Italian invasion of Ethiopia: why?
Branek
the Italians
initiate the invasion of Ethiopia from? What was the rationale for the
invasion (strategic resoures?)?
Did they clear the invasion plans w/their other axis partners before
undertaking the invasion (or at
least apprise them of their plans)?
Rich Rostrom
>I'd always wondered how and why Italy decided to invade Ethiopia. Where did
>the Italians initiate the invasion of Ethiopia from?
In the late 1800s Italy got in on the
"Scramble for Africa", and seized Somalia
and Eritrea. There really wasn't much
point to this, but Italy wanted to be a
Great Big Country with Real Colonies like
France and Britain.
In 1896, Italy went further, and picked a
fight with Abyssinia (the period name for
Ethiopia. Which, unlike most
African native regimes, was a recognized
state and was Christian. And much better
organized than the usual tribesmen, with
a French-trained regular army. The Italians
bungled their campaign, and were soundly
defeated.
Italian nationalists like Mussolini held
a grudge over this.
By the 1930s, Musso was getting bold. Japan
had invaded China, and the League of Nations
did nothing.
He provoked an incident and launched a new
invasion. The rationale? Gassy nonsense about
imperial destiny and "a place in the sun",
plus fantasies about how Abyssinia would be
a treasure colony with 500,000 settlers.
>Did they clear the invasion plans w/their other axis partners before
>undertaking the invasion (or at least apprise them of their plans)?
In 1935 there was no Axis.
Germany was supplying military advisors
to China.
Italy was blocking Germany's anschluss
with Austria.
Germany sent a small dollop of military
aid to Ethiopia. The Ethiopians begged
everyone for arms. Hitler was apparently
impressed by their pugnacious determination
to fight for their homeland. He directed
that they be given a dozen 37mm guns and
million Reichsmarks credit for German
small arms.
The Axis formed later. France and Britain
wanted to keep the alliance with Mussolini
to check Hitler, but their publics would
not overlook Italy's criminal aggression
and war crimes. Mussolini then moved to
reconcile with Hitler. In 1936 he spoke
of a "Rome-Berlin" axis. Italy consented
to the Anschluss, which was all Hitler
needed.
The "Pact of Steel" was announced in 1939,
and Japan joined in 1940.
--
| Decapitation is, in most instances, associated |
| with a decline in IQ. |
| |
| -- Professor Raymond Tallis |
Bill Shatzer
> I'd always wondered how and why Italy decided to invade Ethiopia.
Mostly 'cause it was there.
> Where did
> the Italians
> initiate the invasion of Ethiopia from?
Italian Somalia.
> What was the rationale for the
> invasion (strategic resoures?)?
Mostly 'cause it was there. But Mussolini was also eager to avenge
historical defeats and reversing Italy's defeat in the 1st Abyssinian
war of 1896 was a good place to start.
> Did they clear the invasion plans w/their other axis partners before
> undertaking the invasion (or at
> least apprise them of their plans)?
There was no "axis" at the time of the Italian adventure in Ethiopia.
Cheers,
Alan Meyer
As to the facts, there is a useful article on this in the
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Italo-Abyssinian_War.
Personally, I find it hard to understand why anybody invades
anybody. The Italian people probably gained nothing from the
Italian campaign in Ethiopia, and that was a relatively easy
victory. The harder fought wars that began in 1914 and 1939
brought nothing but misery to the aggressor nations.
Japan and Germany are both instructive examples. Japan fought
for greater economic power and access to strategic materials.
Germany, nominally, fought for "lebensraum". Both countries
suffered incalculably. On the other hand, both countries, and
especially Japan, had an explosion of wealth and good fortune
after the war without having to shoot a single Pole or Chinese or
build a single warship. Japan's aims were far better advanced by
peaceful economic enterprise than by war.
I personally believe that the primary cause of war is that a
narrow ruling elite - king, emperor, fuehrer, or whatever, and
his coterie make wars to advance their personal fortunes and gain
some sort of glory. They don't care who suffers as long as the
great men get their day on the world stage and their thuggish
followers get their loot.
That's a great oversimplification, especially for the case of
Japan. But maybe it's not too far off the mark in explaining the
German and Italian aggressions.
Democracies on the other hand are much less likely to go to war
because the common people know they have nothing to gain from
aggression. I can't think of any war between two democracies
perhaps excepting the War of 1812 or the American Civil War, both
of which had exceptional circumstances.
Alan
AGw. (Usenet)
> "Branek" <barronbra...@nospamsbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> > I'd always wondered how and why Italy decided to invade Ethiopia. Where did
> > the Italians initiate the invasion of Ethiopia from?
>
> In the late 1800s Italy got in on the
> "Scramble for Africa", and seized Somalia
> and Eritrea. There really wasn't much
> point to this, but Italy wanted to be a
> Great Big Country with Real Colonies like
> France and Britain.
>
> [snip]
Just to add that if you look at the map you'll see that both Eritrea
and the Italian part of Somalia (the "upright" part of the modern
country) bordered on Ethiopia, and the latter was the only African
country other than Liberia that wasn't under the actual or nominal
control of a European power. For a bunch of nationalists obsessed
with proving their own "superiority" on the world stage, it would have
seemed an obvious target.
No doubt they also thought they had a good chance of "getting away
with it"... which in a sense, they did.
--
AGw.
AGw. (Usenet)
> Democracies on the other hand are much less likely to go to war
> because the common people know they have nothing to gain from
> aggression. I can't think of any war between two democracies
> perhaps excepting the War of 1812 or the American Civil War, both
> of which had exceptional circumstances.
Not this old one again! {grin}
An on-topic example is the United Kingdom declaring war on Finland.
Neither "side" might not particularly have done anything about it, but
it did happen.
And incidentally, the UK was not really a democracy in 1812; however,
it was the US that declared war, so that does partly justify it as an
example.
--
AGw.
Palex
news:a71a20a0-a1f1-4d02...@a35g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> I can't think of any war between two democracies
> perhaps excepting the War of 1812 or the American Civil War, both
> of which had exceptional circumstances.
The Cyprus Invasion (Turkey vs. Cyprus) 1974 especially during Attila 2.
Alan Meyer
news:45fc8$477d290f$5449d17b$26...@news.hispeed.ch...
My apologies if this is off-topic, but it seems relevant to the
original point that, had Italy not been under the domination of
a tyrant, the invasion of Ethiopia would not have taken place.
I'm not sure of the status of Turkish democracy at that time but,
if I understand the facts correctly, Greece was under the sway of
its second military junta. Having overthrown the first one, the
second one continued the anti-democratic policies. The coup
in Cyprus that led to the Turkish invasion was, in part, possible
because of the sponsorship of the coup leaders in Greece.
As is often the case, the foreign military adventure endorsed
by the Greek tyrants was instrumental in their undoing.
Alan
Alan Meyer
news:ddbe9288-f196-49e3...@r60g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 28, 10:56 pm, Alan Meyer <amey...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Democracies on the other hand are much less likely to go to war
>> because the common people know they have nothing to gain from
> Not this old one again! {grin}
An old chestnut to be sure, but maybe not so wrong for all that.
> An on-topic example is the United Kingdom declaring war on Finland.
> Neither "side" might not particularly have done anything about it, but
> it did happen.
This is a very interesting example. It looks to me like a case
of the UK government holding its collective nose while doing
what it believed needed to be done.
When the Red Army invaded Finland the first time, in 1939, the
Allies considered assisting Finland. There are questions about
how sincere the Allies were and whether their offers were part of
a pretext for bringing Norway and Sweden into the war against
Germany, but it's clear that there was popular support for Finland
and against the USSR.
j Alan