Abyssinia Crisis - The War and Occupation

The War and Occupation

On October 3, 1935, shortly after the League exonerated both parties in the Walwal incident, Italian armed forces from Eritrea invaded Ethiopia without a declaration of war leading Ethiopia to declare war on Italy beginning the Second Italo–Abyssinian War.

On October 7, the League of Nations declared Italy the aggressor and started the slow process of imposing sanctions. However, these sanctions did not extend to several vital materials, such as oil, and were not carried out by all members of the League. Specifically, the United Kingdom and France did not take any serious action against Italy (such as blocking Italian access to the Suez Canal).

Even actions such as the Italian use of some chemical weapons did little to change the League's passive approach to the situation.

In December 1935, Hoare of Britain and Laval of France proposed the secret Hoare-Laval Plan which would end the war but allow Italy to control large areas of Ethiopia. Mussolini agreed to the plan, but it caused an outcry in Britain and France when the plan was leaked to the media. Hoare and Laval were accused of betraying the Abyssinians, and both resigned. The plan was dropped, but the perception spread that Britain and France were not serious about the principles of the League. After the plan was dropped, the war continued and Mussolini turned to German dictator Adolf Hitler for alliance.

All sanctions placed by the League were dropped after the Italian capture of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on May 5, 1936. Ethiopia was then merged with the other Italian colonies to become Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI).

Ethiopia never officially surrendered. Italian control of Ethiopia was never total (because of guerrillas, later used by the British in WWII), but in 1940 was complete in 3/4 of the country.