Scarmble for Africa and Battle of Adowa

In the 19C Italy joined “Scramble for Africa”. Italy had unimportant areas like Eritrea and Somaliland. Italians wanted to expand what they had by adding Abyssinia as one of their conquest. However in 1896, the Abyssinians, in the battle of Adowa, defeated the Italians. In the battle 6000 men were killed. Nonetheless this did not stop Italians to make new plans and new attempts to take over Abyssinia. Mussolini got motivated by the desire that Italy had, to show the world how powerful they could become. Mussolini saw himself as a new and better version of Julius Cesar.

Cartoon of Abyssinia. Right at the bottom of the picture Abyssinia says "I sometimes wonder whether it was worth my while joining this European League" Then there s this man carrying all these problems and all these things that the league brought, and Abyssinia is the one carrying all the problems and is wondering why Abyssinia joined if all it brought was problems.

( http://punch.photoshelter.com/image/I0000nUsHn_73En8)

Troops of Emperor Haile Selassie

(http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/8527/The+fascist+invasion+of+Abyssinia)

Cartoon of the Abyssinia crisis
(http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/group/league-nations-italy-and-abyssinia/fullview)

Italo-Ethiopian Treaty Of Friendship and the Kellogg-Briand Pact

In the 2^nd of August 1922, Italy decided to sign a treaty of friendship with the leader of Abyssinia, Haile Selassie. The treaty was a 20-year friendship between the two nations. One month after they signed this treaty Italians and Ethiopians both signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which consisted of them promising that, they would not use war as a method to achieve what they wanted. However neither of the two countries intended to fulfill their side of the treaty. This was because Mussolini saw this treaty as a way to get the Abyssinian economy. Haile Selassie never trusted Italy; this was because he saw the Treaty as a way in which the Italians could open up a way in order to attempt to invade Abyssinia again.

The Walwal Incident

An army of around 1000 Ethiopians approached the Italian Dubats [I] garrison, on the 22^nd of November 1934. The Ethiopians offered the Dubats a chance to withdraw from their fortress in Walwal. These fortresses were a violation of the treaty of friendship that was signed between the two countries. The British members were scared to cause an international incident and decided to leave. However the Ethiopians didn’t care and decided to stay on Walwal. After they decided to stay a series of fights with weapons occurred between Italy and Ethiopia and both of the sided claimed that the other was the one that started. 



[I] Dubats are Somalilands that were employed by the Italians to work for them and fight for them. Dubat means white turban. This was also because they wore white turbans.

Map of Abyssinia in 1935
 (http://www.johndclare.net/league_of_nations6b.htm)