Italian-Ethiopian War

D.K. Clark, Effectiveness of Toxic Weapons in the Italian-Ethiopian War, Bethesda Operations Research Office (1959), p. 20. 

The first major use of chemical weapons after World War I came in 1935 during the Italian-Ethiopian War. On 3 October 1935, Benito Mussolini launched an invasion of Ethiopia from its neighbors Eritrea, an Italian colony, and Italian Somaliland. Ethiopia protested the invasion to the League of Nations, which in turn imposed limited economic sanctions against Italy. These sanctions, although not crippling, put a deadline pressure on Italy to either win the war or withdraw. 

After the Italian-Ethiopian War, the possibility of war in Europe became the primary concern of the U.S. Army. The CWS closely studied the chemical warfare capabilities of Germany and Italy, although it missed the German development of nerve agents. 

The modem history of the military use of toxic chemical agents (1,3—5) dates from the first full-scale (chlorine) gas attack on April 22, 1915, near Ypres, Belgium in World War I. There were a few reports of the limited use of toxic chemicals since that time. The Italians employed mustard, a bUster agent, during the Ethiopian war in 1935 and 1936 the Japanese used toxic chemicals in a number of small-scale engagements in the early years of their war with China and Iraq purportedly employed both mustard and nerve gases in the 1980s. 

Enemy armies had mechanized flame throwers, but used them infrequently. Indeed, there is no record of Italians or Japanese using flame tanks against United States troops. The Italians had had tank mounted weapons since the Ethiopian War, 1935-1936. The tank was quite light and mounted the flame gun coaxially with a machine gun. Fuel was carried in a trailer with a capacity of one hundred gallons. The range was rather low, from thirty to forty-five yards. The reasons why the Italians did not employ their tanks are not known. Among them may have been the lack of opportunity, unfamiliarity with flame thrower tactics, and conservatism of tank commanders. ... 

Use of mustard gas in the Italian Ethiopian campaign 1936-1945 Discovery and production of nerve gases in Germany 1938-1941 Probable use of mustard gas and other chemical agents in the Sino-Japanese Manchurian war... 

Del Boca, Angelo. The Ethiopian War, 1935-1941. Trans, from Italian by P. D. Cummins. Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1969. 

Italian forces used sulphur mustard against Ethiopian forces in 1936 and it was used by Japanese forces against Chinese troops during World War II (Robinson, 1971). In the Iran-Iraq war, allegations, which proved well founded, of the use of sulphur mustard by Iraq were made (United Nations Security Council, 1984,1986,1987). In 1986, more than 30 Iranian casualties whose injuries were compatible with exposure to mustard gas were evacuated to London for treatment. The author was thus able to gather first-hand experience of treating mustard gas casualties. 

Since the use of sulphur mustard in the 1914— 1918 war, there have been several allegations of its use around the world in numerous conflicts. Italian forces were reported to have used sulphur mustard against Abyssinian (Ethiopian) troops in 1936 and it was used, probably on several occasions, by the Japanese in China between 1937 and 1941 (Medema, 1986). Some evidence to support its use by Poland against Germany in 1939 and by Egypt against the Yemen in 1963 to 1967 has also been reported (Medema, 1986). Much more recently, well-founded allegations of... 

The initial Italian offensive from Eritrea was not pursued with the proper vigor in Mussolini s opinion, and the Italian commander was replaced. The new commander, Marshal Pietro Badoglio, was ordered to finish the war quickly. He resorted to chemical weapons to defeat the Ethiopian troops led by Emperor Haile Selassie. Despite the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which Italy had ratified in 1928 (and Ethiopia in 1935), the Italians dropped mustard bombs and occasionally sprayed it from airplane tanks. They also used mustard agent in powder form as a dusty agent to burn the unprotected feet of the Ethiopians. There were also rumors of phosgene and chloropicrin attacks, but these were never verified. 

The U.S. Army closely followed the war and sent Major Norman E. Fiske as an observer with the Italian army and Captain John Meade as an observer with the Ethiopian army. Their different conclusions as to the role of chemical warfare in the war reflected the sides they observed. Major Fiske thought the Italians were clearly superior and that victory... 

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