The Dark History of Italian Mustard Gas in Ethiopia

In 1935, Italy launched a brutal invasion of Ethiopia with a force of 120,000 soldiers. This aggression left Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie deeply disappointed with the League of Nations, an international organization created to maintain world peace (Shillington 408-9). The Italian army went to horrifying lengths, using mustard gas not only against Ethiopian soldiers but also against civilians, causing unspeakable suffering. Haile Selassie decided to bring his concerns directly to the League of Nations, delivering a powerful speech that resonates through history:
"The deadly rain that fell from the aircraft made all those whom it touched fly shrieking with pain. In the 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 have resolved to come to Geneva." (Selassie 321)
Tragically, the League of Nations, and by extension, Europe, failed to respond adequately to Selassie's impassioned plea, which he delivered on June 30, 1936. Ethiopia had been a founding member of the League of Nations since 1923 (Selassie 322), but it became painfully clear that the League was unable or unwilling to protect African member states like Ethiopia. This failure was compounded by the fact that European member states did not view their African counterparts as equals.
In a shocking revelation, it was discovered that Britain had secretly made a treaty with Italy in January 1935, recognizing Italian influence in Africa (Selassie 322). The League then employed a biased arbitration process that favored Italy (Selassie 322-3). European states, furthermore, refused to provide military assistance to Ethiopia. It was only when Italy declared war on Britain that British policy regarding Ethiopia shifted (Selassie 325; Shillington 410).
Haile Selassie and the Ethiopian people were left with no choice but to take matters into their own hands. It was only through violent resistance that Ethiopia managed to reclaim its capital, Addis Ababa, by May 1941 (Shillington 410). This brutal conflict illustrated the failure of the international system, specifically the League of Nations, to protect one of its own founding members from the grip of European imperialism.
This episode serves as a stark reminder that violent decolonization was not limited to settler states but occurred wherever African nations resisted the encroachment of European imperialism. Ultimately, the League of Nations stands as a symbol of its failure to fulfill its primary mission: safeguarding international peace and security.
Sources:
Selassie, Haile. "At the League of Nations (June 30, 1936)." In Documents from an African Past, ed. Robert O. Collins. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2001: 320-7.
Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. 4th Edition. London, UK: Red Globe Press, 2019.
#Ethiopia #Africa #EthiopianHistory #HaileSelassie #LeagueOfNations #ItalianAggression #MustardGas #SecondItaloEthiopianWar #Decolonization #AfricanResistance #Colonialism #History #PanAfrican #BlackHistory #InternationalRelations #EuropeanImperialism

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