Appeal to the League of Nations- Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia- June 1936
"I, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, am here today to claim that
justice which is due to my people, and the assistance promised to it eight
months ago, when fifty nations asserted that aggression had been committed in
violation of international treaties.
There is no precedent for a Head of State himself speaking in this assembly.
But there is also no precedent for a people being victim of such injustice and
being at present threatened by abandonment to its aggressor. Also, there has
never before been an example of any Government proceeding to the systematic
extermination of a nation by barbarous means, in violation of the most solemn
promises made by the nations of the earth that there should not be used against
innocent human beings the terrible poison of harmful gases. It is to defend a
people struggling for its age-old independence that the head of the Ethiopian
Empire has come to Geneva to fulfil this supreme duty, after having himself
fought at the head of his armies.
I pray to Almighty God that He may spare nations the terrible sufferings that
have just been inflicted on my people, and of which the chiefs who accompany me
here have been the horrified witnesses.
It is my duty to inform the Governments assembled in Geneva, responsible as
they are for the lives of millions of men, women and children, of the deadly
peril which threatens them, by describing to them the fate which has been
suffered by Ethiopia. It is not only upon warriors that the Italian Government
has made war. It has above all attacked populations far removed from
hostilities, in order to terrorize and exterminate them.
At the beginning, towards the end of 1935, Italian aircraft hurled upon my
armies bombs of tear-gas. Their effects were but slight. The soldiers learned
to scatter, waiting until the wind had rapidly dispersed the poisonous gases.
The Italian aircraft then resorted to mustard gas. Barrels of liquid were
hurled upon armed groups. But this means also was not effective; the liquid
affected only a few soldiers, and barrels upon the ground were themselves a
warning to troops and to the population of the danger.
It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makalle were
taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure
which it is now my duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were
installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over vast areas of
territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen
aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a
continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January, 1936, soldiers,
women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes and pastures were drenched continually
with this deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living
creatures, in order to more surely to poison waters and pastures, the Italian
command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method
of warfare.
Ravage and Terror
The very refinement of barbarism consisted in carrying ravage and terror into
the most densely populated parts of the territory, the points farthest removed
from the scene of hostilities. The object was to scatter fear and death over a
great part of the Ethiopian territory. These fearful tactics succeeded. Men and
animals succumbed. The deadly rain that fell from the aircraft made all those
whom it touched fly shrieking with pain. All those who drank the poisoned water
or ate the infected food also succumbed in dreadful suffering. In tens of
thousands, the victims of the Italian mustard gas fell. It is in order to
denounce to the civilized world the tortures inflicted upon the Ethiopian
people that I resolved to come to Geneva. None other than myself and my brave
companions in arms could bring the League of Nations the undeniable proof. The
appeals of my delegates addressed to the League of Nations had remained without
any answer; my delegates had not been witnesses. That is why I decided to come
myself to bear witness against the crime perpetrated against my people and give
Europe a warning of the doom that awaits it, if it should bow before the
accomplished fact.
Is it necessary to remind the Assembly of the various stages of the Ethiopian
drama? For 20 years past, either as Heir Apparent, Regent of the Empire, or as
Emperor, I have never ceased to use all my efforts to bring my country the
benefits of civilization, and in particular to establish relations of good
neighbourliness with adjacent powers. In particular I succeeded in concluding
with Italy the Treaty of Friendship of 1928, which absolutely prohibited the
resort, under any pretext whatsoever, to force of arms, substituting for force
and pressure the conciliation and arbitration on which civilized nations have
based international order.
Country More United
In its report of October 5th 193S, the Committee of Thirteen recognized my
effort and the results that I had achieved. The Governments thought that the
entry of Ethiopia into the League, whilst giving that country a new guarantee
for the maintenance of her territorial integrity and independence, would help
her to reach a higher level of civilization. It does not seem that in Ethiopia
today there is more disorder and insecurity than in 1923. On the contrary, the
country is more united and the central power is better obeyed.
I should have procured still greater results for my people if obstacles of
every kind had not been put in the way by the Italian Government, the
Government which stirred up revolt and armed the rebels. Indeed the Rome
Government, as it has today openly proclaimed, has never ceased to prepare for
the conquest of Ethiopia. The Treaties of Friendship it signed with me were not
sincere; their only object was to hide its real intention from me. The Italian
Goverment asserts that for 14 years it has been preparing for its present
conquest. It therefore recognizes today that when it supported the admission of
Ethiopia to the League of Nations in 1923, when it concluded the Treaty of
Friendship in 1928, when it signed the Pact of Paris outlawing war, it was
deceiving the whole world. The Ethiopian Government was, in these solemn
treaties, given additional guarantees of security which would enable it to
achieve further progress along the specific path of reform on which it had set
its feet, and to which it was devoting all its strength and all its heart.
