Failures in the 1930s – Italy and Abyssinia
The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia (Very Bad Verse by A. Jordan)
In Eighteen Hundred and Ninety Six
The Italians from Abyssinia were kicked.
By the time Mussolini came into power
He wanted revenge for defeat at Adowa.
He dreamed a vision of Imperial conquest,
His power as “Caesar” he wanted to test.
Desirous of minerals and fertile land
He decided that Italy had to expand.
At WalWal in Nineteen Thirty Four
There was a dispute that he wouldn’t ignore;
An excuse to invade Abyssinia was seized
But Haile Selassi was highly displeased!
He appealed to the League to control Italy
And claimed “Ethiopia deserves to be free”.
But Britain and France just didn’t agree –
For Italy could help them control Germany!
In Thirty Five the reward for this tact
Was Mussolini signing the Stresa Pact
With Britain and France ‘gainst Hitler, the Hun.
For Abyssinia, the troubles had barely begun!
But the British people wanted action
To stop Mussolini, just before the election,
Foreign Minister Hoare, talked the talk big and tough:
In September the League carved Abyssinia up!
But even half share was dismissed out of hand
By Il Duce who wanted it all, and who planned
To take what he wanted, without further delay:
October’s invasion caused further dismay
To Haile Selassi, who appealed to the League
For sanctions to force Mussolini to leave.
Of rubber and metal the League did agree
To limit supplies, but the oil trade stayed free!
And the arms trade to both of the parties was ended
But Mussolini’s advantage thus wasn’t amended.
Britain and France only wanted to focus
On themselves; foreign problems were just too much fuss!
So the ongoing use of the Suez Canal
Plus a secret deal between Hoare and Laval
In December saw Italy begin to wonder
If the whole of Abyssinia could now be plundered!
The French press leaked news of Laval’s secret pact
And both Hoare and Laval were rapidly sacked,
But respect for Britain and France and the League
Was destroyed by this story of wicked intrigue!
Haile Selassi nevertheless tried
To encourage the League to recover its pride
By taking a stand – better later than never Before Abyssinia was conquered forever.
Just when it looked like the League would commit
To peace and to making Mussolini submit,
Hitler marched into the Rhineland so France
Decided she couldn’t risk taking the chance.
Keeping Italy happy was priority one
Never mind if she wanted her place in the sun!
Mussolini in May Thirty Six took control
And all Abyssinia was promptly steamrolled.
Haile Selassi made a speech at the League,
With a great deal of anger and weary fatigue,
He declared the League pointless and thoroughly flawed
By self-interested members; he received great applause!
And as if this tale weren’t sufficient to show
That Britain and France couldn’t tell friend from foe,
In November Mussolini and Hitler both signed
The Rome Berlin Axis and were firmly aligned.
So all the scheming of Britain and France
Had their self-interest in no way advanced
And into the bargain the League was destroyed
And a second world war harder still to avoid.
For discussion:
1. Why did Mussolini invade Abyssinia?
2. How did the League respond?
3. Why did the League fail to resolve the crisis in Abyssinia?
4. What effect did the Abyssinian crisis have on the League?
Failures in the 1930s – Italy and
Abyssinia
Abyssinia was almost the only part
of Africa not under European
control.
The African country of Abyssinia
was next to the Italian colonies of
Somalia and Eritrea. The area was
desert.
Your task is to decide which clues explain which verses.

Create a timeline describing what happened in Abyssinia- in no more
than 20 words and symbols
Then, (as a revision activity) organise the information in the clues to answer
the following questions:




Explain why the Italians invaded Abyssinia?
Describe the reaction of the League of Nations?
Explain why the League reacted in this way?
What effect did the Abyssinian crisis have on the League?

