Download 7_Italy and Abyssinia_ Failure of the League

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7. Reading - Italy & Abyssinia; Failure of the League
M G Callagher
Focus Questions
1. What were Italy’s motivations for invading Abyssinia?
2. How did the League of Nations and individual member nations
respond to the crisis?
3. How did the invasion ultimately contribute to the collapse of
Collective Security?
You should increase your awareness that there are many factors for
nations to consider when making decisions involving International
Relations.
Italy after World War I
Italy was disappointed at territory gained at the Paris Peace
Conference.

At the beginning of the war Italy had remained neutral.

Italy supported the Allied side in World War I joining in 1915.

Italian participation was costly and Italian forces were humiliated at Caporetto.

Italy felt cheated at Paris because it did not gain Dalmatia, Fiume or any former
German colonies.
Political Disruption
Party politics in the post-war period were confused and
disorderly.
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The cost of living had increased 500%.
Post-war unemployment was high.
There were widespread industrial strikes in the north..
The peasants lived in poverty.
Left Wing versus Right Wing
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There was a strong socialist movement throughout Europe which had been
inspired by the Russian Bolshevik revolution
The Socialists were gaining strength and popularity in Italy
Fearful of a takeover, the Government allowed and encouraged opposition rightwing parties to attack and try to eliminate the socialist threat.
These confrontations got out of hand with the socialist and fascist (right-wing)
political parties brawling with each other in parliament and in the street.
Prime Minister Giolitti could do little to prevent these disorders.
Fascists Take over
Fascism:
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A Totalitarian state where
o The State controls totality of life
o The State comes before people & groups
o The State is unified in purpose, so it can’t have
opposition
It is also a strong form of Nationalism.
It demands Strong Leadership ie a Dictatorship
The National Fascist Party was formed in 1921
and was led by Benito Mussolini.
Worsening economic conditions increased party support.
 The Party gained 22 seats in the elections of 1921.
 They demanded cabinet (Government) seats. The Prime
Minister Giolitti refused.
In October 1922, the Fascist Party organised a
“March on Rome”.
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They seized key buildings in the city.
No action was taken by the Government to prevent the
“March”.
After a week Mussolini was invited to form a
government.
Abyssinian Crisis, 1935-36
<caption>Benito Mussolini</caption>
Africa and Empire
Much of the world in the 1930s was still governed by
European empires.
In Africa, only two out of forty states were independent.
One of those was the ancient Kingdom of Abyssinia
(Ethiopia), ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie.
<caption>Emperor Haile
Selassie</caption>
Italy in Africa
Like most European countries in
the nineteenth century, Italy had
taken part in a “scramble for
Africa” – a contest to get as many
colonies there as possible.
Italy, however, came last in the
scramble and gained only some
worthless territory – Libya in the
north and Eritrea and Somaliland
on either side of Abyssinia
(Ethiopia).
Defeat at Adowa
When the Italian army tried to
take control of Ethiopia in 1896 it
was smashed by Ethiopian forces
at the Battle of Adowa.
The reputation of the Italian army
was ruined when 6000 Italian
soldiers were killed.
<caption>Northern Africa and Empire</caption>
Mussolini and his goal
Mussolini had dreams of
recreating the ancient Roman
Empire.
 Il Duce (Mussolini) often
referred to the
Mediterranean Sea as the
Mare Nostrum (Roman
Lake).
Mussolini also wanted revenge
for the humiliation of Italian
troops in 1896 when the natives
had defeated them at Adowa.
An invasion of Abyssinia would
meet both his objectives.
<caption>Roman Empire surrounding the Mediterranean Sea - 200
AD</caption>
Invasion of Abyssinia, 1935
Border clash
Italian troops crossed the border into Ethiopia
(Abyssinia) in December 1934
 They clashed with Ethiopian forces,
killing 100.
Full Scale invasion
Mussolini used this as an excuse to fully
invade Ethiopia in October 1935.
The forces of the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile
Selassie, were no match for the modern Italian
army which used tanks, aircraft and gas
 The 1924 Geneva Convention had
outlawed the use of gas in warfare.
<caption>Map of Italy’s invasion of
Abyssinia</caption>
Collapse of Collective Security
Appeal to the League
of Nations
Emperor Haile Selassie went
to Geneva and appealed to the
League of Nations for help.
The League swiftly
condemned Italy as the
aggressor and ordered all
members to impose economic
sanctions on Italy
<caption>Haile Selassie appealing to the League of Nations for
help</caption>
Haile Selassie’s speech
Quoted in the New York Times, 1 July 1936
“In October 1935, Italian troops invade my territory……
In that unequal struggle between a government commanding more than
42,000,000 inhabitants and having at its disposal financial, industrial and
technical means which enabled it to create unlimited quantities of the most
death-dealing weapons, and on the other hand, a small people of 12,000,000
inhabitants, without arms, without resources and having on its side only the
justice of its cause and the promise of the League of Nations, what real
assistance was given to Ethiopia by the fifty-two nations who had declared the
