The League of Nations was an international organization established in 1920 whose main goal was to maintain world peace and promote collective security. This was based on the idea that if one member of the League was invaded, the other countries would stand together against the aggressor. The League had many successes, including the settlement of the Aaland Islands conflict between Sweden and Finland, as well as failures, such as the Corfu incident between Greece and Italy. The main reason why Japan took over Manchuria was because they did not want to fall victim to it. to the vast European empires of the time and being conquered. Instead, it sought to put itself on par with major European nations such as Britain and France. As a result, he attempted to expand his empire and had already taken control of Korea in 1876. In 1931, Japan invaded a region in northeastern China: Manchuria. Manchuria was rich in resources and shared borders with Russia and Mongolia. With both Japan and China being members of the League, China looked to the League for support and collective security. However, 20th century China was a country in decline and was not considered a major country globally. In contrast, Japan was considered the most powerful member of the League in the Far East and a permanent member of the League serving on the League Council – which had full authority to make decisions, unlike China. There are several reasons why the League of Nations was unable to stop Japan from seizing Manchuria. First, most of the respected countries within the League were powerful European nations such as Britain, France, Italy, and Germany. Because the League did not have its own army, an army would be assembled from its member countries in the event of war. If the war was just a... middle of paper ... action against Japan's use of force and simply not being sure about going to war with Japan. Therefore, since these permanent members of the League had no interest in stopping Japan, the League did nothing. Additionally, powerful countries, including the United States and the USSR, were not part of the League, which significantly reduced the League's authority. Finally, the only action taken by the League – the Committee and the Lytton Report – bore no fruit and revealed the League's vulnerability to the world. As the Italian Prime Minister said: "The League does very well when the sparrows cry, but it is of no use when the eagles fight." During the 1920s, the League of Nations was successful in resolving minor disputes between relatively small countries. However, as the crisis in Manchuria involved Japan, a major power, the League was powerless against it and could not prevent Japan from taking control of Manchuria...