Abyssinian crisis 1935-1936 - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... Benito Mussolini, the fascist ruler of Italy, had a vision for Italian Empire, similar to the Roman Empire, to rule over the Mediterranean and to also take revenge of the Italian defeat at the Battle of Adwa which happened in Ethiopia on March 1, 1896. Mussolini pledged the Italian people "a place in the sun," as England and France who both had large empires at the time had colonial possessions. Ethiopia was a main candidate of this expansionist ambition for several reasons. Following the rush for Africa by the European imperialists it was one of the few remaining independent African nations, and it would serve to merge the Italian-held Eritrea to the north-west and Italian Somaliland to the east. It was thought to be militarily vulnerable, and abundant in resources.Britain's interest lay around Lake Tana and the headwaters of the Abay (Blue Nile). Italy's main interest was in linking Eritrea with Italian Somaliland. France's interest was the territory to be crossed by the railroad from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in French Somaliland.France and other Europeans were not much concerned at the thought of an Italian conquest of part of Abyssinia, given that their own interests were secured. Thus Italy eventually came out as a victor in the Abyssinian War with the major booty with other countries having their trivial share in the pursuit.The Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 that drew up the boundaries between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia stated the border was 21 leagues parallel to the Benadir coast. The Italians re-interpreted this to mean 21 nautical leagues, rather than 21 standard leagues, which then gave them greater territory. Acting on this, they built a fort at the Walwal oasis in the Ogaden desert in 1930.
In 1934 Ethiopian territorial troops, along with the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, disputed Italy's invasion. The British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid an international incident. The tensions resulted in a clash that left 150 Ethiopian and 50 Italians dead. The issue was the Abyssinia Crisis tabled at the League of Nations.
The League of Nations absolved both the warring parties in September 1935. Italy then started to build its forces on the borders of Ethiopia in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.
With an eminent attack, the Emperor Haile Selassie ordered a general mobilization. His new recruits consisted of around 500,000 men, many of whom were armed with primeval weapons such as spears and bows. Others were equipped with more new weapons, including rifles, but many of these were from the late 19th century and as such were often obsolete (Pankhurst, 605-608)1.
Abyssinian Crisis 1935-1936: An Introduction
The Second Italo-Abyssinian War was a brief war between the Kingdom of Italy and Ethiopia in the early 1930s. It resulted in the occupation of Ethiopia into Italian East Africa. It resulted in the Abyssinia Crisis at the League of Nations, which is often seen as a manifestation of the incompetence of the organization.

In 1935, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia while addressing the League of Nations attacked the Italian invasion.

On October 3, 1935, Marshal Emilio De Bono moved into Ethiopia from Eritrea without declaration of War. He had 100,000 Italian soldiers and 25,000 Eritrean soldiers under his command. A smaller force, under the command of General Rodolfo Graziani, moved into Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland. By October 6, Adwa fell to De Bono's forces. By October 15, De Bono's forces moved on to capture the capital of Axum. The occupying Italians plundered the Obelisk of Axum after annexing the city.

On October 7 although the League of Nations declared Italy as the aggressor however was unable with effective sanctions. The British and French drafted the Hoare-Laval Plan; it highly favored the Italians, and was ...Download file to see next pagesRead More