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Both Italy and Abyssinia were members of the League of Nations, which had rules forbidding aggression. After their border clash at Walwal in 1934, Abyssinia appealed to the League for arbitration, but the response was dull and sluggish.
In actuality, many nations were working independently of the League in order to keep Italy as an ally. Shortly after the initial appeal, Pierre Laval of France met with Benito Mussolini in Rome and they created the Franco-Italian Agreement. This treaty gave Italy parts of French Somaliland (now Djibouti), redefined the official status of Italians in French-held Tunisia, and essentially gave the Italians a free hand in dealing with Abyssinia. In exchange for this, France hoped for Italian support against German aggression.
There was little international protest to Mussolini when he then sent large numbers of troops to Eritrea and Italian SomalilandItalian Somaliland was an Italian colony that lasted, apart from a brief interlude of British rule, from the late 19th century until 1960 in the territory of the modern-day East African nation of Somalia. Italy gained control of various parts of Somalia i, two colonies of Italy that bordered Abyssinia on the North and South-East respectively.
Britain did attempt to alleviate the situation at one point, sending Anthony EdenRobert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon KG ( June 12 1897 January 14, 1977), British politician, was Foreign Secretary during World War II and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1950s. He is remembered mainly for his role in the disastrous Suez to broker peace. It was a failed mission though, as Mussolini was bent on conquest. Following that, Britain then declared an arms embargo on both Italy and Abyssinia. Many believe that is was direct result of Italy's decree that supplying Abyssinia would be perceived as an act of unfriendliness. Britain also cleared its warships from the Mediterranean, further allowing Italy unhindered access.
Shortly after the League exonerated both parties in the Walwal incident, Italy attacked, resulting in the Second Italo-Abyssinian WarLasting seven months from 1935-1936, the Second Italo-Abyssinian War is often seen as a precursor to World War II and a demonstration of the inefficiency of the League of Nations. It is also called the Italo-Ethiopian War . Overview Benito Mussolini, the. The League responded by condemning the attack and imposing economic sanctions on Italy. However the sanctions excluded vital materials such as oilOil is a generic term for fluids that are not miscible with water. The name comes from Latin oleum for olive oil. Oil is frequently used to refer to petroleum an "oil shortage" generally means an inadequate supply of petroleum rather than cooking oil., and were not carried out by all members of the League. The United Kingdom and France did not take any serious action against Italy (such as blocking Italian access to the Suez CanalThe Suez Canal ( Arabic, Qan al-Suways , west of the Sinai Peninsula, forms a 163 km (101 mile) ship canal in Egypt between Port Said Bur Sa'id on the Mediterranean and Suez al-Suways on the Red Sea. The canal allows water transport from Europe to Asia wi).
Even actions such as the use of chemical weapons and the massacre of civilians did little to change the League's passive approach to the situation.
In December 1935 Samuel Hoare of Britain and Pierre Laval of France proposed the secret Hoare-Laval Plan which would end the war but allow Italy to control large areas of Abyssinia. Mussolini agreed to the plan, but it caused an outcry in Britain and France when the plan was leaked to the media. Hoare and Leval 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 Adolf Hitler for alliance.
Soon following the Italian capture of the capital, Addis Ababa, and merging Abyssinia with its other colonies (creating Italian East Africa), all sanctions placed by the League were dropped.