121145
Abyssinian
Crisis 1935-6/
Ruhr Crisis-
1923-5 I.B
History Notes
- Abyssinia 1935-1936 With the rise of Hitler
Mussolini realised that Italy had no longer an
important role within Europe Mussolini had
always wanted Italy to have a big role in
world affairs When Italy started to lose its
power in Europe, Mussolini wanted to
conquer more territory else where One of his
ambitions was to have Italian colonies within
Africa Abyssinia was the only unclaimed
African territory left and so Mussolini set out
to conquer it In addition Mussolini was
interested economically in the region as he
believed that there were oil deposits within it
The economic benefits and the creation of a
new Italian Empire was enough to convince
Mussolini to attack The invasion started in
October 1935 51 States voted to impose
economic sanctions on Italy
- However these were largely ineffective as these sanctions did not include oil nor stele
and the UK did not close the Suez Canal to Italian shipping, furthermore Germany and
the USA did not impose any sanctions France and Britain found themselves in a
complex situation. The League was suppose to make peace its main priority which
would involve making the sanctions a lot more harsh however it also had to consider the
fact that they needed Italy to keep the Stresa Front (this was an agreement made in 1935
by Britain, France and Italy to maintain the Locarno agreement and support the
independence of Austria) The big threat to Britain and France was Germany and the
support of Italy was vital and therefore the need to stay in good terms with Italy was
important In the end they accomplished neither France and Britain tried to compromise
in the Hoare-Level Pact (named after the French prime minister and the British foreign
secretary)
- The compromise involved giving Italy two thirds of Abyssinia including the
most fertile land and leave the rest as an independent state However the
compromise never took place as it was leaked to the press and was greatly
criticised and protested by the public To stop Italy, France and Britain would
have had to use force and neither France nor Britain was prepared to start a
conflict to that level with Italy The war ended in May 1936 with Italy taking over
the all of Abyssinia This was damaged the idea of collective security and of
the League itself. It was a sign that the League had lost its power.
- The compromise involved giving Italy two thirds of Abyssinia including the
most fertile land and leave the rest as an independent state However the
compromise never took place as it was leaked to the press and was greatly
criticised and protested by the public To stop Italy, France and Britain would
have had to use force and neither France nor Britain was prepared to start a
conflict to that level with Italy The war ended in May 1936 with Italy taking over
the all of Abyssinia This was damaged the idea of collective security and of
the League itself. It was a sign that the League had lost its power.
- However these were largely ineffective as these sanctions did not include oil nor stele
and the UK did not close the Suez Canal to Italian shipping, furthermore Germany and
the USA did not impose any sanctions France and Britain found themselves in a
complex situation. The League was suppose to make peace its main priority which
would involve making the sanctions a lot more harsh however it also had to consider the
fact that they needed Italy to keep the Stresa Front (this was an agreement made in 1935
by Britain, France and Italy to maintain the Locarno agreement and support the
independence of Austria) The big threat to Britain and France was Germany and the
support of Italy was vital and therefore the need to stay in good terms with Italy was
important In the end they accomplished neither France and Britain tried to compromise
in the Hoare-Level Pact (named after the French prime minister and the British foreign
secretary)
- The Ruhr Crisis France was afraid for its security after the Anglo-American
Guarantee was denied and disagreed with Britain about how to deal with Germany.
Britain wanted Germany to be able to rebuild its economy so that it could benefit
from the trade. France's goal was to weaken the German economy has much as
possible through reparations France also needed these reparations to pay its debts
to the USA When Germany missed a delivery of timber as part of her reparations,
France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr region Britain was strongly against this
- The goal of France was to collect the missed payment from the Germans by taking
the goods from the mines and factories and shipping them to France The German
workers did not co-operate with the French, instead they protested by destroying the
goods, the mines and the factories The event broke out into a violent conflict and
resulted in inflation The Weimar Government which already had a serious inflation
problem made things worse by printing more money to help support the workers
which resulted in disastrous inflation
- The goal of France was to collect the missed payment from the Germans by taking
the goods from the mines and factories and shipping them to France The German
workers did not co-operate with the French, instead they protested by destroying the
goods, the mines and the factories The event broke out into a violent conflict and
resulted in inflation The Weimar Government which already had a serious inflation
problem made things worse by printing more money to help support the workers
which resulted in disastrous inflation
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