Comments on: Sitting in Judgment: the Ethiopia Campaign http://www.historynet.com/sitting-in-judgment-the-ethiopian-campaign.htm From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher Wed, 19 Jun 2013 19:40:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Jukka J. http://www.historynet.com/sitting-in-judgment-the-ethiopian-campaign.htm#comment-1100407 Jukka J. Thu, 09 May 2013 08:28:09 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13686730#comment-1100407 Mr. Oliver, this is not the right forum to ponder politics, but your mentioning of Guernica leads me to believe that you have swallowed the Communist version of it, as propagandized by the arch-Communist Picasso himself. Mr. Oliver, this is not the right forum to ponder politics, but your mentioning of Guernica leads me to believe that you have swallowed the Communist version of it, as propagandized by the arch-Communist Picasso himself.

]]> By: Sean Oliver http://www.historynet.com/sitting-in-judgment-the-ethiopian-campaign.htm#comment-830735 Sean Oliver Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:13:26 +0000 http://www.historynet.com/?p=13686730#comment-830735 Who were all these people in 1936 who thought the Italian invasion of Abyssinia/Ethiopia was such a great and formidable achievement? I'll betcha most of them were correspondents working for major news outlets operated by hardcore anti-communist William Randolph Hearst. Il Duce's Fascist regime in Italy had been ruthlessly crushing leftist opposition since they took over in 1922, and this undoubtedly pleased Hearst and other powerful members of the wealthy elite, who rewarded Mussolini's government with years of financial support, loan guarantees and overwhelmingly positive coverage of fascist Italy's activities in Hearst's worldwide newspaper syndicate. Eventually it started becoming clear to almost everybody (with the exception of Hearst and the people he paid to write news articles) that Mussolini and his pal Hitler might not be the saviors and protectors of Western Civilization after all. Public sympathy had always leaned in favor of Ethiopia anyway, especially after the League of Nations' disgraceful treatment of Haile Selassie and their cowardly refusal to "risk" helping his people. The deliberate killing of civilians in both the gassing of Ethiopian villages and the bombing of Guernica in Spain finally revealed fascism's blatantly murderous intentions for all to see. Henceforth, no amount of news stories marveling at the efficient Italian train system under Mussolini could help restore fascism's once-favorable image. Who were all these people in 1936 who thought the Italian invasion of Abyssinia/Ethiopia was such a great and formidable achievement?

I'll betcha most of them were correspondents working for major news outlets operated by hardcore anti-communist William Randolph Hearst.
Il Duce's Fascist regime in Italy had been ruthlessly crushing leftist opposition since they took over in 1922, and this undoubtedly pleased Hearst and other powerful members of the wealthy elite, who rewarded Mussolini's government with years of financial support, loan guarantees and overwhelmingly positive coverage of fascist Italy's activities in Hearst's worldwide newspaper syndicate.

Eventually it started becoming clear to almost everybody (with the exception of Hearst and the people he paid to write news articles) that Mussolini and his pal Hitler might not be the saviors and protectors of Western Civilization after all. Public sympathy had always leaned in favor of Ethiopia anyway, especially after the League of Nations' disgraceful treatment of Haile Selassie and their cowardly refusal to "risk" helping his people. The deliberate killing of civilians in both the gassing of Ethiopian villages and the bombing of Guernica in Spain finally revealed fascism's blatantly murderous intentions for all to see. Henceforth, no amount of news stories marveling at the efficient Italian train system under Mussolini could help restore fascism's once-favorable image.

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