Academic literature on the topic 'Italian-Ethiopian War, 1935-1936'

This contribution to the special issue focuses on newsreels and documentaries that were produced concerning the Second Italo–Ethiopian War (1935–1936), commonly known as the Abyssinian War. It aims to contextualise LUCE's filmic production on the war, so as to create a framework in which the institute can be understood not only as being part of a wider politics of propaganda in Fascist Italy, but as an example of a modern socio-technical organisation that enabled the discursive construction of East African nature as ‘Other’ and therefore helped to justify colonial war as a process of sanitised creative destruction aimed at replacing a previous, negative ‘first nature’ with a positive, Fascist and Italian ‘second nature’. The article draws on archival documents from Mussolini's government cabinet, and on LUCE documentaries and newsreels; these sources are used to create a background against which LUCE's concern with the Second Italo–Ethiopian War can be understood.

The article is devoted to the policy of France towards Italy and Ethiopia at the initial stage of the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935—1936. It is shown that in the autumn of 1935, the French government took a position aimed at a peaceful settlement of the Italian-Ethiopian conflict at the expense of Ethiopia, since relations with Italy were much more important for France than relations with Ethiopia, and “real policy” required France to reach an agreement primarily with Italy. It is noted that a similar position was taken by the United Kingdom. It is indicated that this resulted in the formation of a plan for the settlement of the conflict, put forward in December 1935 by the head of the French government, Pierre Laval, and the British foreign Minister, Samuel Hoare. It is proved that the Hoare–Laval plan was an early form of the policy of “appeasement of the aggressor,” which became the leading direction of French and British foreign policy during the collapse of the Versailles system of international relations in 1938—1939. The research is based on publications of Soviet, French, Italian and Canadian diplomatic documents, League of Nations documents, memoirs of political figures of that era, as well as unpublished documents from the Archive of Publicistic Activity (Germany).

The article is devoted to the policy of France towards Italy and Ethiopia at the final stage of the Italo-Ethiopian war of 1935—1936 and the question of the elimination of anti-Italian sanctions in the League of Nations. It was revealed that the great powers were mainly interested in restoring normal relations with Italy, while the defense of Ethiopia’s independence was only a “moral duty” for them, and in the clash of moral factors and real politics, the real interests of states won undoubtedly. It is argued that, taking ad-vantage of France’s interest in restoring stable Franco-Italian relations, Italy actually destroyed the political agreements of early 1935 and moved on to political rapprochement with Germany, which significantly changed the entire international situation in Europe and actually opened the way for the outbreak of World War II. In addition, for France, a significant political loss was the drop in the authority of the League of Nations, due to the helplessness of this organization in the face of aggression against one of the members of the League. The study is based on publications of Soviet, French, Italian and German diplomatic documents, documents of the League of Nations, memoirs of political figures of that era, as well as un-published documents from the Archives of the German Information Bureau (Germany).

The Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 marked the beginning of a definite closeness in Turco-British relations, which were to undergo a long process of development. During the Ethiopian crisis, Turkey followed Britain in defence of the League of Nations Covenant. Firm co-operation between Turkey and Britain during the Montreux Straits Conference of 1936 further accelerated the pace of rapprochement. With King Edward VIII's visit to Turkey, just after the Montreux settlement, the mutual friendship took a step forward. At the Nyon Conference of 1937, Turkey supported Britain in its defence of international shipping against attacks by pirate submarines in the Mediterranean. Nyon drew the Turks and British closer together. In 1938 Britain granted a credit of sixteen million pounds to Turkey which strengthened the growing friendship between Ankara and London and aimed at reducing the necessity of Turkish economy depending on Germany. Germany's occupation of Czechoslovakia and Italy's annexation of Albania in the spring of 1939 soon led Turkey and Britain to sign a mutual assistance agreement. This accord combined Turkish and British energies for the protection of peace and paved the way for the conclusion of the Turco-Anglo-French Triple Alliance Treaty in the autumn of the same year.

The author describes the preparation and implementation of mass rallies marking the beginning and the end of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia (October 1935 – May 1936) in Italy’s province of Istria. Relying on official regime representation of these events through the writing of the regime-affiliated press and confidential documents, the paper discusses the main organizational and ideological features of the mass rallies, with an emphasis on the manner in which the fascist authorities prepared them and the way they were presented in the press. Throughout the war, mass rallies and events of public ritual contributed to the homogenization of the Italian people, culminating in May 1936 with oceanic assemblies celebrating the victory, and achieving the closest state of unity of the people with the Fascist regime. The country-wide preparations for the “General Assembly of the Forces of the Regime” (Adunata generale delle forze del regime) that marked the beginning of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia were strictly implemented in the Province of Istria in line with the regime’s expectations, and the general population was urged to participate in the mass demonstrations that were believed to have been marking the events of utmost historical significance. The preparations for the Assembly went to the minimal detail, ensuring the participation of every Fascist Party member in the event, while the local daily journal Corriere Istriano motivated the wide masses for this huge event. The Gathering took place in the late afternoon of October 2nd 1935, and both archival documents and the press (focusing on the provincial capital of Pula) emphasized the alleged utmost euphoria and enthusiasm that the event provoked, especially in its dimension of adoration of the Italian leader Benito Mussolini. The gatherings in the so-called “Radiant African May” (Maggio radioso africano) in Istria in 1936 formed an incessant period of mobilization and celebration from May 5th (after the announcement of the capture of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa) up to May 10th (after the proclamation of the Empire). In contrast to the initial grand adunata on October 2nd 1935, these gatherings were more hastily prepared but were again ideologically organized and controlled from the government’s centre in Rome. Two main gatherings (May 5th and May 9th) involved the listening to Mussolini’s speeches through speakers put in public places, one of which was the huge Roman-era Amphitheatre in Pula. Besides that, the gatherings followed an already established pattern of forming processions and playing music that captivated the people gathered until early morning hours. The events occurred in the whole Province, and local police were asked to report to the Prefecture in Pula in detail about the gatherings on each locality.