgy of burning, looting, and mass murder which accompanied the Japanese onslaught aroused anger and sympathy in the democracies, but no action.
This bloody war would drag on for 13 bitter years, and through it all moved the refugees. But the very poor and the helpless remained--too threatened, too frightened, or too helpless even to move.
[Music out]