Study this source. Source B 'Japan's occupation of Manchuria has exposed the League of Nations as powerless. The Lytton Commission spent an entire year inve...

This is a "what is the message" question worth [7 marks]. You must identify the message, support it with source details, and use your own knowledge.

Identifying the message [up to 3 marks]:

The message of this source is that the Manchurian Crisis proved the League of Nations was fundamentally powerless. The editorial argues that if a great power could simply ignore the League without facing consequences, then the organisation had no real purpose or authority.

Supporting with source details and own knowledge [up to 4 marks]:

• The source highlights the slowness of the League's response: the Lytton Commission "spent an entire year investigating" before condemning Japan. Japan invaded Manchuria in September 1931, but the Lytton Report was not published until October 1932 - over a year later. This delay allowed Japan to consolidate its control while the League deliberated.
• Japan suffered no real consequences: "Japan simply withdrew from the League and kept Manchuria." When the League Assembly voted to accept the Lytton Report in February 1933, Japan walked out and announced its withdrawal. This exposed the League's inability to enforce its decisions.
• The source notes that "no country was willing to send troops, and economic sanctions were never applied." This reveals the fundamental weakness of the League: it had no army of its own and depended on member states to act, but no state was willing to risk conflict with Japan over a distant territory.
• The rhetorical question "what purpose does the organisation serve?" captures the editorial's conclusion that the League was effectively useless against a determined great power.

Using own knowledge, the fact that this is an American newspaper is significant. The United States had never joined the League, and the editorial's criticism implicitly justifies America's decision to stay out. The crisis was also shaped by the context of the Great Depression: Britain and France, the League's leading members, were preoccupied with their own economic problems and unwilling to risk conflict in the Far East. The crisis set a dangerous precedent that encouraged Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 - if Japan could act with impunity, so could Italy.

Exam technique: For "message" questions, always look for rhetorical devices the author uses to reinforce their point. Here, the rhetorical question at the end is designed to make the reader agree that the League was pointless. Identifying these techniques and explaining their purpose shows the examiner you understand how sources work as pieces of communication, not just as factual records.