On October 3, 1935, Italian troops invaded the independent African country of Ethiopia. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini hoped that the conquest of Ethiopia would be the first step toward establishing a new Roman Empire around the Mediterranean. Like the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia revealed the inability of the League of Nations to halt aggression and the lack of American readiness to take decisive action. This encouraged the Axis nations to continue their paths of aggression in Europe and Asia that ultimately led to Worfd War II.
The invasion of Ethiopia demonstrated the failure of the League of Nations to protect the territory and independence of its members. Although the league imposed economic sanctions against Italy, it refused to place an embargo against oil shipments, which were essential to the Italian military, partly because the United States would not agree to honor the embargo. France and Britain also feared that Italy might declare war in retaliation to an oil embargo, or threaten British economic and strategic interests in Malta, Alexandria, or the Suez Canal.
President Frankfin D. Rooseveit sympathized with Ethiopia’s plight. But the first of the Neutrafity Acts, which Congress had passed only five weeks earlier, prevented him from intervening in the conflict or even joining the league’s proposed oil embargo. Roosevelt also wanted to avoid antagonizing isofationists in the United States. FDR did quickly invoke the neutrality legislation to impose a strict arms embargo against Italy and Ethiopia, and the administration called for a “moral embargo” on oil and other goods for Italy. Nevertheless, U. S. sales of oil, scrap iron, and copper to Italy rose sharply, until Secretary of State Cordeff Huff threatened to release the names of American businesses engaged in this trade.
On May 5, 1936, Italian troops under Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio captured Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, fled to Britain
See World War II European
And asked the League of Nations to intervene directly on Ethiopia’s behalf, but Britain and France opposed taking military action. On July 15, 1936, the League lifted all sanctions against Italy, effectively recognizing Italy’s annexation of Ethiopia.
See also FOREIGN POLICY.
Further reading: Robert Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979).
—David W. Waltrop
World History
