The fascist dictator of Italy; Mussolini, had many reasons

in wanting to conquer Ethiopia (formerly Abyssinia), such as:

“Let us have a dagger between our teeth, a bomb in our hands, and an infinite scorn in our hearts.”

Ethiopia was one of only two of the

independent nations left in Africa.

Mussolini wanted to provide an outlet for the over-population of his country.

Ethiopia lay between Italy and her two

colonies: Eritrea and

Italian Somaliland

In the past, Italy had initiated an attack on Ethiopia called the Battle of Adawa in 1896 and…

OWNED!

.

In 1934, Italy instigated an incident in Ethiopia which resulted in the

death of four Italians.

The League of Nations had an

impractical system of waiting for every

member to agree before any action could be taken.

Therefore, when Ethiopia appealed the League with regards to Italy’s

unjust demands the League spent a

year discussing the issue with no

progress.

In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia without declaring war.

Finally, the League voted to impose economic sanctions

upon Italy.

However they did not include the vital steel, coal and copper commodities.

NO IMPORTS, EXPORTS

AND TRADES!

Since some countries were not part of the League, in significance the USA, opposing powers still traded

with Italy.

Therefore, Italy did not receive the punishment they

deserved.

Several days before the oil embargo was to go into effect, the foreign ministers of Britain and

France, Samuel Hoare and Pierre Laval, created the Hoare-Laval Plan.

The Hoare-Laval Plan

Italy will be given most of Ethiopia if she will agree to stop fighting immediately. (Italy had already conquered half of Ethiopia)

The plan was intended to remain secret, but it got leaked to the press.

This demonstrated Britain and France’s lack of dedication to the League and unconcern for smaller, insignificant

countries.

“What a disgrace!”

What’s the point in the

League, anyways?

Consequently, supporters of the sanctions

became uninterested.

Mussolini successfully conquered Ethiopia.

Italy’s attack Italy’s attack was significant was significant because it because it initiated initiated Mussolini's Mussolini's modern military modern military machine (air machine (air spray mustard spray mustard gas)gas)

“If they only had the courage to impose the oil embargo I would have left in a week!”

“NOTHING CAN STOP ME

NOW!”

http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/eat/ethiopia/fitalyethiopia1935.htmhttp://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhistory.sandiego.edu%2Fgen%2Fww2timeline%2FPrelude05a.html&h=c5ae9bb46e598724d6aec1399b1201f7http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/thisday/1935-10-03.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OXleDJo8schttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtxL3idYS6k&feature=relatedhttp://www.onwar.com/aced/data/india/italyethiopia1895.htm