Wal-Wal Pretext
The Wal-Wal incident, in December, 1934, came as a thunderbolt to me. The
Italian provocation was obvious and I did not hesitate to appeal to the League
of Nations. I invoked the provisions of the treaty of 1928, the principles of
the Covenant; I urged the procedure of conciliation and arbitration. Unhappily
for Ethiopia this was the time when a certain Government considered that the
European situation made it imperative at all costs to obtain the friendship of
Italy. The price paid was the abandonment of Ethiopian independence to the
greed of the Italian Government. This secret agreement, contrary to the
obligations of the Covenant, has exerted a great influence over the course of
events. Ethiopia and the whole world have suffered and are still suffering
today its disastrous consequences.
This first violation of the Covenant was followed by many others. Feeling
itself encouraged in its policy against Ethiopia, the Rome Government
feverishly made war preparations, thinking that the concerted pressure which
was beginning to be exerted on the Ethiopian Government, might perhaps not
overcome the resistance of my people to Italian domination. The time had to
come, thus all sorts of difficulties were placed in the way with a view to
breaking up the procedure; of conciliation and arbitration. All kinds of
obstacles were placed in the way of that procedure. Governments tried to
prevent the Ethiopian Government from finding arbitrators amongst their
nationals: when once the arbitral tribunal a was set up pressure was exercised
so that an award favourable to Italy should be given.
All this was in vain: the arbitrators, two of whom were Italian officials,
were forced to recognize unanimously that in the Wal-Wal incident, as in the
subsequent incidents, no international responsibility was to be attributed to
Ethiopia.
Peace Efforts
Following on this award. the Ethiopian Government sincerely thought that an
era of friendly relations might be opened with Italy. I loyally offered my hand
to the Roman Government. The Assembly was informed by the report of the
Committee of Thirteen, dated October 5th, 1935, of the details of the events
which occurred after the month of December, 1934, and up to October 3rd,
1935.
It will be sufficient if I quote a few of the conclusions of that report Nos.
24, 25 and 26 "The Italian memorandum (containing the complaints made by Italy)
was laid on the Council table on September 4th, 1935, whereas Ethiopia's first
appeal to the Council had been made on December 14th, 1934. In the interval
between these two dates, the Italian Government opposed the consideration of
the question by the Council on the ground that the only appropriate procedure
was that provided for in the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928. Throughout the
whole of that period, moreover, the despatch of Italian troops to East Africa
was proceeding. These shipments of troops were represented to the Council by
the Italian Government as necessary for the defense of its colonies menaced by
Ethiopia's preparations. Ethiopia, on the contrary, drew attention to the
official pronouncements made in Italy which, in its opinion, left no doubt "as
to the hostile intentions of the Italian Government."
From the outset of the dispute, the Ethiopian Government has sought a
settlement by peaceful means. It has appealed to the procedures of the
Covenant. The Italian Government desiring to keep strictly to the procedures of
the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928, the Ethiopian Government assented. It
invariably stated that it would faithfully carry out the arbitral award even if
the decision went against it. It agreed that the question of the ownership of
Wal-Wal should not be dealt with by the arbitrators, because the Italian
Government would not agree to such a course. It asked the Council to despatch
neutral observers and offered to lend itself to any enquiries upon which the
Council might decide.
Once the Wal-Wal dispute had been settled by arbiration, however, the Italian
Govemmcnt submitted its detailed memorandum to the Council in support of its
claim to liberty of action. It asserted that a case like that of Ethiopia
cannot be settled by the means provided by the Covenant. It stated that, "since
this question affects vital interest and is of primary importance to Italian
security and civilization" it "would be failing in its most elementary duty,
did it not cease once and for all to place any confidence in Ethiopia,
reserving full liberty to adopt any measures that may become necessary to
ensure the safety of its colonies and to safeguard its own interests."
Covenant Violated
Those are the terms of the report of the Committee of Thirteen, The Council
and the Assembly unanimously adopted the conclusion that the Italian Government
had violated the Covenant and was in a state of aggression. I did not hesitate
to declare that I did not wish for war, that it was imposed upon me, and I
should struggle solely for the independence and integrity of my people, and
that in that struggle I was the defender of the cause of all small States
exposed to the greed of a powerful neighbour.
