Mussolini Feisty Foreign Policy Flashcards
What triggered the Stresa Front?
March 1935 Hitler openly announced defiance of the T of V and that his military had been secretly rearming for 2 years
What was the Stresa Front?
- 11th - 13th April M meets with Britain and Frances PM’s and foreign ministers to discuss peace and commitment to LofN
- An anti-German agreement to allow for peace (not really with the whole Abyssinia thing)
How did M use the Stresa Front to allow himself to invade Abyssinia?
- He claimed he had reached an implicit agreement with Britain and France to allow him to invade Abyssinia
- He claimed he desired peace ‘in Europe’ and said this was a mutual understanding that they excluded Africa
How did the Great Depression affect Italy?
- Italy did relatively well
- Drove away from domestic issues
- M still wanted more raw materials
What was the indicator that Britain and France had become massive pussies after the Great Depression?
- 1931 Manchuria incident where Japan invaded
- Britain and France did nothing due to poor economies
- League of Nations weak and imposed moral sanctions (wtf?!?!?!?)
What were International reasons for the invasion of Abyssinia?
- Show imperial power like Britain and France
- Consolidate Italy in East Africa
- Put Italy on the world stage
What were the political reasons for the invasion of Abyssinia?
- Avenge the Battle of Adwa 1896
- Cult of il Duce
- Promote the militaristic side of fascism
- Move the South to Abyssinia showing he is a nice guy who provides for the peasants
What were economic reasons for the invasion of Abyssinia?
- Develop emigration and exports
- Get oil
- Autarky
- Cheaper Labour
- War contracts of 1932 in producing arms, clothes, equipment required colonial war in Africa
What were the geographical reasons for the invasion of Abyssinia?
- Has Eritrea and Italian Somaliland
- Access to the Suez Canal is an easy route
- Connects the Med to the Red
Why was the invasion of Abyssinia not great economically speaking?
- Budget Deficit rose from 2.5billion to 16billion
- Oct 1936 Lira was devalued by 40%
- 1939 only 2% of Italian trade was with its colonies
- Sanctions would force a trade shift towards Germany
- Germany now rearming in peace
Why was the invasion of Abyssinia not great when considering the cost to the military?
- Only 130,000 settled in Abyssinia
- 250,000 troops were occupied
- Fought a guerrilla war until Abyssinia was lost to Britain in 1941
- Only 1/3 of Abyssinia was actually conquered
- 500,000 were brutally killed creating a bad image of Italy
Why was the invasion of Abyssinia bad for International Relations?
- Created a bad image of Italy with Britain and France
- Forcing Italy to move towards Germany
What was the Wal-Wal incident?
December 1934
- Ethiopians fired on Italians 80 miles within the Ethiopian border
- M demanded an apology
- Despite referring to the League of Nations he sent men to Eritrea anyways
- Britain condemned the aggression but still did not stop supplies flowing through the Suez Canal
When did League refuse to condemn the Wal-Wal incident?
- September 1935
- Mussolini claimed Italy needed a war every 25 years to keep her on her toes
- Pope referred to the forthcoming invasion as a crusade against the Coptic Christians who had never accepted Romes authority
When did Mussolini start the invasion of Abyssinia? What did he do?
- October 1935
- Deployed 400,000 men
- Quickly grabbed Adowa and other towns and their progress slowed
- Took over 7 months despite the military power
When did Mussolini take a more brutal approach to Abyssinia?
- November he switched head of army from Emilio de Bono to Marshal Badoglio
- Same guy as pacification of Libya
- Aerial bombings, muter of prisoners of war and illegal poisonous chemicals used
When did the LofN condemn the invasion of Abyssinia? What did they do?
- 7th October 1935
- Imposed sanctions, these excluded oil/steel which allowed Mussolini to carry on invading
- Did not shut down the Suez Canal
What was the nature of fighting in Abyssinia?
- Italians let Eritreans fight while they provided the aid
- Orders to kill 10 Abyssinians for every 1 Italian
What was the Hoare-Laval Pact?
Britain and France secretly offered Italy 2/3 of Abyssinia in return for keeping the Stresa front
Why did the Hoara-Laval Pact not work?
- The offer was leaked and had to be withdrawn due to pressure from the public
- Hoare was forced to resign and was replaced by Anthony Eden who didn’t like Mussolini
When did Mussolini proclaim victory over Abyssinia?
5th May 1936 had entered the capital of Abyssinia, Addis Ababa
- 20 million Italians listened to Mussolini on the public radio broadcast on 9th May
- Claimed Italy had gained its empire, a fascist empire
What were the successes of The invasion of Abyssinia?
- Mussolini was seen as a leader standing up in honour of fascism
- He overcame the ‘mutilated victory’
- He depicted the image of Caesar
What was the ‘Gold for the Patria’ scheme?
- 18th December 1935
- Queen Elena presented her wedding ring to be melted to oppose the sanctions
- Thousands of women followed during specially convened church services
- Were given steel rings to symbolise their marriage to the nation
