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The use of chemical weapons in the 1935-36 Italo-Ethiopian WarLina Grip and John Hart*
I. IntroductionOn 3 October 1935 the Second Italo-Abyssinian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) began when Italian forces crossed into the territory of present-day Ethiopia (also referred to as the Ethiopian Empire or Abyssinia). Tensions between the countries dated to at least 1887, when Italy had also invaded Ethiopia. (Italian forces were defeated by Abyssinia at the Battle of Adowa on 1 Mar. 1896.) This loss and a desire to acquire a larger colonial presence motivated the Italian decision to attack in 1935. The second war was expected and tensions had been growing since the December 1934 Wal Wal incident in which Ethiopian and Italian soldiers clashed at a fort constructed by Italy at an oasis at Wal Wal. The fort was on Ethiopian territory and Italy, in constructing it, meant to provoke a border demarcation dispute between Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland.[1] The main thrust by the Italian forces was through the central high plateau of Ethiopia, a region that was attractive for operations because it enjoyed a more temperate climate and Ethiopia's agriculture was concentrated there. The region was also farthest removed from British and French colonial possessions, and large-scale Italian operations were therefore less likely to trigger a reaction from those powers. General Emilio De Bono was the commander of Italian forces in East Africa, which included Eritrean, Libyan and Somali colonial levies. Italian forces had more modern military equipment than the Ethiopian forces generally, and Italy also possessed tanks and a larger, more sophisticated air force.[2] Ultimately, some 110 000 Italian soldiers were pitted against approximately 800 000 Ethiopians. The Ethiopian forces under the overall command of Emperor Haile Selassie had largely outdated equipment that included rifles and artillery, but most Ethiopian soldiers were armed with traditional weaponry, especially spears. The Emperor's Imperial Guard was the best equipped and trained of the Ethiopian forces and totalled approximately 15 000 men.[3] In going to war, Italy broke both the 1928 Italo-Ethiopian Treaty of Friendship and its obligation as a member of the League of Nations not to resort to war.[4] League of Nations documents are an important source of information about the conflict because both states were members of the organization and both issued statements regarding the reasons for and conduct of the war.[5] Discussions were carried out partly within the framework of the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare of 1925 (Geneva Protocol), which fell under the mandate of the League of Nations.[6] Both armies committed atrocities.[7] The war is also remembered for Italy's successful use of chemical weapons, especially the blister agent sulphur mustard.[8] The use of sulphur mustard was particularly effective because the Ethiopian soldiers wore traditional light desert garb that exposed the skin. In addition, Ethiopian soldiers typically wore sandals or were barefoot. II. Use of chemical weapons in the warChemical weapons do not appear to have been used in the war until Ethiopia launched its "Christmas offensive" of 1935, which blunted an Italian offensive and succeeded in temporarily cutting off some communication and supply lines (according to a report deemed unreliable Italy may have first used a chemical weapon (chlorine) in southern Ethiopia in October 1935).[9] In December 1935 Italian aircraft dropped tear gas grenades and asphyxiating gas over the Takkaze Valley in north-eastern Ethiopia. Italy controlled the air and initially dropped sulphur mustard air bombs but later shifted to the use of aerial spray tanks. Sulphur mustard air bombs reportedly caused most of the chemical weapon casualties.[10] The use of sulphur mustard played an important role in shifting the momentum of fighting in favour of the Italian forces and in demoralizing the Ethiopian forces. Its use resulted in many long-lasting, painful injuries and in a significant number of deaths.[11] Italy also used chemical weapons in the Battle of Shire (29 February-2 March 1936), the Battle of Maychew (31 March 1936) and in attacks on the remnants of Ethiopian forces in the Lake Ashangi region. The last reported use of chemical weapons by Italy was in April 1936.[12] That month the Ethiopian Government also provided a list of towns it said had been attacked with chemical weapons (see table 1). Italy's use of chemical weapons had a strategic effect on the conduct of the war and, as operations progressed, Italian forces were able to deliver large quantities of sulphur mustard against target areas. Chemical weapons were used to protect the flanks of Italian supply routes and lines of attack and as a "force multiplier" to increase disruption in the Ethiopian forces by hindering communication, demoralizing troops and confusing troop movements.[13] A Soviet estimate states that 15 000 of the 50 000 Ethiopian casualties in the war were caused by chemical weapons.[14] Table 1. Ethiopian towns attacked with chemical weapons in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War