In October, 1935. the 52 nations who are listening to me today gave me an
assurance that the aggressor would not triumph, that the resources of the
Covenant would be employed in order to ensure the reign of right and the
failure of violence.
I ask the fifty-two nations not to forget today the policy upon which they
embarked eight months ago, and on faith of which I directed the resistance of
my people against the aggressor whom they had denounced to the world. Despite
the inferiority of my weapons, the complete lack of aircraft, artillery,
munitions, hospital services, my confidence in the League was absolute. I
thought it to be impossible that fifty-two nations, including the most powerful
in the world, should be successfully opposed by a single aggressor. Counting on
the faith due to treaties, I had made no preparation for war, and that is the
case with certain small countries in Europe.
When the danger became more urgent, being aware of my responsibilities
towards my people, during the first six months of 1935 I tried to acquire
armaments. Many Governments proclaimed an embargo to prevent my doing so,
whereas the Italian Government through the Suez Canal, was given all facilities
for transporting without cessation and without protest, troops, arms, and
munitions.
Forced to Mobilize
On October 3rd, 1935, the Italian troops invaded my territory. A few hours
later only I decreed general mobilization. In my desire to maintain peace I
had, following the example of a great country in Europe on the eve of the Great
War, caused my troops to withdraw thirty kilometres so as to remove any pretext
of provocation.
War then took place in the atrocious conditions which I have laid before the
Assembly. In that unequal struggle between a Government commanding more than
forty-two million inhabitants, having at its disposal financial, industrial and
technical means which enabled it to create unlimited quantities of the most
death-dealing weapons, and, on the other hand, a small people of twelve million
inhabitants, without arms, without resources having on its side only the
justice of its own cause and the promise of the League of Nations. What real
assistance was given to Ethiopia by the fifty two nations who had declared the
Rome Government guilty of a breach of the Covenant and had undertaken to
prevent the triumph of the aggressor? Has each of the States Members, as it was
its duty to do in virtue of its signature appended to Article 15 of the
Covenant, considered the aggressor as having committed an act of war personally
directed against itself? I had placed all my hopes in the execution of these
undertakings. My confidence had been confirmed by the repeated declarations
made in the Council to the effect that aggression must not be rewarded, and
that force would end by being compelled to bow before right.
In December, 1935, the Council made it quite clear that its feelings were in
harmony with those of hundreds of millions of people who, in all parts of the
world, had protested against the proposal to dismember Ethiopia. It was
constantly repeated that there was not merely a conflict between the Italian
Government and the League of Nadons, and that is why I personally refused all
proposals to my personal advantage made to me by the Italian Government, if
only I would betray my people and the Covenant of the League of Nations. I was
defending the cause of all small peoples who are threatened with aggression.
What of Promises?
What have become of the promises made to me as long ago as October, 1935? I
noted with grief, but without surprise that three Powers considered their
undertakings under the Covenant as absolutely of no value. Their connections
with Italy impelled them to refuse to take any measures whatsoever in order to
stop Italian aggression. On the contrary, it was a profound disappointment to
me to learn the attitude of a certain Government which, whilst ever protesting
its scrupulous attachment to the Covenant, has tirelessly used all its efforts
to prevent its observance. As soon as any measure which was likely to be
rapidly effective was proposed, various pretexts were devised in order to
postpone even consideration of the measure. Did the secret agreements of
January, 1935, provide for this tireless obstruction?
The Ethiopian Government never expected other Governments to shed their
soldiers' blood to defend the Covenant when their own immediately personal
interests were not at stake. Ethiopian warriors asked only for means to defend
themselves. On many occasions I have asked for financial assistance for the
purchase of arms That assistance has been constantly refused me. What, then, in
practice, is the meaning of Article 16 of the Covenant and of collective
security?
The Ethiopian Government's use of the railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa
was in practice a hazardous regards transport of arms intended for the
Ethiopian forces. At the present moment this is the chief, if not the only
means of supply of the Italian armies of occupation. The rules of neutrality
should have prohibited transports intended for Italian forces, but there is not
even neutrality since Article 16 lays upon every State Member of the League the
duty not to remain a neutral but to come to the aid not of the aggressor but of
the victim of aggression. Has the Covenant been respected? Is it today being
respected?
Finally a statement has just been made in their Parliaments by the
Governments of certain Powers, amongst them the most influential members of the
League of Nations, that since the aggressor has succeeded in occupying a large
part of Ethiopian territory they propose not to continue the application of any
economic and financial measures that may have been decided upon against the
Italian Government. These are the circumstances in which at the request of the
Argentine Government, the Assembly of the League of Nations meets to consider
the situation created by Italian aggression. I assert that the problem
submitted to the Assembly today is a much wider one. It is not merely a
question of the settlement of Italian aggression.