Rome Government guilty of a breach of the covenant……?
I assert that the problem submitted to the Assembly today is much wider than
merely a question of settlement of Italian aggression; it is collective security, it is
the very existence of the League.
Representatives of the world. What reply have I to take back to my people?”
Failure of Economic Sanctions
This was the first time that the League
had imposed economic sanctions on a
country and, sadly, they did not work.
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It took six weeks before sanctions were
imposed on 18 November.
Three of Italy’s allies refused to take part.
The sanctions caused difficulties for Italy but
they did not include a ban on oil supplies, the
only thing that could have stopped the Italian
invasion immediately
Why no Oil Sanctions?
The United States, the world’s biggest oil supplier at
that time, was not a member of the League.
Also Britain and France, the League’s leading
members, feared that a ban on oil would isolate
Mussolini and force him into an alliance with
Germany.
The British also did not close the Suez Canal, which it
controlled, to Italian ships taking military supplies to
fight against Ethiopia.
Hoare-Laval Plan, December 1935
<caption>Mussolini later said: “if the
League had extended sanctions to oil I
would have had to withdraw from
Abyssinia”</caption>
While the League was slowly organising sanctions
against Italy, the British and French were
following their own line of action. Their aim was
to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.
The Hoare-Laval Plan:
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Was drawn up by the British and French
Foreign Ministers, Simon Hoare and Pierre
Laval.
In return for an end to the fighting, Italy
would gain two large parts of Abyssinia.
Supposedly secret, it was leaked to
the press.
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Mussolini agreed to accept the HoareLaval Plan
But after it was leaked to the British Press
there were huge protests from people who
thought that the Plan betrayed Ethiopia.
Hoare was forced to resign as Foreign
Minister and the plan was dropped.
Both sanctions and the Hoare-Laval Plan
had failed to stop the Italian army.
Ethiopia was defeated in May 1936.
The Plan showed the lack of commitment
Britain and France had for the League.
Italy withdrew from the League of Nations
in protest at the sanctions.
<caption>Map showing land offered to Italy under the
Hoare-Laval Plan. It also shows the access that Italy had
through the Suez Canal to carry on their attack</caption>
League of Nations Fails
The Italian conquest of Ethiopia was a disaster for the League of Nations. It had failed to
stop one of its members from invading another.
Moreover, the League’s two leading members, Britain and France had privately followed
their own line of action while the League was still organising sanctions.
The League’s role as a peacekeeping organisation was dealt a huge blow from which it
never recovered.
 The League had already been weakened over the Manchurian incident.
 It now became inconsequential.
Only two countries had offered to fight to save Abyssinia: The USSR and New Zealand.
League of Nations Membership
Stresa Front Collapses
Britain & France were being soft on Mussolini partly due to the recently signed Stresa
Front.
The Abyssinian campaign contributed significantly to the collapse of the Stresa Front.
 Popular opinion forced Britain and France to apply limited sanctions
 This offended Mussolini
The sanctions annoyed Mussolini so much that he turned away from his old allies and
looked instead for support from Adolf Hitler’s Germany.
In the words of the civil service head of the British Foreign Office, the result of the
agitation against the Hoare-Laval agreement was, that: “We lost Abyssinia, we
lost Austria, we formed the Axis. We made certain of Germany’s next war”
Hitler Benefits
The alienation of Italy
from the Western
powers was confirmed
and her friendship with
Germany begun

Italy’s protection of
Austria from German
acquisition was
withdrawn
The Germans had
encouraged
Mussolini’s ambitions
in Africa
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They realised that these
ambitions would bring
<caption>“The Girls he left behind him” - Low, 10 May 1935</caption>
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him into conflict with
France and Britain
The result would be Italy
turning to Germany for
support
In Dec 1935 Hitler
seems to have been
very worried about the
proposed Hoare-Laval
pact.
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He feared that it might
lead to a compromise
and reconciliation
between Italy and the
Western powers.
His fears were
groundless
Summary

In 1922 Italy had become a Totalitarian State led by the Fascist Dictator Benito
Mussolini.

Mussolini was motivated to conquer Abyssinia for various reasons including his
desire to build an Italian Empire and achieve revenge for a previous defeat.
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The League of Nation response to the crisis was undermined by the lack of will of
more powerful states to adequately sanction Italy.
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Italy ended up isolated and upset resulting in their leaving the League of Nations
and the eventual breaking the Stresa Front

The League was undermined by this incident which followed the Manchurian
incident, thus making it totally ineffective in its goal to provide “peace for future
generations”
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The main beneficiary was Hitler’s Germany who had split Italy from supporting
the collective security interests of France and Britain.