Editing Appeasement (section)

====Invasion of Manchuria====
{{main|Japanese invasion of Manchuria}}
In September 1931, the [[Empire of Japan]], a member of the League of Nations, invaded [[Manchuria]], in [[northeast China]], by claiming that the regional population was not only [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] but was multi-ethnic. The [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] appealed to the League of Nations and to the United States for assistance. The [[League of Nations Council]] asked the parties to withdraw to their original positions to permit a peaceful settlement. The United States reminded them of their duty under the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]] to settle matters peacefully. Japan was undeterred and went on to occupy the whole of Manchuria. The League set up a commission of inquiry that condemned Japan, and the League duly adopted the report in February 1933. In response, Japan resigned from the League and continued its advance into China, with neither the League nor the United States taking any action. However, the U.S. issued the [[Stimson Doctrine]] and refused to recognize Japan's conquest, which played a role in shifting U.S. policy to favour China over Japan during the late 1930s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clauss |first1=E. M. |title=The Roosevelt Administration and Manchukuo, 1933?1941 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1970.tb00380.x |journal=The Historian |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=595–611 |year=1970}}</ref> Some historians, such as [[David Thomson (historian)|David Thomson]], assert that the League's "inactivity and ineffectualness in the Far East lent every encouragement to European aggressors who planned similar acts of defiance".<ref>[[David Thomson (historian)|Thomson, David]] (1957) ''Europe Since Napoleon'', London: Longans Green & Co. p. 691</ref>