The Second Italo–Ethiopian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War) was a brief war, begun in October 1935, between the Fascist Italian state and the Ethiopian Empire (also called Abyssinia). The war is infamous for the Italians' illegal use of mustard gas. The war resulted in the annexation of Ethiopia, which had resisted Italian occupation in the nineteenth century, into Italian East Africa alongside Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. Politically, the war is best remembered for exposing the inherent weakness of the League of Nations. The Abyssinia Crisis, along with the Mukden Incident (the Japanese annexation of three Chinese provinces), is often seen as a clear example of the ineffectiveness of the League. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations; the League was unable to control Italy or to protect Ethiopia.
Ethiopia had been the only African state to avoid colonization in the nineteenth century. It can still claim to have escaped colonization since the period 1935-1941 was regarded an illegal occupation and lacked international sanction. On the other hand, Italy was merely copying other European powers, which had carved out huge empires for themselves by tramping on the rights of the people whose territory they annexed. The Scramble for Africa had taken place when the colonial powers, acting together as they did in the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, where they carved Africa up among themselves, represented the only “international agency” in existence, so they could claim to be acting legally vis-à-vis international law. Italy did as their European predecessors had, but in a different climate and when the League of Nations, as ineffectual as it proved to be, did have a more global membership. Indeed, France and Great Britain more or less condoned the attack, hoping to retain Italy within their anti-Germany alliance.
