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Lion by the tail: The story of the Italian-Ethiopian War
An account of the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935-1936.
- GenresAfrica
369 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 1974
About the author
Thomas M. Coffey
30 books3 followersA former critic for the Los Angeles Mirror, Thomas Coffey grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, studied at the University of Wisconsin and served as a pilot in the Pacific during World War II.
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April 20, 2021
A useful examination of the plans and events leading up to and then the actual Italian invasion of Ethiopia (known in the West at this stage as Abyssinia).
There is a heavy emphasis on the diplomatic and political events centring around France, Britain, the USA and of course Italy and Ethiopia. There was a lot of detail that really assisted in seeing how these countries discussed the situation at home and abroad. There was some fascinating insights into the Franco-British discussions that became the Hoare-Lavel pact that was bitterly denounced by both French and British citizens, politicians and press, leading both men to resign or be sacked.
The Italian approach and internal discussions offer much as does the author's coverage of the Ethiopian domestic approach and pleas to the League. The League comes in for criticism as do Britain, the US and France for their slow, uncommitted and in essence supine response to Italy to maintain the Stresa Front; much of this being a view that Italy was a counter-balance to a rising Germany under Hitler. Interestingly too, is the information on how the US president and secretary of state ignored Ethiopia's plight and its requests for help at the League. The US continued (especially during the war) to ship oil in ever increasing amounts to Italy.
Ironically, Italy's behaviour of bluster and successful use of military force help confirm in Hitler's mind that France and Britain would be unlikely to act against his own reoccupation of the Rhineland.
The war is quite well covered, although I felt this needed to be more expansive and detailed. One area that was very good was the author's coverage of the Italians use of Mustard gas. This was used to considerable effect being dropped by canister and sprayed as droplets form aircraft. Both methods, but especially, the latter created huge losses for the Ethiopians in both deaths and casualties. This was not just combat troops but non-combatants including women and children. The International Red Cross treated hundreds of cases and there are some good excerpts from British Red Cross volunteers on this aspect.
There are a couple of great insights into Emperor Haile Selassie using his Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns at Italian planes.
The final stages seemed a little rushed and so the world view (read Europe and US here) was not explored in any detail, and nor was the aftermath in Ethiopia and how Mussolini used the victory to help cement his status at home and abroad - as a potential friend and ally to many. The damage to the League also remained unexplored except the small mention of the suspension of all sanction against Italy a week after Haile Selassie spoke to make his case in July 1936. As did the impact this had later where the League was ineffectual importantly with the Spanish civil war, Sino-Japanese and Russo-Finnish wars and the events that lead to another world war in 1939.
This final paragraph above, along with a real lack of footnotes, sources and references within the text pinned to the events and people's actions and comments, alongside the author stating people's perceptions and thoughts without corroboration, means this is a three star book for me. A single map on the end boards of the book (mine was a hardback), was also a loss for the reader.
Overall this book added to my knowledge of this war and is recommended to readers of this period for its coverage of the diplomatic events and its reasonable coverage of the war itself, especially the information on the Italians' use of gas.
Hoare-Laval Pact: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoare%E...
Stresa Front: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stresa_...
My copy was a 1974 first-edition published by Hamish Hamilton. There are 8 black and white plates a useful bibliography and sources & references.
There is a heavy emphasis on the diplomatic and political events centring around France, Britain, the USA and of course Italy and Ethiopia. There was a lot of detail that really assisted in seeing how these countries discussed the situation at home and abroad. There was some fascinating insights into the Franco-British discussions that became the Hoare-Lavel pact that was bitterly denounced by both French and British citizens, politicians and press, leading both men to resign or be sacked.
The Italian approach and internal discussions offer much as does the author's coverage of the Ethiopian domestic approach and pleas to the League. The League comes in for criticism as do Britain, the US and France for their slow, uncommitted and in essence supine response to Italy to maintain the Stresa Front; much of this being a view that Italy was a counter-balance to a rising Germany under Hitler. Interestingly too, is the information on how the US president and secretary of state ignored Ethiopia's plight and its requests for help at the League. The US continued (especially during the war) to ship oil in ever increasing amounts to Italy.
Ironically, Italy's behaviour of bluster and successful use of military force help confirm in Hitler's mind that France and Britain would be unlikely to act against his own reoccupation of the Rhineland.
The war is quite well covered, although I felt this needed to be more expansive and detailed. One area that was very good was the author's coverage of the Italians use of Mustard gas. This was used to considerable effect being dropped by canister and sprayed as droplets form aircraft. Both methods, but especially, the latter created huge losses for the Ethiopians in both deaths and casualties. This was not just combat troops but non-combatants including women and children. The International Red Cross treated hundreds of cases and there are some good excerpts from British Red Cross volunteers on this aspect.
There are a couple of great insights into Emperor Haile Selassie using his Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns at Italian planes.
The final stages seemed a little rushed and so the world view (read Europe and US here) was not explored in any detail, and nor was the aftermath in Ethiopia and how Mussolini used the victory to help cement his status at home and abroad - as a potential friend and ally to many. The damage to the League also remained unexplored except the small mention of the suspension of all sanction against Italy a week after Haile Selassie spoke to make his case in July 1936. As did the impact this had later where the League was ineffectual importantly with the Spanish civil war, Sino-Japanese and Russo-Finnish wars and the events that lead to another world war in 1939.
This final paragraph above, along with a real lack of footnotes, sources and references within the text pinned to the events and people's actions and comments, alongside the author stating people's perceptions and thoughts without corroboration, means this is a three star book for me. A single map on the end boards of the book (mine was a hardback), was also a loss for the reader.
Overall this book added to my knowledge of this war and is recommended to readers of this period for its coverage of the diplomatic events and its reasonable coverage of the war itself, especially the information on the Italians' use of gas.
Hoare-Laval Pact: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoare%E...
Stresa Front: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stresa_...
My copy was a 1974 first-edition published by Hamish Hamilton. There are 8 black and white plates a useful bibliography and sources & references.
Displaying 1 of 1 review