League Threatened
It is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of Nations.
It is the confidence that each State is to place in international treaties. It
is the value of promises made to small States that their integrity and their
independence shall be respected and ensured. It is the principle of the
equality of States on the one hand, or otherwise the obligation laid upon smail
Powers to accept the bonds of vassalship. In a word, it is international
morality that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value only
in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct and immediate
interest involved?
No subtlety can change the problem or shift the grounds of the discussion. It
is in all sincerity that I submit these considerations to the Assembly. At a
time when my people are threatened with extermination, when the support of the
League may ward off the final blow, may I be allowed to speak with complete
frankness, without reticence, in all directness such as is demanded by the rule
of equality as between all States Members of the League?
Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that
is superior to any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it
may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak
people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom.
God and history will remember your judgment.
Assistance Refused
I have heard it asserted that the inadequate sanctions already applied have
not achieved their object. At no time, and under no circumstances could
sanctions that were intentionally inadequate, intentionally badly applied, stop
an aggressor. This is not a case of the impossibility of stopping an aggressor
but of the refusal to stop an aggressor. When Ethiopia requested and requests
that she should be given financial assistance, was that a measure which it was
impossible to apply whereas financial assistance of the League has been
granted, even in times of peace, to two countries and exactly to two countries
who have refused to apply sanctions against the aggressor?
Faced by numerous violations by the Italian Government of all international
treaties that prohibit resort to arms, and the use of barbarous methods of
warfare, it is my painful duty to note that the initiative has today been taken
with a view to raising sanctions. Does this initiative not mean in practice the
abandonment of Ethiopia to the aggressor? On the very eve of the day when I was
about to attempt a supreme effort in the defense of my people before this
Assembly does not this initiative deprive Ethiopia of one of her last chances
to succeed in obtaining the support and guarantee of States Members? Is that
the guidance the League of Nations and each of the States Members are entitled
to expect from the great Powers when they assert their right and their duty to
guide the action of the League? Placed by the aggressor face to face with the
accomplished fact, are States going to set up the terrible precendent of bowing
before force?
Your Assembly will doubtless have laid before it proposals for the reform of
the Covenant and for rendering more effective the guarantee of collective
security. Is it the Covenant that needs reform? What undertakings can have any
value if the will to keep them is lacking? It is international morality which
is at stake and not the Articles of the Covenant. On behalf of the Ethiopian
people, a member of the League of Nations, I request the Assembly to take all
measures proper to ensure respect for the Covenant. I renew my protest against
the violations of treaties of which the Ethiopian people has been the victim. I
declare in the face of the whole world that the Emperor, the Government and the
people of Ethiopia will not bow before force; that they maintain their claims
that they will use all means in their power to ensure the triumph of right and
the respect of the Covenant.
I ask the fifty-two nations, who have given the Ethiopian people a promise to
help them in their resistance to the aggressor, what are they willing to do for
Ethiopia? And the great Powers who have promised the guarantee of collective
security to small States on whom weighs the threat that they may one day suffer
the fate of Ethiopia, I ask what measures do you intend to take?
Representatives of the World I have come to Geneva to discharge in your midst
the most painful of the duties of the head of a State. What reply shall I have
to take back to my people?"
First Primary Document APParts:
Author: Emperor Haile Selasie I of Ethiopia
Place and Time: Geneva, League of Nations, June, 1936
Prior Knowledge: At this point in time, Selassie's Ethiopia was conquered by Italy, and Selassie was to be exiled
Audience: World leaders, Benito Mussolini
Reason: To address agitation of war effort going bad. To address concern of Fascist Italy pursuing other African countries
The Main Idea: To promote awareness about Fascist Italy, and how Ethiopia will exact revenge
Significance: This is the leader of Ethiopia. A lot of credibility can be given to man who runs a country
justice which is due to my people, and the assistance promised to it eight
months ago, when fifty nations asserted that aggression had been committed in
violation of international treaties.
There is no precedent for a Head of State himself speaking in this assembly.
But there is also no precedent for a people being victim of such injustice and
being at present threatened by abandonment to its aggressor. Also, there has
never before been an example of any Government proceeding to the systematic
extermination of a nation by barbarous means, in violation of the most solemn
promises made by the nations of the earth that there should not be used against
innocent human beings the terrible poison of harmful gases. It is to defend a
people struggling for its age-old independence that the head of the Ethiopian
Empire has come to Geneva to fulfil this supreme duty, after having himself
fought at the head of his armies.