In no more than 100 words of your own, explain why the League failed
in Abyssinia
1. In the 1930s, the Italian dictator Mussolini wanted to build an Italian empire to
rival those of Britain and France and recall the glory days of the Roman Empire.
2. Mussolini wanted to avenge the humiliation suffered by the Italians at Adowa
(1896), during their last attempted invasion of Abyssinia.
3. In December 1934, Italian soldiers under General Pietro Badoglio attacked a party
of British and Abyssinian investigators at the oasis at Wal-Wal, in Abyssinia.
Mussolini blamed the action on the Abyssinians.
4. In January 1935 Abyssinia asked the League of Nations to arbitrate. Mussolini
refused League of Nations arbitration.
5. Haile Selassie, the emperor of Abyssinia, demanded action from the League. In
July (before the invasion) the League had banned arms sales to either side (this
hurt the tiny Abyssinian army much more than the Italians, who had tanks and
bombers, and were ready to attack). In October (after the invasion) the League
agreed to some sanctions (on rubber and metals), which looked tough, but it did
not stop crucial coal, iron or oil sales. Most importantly, Britain did not close
the Suez canal to Italy, fearing that Italy might declare war on Britain – so
Mussolini sent men and supplies to Abyssinia through the (British) Suez canal!
6. Mussolini was anxious to use foreign adventures to distract his people from the
effects of the depression within Italy.
7. The British people wanted action against Mussolini. The British government had to
listen, because there was an election due! So, Britain talked about ‘collective
security’ and said the League should defend Abyssinia. The British said that the
world would face ‘danger and gloom’ if the League failed to act. In September,
the League appointed a five-power committee to arbitrate in Abyssinia. It
suggested that Italy should have some land and power in Abyssinia.
8. Haile Selassie addressed the Assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva for 45
minutes. His speech marked the end of the League's credibility as an international
peace-keeping organisation. No-one took the League seriously as events from
1936 onwards rushed the world towards war.
9. The British delegate was named Mr Hoare.
10. Both Haile Selassie and Mussolini refused to accept the League’s plan to divide
Abyssinia. In October 1935, Italy’s 100,000 strong army invaded Abyssinia.
11.The Italians used tanks and flame-throwers. The Abyssinians had camels, war
drums and 12 planes. They were massacred. Italian troops also used
mustard gas and attacked Red Cross hospitals. This broke the Geneva
Convention but even then the League could not agree on what to do.
12. A British cartoon of the time showed a happy African village with the word
‘Barbarism’ under it. Next to it was a destroyed and burned village, with the
word ‘Civilisation’ underneath.
13. The French refused to do anything about the Italian invasion because of a treaty
they had signed with Italy in January 1935. Historians aren’t 100% sure whether
this treaty was basically French agreement for Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia, but
we do know that France was anxious to have Italy as an ally against Germany, so
it seems likely that she had to offer Italy something in return. For all her fine
words, Britain refused to do anything without France.
14. France and Britain both wanted Mussolini as an ally against the growing threat of
Germany.
15. In December 1935, news leaked out of the Hoare-Laval Pact, a secret plan made
by Britain and France to give two-thirds of Abyssinia to Italy. Italy would gain land
in the fertile North and South of Abyssinia, Abyssinia itself would be reduced to
the mountainous, barren areas.
16. The League did not know about the Hoare-Laval Pact. Neither did Abyssinia or
Italy.
17. Hoare and Laval were forced to resign but the damage was done. The League had
been undermined by its most powerful members once again.
18. The league had failed to learn from the Corfu incident of 1923 that Mussolini was
unafraid of aggressive foreign policy.
19. The Italians captured Addis Ababa, the capital of the country, in May 1936,
forcing Emperor Haile Selassie to flee to England.
20. By May 1936, it was too late. Italy had conquered Abyssinia.
NOW CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CARTOONS AND ANSWER THE EXAM
STYLE QUESTION:
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE OF THIS CARTOON?
Level 1 Describes surface features of the cartoon
Level 2
Explains what the cartoon means without reference to
the source details
Explains what the cartoon means with reference to
Level 3 either the details of the source OR contextual
knowledge
Explains what the cartoon means with reference to
Level 4 BOTH the details of the source AND contextual
knowledge