On 3 October 1935, Italian armed forces invaded the Africa state of Abyssinia (now called Ethiopia). At first the Italians faced considerable opposition as the Abyssinians avoided battle and retreated slowly. In early 1936, however, the Italians began to use poison gas, along with their air force (the Abyssinians had only outdated rifles and in some cases spears), this led to the collapse of the Abyssinian forces. Both sides were responsible for the most appalling atrocities towards their prisoners of war. In May 1936 the capital Addis Ababa was occupied and the Emperor Haile Selassie fled to Britain. Abyssinia was annexed to Italy and the king of Italy became Emperor of Abyssinia.

There were three main reasons for the invasion of Abyssinia. Firstly, Italy had invaded Abyssinia in 1895, but had been humiliatingly defeated by the Abyssinian army at the battle of Adowa. Mussolini along with many other Italians wanted revenge. The Italians...