I pray to Almighty God that He may spare nations the terrible sufferings that
have just been inflicted on my people, and of which the chiefs who accompany me
here have been the horrified witnesses.
It is my duty to inform the Governments assembled in Geneva, responsible as
they are for the lives of millions of men, women and children, of the deadly
peril which threatens them, by describing to them the fate which has been
suffered by Ethiopia. It is not only upon warriors that the Italian Government
has made war. It has above all attacked populations far removed from
hostilities, in order to terrorize and exterminate them.
At the beginning, towards the end of 1935, Italian aircraft hurled upon my
armies bombs of tear-gas. Their effects were but slight. The soldiers learned
to scatter, waiting until the wind had rapidly dispersed the poisonous gases.
The Italian aircraft then resorted to mustard gas. Barrels of liquid were
hurled upon armed groups. But this means also was not effective; the liquid
affected only a few soldiers, and barrels upon the ground were themselves a
warning to troops and to the population of the danger.
It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makalle were
taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure
which it is now my duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were
installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over vast areas of
territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen
aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a
continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January, 1936, soldiers,
women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes and pastures were drenched continually
with this deadly rain. In order to kill off systematically all living
creatures, in order to more surely to poison waters and pastures, the Italian
command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method
of warfare.
Ravage and Terror
The very refinement of barbarism consisted in carrying ravage and terror into
the most densely populated parts of the territory, the points farthest removed
from the scene of hostilities. The object was to scatter fear and death over a
great part of the Ethiopian territory. These fearful tactics succeeded. Men and
animals succumbed. The deadly rain that fell from the aircraft made all those
whom it touched fly shrieking with pain. All those who drank the poisoned water
or ate the infected food also succumbed in dreadful suffering. In tens of
thousands, the victims of the Italian mustard gas fell. It is in order to
denounce to the civilized world the tortures inflicted upon the Ethiopian
people that I resolved to come to Geneva. None other than myself and my brave
companions in arms could bring the League of Nations the undeniable proof. The
appeals of my delegates addressed to the League of Nations had remained without
any answer; my delegates had not been witnesses. That is why I decided to come
myself to bear witness against the crime perpetrated against my people and give
Europe a warning of the doom that awaits it, if it should bow before the
accomplished fact.
Is it necessary to remind the Assembly of the various stages of the Ethiopian
drama? For 20 years past, either as Heir Apparent, Regent of the Empire, or as
Emperor, I have never ceased to use all my efforts to bring my country the
benefits of civilization, and in particular to establish relations of good
neighbourliness with adjacent powers. In particular I succeeded in concluding
with Italy the Treaty of Friendship of 1928, which absolutely prohibited the
resort, under any pretext whatsoever, to force of arms, substituting for force
and pressure the conciliation and arbitration on which civilized nations have
based international order.
Country More United
In its report of October 5th 193S, the Committee of Thirteen recognized my
effort and the results that I had achieved. The Governments thought that the
entry of Ethiopia into the League, whilst giving that country a new guarantee
for the maintenance of her territorial integrity and independence, would help
her to reach a higher level of civilization. It does not seem that in Ethiopia
today there is more disorder and insecurity than in 1923. On the contrary, the
country is more united and the central power is better obeyed.
I should have procured still greater results for my people if obstacles of
every kind had not been put in the way by the Italian Government, the
Government which stirred up revolt and armed the rebels. Indeed the Rome
Government, as it has today openly proclaimed, has never ceased to prepare for
the conquest of Ethiopia. The Treaties of Friendship it signed with me were not
sincere; their only object was to hide its real intention from me. The Italian
Goverment asserts that for 14 years it has been preparing for its present
conquest. It therefore recognizes today that when it supported the admission of
Ethiopia to the League of Nations in 1923, when it concluded the Treaty of
Friendship in 1928, when it signed the Pact of Paris outlawing war, it was
deceiving the whole world. The Ethiopian Government was, in these solemn
treaties, given additional guarantees of security which would enable it to
achieve further progress along the specific path of reform on which it had set
its feet, and to which it was devoting all its strength and all its heart.
Wal-Wal Pretext
The Wal-Wal incident, in December, 1934, came as a thunderbolt to me. The
Italian provocation was obvious and I did not hesitate to appeal to the League
of Nations. I invoked the provisions of the treaty of 1928, the principles of
the Covenant; I urged the procedure of conciliation and arbitration. Unhappily
for Ethiopia this was the time when a certain Government considered that the
European situation made it imperative at all costs to obtain the friendship of
Italy. The price paid was the abandonment of Ethiopian independence to the
greed of the Italian Government. This secret agreement, contrary to the
obligations of the Covenant, has exerted a great influence over the course of
events. Ethiopia and the whole world have suffered and are still suffering
today its disastrous consequences.
