Nehru’s Word: League of Nations’ futility in face of proven wrongdoing

The on-going war between Russia and Ukraine and the apparent inability of the United Nations to play any meaningful role as peacekeeper or negotiator reminds one of the fate of its predecessor, the League of Nations, set up after the First World War to prevent armed conflict between countries. The problems that plague the UN today do not seem to be very different from those that afflicted the League of Nations, as can be seen from the following extracts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s letter written from prison to his daughter Indira on June 29, 1933, in which he describes how Japan was allowed to repeatedly attack China with the League and most of the Western powers looking on and refusing to intervene. It makes one wonder whether we learn anything from history!

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“Japan is an extraordinary example of a mixture of modem industrialism and medieval feudalism, of parliamentarism and autocracy and military control…. During the World War, as we have seen, Japan tried to bully China by her 21 demands. She did not get all she wanted, because of the outcry in America and Europe, but she got a great deal. For some years Japan held her hand. For it must always be remembered that there is little love lost between Japan and the United States of America….

The Washington Conference of 1922 was a blow to Japanese ambitions and a victory for American diplomacy. At this conference nine Powers, including Japan, pledged themselves to respect the integrity of China, which meant that Japan must give up all hopes of spreading out in China….

In 1931 the Japanese Government adopted an openly aggressive attitude in Manchuria. For this step was a distinct breach of the Nine-Power Treaty of 1922. It was also a breach of the League of Nations Covenant, for both China and Japan were members of the League, and, as such, could not attack each other without reference to the League. And, lastly, it was a clear breach of the Paris (or Kellogg) Pact of 1928 for the outlawry of war….

There was no open declaration of war, but nevertheless there was a Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The Chinese people were very angry at this. The Chinese Government protested and appealed to the League of Nations and the other Powers, but no one paid any attention to them….It is also probable that some Powers, and notably England, had a secret arrangement with Japan….

In January 1932 a Japanese army suddenly descended on Chinese soil near Shanghai, and perpetrated one of the most ghastly massacres of modern times….And then there appeared at Shanghai an odd army from the south — the 19th Route Army it was called….There were many boys of 14 and 16 serving in it; some were only 12-years-old. This ragged army decided to fight and hold the Japanese in defiance of Chiang Kai-Shek’s orders. For two weeks in January and February 1932 they fought without any help from the Nanking Government, and they fought with such remarkable heroism that the far stronger and better-equipped Japanese were, much to their surprise, held up….

The 19th Route Army made history and became famous the world over. Their defence upset Japanese plans, and as the Western Powers were also anxious about their interests in Shanghai, the Japanese troops were gradually withdrawn from the Shanghai area and shipped away. It is worth noting that these Western Powers were far more concerned with their financial or other interests than with odd massacres like the Chapei one, in which thousands of Chinese had been killed, or with the breach of solemn treaties and international covenants.

The League of Nations was repeatedly moved in the matter, but always it found some excuse for postponing action. The fact that an actual war was going on and thousands had been and were being killed was not a matter of urgency for the League. It was said that there was no real war because it had not been officially declared to be a war! The reputation and prestige of the League suffered greatly by this weakness and almost deliberate connivance at wrong-doing. The responsibility for this of course lay with some of the great Powers, and England especially adopted a pro-Japanese attitude in the League.

Ultimately the League appointed an international commission of inquiry into the Manchurian affair, under the chairmanship of Lord Lytton. This was readily agreed to by the Powers, as it meant postponing any decision for many months….

After many months of inquiry the Lytton Commission presented its report to the League of Nations. It was a careful, moderate, and judicially worded document, but it was dead against Japan. This upset the British Government very much, as they were bent on protecting Japan. The consideration of the matter was put off for several months again. At last, the question had to be faced by the League….

While the League was doing its best to avoid a decision, Japan took a new step. On New Year’s Day 1933, a Japanese army suddenly appeared in China proper and attacked the town of Shanhaikwan, which stands on the Chinese side of the Great Wall….

This fresh aggression and the New-Year-Day massacre woke up the League and, largely because of the insistence of the smaller powers, the League passed a resolution adopting the Lytton report and condemning Japan. The Japanese Government did not care in the least (for did it not know that some great Powers, including England, were backing it secretly?) and marched out of the League. Having resigned from the League, Japan quietly went on advancing on Peiping. It met with little or no resistance, and when the Japanese army almost reached the gates of Peiping, in May 1933, an armistice between China and Japan was announced. Japan had triumphed….

I have said a lot about this Manchurian affair. It is important because it affects the future of China. But it is more important still because it shows up the League of Nations and its utter ineffectiveness and futility in the face of proved international wrong-doing. It also shows up the duplicity of the big European Powers and their intrigues. In this particular matter America (not a member of the League) tried to take up a strong attitude against Japan and almost drifted into war with her. But then the secret support that England and other Powers gave to Japan nullified America’s attitude, and, fearing isolation against Japan, America became more cautious.

The League piously condemned Japan but did nothing to follow this up. The puppet State of Manchukuo was not to be recognized by the League members, but this non-recognition became little more than a farce.

(Selected and edited by Mridula Mukherjee, former Professor of History at JNU and former Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library).