Ethiopia
Haile SelassieInvasion of Abyssinia
Although Italy fought with the allies in World War I, it did not feel that it received an equal share of the spoils of the Central Power’s defeat. Mussolini considered it a great injustice that France and Great Britain could increase their colonization, yet Italy only receive minor gains. Ethiopia was always considered in the sphere of Italian influence. It was also one of the few remaining countries of Africa which still preserved its empire free of European domination. Italy was also one of the few countries defeated by an African power in a military engagement. This occurred in Adwa in 1896 when the Italians suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Ethiopians.
Field Marshall Pietro Badoglio
Fueled by the need for revenge and expansion by colonization, Mussolini sent his newly mechanized legions under the command of Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani across the Abyssinia border from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea on October 3, 1935.
In 3 days, Adowa was engulfed and within a month, Italians were 80 miles into Abyssinia. Resistance was heavy throughout the country, so Graziani began to rule with an iron grip. He destroyed the Intelligentsia, and killed many of the Coptic Church in reprisal for partisan attacks. Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio (1871-1956) took command later in 1935 and immediately resorted to mustard and other poisonous gases on a number of occasions to quell the unrest.
By early 1936, his hard hitting campaign crushed all organized resistance in the country. On May 5, 1936, the Italian army marched into the capital of Addis Ababa and Ethiopia surrendered. On June 30, 1936, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, who escaped the invading Italians, spoke before the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in protest of the attack. He was an emperor without a nation. “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” he warned. The League of Nations decided not to respond militarily and gave minor economic sanctions against Italy. These sanctions did nothing to cripple the Italian economy and were lifted two weeks after Emperor Selassie spoke to the League.
The Spanish Civil War
The Claw of Italian Invaders Will Enslave Us
When General Francisco Franco fascist troops invaded Spain in July 1936 with the purpose of overthrowing the young and unstable Republic, he knew he would need help. On 20 July, 1936, General Franco sent emissaries to Hitler and Mussolini requesting military aid and technical assistance. Mussolini promptly accepted the offer. He initially sent 12 planes escorting troopships from Africa to Spain, but eventually, 37,000 men and every spare aircraft he could afford poured into Spain. Many Spaniards considered these Italian “volunteers” as invaders, and fought back with arms and propaganda. The Germans followed suit and also sent some aircraft and the Condor Legion.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) allowed Italy to exercise its use of its weapons, especially the Air Force and Army, but more importantly, it allowed the Germans and Italians the opportunity to coordinate its military forces in combat. What would later prove to be one of its deficiencies, Italy utilized the “true and tested” method of combat, while Germany embraced a new radical method of war.
The Spanish Civil War and the Ethiopian conquest was a large drain on the Italian economy and this would haunt them in the years to come.
The Invasion of Albania
The invasion of Ethiopia and Italian assistance in the Spanish Civil War black listed Italy from the Western powers. Mussolini found himself into a forced cooperation with Germany. This time when Hitler asked for Italy’s approval for aninvasion of Austria to “restore order”, Mussolini endorsed it. On March 12, 1938, German tanks rolled into Austria unopposed. Hitler was overjoyed. He was quoted saying to an aide “Tell Mussolini I will never forget him for this.” “Never, never, never, whatever happens…”
King Zog and Ciano
But Mussolini noticed his standing with Hitler diminish in the late 1930′s. With Germany’s annexation of Austria and Czech Sudetenland, Italy was becoming a minor Axis partner. To prove Italy’s worth as a military power and to prevent Germany from gaining influence in the Balkans, Mussolini set his gaze on Albania.
In the early 1900′s, Albania was swept in political and social instability. Albania’s King Zog was in need of financial aid and economic support to get his country back on track. In order to help his country, King Zog signed a number of accords with Italy, which had a long standing political and financial interest in Albania. Mussolini used this debt as a reason for annexation. In March of 1939, Mussolini sent foreign Minister Ciano to Albania to meet with King Zog and review a list of demands made by Mussolini. This list, according to Ciano, was impossible to accept.
Not surprisingly, King Zog reviewed these demands and denied them. Rome then sent King Zog an ultimatum to accept those demands by 12:00 PM April 6, 1939.
On Friday, April 7, 1939, the Italian fleet was off the coast of Albania. By the end of that day, 2 divisions of 4 Bersaglieri regiments and a battalion of tanks led by General Guzzoni land throughout the coast of Albania.
Resistance was weak and sporadic. On April 8, 1939, King Zog along with his wife and son escape to the Greek authorities in Florina and were granted asylum by Athens. Albania surrendered to Fascist Italy and on April 16, 1939, King Victor Emmanuel III united the crown of Albania to that of Italy and the Ethiopian Empire.
Loading ...
Recent Comments
(1 days ago)
(2 weeks ago)
(8 weeks ago)