Ethiopia's Independence
Indications from Italian sources that the British attack on Gondar, the last centre of Italian resistance in Ethiopia, is being pressed now that the rains are ending, are a reminder of the importance of settling definitely the status of the emancipated Emperor. There ought to be no question about that. We have not been fighting there, in co-operation with the highly effective bands of Ethiopian patriots, to turn what, till the Italians came, was a free and independent country into anything remotely re- sembling a protectorate. The sooner Ethiopia is restored in all essentials to the pre-1935 status the better for all concerned, including most emphatically ourselves, for with military opera- tions threatening in various regions in the Middle East, our forces now in Ethiopia will be- needed urgently elsewhere. There is no reason to think they will be needed in Ethiopia. The Italians are incapable of giving further trouble (though it is doubtful wisdom to leave several thousands of them at large in the country), the Emperor on his return has been enthusi- astically received by all the provincial chiefs, and if all reason- able steps are taken here to recognise and buttress his authority he is perfectly capable of looking after defence and internal order. The one sure way to destroy the unity of Ethiopia would be to suggest that the Emperor was in any way under tutelage. The country ought, the moment the Gondar opera- tions are over, to be taken out of its present category of " Occupied Enemy Territory " (which almdst implies recog- nition of the results of the Italian rape), treated as fully in- dependent and offered alliance on much the same terms as Iraq. Derogation from the Emperor's authority must be avoided at all costs.
Previous page
