Mussolini's Invasion of Abyssinia as his Greatest Success in Foreign Policy in the Period 1922-38

Mussolini's Invasion of Abyssinia as his Greatest Success in Foreign Policy in the Period 1922-38

I disagree with the above statement. It is my opinion that Mussolini's

involvement within Abyssinia was not his greatest foreign policy

success. At home, it brought him praise and merit - the movement of

Fascism was now more popular within Italy than ever before. Despite

this, his international reputation was damaged and his relationship

with Britain and France, and it could be argued that Abyssinia was the

"beginning of the end" for Mussolini.

The victory avenged the humiliating defeat that Italian forces

suffered at the hands of Abyssinian tribes in 1896 at Adowa - in

addition to this, the victory strengthened Italy's position within

Africa and expanded her colonies. Italy was now considered to be an

imperial power in Africa, just like Britain and France were. All of

these had been long-held aims of Italian Nationalists, and the

achievement brought Mussolini praise and adoration of the Italian

people. The Abyssinian success was seen by many to be Mussolini's

"finest hour" - by the time it ended, he was at the peak of his

popularity.

The campaign was seen within Italy as a dynamic success for Fascism,

and kept in line with the war-mongering, Fascist ideology. The victory

showed that the Italian army was formidable, and would not roll over

easily if faced with opposition by Europe's leading powers - Britain,

France and Germany.

There are a number of foreign policy successes prior to the invasion

of Abyssinia which could be seen to be more successful. As well as his

success with regards to the Corfu incident, where he forced the ...

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not been the one that he had expected. He was condemned for his attack

on Ethiopia, who was at the time a member of the League of Nations.

This led to sanctions being imposed on Italy and meant that no country

was allowed to carry out arms sales with Italy and League of Nations

members banned the import of Italian goods. This was a further blow to

the already ailing Italian economy.

In conclusion, I do not agree with the comment "Mussolini's invasion

of Abyssinia was his greatest foreign policy success in the period

1922-38". The obvious successes cannot be ignored, but these successes

were clearly exaggerated by Mussolini's excellent application of

propaganda. With regards to Abyssinia, the effect it has on Italy's

economy and the damage it does to Mussolini's reputation outweigh the

successes.