This first violation of the Covenant was followed by many others. Feeling
itself encouraged in its policy against Ethiopia, the Rome Government
feverishly made war preparations, thinking that the concerted pressure which
was beginning to be exerted on the Ethiopian Government, might perhaps not
overcome the resistance of my people to Italian domination. The time had to
come, thus all sorts of difficulties were placed in the way with a view to
breaking up the procedure; of conciliation and arbitration. All kinds of
obstacles were placed in the way of that procedure. Governments tried to
prevent the Ethiopian Government from finding arbitrators amongst their
nationals: when once the arbitral tribunal a was set up pressure was exercised
so that an award favourable to Italy should be given.
All this was in vain: the arbitrators, two of whom were Italian officials,
were forced to recognize unanimously that in the Wal-Wal incident, as in the
subsequent incidents, no international responsibility was to be attributed to
Ethiopia.
Peace Efforts
Following on this award. the Ethiopian Government sincerely thought that an
era of friendly relations might be opened with Italy. I loyally offered my hand
to the Roman Government. The Assembly was informed by the report of the
Committee of Thirteen, dated October 5th, 1935, of the details of the events
which occurred after the month of December, 1934, and up to October 3rd,
1935.
It will be sufficient if I quote a few of the conclusions of that report Nos.
24, 25 and 26 "The Italian memorandum (containing the complaints made by Italy)
was laid on the Council table on September 4th, 1935, whereas Ethiopia's first
appeal to the Council had been made on December 14th, 1934. In the interval
between these two dates, the Italian Government opposed the consideration of
the question by the Council on the ground that the only appropriate procedure
was that provided for in the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928. Throughout the
whole of that period, moreover, the despatch of Italian troops to East Africa
was proceeding. These shipments of troops were represented to the Council by
the Italian Government as necessary for the defense of its colonies menaced by
Ethiopia's preparations. Ethiopia, on the contrary, drew attention to the
official pronouncements made in Italy which, in its opinion, left no doubt "as
to the hostile intentions of the Italian Government."
From the outset of the dispute, the Ethiopian Government has sought a
settlement by peaceful means. It has appealed to the procedures of the
Covenant. The Italian Government desiring to keep strictly to the procedures of
the Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1928, the Ethiopian Government assented. It
invariably stated that it would faithfully carry out the arbitral award even if
the decision went against it. It agreed that the question of the ownership of
Wal-Wal should not be dealt with by the arbitrators, because the Italian
Government would not agree to such a course. It asked the Council to despatch
neutral observers and offered to lend itself to any enquiries upon which the
Council might decide.
Once the Wal-Wal dispute had been settled by arbiration, however, the Italian
Govemmcnt submitted its detailed memorandum to the Council in support of its
claim to liberty of action. It asserted that a case like that of Ethiopia
cannot be settled by the means provided by the Covenant. It stated that, "since
this question affects vital interest and is of primary importance to Italian
security and civilization" it "would be failing in its most elementary duty,
did it not cease once and for all to place any confidence in Ethiopia,
reserving full liberty to adopt any measures that may become necessary to
ensure the safety of its colonies and to safeguard its own interests."
Covenant Violated
Those are the terms of the report of the Committee of Thirteen, The Council
and the Assembly unanimously adopted the conclusion that the Italian Government
had violated the Covenant and was in a state of aggression. I did not hesitate
to declare that I did not wish for war, that it was imposed upon me, and I
should struggle solely for the independence and integrity of my people, and
that in that struggle I was the defender of the cause of all small States
exposed to the greed of a powerful neighbour.
In October, 1935. the 52 nations who are listening to me today gave me an
assurance that the aggressor would not triumph, that the resources of the
Covenant would be employed in order to ensure the reign of right and the
failure of violence.
I ask the fifty-two nations not to forget today the policy upon which they
embarked eight months ago, and on faith of which I directed the resistance of
my people against the aggressor whom they had denounced to the world. Despite
the inferiority of my weapons, the complete lack of aircraft, artillery,
munitions, hospital services, my confidence in the League was absolute. I
thought it to be impossible that fifty-two nations, including the most powerful
in the world, should be successfully opposed by a single aggressor. Counting on
the faith due to treaties, I had made no preparation for war, and that is the
case with certain small countries in Europe.
