It was from the confidence the Italian airforce gained in Ethiopia that Mussolini supported Franco and sent planes to bomb civilian populations and Republican troops alike in Spain.The British and other European governments  did not intervene in Ethiopia – a ‘strategy’ they were to repeat  during the Spanish Civil War and during Hitler’s early attacks on  other countries.

 

Inscriptions on the base of the memorial.
Front –  “To those who in 1932 upheld the right to use bombing aeroplanes  ….
Left – “… this monument is raised as a protest  against war in the air”
Right – “originally unveiled by R. P. Zaphiro, secretary of the Imperial Ethiopian Legation London.  Supported by James Ranger, E J A Webster, J Davey, Sylvia Pankhurst.  October 20th 1935”.
Rear – “The site of this monument is the property of Sylvia Pankhurst. Design and work by Eric Benfield”.
“Image: Public Monuments and Sculpture  Association National Recording Project”.

Italian troops invaded Abyssinia on October 1935 taking the capital in May 1936 and forcing the Emperor Haile Selassie to flee the country. During their campaign the Italian command used aircraft not only to attack the Abyssinian army and key centres but they also sprayed chemicals and ‘mustard’ gas widely and attacked civilian and non-combatant targets, acts which had been outlawed as an outcome of the first World War by the League of Nations.When the invasion was won the Italian airforce dropped propaganda leaflets and celebratory flares in the colours of the Italian flag – green, white and red.  The use of ariel technology in a systematic manner was witnessed by many journalists including Steer – who later reported from Spain on the bombing of Guernica – and Holmes who had one report in The Times headlined “Poison Gas in Ethiopia: Eye-Witness’s Account” in an attempt to convince those in Britain who seemingly refused to believe that chemical warfare was being waged.Public interest was very high – and not just in Europe and Africa, but also USA and Australia – the ‘world’ – as is shown by the number of newsreel films made of the preparations for invasion and the aftermath and the constant newspaper reporting for at least two years prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.To some it was already clear that Fascism was a threat to everyone and that bombing was  something that could well be visited on Britain should war come about. A member of the Ethiopian Red Cross warned, “To-day a few thousand peasants in Wallo will be groping their way down the dark years … Wallo is a long way from Charing Cross (London) – yes, but not for aeroplanes. If Mussolini had practiced warfare and ariel technology it seemed that Britain and it’s allies had practiced in-action: both would repeat these strategies during the Spanish Civil War, which began the same year – July 1936.

 

A British Pathe newsfilm uses voice-over about the Dolo incident edited to footage of the convoy of red-cross trucks leaving Sweeden for Abyssinia to make a report for the newsreels. There were of course no cameras about to record the incident itself.

:: See British Pathe Archive. ‘SWEDISH RED CROSS BOMBED (aka SWEEDISH, aka SWEDISH AMBULANCE BOMBED). 13/01/1936 Film Id 851.30 Swedish Red Cross convoy is bombed in Southern Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The film shows the convoy before it left Sweeden; the leader Pastor Svenson, putting his helmet on – and key to the story, the not easy to miss red crosses on the roofs of the lorries and trucks. It finishes with a shot of the chief physician Doctor Hylander, who was later wounded, with his wife and two children.

 

§ Mr. W. Roberts asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any information to show what proportion of Ethiopia is now effectively controlled and administered by the Italian government?

§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Simon) I have been asked to reply. The information in the possession of the Foreign Office goes to show that there have been sporadic outbursts of disaffection amongst the native population, especially in Western Abyssinia. The Italian military authorities are understood to be taking steps to deal with these; and to be in general control of virtually the whole country. So far as we are aware, civil administration is established in the main centres of population.

Publishers like Victor Gollancz (‘Gollancz’ and ‘Left Book Club’) and Allen Lane (‘Penguin’) published books because they believed, in Lane’s words, that in the UK there was “a vast reading public for intelligent books at a low price.” Penguin paperbacks were launched in 1935 priced sixpence each and by 1938 were publishing Penguin Specials – books in bright red covers – which gave in-depth coverage of political issues of the day. In his book G.T. Garratt notes, in words as appoosite today as when he wrote them, the consequence of lack of information, “Democracy will fail, and deserve to fail unless those people in Western Europe and America, who still have the free use of their intelligence, will insist on being told the truth by their rulers, … “

‘Mussolini’s Roman Empire’ by G. T. Garratt was published in 1938 as the second Penguin Special. Garratt was a journalist who worked for the ‘Manchester Guardian’ and reported for them on the Abyssinian War – later he spent considerable time in Spain. The book sets out the consistent attempts by Mussolini to extend his power through military intervention – usually against, in military and technological terms, much weaker foes. In the final chapter ‘England’s Betrayal’ Garratt sets out a case against the British Government’s policy of non-intervention: “[England’s] sudden collapse in front of Italian aggression has left millions of people in Europe and the Near East bewildered and uncertain.”   See Low’s cartoon below for a visualisation of the British government’s cowering position …

:: Internet Archive has a free online copy of Garratt’s book.  Mussolini’s Roman Empire Scroll down the big list of html links on left and choose the DjVu viewer. Click and give it a few seconds to download.

:: The British Pathe Archive has several films showing news items and clips about women’s emancipation and the suffragettes such as the compilation Film ID 2261.01. There is also a fascinating film from 1958, showing Sylvia Pankhurst in Ethiopia , in a newly extended hospital. Sylvia Pankhurst had supported the cause of Ethiopia since Mussolini threatened invasion in 1936. Film ID 2924.15. click to view …

Slyvia Pankhurst in centre background. Photo: British Pathe; Film 2924.15, frame 60.

:: About the monument, the sculptor and Slyvia Pankhurst in Open Democracy and Patrick Wright.
:: Download the article (pdf file): Patrick Wright article.

:: Details of the monument: Public Monuments & Sculpture Association Recording Project: Image; and Details

“Image: Public Monuments and Sculpture Association National Recording Project; published with permission.

The war between Italy and Abyssinia was watched with intense interest and was widley covered by newspapers, radio and the newsreels and cartoonists commentated on it throughout. While film and photography of the preparation for war was plentiful getting footage of the war and its effects was much more difficult – a situation that the cartoonists, to some extent, could overcome as in these depictions of ‘mustard gas’ bombing show.
David Low “It’s So Bracing”, Evening Standard, 11 Apr 1936: Mussolini and Poison Gas in Abyssinia

After the war…
David Low Evening Standard, 20 Apr 1938: the  British position  An Anglo-Italian pact was signed in Rome in which Britain agreed to formally recognise Italian conquests in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) as legitimate. Italy, in return, agreed to withdraw Italian troops from Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War a diplomatic trade off that helped neither Abyssinia or Spain.:: Search the UK Cartoon Archive for ‘Abyssinia’ and by date – 1930/1945 – to see representations and interpretations of the events from British newspapers. http://www.cartoons.ac.uk/

There is a lot of news film about Abyssinia – at least 30 items – in the British Pathe Archive including some items prior to and after the conflict period itself.
[yellow_box]:: For a ‘full’ list please click here for British Pathe archive newsfilm list… [sorry currently off-line][/yellow_box]
YouTube
About a dozen films (april 2009) – very variable in quality – usual note on care with ‘copyright’.  Searches tend to include current conflict in Eritera.
:: USA, full documentary four parts – about 8 mins each. This link to Part 2.
:: Airdrop of sheep by parachute to Italian troops – 55 sec clip.