THIS DAY IN HISTORY: 3rd January 1935 (by Amma Fosuah Poku) Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Abyssinia (today known as Ethiopia), appealed to the League of Nations (predecessor of the United Nations) for arbitration in a conflict with Italy known as the Wal Wal incident. In the 1930s Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy, sought to increase the Italian empire in pursuit of raw materials, to accommodate an increasing population and to send a message about Italys might to the world. Mussolini set his eyes on Abyssinia, which bordered Eritrea, already an Italian colony. Though the League of Nations, of which Italy and Ethiopia were members, forbade aggression between member states Mussolini assessing that the League of Nations would be unlikely to intervene in any aggression began preparations for the invasion of Abyssinia. In 1930 the Italians had built a fort at Wal Wal, an oasis in the Ogaden, inside the Abyssinian border, which contravened previous non-aggression agreement between the two nations. Despite this, both countries maintained that relations between them remained friendly. Italy began to build up a military presence in the area during the years following the building of the Wal Wal fort and Haile Selassie became increasingly concerned about the growing Italian military presence on Abyssinian soil. On 22nd November 1934 a 1,000 strong Abyssinian force demanded that the Italians withdraw from Wal Wal. The Italians refused, and there was a skirmish between the two sides from 5th to 7th December 1934. Emperor Haile Selassie appealed to the League of Nations to take action against Italy but his plea fell on deaf ears and the League decided no penalties should be applied. Instead, behind the scenes negotiations took place with France, and later Britain, meeting with Italy. The discussions focussed on appeasing Mussolini and conceding to some of his expansionist desires. In a Franco–Italian Agreement on 7th January 1935 Italy was given parts of French Somaliland (now Djibouti), a significant concession which strengthened its hand as an aggressor against Abyssinia. The Italians were effectively given carte blanche to deal with Abyssinia as they pleased. On 3rd October 1935 Italian troops invaded Abyssinia from Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. Although the League of Nations accepted that Italy was the aggressor it imposed only token sanctions which had no effect. Despite significant outcry around the world, in particular from African people in the continent and diaspora, the war continued until May 1936, when Abyssinia became part of the Italian Empire. The country was liberated in 1941 as part of the allied forces East African Campaign during the Second World War. The following clip features footage of Emperor Haile Selassies appeal to the League of Nations: https://youtube/watch?v=QtxL3idYS6k&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL38B6BC49B8F83D70
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:28:23 +0000
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