When the danger became more urgent, being aware of my responsibilities
towards my people, during the first six months of 1935 I tried to acquire
armaments. Many Governments proclaimed an embargo to prevent my doing so,
whereas the Italian Government through the Suez Canal, was given all facilities
for transporting without cessation and without protest, troops, arms, and
munitions.
Forced to Mobilize
On October 3rd, 1935, the Italian troops invaded my territory. A few hours
later only I decreed general mobilization. In my desire to maintain peace I
had, following the example of a great country in Europe on the eve of the Great
War, caused my troops to withdraw thirty kilometres so as to remove any pretext
of provocation.
War then took place in the atrocious conditions which I have laid before the
Assembly. In that unequal struggle between a Government commanding more than
forty-two million inhabitants, having at its disposal financial, industrial and
technical means which enabled it to create unlimited quantities of the most
death-dealing weapons, and, on the other hand, a small people of twelve million
inhabitants, without arms, without resources having on its side only the
justice of its own cause and the promise of the League of Nations. What real
assistance was given to Ethiopia by the fifty two nations who had declared the
Rome Government guilty of a breach of the Covenant and had undertaken to
prevent the triumph of the aggressor? Has each of the States Members, as it was
its duty to do in virtue of its signature appended to Article 15 of the
Covenant, considered the aggressor as having committed an act of war personally
directed against itself? I had placed all my hopes in the execution of these
undertakings. My confidence had been confirmed by the repeated declarations
made in the Council to the effect that aggression must not be rewarded, and
that force would end by being compelled to bow before right.
In December, 1935, the Council made it quite clear that its feelings were in
harmony with those of hundreds of millions of people who, in all parts of the
world, had protested against the proposal to dismember Ethiopia. It was
constantly repeated that there was not merely a conflict between the Italian
Government and the League of Nadons, and that is why I personally refused all
proposals to my personal advantage made to me by the Italian Government, if
only I would betray my people and the Covenant of the League of Nations. I was
defending the cause of all small peoples who are threatened with aggression.
What of Promises?
What have become of the promises made to me as long ago as October, 1935? I
noted with grief, but without surprise that three Powers considered their
undertakings under the Covenant as absolutely of no value. Their connections
with Italy impelled them to refuse to take any measures whatsoever in order to
stop Italian aggression. On the contrary, it was a profound disappointment to
me to learn the attitude of a certain Government which, whilst ever protesting
its scrupulous attachment to the Covenant, has tirelessly used all its efforts
to prevent its observance. As soon as any measure which was likely to be
rapidly effective was proposed, various pretexts were devised in order to
postpone even consideration of the measure. Did the secret agreements of
January, 1935, provide for this tireless obstruction?
The Ethiopian Government never expected other Governments to shed their
soldiers' blood to defend the Covenant when their own immediately personal
interests were not at stake. Ethiopian warriors asked only for means to defend
themselves. On many occasions I have asked for financial assistance for the
purchase of arms That assistance has been constantly refused me. What, then, in
practice, is the meaning of Article 16 of the Covenant and of collective
security?
The Ethiopian Government's use of the railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa
was in practice a hazardous regards transport of arms intended for the
Ethiopian forces. At the present moment this is the chief, if not the only
means of supply of the Italian armies of occupation. The rules of neutrality
should have prohibited transports intended for Italian forces, but there is not
even neutrality since Article 16 lays upon every State Member of the League the
duty not to remain a neutral but to come to the aid not of the aggressor but of
the victim of aggression. Has the Covenant been respected? Is it today being
respected?
Finally a statement has just been made in their Parliaments by the
Governments of certain Powers, amongst them the most influential members of the
League of Nations, that since the aggressor has succeeded in occupying a large
part of Ethiopian territory they propose not to continue the application of any
economic and financial measures that may have been decided upon against the
Italian Government. These are the circumstances in which at the request of the
Argentine Government, the Assembly of the League of Nations meets to consider
the situation created by Italian aggression. I assert that the problem
submitted to the Assembly today is a much wider one. It is not merely a
question of the settlement of Italian aggression.
League Threatened
It is collective security: it is the very existence of the League of Nations.
It is the confidence that each State is to place in international treaties. It
is the value of promises made to small States that their integrity and their
independence shall be respected and ensured. It is the principle of the
equality of States on the one hand, or otherwise the obligation laid upon smail
Powers to accept the bonds of vassalship. In a word, it is international
morality that is at stake. Have the signatures appended to a Treaty value only
in so far as the signatory Powers have a personal, direct and immediate
interest involved?
