Men in Crisis - Selassie vs. Mussolini

[Music] If a single nation is conquered by force, it becomes the concern of all the world. Sure of this principle, Highly Salassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, has come before the League of Nations to plead for help against an aggressor. A gentle king, he has seen his country hurled into a war it did not seek and could not fight. A war begun to enrich a nation and glorify a single man. It is the war bonito Mussolini began, but in time the entire world would pay dearly for it. This is a story of men in crisis. [Music] [Music] In the summer of 1935, more than a quarter of a million soldiers are ordered to Africa by Ben Bonito Mussolini, dictator of Italy. [Music] Mussolini prepares to crush the kingdom of Ethiopia. So begins a war of conquest launched with the sole purpose of achieving for Italy the start of a new Roman Empire. [Music] Primitive but fiercely independent Ethiopians rally behind Emperor Hale Salassie. An articulate and educated leader, he knows that his nation cannot win a 20th century war. For his people have just begun to emerge from the dark ages. Too proud to surrender in the coming conflict. He will witness the undoing of all he sought to achieve in 20 years as king and regent of Ethiopia. Haime Salassie, a member of Ethiopia's ruling family, assumes the title of regent in 1916 after a brief and bloody civil war. A visionary, perhaps a dreamer. He longs to modernize a backward land. But it will be years before he can fully unite Ethiopia under his [Music] rule. Bonito Mussolini, the footless son of a village blacksmith, abandons a teaching career. And in a longing for adventure and recognition, he turns to politics. A one-time socialist, he helps found a new party called the Fascists. And in 1922, out of the confusion of Italian politics, the fascists led by Mussolini spring to prominence. He inadvertently triggers a revolution. A fiery agitator, his cry for a mass march on Rome is taken up throughout Italy and succeeds in toppling a shaky government. A stunned but delighted Bonito Mussolini suddenly finds that he is premier of [Music] Italy. April 1930, the imperial palace in Addis Aba is surrounded by the private guard of Highly Salassie, regent of Ethiopia. After years of court intrigue, the chiefs of Ethiopia's many tribes are united behind Salassie and he now declares himself emperor. [Music] [Applause] [Music] At his coronation, he is crowned highly Salassie the first, elect of God, king of the kings of Ethiopia. [Music] [Applause] [Music] The royal family dates itself according to legend from the union of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. By virtue of this legend, Emperor Hale Salasi will be called the Lion of Judah. He rules a nation still living by ancient customs where Ba is the way of commerce and poverty is the way of [Music] life. There is neither industry nor schools, neither cars nor paved roads, only a few fertile valleys and mile upon mile of empty desert. [Music] In his coronation proclamation, Haley Salassie writes, "I will by God's charity watch over you, trader, trade, farmer, plow. I shall govern you by the law handed down from my fathers. [Music] Italy, the nation that had given life to the Renaissance of art in the 15th century, has given rise in the 20th century to the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. A generation of Italians has been weaned on Mussolini's incredible desire to create a new Roman Empire far beyond Caesar's greatest dreams. Mussolini loves the trappings of dictatorship, but at the core he is a coward and a fool. A peculiar mixture of demagogue and buffoon. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Mussolini has convinced himself that he should launch his empire by conquering Ethiopia. Economically worthless, Ethiopia appeals to him because it presents an opportunity to avenge a defeat suffered in 1896 by Italian armies at the village of Adawa. He tells his council, "We will march against Ethiopia in one year on October 2nd, 1935. Make ready." From Aritria, an Italian colony bordering on Ethiopia. Marshall Dabono, Mussolini's high commissioner for East Africa, is ordered to create an incident, an excuse for Mussolini to trigger his war against [Music] Ethiopia. At the border town of Wwall, a brief skirmish occurs between Italians and Ethiopians. It is a trial balloon to test European reaction and Ethiopian resolve. At Adis Hababa on December 6th, 1934, tribal chiefs meet with Hilis Salassie to determine what shall be done. The emperor refuses to mobilize the nation for war. Instead, he will place his faith in an appeal to the League of Nations for help in warding off Italian aggression. In Italy, little or no attention is given the incident at Walwal. It is lost amid news that France's premier Pierre Lval has arrived in Rome on a critical mission. Lavval