3_3 The Abyssinian Crisis

Italy leaves League of Nations

Haile Selassie spoke at League and Italy withdrew in protest

Little Entente

The French alliance between the smaller countries of Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia.

impact of Abyssinian Crisis on Italy

further economically isolated from western Eurpe weakened already weak econmy expanded ties to southeastern Europe sanctions led to less diplomacy

French attitudes toward Abyssinia

France was more focused on Germany needed Italy to help guarantee borders of central and eastern allies in the Little Entente Germany was rearming and France wanted to protect itself liked that Italy was anticommunist

Abyssinia

>Ethiopian Empire >adjacent to Somaliland and Eritrea

why did Italy want an empire?

>make it a great power >economic reaons >grow the image of Italy

US response to Abyssinian Crisis

>used diplomacy to try to stop Mussolini >blocked weapons and war supplies to both >did not recognize the annexation

Liberia

A West African nation founded in 1822 by the American Colonization Society to serve as a homeland for free blacks to settle

Rome-Berlin Axis

Alliance between Italy and Germany October 1936 Mussolini acceded to Hitler's annexation of Austria

Haile Selassie

Emperor of Ethiopia (r. 1930-1974) and symbol of African independence. He fought the Italian invasion of his country in 1935 and regained his throne during World War II, when British forces expelled the Italians. He ruled Ethiopia as an autocrat.

English attitudes toward Abyssinia

GB didn't want to offend Mussolini afraid that military intervention would escalate

Invasion of Abyssinia

In October 1935, Italy marched troops, tanks and planes into Abyssinia from Eritrea in the North. Before the invasion, Emperor Haile Selassie had appealed 4 times to the LoN for help, but he was ignored. 750,000 people killed use of poison gas Abyssinia defeated by May 1936

Italian East Africa

New Italian colony formed in 1936 out of Eritrea, Abyssinia, and Italian Somalia with its capital city at Addis Ababa.

Response of League of Nations to Abyssinian Crisis

October 1935 - condemned nothing they could do GB -- did nothing; refused to close Suez Canal France -- nothing

Wal Wal Incident

This happened in December 1934. Italy had established a fortification in territory claimed by Ethiopia/Abyssinia. There was a skirmish and 30 Italians were killed (along with more than 100 Ethiopians). Mussolini used this as an excuse to invade Ethiopia/Abyssinia the following year, after going through the motions of pretending to negotiate a solution.

Soviet response to Abyssinian Crisis

no aggressive foreign policy due to political and economic upheaval supported independence of Abyssinia economic sanctions

consequences of Abyssinian Crisis on League of Nations

showed League as an extension of GB and France there was no collective security Italy driven closer to Germany by the League League was impotent