No subtlety can change the problem or shift the grounds of the discussion. It
is in all sincerity that I submit these considerations to the Assembly. At a
time when my people are threatened with extermination, when the support of the
League may ward off the final blow, may I be allowed to speak with complete
frankness, without reticence, in all directness such as is demanded by the rule
of equality as between all States Members of the League?
Apart from the Kingdom of the Lord there is not on this earth any nation that
is superior to any other. Should it happen that a strong Government finds it
may with impunity destroy a weak people, then the hour strikes for that weak
people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom.
God and history will remember your judgment.
Assistance Refused
I have heard it asserted that the inadequate sanctions already applied have
not achieved their object. At no time, and under no circumstances could
sanctions that were intentionally inadequate, intentionally badly applied, stop
an aggressor. This is not a case of the impossibility of stopping an aggressor
but of the refusal to stop an aggressor. When Ethiopia requested and requests
that she should be given financial assistance, was that a measure which it was
impossible to apply whereas financial assistance of the League has been
granted, even in times of peace, to two countries and exactly to two countries
who have refused to apply sanctions against the aggressor?
Faced by numerous violations by the Italian Government of all international
treaties that prohibit resort to arms, and the use of barbarous methods of
warfare, it is my painful duty to note that the initiative has today been taken
with a view to raising sanctions. Does this initiative not mean in practice the
abandonment of Ethiopia to the aggressor? On the very eve of the day when I was
about to attempt a supreme effort in the defense of my people before this
Assembly does not this initiative deprive Ethiopia of one of her last chances
to succeed in obtaining the support and guarantee of States Members? Is that
the guidance the League of Nations and each of the States Members are entitled
to expect from the great Powers when they assert their right and their duty to
guide the action of the League? Placed by the aggressor face to face with the
accomplished fact, are States going to set up the terrible precendent of bowing
before force?
Your Assembly will doubtless have laid before it proposals for the reform of
the Covenant and for rendering more effective the guarantee of collective
security. Is it the Covenant that needs reform? What undertakings can have any
value if the will to keep them is lacking? It is international morality which
is at stake and not the Articles of the Covenant. On behalf of the Ethiopian
people, a member of the League of Nations, I request the Assembly to take all
measures proper to ensure respect for the Covenant. I renew my protest against
the violations of treaties of which the Ethiopian people has been the victim. I
declare in the face of the whole world that the Emperor, the Government and the
people of Ethiopia will not bow before force; that they maintain their claims
that they will use all means in their power to ensure the triumph of right and
the respect of the Covenant.
I ask the fifty-two nations, who have given the Ethiopian people a promise to
help them in their resistance to the aggressor, what are they willing to do for
Ethiopia? And the great Powers who have promised the guarantee of collective
security to small States on whom weighs the threat that they may one day suffer
the fate of Ethiopia, I ask what measures do you intend to take?
Representatives of the World I have come to Geneva to discharge in your midst
the most painful of the duties of the head of a State. What reply shall I have
to take back to my people?"
First Primary Document APParts:
Author: Emperor Haile Selasie I of Ethiopia
Place and Time: Geneva, League of Nations, June, 1936
Prior Knowledge: At this point in time, Selassie's Ethiopia was conquered by Italy, and Selassie was to be exiled
Audience: World leaders, Benito Mussolini
Reason: To address agitation of war effort going bad. To address concern of Fascist Italy pursuing other African countries
The Main Idea: To promote awareness about Fascist Italy, and how Ethiopia will exact revenge
Significance: This is the leader of Ethiopia. A lot of credibility can be given to man who runs a country
Second Primary Document APParts:
Author: Fox Movietone News
Place and Time: Documentary published on American television in 1935
Prior Knowledge: The war had just begun. This was really the first time Americans were hearing about the war and Fascist Italy.
Audience: American public
Reason: To inform the American public of the horrific things Fascist Italy was doing to Ethiopia, and the potential for that to reach the United States
The Main Idea: To spread awareness of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War
Significance: The fact that the documentary has actual footage to support the claims made really adds to Fox's credibility
Author: Fox Movietone News
Place and Time: Documentary published on American television in 1935
Prior Knowledge: The war had just begun. This was really the first time Americans were hearing about the war and Fascist Italy.
Audience: American public
Reason: To inform the American public of the horrific things Fascist Italy was doing to Ethiopia, and the potential for that to reach the United States
The Main Idea: To spread awareness of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War
Significance: The fact that the documentary has actual footage to support the claims made really adds to Fox's credibility