has decided that with Mussolini arming to the south of France and Hitler arming on the east, he must remove one of the threats. And so he has come to secure Italy's friendship. During their meeting, Laval tells Mussolini as a gesture of friendship, he will give Italy a part of French- held East Africa. It is Laval's way of subtly saying, "The French do not care about East Africa. Do anything there you [Music] please." For his part, Mussolini willingly signs vows of friendship with France, an insignificant price to pay for a free hand in Ethiopia. Both leaders have precisely what they had wanted. Lavval possesses a new ally against Hitler and Mussolini can launch the war for which he has waited more than 15 years. Laval now hurries from Rome to Geneva where the League of Nations has been called into session to discuss the Ethiopian plea for aid against Italy. Most European nations attempt to avoid the question for they do not wish to censure one of their neighbors on behalf of a remote African nation. Pierre Laval is instrumental in heading off seriously consideration of the Ethiopian plea. He dismisses the border clash at Wawwa as trivial and not likely to be repeated. Surely he councils, the Italians will find a peaceful solution. He is so convincing that no action is taken by the League of Nations. Laval has fulfilled his part of the bargain made in Rome. [Music] Ethiopia must stand alone against Italy. Highly Salassie's army, made up solely of his palace guard, numbers 5,000 barefoot men. Now he must gather a defense force capable of withstanding the assault of a quarter of a million Italian soldiers. [Applause] Knowing he cannot possibly succeed, Salassie delays total mobilization, attempting to gain world sympathy by presenting the image of a defenseless nation. Finally, however, on September 29th, 1935, with Italian troops poised to strike, Haley Salassie must issue the general mobilization order. [Music] Tribesmen who often do not share a common dialect, who can neither read nor write, volunteer to fight an army they've never seen from a nation they could not picture in their wildest dreams. "This is not an army," says one observer. "It's only a willing spirit. Italian troops under Marshall Dabono mass on the border in near Mount Musa Alley. You have waited a long time, Dabono tells them. Now the day has come. On October 2nd, 1935, the Ethiopian frontier is violated by Italian troops supported by native Moroccan mercenaries. [Music] It is a war of cannons and machine guns against musketss and spears. On October 6th, 4 days after the invasion, Italian soldiers capture Adawa. 44 years ago, an Ethiopian army had defeated the Italians on this spot. The defeat is avenged, says an elated deono, and he wires the news to [Music] Mussolini. Mussolini stages giant rallies celebrating the conquest of Ottawa and 60 mi of Ethiopian desert. He knows, however, that despite this show, Italians do not understand or desire war in Ethiopia. The League of Nations must act. The Italian invasion of Ethiopia violates the very precepts on which the League was founded. Military action is proposed to halt Italy's aggression, but member nations vote against it. Instead, the ambassadors of 52 countries vote to apply economic sanctions against Italy. The sanctions, however, will not take effect for 6 weeks, giving Italy ample time to stockpile her war materials. The League has answered aggression with timidity, and it will pay dearly for it. In a show of rage, Mussolini condemns the sanctions, but in reality, they are just what he needs. They will not hurt his war effort, and they succeed in uniting Italy behind him. to sanctions. He says, we will reply with discipline and sacrifice. Let the cry of your unshakable decision reach the sky. [Applause] [Music] Now, Italian women take part in an extraordinary spectacle. They donate their gold wedding rings to the cause of war and receive in return bands of [Music] iron. In order to buy the guns needed to fight the Italians, tribesmen hurried to Adis Ababa, carrying sacks of gold that have long been kept in village treasuries. But Emperor Haley Salassie knows now that the gold is far too little, far too late to save his [Music] nation. During Mussolini's war against Ethiopia in 1935, the world learns of a new terror. Mass bombing raids. [Music] In addition to the bombs, drums of poison gas are sometimes dropped to frighten and demoralize the [Music] Ethiopians. There is only one chance for highly salassie in this war. It has little bearing on the waning spirit of his nation or his ability to marshall a fighting army. Rather, it is derived from the very nature of the land he rules. He hopes that the Italian army will exhaust itself trying to occupy the tiny villages dotted amidst the rugged countryside. It is at best a weak and forl hope. By the last week in April 1936, Italian armies have reached