Japanese forces enter Nanjing and begin a mass killing campaign

After the League rejected Japan’s claim to Manchuria, Tokyo notified the League that it would withdraw. The notice came two years after the invasion and signaled the limits of an institution unable or...

Italian forces crossed into Ethiopia from Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, beginning a war of conquest. Ethiopia, one of the League’s few African members, appealed for collective action, but...

After clashes and killings, Palestinian national committees called a general strike demanding an end to Jewish immigration and land transfers and the creation of a national government. The strike...

Emperor Haile Selassie addressed the League of Nations after Italy’s invasion and occupation of much of Ethiopia. He warned that abandoning collective security would place every small state at risk....

The military uprising began in Spanish Morocco and spread to mainland Spain. Franco’s Army of Africa, including Moroccan troops recruited under colonial rule, became central to the Nationalist...

The constitution of Ireland came into force, replacing the Free State framework and reducing the formal role of the British Crown. It followed a decade of political struggle to unwind provisions of...

Delegates from 32 countries met at Evian to discuss the growing refugee crisis after Nazi persecution and Germany’s annexation of Austria. Many expressed sympathy but refused to expand admission....

The British government announced a policy limiting Jewish immigration and land purchases in Palestine while promising eventual independence under conditions that Palestinian Arabs and Zionist...

The Viceroy announced India was at war with Germany on the same day Britain entered the conflict. Indian political leaders and the legislature had not been consulted. The decision exposed the limits...

Governor Félix Éboué and military commander Pierre Marchand declared Chad’s alignment with Charles de Gaulle’s Free French movement. Chad became its first African territorial base, and other French...