a The exact day was not available to the Ethiopian Government. Source: "Letter, dated April 13th, 1936, from the Ethiopian Representative to the Secretary-General", 13 Apr. 1936, League of Nations Official Journal, Annex 1592, Apr. 1936, pp. 479-80. III. Italy's chemical warfare capabilityDuring World War II the Military Intelligence Division (G-2 Intelligence) of the United States War Department produced a series of "tentative lessons bulletins", including several on Italy's chemical warfare capabilities. These bulletins also made occasional reference to Italy's use of chemical weapons during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. One bulletin stated that an unnamed report confirmed Italy's use of 105-mm artillery shells filled with sulphur mustard and the World War I irritant or "mask breaker" diphenylchloroarsine; the effect of these shells was listed as "above expectations". The bulletin also stated that 4336 aerial bombs filled with sulphur mustard and 540 aerial bombs filled with diphenylchloroarsine had been used against Ethiopian forces. Italy maintained chemical warfare storage facilities in Libya at Bhenghazi and Tripoli during the war. British forces captured chemical warfare materiel at Benina, outside Bhenghazi, during World War II that included 96 drums of blister agent (suspected to be sulphur mustard).[15] IV. Reaction to the use of chemical weapons in EthiopiaHaile Selassie and the Ethiopian foreign minister repeatedly protested against the use of chemical weapons in letters to the League of Nations and elsewhere.[16] Chemical weapon use in Ethiopia was also extensively reported in Europe due to the presence of European military observers and advisers and medical staff attached to various ambulance units and the Ethiopian Red Cross.[17] Reports were also issued on Italian military attacks on Red Cross vehicles and medical aid stations.[18] Medical staff periodically reported on Italy's use of chemical weapons, including sulphur mustard, describing its appearance, smell and the type of wounds inflicted. When the type of weapon could not be determined, the effects were described.[19] Some international medical staff also described the experience of being taken prisoner by the Italian forces, noting that they were sometimes compelled to sign statements that the accusations of chemical weapon use by Italy were untrue.[20] Military observers from non-combatant countries were attached to Italy's armies. One of them, Major Norman E. Fiske, a US cavalry officer, wrote at least four reports on the initial phases of the war for the US Army's Military Intelligence Division.[21] In June 1936 Haile Selassie gave a speech to the League of Nations in which he condemned Italy's use of chemical weapons against Ethiopia. He also accused the League of Nations of violating Article 16 of its Covenant, which states that should any member of the League resort to war "in disregard to its covenants under Articles 12, 13 or 15, it shall ipso facto be deemed to have committed an act of war against all other Members of the League".[22] Selassie also criticized the League of Nations for permitting Italy to use the Suez Canal to transport troops and war materiel. He stated that "Sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporise, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that, from the end of January 1936, soldier, women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and fields were constantly drenched with this deadly rain". Selassie additionally stated that sulphur mustard had killed tens of thousands of Ethiopians.[23] V. Legal considerationsMany of the states that became party to the Geneva Protocol reserved the right to retaliate in kind if first attacked with chemical weapons or if they entered into hostilities against a state or coalition of states that had not acceded to the protocol.[24] Both Ethiopia and Italy were party to the 1925 Geneva Protocol, although Italy argued that the protocol did not prohibit the use of chemical weapons in retaliation to war crimes.[25] In letters to the League of Nations, Italy accused Ethiopian forces of violating several articles of the Geneva Protocol by their extensive use of dumdum bullets, and "savage and bloodthirsty aggression against non-combatants".[26] VI. The end of the war and its aftermathEmperor Haile Selassie left the country in May 1936 and Italy formally annexed Ethiopia after it occupied Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa (the final phase operations was referred to by Italy as the "march of the iron will"). Rodolfo Graziani was appointed as viceroy and governor general of Ethiopia, and Pietro Badoglio became Prime Minister of Italy shortly towards the end of World War II. In 1996 Italy officially acknowledged that it had used chemical weapons in Abyssinia, confirming reports that had been made in numerous publications describing the campaign.[27] The League of Nations served as a forum for states to exchange information and views on the conduct the war. These exchanges included information from the International Committee of the Red Cross and various Europeans who passed through the war zone. The failure of the League of Nations to intervene reflected the international political climate of the 1930s and the fact that the League of Nations took decisions by consensus.[28] France and the United Kingdom were arguably the most active and strongest states in the League of Nations, and they also saw Italy as a potential ally against Germany. Italy's development and use of chemical weapons occurred within the broader context of the development of chemical weapons and the consultations on these weapons at various levels among the leading military powers of the time.[29] Today both Ethiopia and Italy are parties to the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).[30] The convention requires that chemical weapons abandoned by a state after 1 January 1925 on the territory of another state without the consent of the latter should be declared and verifiably destroyed. Since the entry into force of the CWC three of its parties have declared abandoned chemical weapons on their territory: China, Italy and Panama. Old conventional munitions, some dating from the 1930s, are present on Ethiopia's territory; it is possible that chemical munitions may also eventually be uncovered in Ethiopia. If that were to occur, the concerned parties would certainly undertake to consult with each other, including in the framework of the CWC, on the appropriate and relevant measures that should be taken. References
Editor's Note: John Hart, in addition to being a Senior Researcher for the SIPRI, is a noted historian and documenter of the CBW arena and is a senior Correspondent and Editor for Science and Technology for the ASA Newsletter. We want to thank John and Lina Grip for this thoroughly documented account of a little discussed facet of CW.
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