Sub-Saharan Africa 1935: Abyssinia Crisis
![Political map of Sub-Saharan Africa on 16 Jan 1935 (Africa between the World Wars: Abyssinia Crisis), showing the following events: Statute of Westminster; Establishment of Saudi Arabia; Chancellor Adolf Hitler; Sara Triangle; Abyssinia Crisis; Mussolini-Laval Accord; Italian East Africa.](https://omniatlas-test-media.s3.amazonaws.com/dist/img/maps/safrica/safrica19350116.png)
16 January 1935
16 Jan 1935
Abyssinia Crisis
10 Aug 1920 Africa and the Peace Treaties
20 Jul 1922 League of Nations Mandates
15 Jul 1924 Anglo-Italian Convention
16 Nov 1925 Campaign of the Sultanates
27 Apr 1929 Trans-African Routes
17 Apr 1931 Africa during the Great Depression
16 Jan 1935 Abyssinia Crisis
9 May 1936 Second Italo-Ethiopian War
4 Feb 1939 Spanish Civil War in Africa
In the 1920s, Mussolini's Fascists had risen to power in Italy, adopting an increasingly aggressive foreign policy. In 1934 their expanding claims in Somalia led to a clash with Ethiopia, which brought the dispute to the League of Nations. However Mussolini secretly wanted an excuse to conquer Ethiopia and continuously rejected the League's attempts at arbitration.