Dear skeeter79-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting question.
Officially (in his own words), Mussolini?s reasons for invading
Ethiopia were due to ?the vital needs of the Italian people and their
security in East Africa?.
Fundamentally, at least, the veiled explanation is partly relative to
Italy?s commercial interests in Ethiopia and the fact that Mussolini?s
fascist government?s efforts were perceived as being undermined by
Japan. Italy?s position on the matter was (basically): If we can?t be
the most favored trading partner with Ethiopia, we?ll just take it.
The real story though is that Mussolini wanted more power, and though
Ethiopia itself had no power (or much of anything of measurable value,
to speak of), it DID have extremely significant geographical value.
You see, as ridiculous as it sounds now in retrospect, the whole
matter dates back March 25, 1889, when the Shewa ruler Menelik II
conquered Tigray and Amhara, with Italy?s support. Menelik II promptly
declared himself Emperor of Ethiopia (?Abyssinia?, as it was known in
Europe in those days). The Emperor signed what he considered a treaty
of friendship with the Italians that effectively gave Italy control
over Eritrea, the Red Sea coast to the northeast of Ethiopia, in
return for recognition of Menelik's rule. What Menelik did not realize
however, and didn?t discover until it was too late, was that the
bilingual ?Treaty of Wichale? did not say the same thing in Italian as
it did in Amharic (Menelik?s native language) and that the Italian
version of the treaty made Italy the protectorate over Ethiopia.
Isolated battles between the Italians and Ethiopians ensued over who
ruled whom for the next seven years and culminated in the Battle of
Adowa (Adua) on March 1, 1896. The result was the Treaty of Addis
Ababa in October of 1896 that forced Italy to recognize the
independence of Ethiopia. This ?defeat? caused Italy to lose a certain
amount of ?face? and gave rise to the boiling political tension that
would eventually result in the larger invasion some thirty-five years
later.
Italy never got over this loss politically, as evidenced by
Mussolini?s inherited, but still-bitter resentment when Ethiopia chose
to favor Japan for arms and other merchandise in the interest of
becoming a more modern and technologically sound nation in the 1930?s.
To Il Duce, Ethiopia?s insolence toward Italy (and toward him) was the
unbearable last straw because he had great hopes of commanding the
Horn of Africa and saw this as a strategic move one that would one-day
catapult Italy up the power scale in terms of dominance in the region.
Ethiopia's subsequent attempts at modernization proved a threat to
Benito Mussolini's vision for the Horn of Africa. He could not permit
them to gain power because they might resist his future efforts to
occupy the Horn. In 1935, Il Duce launched a new assault that
ultimately formed Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia into Italian East
Africa. The Italo-Ethiopian War (also known as the Italo-Abyssinian
War) and is often viewed by historians as a precursor to World War II
and a demonstration of the inefficiency of the League of Nations.
Here is the best chronological explanation of the events leading up to
the Italo-Ethiopian War that I could find. I think you will agree that
it is fairly detailed:
JAPAN AND ITALY SQUABBLE OVER ETHIOPIA: THE SUGIMURA AFFAIR OF JULY 1935
http://stratus.ju.edu/jclarke/wizzd.html
Below you will find that I have carefully defined my search strategy
for you in the event that you need to search for more information. By
following the same type of searches that I did you may be able to
enhance the research I have provided even further. I hope you find
that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions
about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating
the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating and your final comments
and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank
you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
INFORMATION SOURCES
FIRST ITALO-ABYSSINIAN WAR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Italo-Abyssinian_War
SECOND ITALO-ABYSSINIAN WAR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Abyssinian_War
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINES USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
ITALIAN EAST AFRICA
AFRICA ORIENTALE ITALIANA
ITALO-ABYSSINIAN WAR
ITALO-ETHIOPIAN WAR |
