are the findings of the Lytton Commission, entrusted in 1931 by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

in an attempt to evaluate the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, ...

, which led to the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

's seizure of Manchuria. The five-member commission headed by British politician The Earl of Lytton announced its conclusions in October 1932. It stated that Japan was the aggressor, had wrongfully invaded Manchuria and that it should be returned to the Chinese. It also argued that the Japanese puppet state of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

should not be recognized, and recommended Manchurian autonomy under Chinese sovereignty. The League of Nations General Assembly adopted the report, and Japan quit the League. The recommendations went into effect after Japan surrendered in 1945.

The Commission

The Lytton Commission, headed by Lord Lytton, included four other members, one each from the US (Major General

Frank Ross McCoy Frank Ross McCoy (October 29, 1874 – June 4, 1954) was a United States Army officer. He served in the Philippines, during World War I, and led an American relief mission to Tokyo after the 1923 earthquake. He retired from military service in ...

), Germany (Dr.

Heinrich Schnee Heinrich Albert Schnee (Albert Hermann Heinrich Schnee; 4 February 1871 – 23 June 1949) was a German lawyer, colonial civil servant, politician, writer, and association official. He served as the last Governor of German East Africa. Early l ...

), Italy (

Luigi Aldrovandi Marescotti Luigi Aldrovandi Marescotti, Count of Viano, LLD, (5 October 1876 – 9 July 1945) was an Italian politician and diplomat. He was educated at the University of Bologna. Biography He graduated in Law in 1897 from the University of Bologna and ...

), and France (General

Henri Claudel Henri Edouard Claudel (13 January 1871 – 20 February 1956) was a French general. Early career and First World War Claudel became a lieutenant-colonel on 24 September 1911, before being assigned to the 3rd Senegalese Tirailleurs regiment on 2 ...

). The group spent six weeks in Manchuria in spring 1932 (despite having been sent in December 1931) on a fact-finding mission after they had met government leaders in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

and in Japan. It was hoped that the report would defuse the hostilities between Japan and China and thus help maintain peace and stability in the Far East.

Lytton Report

The Lytton Report contained an account of the situation in Manchuria before September 1931, when the

took place as the Japanese army (without authorization from the Japanese government) seized the large Chinese province of Manchuria. The Report described the unsatisfactory features of the Chinese administration and giving weight to the various claims and complaints of Japan. It then proceeded with a narrative of the events in Manchuria subsequent to September 18, 1931, based on the evidence of many participants and on that of eyewitnesses. It devoted particular attention to the origins and development of the State of

, which had already been proclaimed by the time the Commission reached Manchuria. It also covered the question of the economic interests of Japan both in Manchuria and China as a whole, and the nature and effects of the Chinese anti-Japanese boycott. Soviet Union interests in the region were also mentioned. Finally, the Commission submitted a study of the conditions to which, in its judgment, any satisfactory solution should conform, and made various proposals and suggestions as to how an agreement embodying these principles might be brought about. However, the report did not directly address one of its chief goals: the cause of the Mukden Incident. Instead, it simply stated the Japanese position (that the Chinese had been responsible), with no comment as to the truth or falsity of the Japanese claims. Although there was no doubt as to Japan's guilt among the five commission members, Claudel (the French delegate) insisted that Japan not be portrayed as the aggressor. In spite of care to preserve

impartiality Impartiality (also called evenhandedness or fair-mindedness) is a principle of justice holding that decisions should be based on objective criteria, rather than on the basis of bias, prejudice, or preferring the benefit to one person over another ...

between the conflicting views of China and Japan, the effect of the Report was regarded as a substantial vindication of the Chinese case on most fundamental issues. In particular, the Commission stated that the operations of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

following on the Mukden incident could not be regarded as legitimate

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force ...

. Regarding Manchukuo, the Report concluded that the new State could not have been formed without the presence of Japanese troops; that it had no general Chinese support; and that it was not part of a genuine and spontaneous independent movement. Still, the report held that both China and Japan had legitimate grievances. Japan, it states, took advantage of questionable rights, and China obstructed by the exercise of her undoubted rights. The Geneva correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" says: "The report, which was approved unanimously, proposes that China and Japan shall be given three months in which to accept or reject the recommendations. It is hoped that the parties will agree to direct negotiations." The "Daily Telegraph" French correspondent says: "The report insists on the withdrawal of Japanese troops within the South Manchuria railway zone, and recommends the establishment of an organisation under the sovereignty of China to deal with conditions in Manchuria, taking due account of the rights and interests of Japan, and the formation of a committee of negotiation for the application of these and other recommendations."

Consequences

In September 1932, even before the official announcement of the findings of the Lytton Report on October 2, 1932, was made public, the Japanese government extended official

diplomatic recognition Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accor ...

to the

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sover ...

of Manchukuo. When the findings of the Report were announced before the General Assembly of the League of Nations, and a motion was raised to condemn Japan as an aggressor in February 1933, the Japanese delegation led by ambassador Yosuke Matsuoka walked out. Japan gave formal notice of its withdrawal from the League of Nations on March 27, 1933. The United States announced the

Stimson Doctrine The Stimson Doctrine is the policy of nonrecognition of states created as a result of a war of aggression. The policy was implemented by the United States government, enunciated in a note of January 7, 1932, to the Empire of Japan and the Repub ...

, which warned Japan that areas gained by conquest would not be recognized.Frederick V. Field, "American Far Eastern Policy, 1931-1937." ''Pacific Affairs'' 10.4 (1937): 377-392
in JSTOR
/ref> In the end, the Lytton Report basically served to show the weaknesses of the League of Nations and its inability to enforce its decisions. The situation was complicated by the length of time it took for the Lytton Commission to prepare its report, during which time Japan was able to firmly secure its control over Manchuria and was thus able to reject the condemnation of the League with impunity.

References

External links

Full text of the report

Observations of Japan to the report (from p. 88, or 8 by file's numbering)end of Japan's observations and comments by China to those observations
* Discussion on the report in the Assembly of the League of Nations
Part 1Part 2

{{Authority control History of Manchuria 1931 in Japan 1931 in China League of Nations 1931 in international relations 1931 documents Foreign relations of Manchukuo

The Commission

Lytton Report

Consequences

References

Further reading

External links