The Italian Invasion of Ethiopia, also called the Abyssinian Crisis, was a seven-month armed conflict, between October 1935 and May 1936. It is seen as a sample of the expansionist policy that characterized the Axis Powers and the inefficiency of the League of Nations before the outbreak of World War II.
The League of Nations had certainly condemned the Italian action, but could never implement effective economic sanctions against Rome, because despite a trade embargo was decreed, it did not deprive the Italians of the raw materials necessary to continue the war, particularly oil. Although several countries, such as Mexico, were strict in rejecting the Italian invasion, the main members of the League of Nations (France and the United Kingdom) also showed no serious intention to stop Italy, rather trying to follow a policy of appeasement towards the fascist regime and avoiding all conflict with it. As a result, Mussolini withdrew his country from the League of Nations in 1937 when he realized that his military adventure had not caused serious damage to Italy, and this brought him even closer to the Third Reich and Japan, which had already followed that same path.