the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Their hardest battle had been fought against terrain. More than 1,000 men died building roads, while the total combat casualties numbered 125. Of the Italian march through Ethiopia, one reporter writes, "It is not a war. In reality, it is a military prominade. A quarter of a million men assemble on the eve of victory. They have triumphed over a people and a land which, in Winston Churchill's words, no conqueror in 4,000 years ever thought worthwhile to subdue. In Addis Ababa, Highly Salassie's desperate appeal for troops to make a final stand goes virtually unanswered. And now he must realize that it was, after all, a feutal war. [Music] On the 2nd of May 1936, the last train leaves Addis Ababa, carrying the emperor's sons, the two princes of the nation, and Haley Salassie himself into exile. It is almost 20 years to the day since he became Prince Regent of Ethiopia. And now he leaves this land marked by a handful of schools he has built and the sum of his dreams unfulfilled. The last vestage of official authority departed. Lutters roam through Addis Ababa, literally destroying the city, writes a reporter. Mercifully, Highly Salassi does not have to witness this act of degradation. [Applause] On the afternoon of May 5th, 1936, advanced columns of the Italian army enter Aris Ababa and pass through Highly Salassie's triumphal arch. [Music] It has been almost 15 centuries since a Roman Caesar summoned his people to rejoice in conquest. On this day, the news from Ethiopia ignites a celebration that recalls the glory of ancient Rome and delights the spirit of a modern Caesar. [Applause] All of his life, Mussolini yearned for power and recognition. Now, victory has brought him both. The elation creates within him a dangerous hunger for more. His star has reached its zenith. And on this night, Mussolini tells his people, "At last, Italy has her empire. is attack. [Applause] [Applause] [Music] The war is over in Ethiopia by the last week in June 1936. Nevertheless, Hilis Salassie travels to Geneva to make a last desperate appeal to the League of Nations. Even now, he seems to cling to the hope that the League will force Italy to give up Ethiopia. He plans to warn the nations of Europe that if they allow the conquest of his nation, they are opening the way to aggression on a grand scale. But the final indignity will be delivered here by Italian reporters intent on silencing Ethiopia's emperor. Ethiopia president [Applause] This is the answer to highly Salassie's question. What are you willing to do for my nation? In less than a month, the League of Nations will lift the economic sanctions against Italy, in effect, admitting its own lack of power and worse yet, lack of conviction. [Music] The episode in Ethiopia is done. For Mussolini, it is a victory in every sense but one. His war has cost him the goodwill of most of the world. But to Mussolini, it is a small price. Says Italy Caesar. I have made my mark. Bonito Mussolini had long been suspicious of Nazi Germany. But the only leader to support Mussolini during the Ethiopian war is Adolf Hitler. Isolated from most European nations, the two dictators become allies. Mussolini has provided the Nazi furo with a valuable lesson. Hitler now knows he need not fear reprisal from the League of Nations for an act of aggression. And now he makes his plans with Mussolini to launch the second world war. Highly Salassie takes refuge in England. A king without a nation, powerless to redeem his own country. He is a sympathetic figure to the British people. Here he is treated with affection and respect. As for the future, he can only wait. The seeds of World War II had been sown in Ethiopia when a single nation had been abandoned to the rule of force. Emperor Highly Salassi had tried to sound the warning, but in the world of 1936, no one [Music] listened. Italy becomes an armed camp in the years after conquering Ethiopia. Mussolini's taste of victory has fooled him into believing that he can make Italy into a nation of warriors. The country's economy strains to produce the world's most modern armor. But Mussolini himself has little understanding of the tactical uses of these new toys. And he never quite realizes that something in the nature of the Italian people rebelss against the metal monsters he has given them. [Music] [Applause] Come on. Come on. The conquest of Ethiopia, a defenseless land, will be the only major military victory ever achieved by Ben Bonito Mussolini. In 1941, the British army drives the Italians out of Ethiopia in the first major battles of the African campaign. His Salassie is returned to his throne. Now he can once again begin to fulfill his dreams of modernizing Ethiopia. Now he will resume the reign that will become the longest of any monarch in the 20th century. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]