The early tea of Foreign Minister Anthony Eden last Sunday was the bitterest brew he had ever had to swallow. Read the dispatches any way he would, there was only one conclusion: Benito Mussolini had effectively smashed Ethiopia, wrecked the League of Nations and given British prestige an enormous black eye.
The Italian adventure in Ethiopia was a direct threat to the lifeline of the British Empire: control of the Mediterranean. From the beginning British diplomacy held to the dogged belief that Benito Mussolini was bluffing. Loudly His Majesty's Government demanded Sanctions, only...
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