In 1932, Japan annexed an area in China; the League of Nations did nothing. What is this crisis called?

• A. Manchurian Crisis
• B. Sino-Japanese War
• C. Rape of Nanking
• D. Pearl Harbor

Answer: (A)

The event tests understanding of how aggressive moves in the early 20th century exposed the weaknesses of collective security. In 1932 Japan took control of Manchuria, setting up a puppet state, after the Mukden Incident, and the League of Nations failed to halt or reverse this aggression. This is why it’s called the Manchurian Crisis—the moment when international bodies proved unable to effectively check expansion by a major power.

This isn’t the Sino-Japanese War, which began later in 1937 with broader fighting across China; nor the Rape of Nanking, which refers to the 1937–38 massacre in Nanking; nor Pearl Harbor, the 1941 attack that brought the United States into World War II.