Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
Part of Abyssinia Crisis — GCSE History
This memory aid covers Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts within Abyssinia Crisis for GCSE History. Revise Abyssinia Crisis in Conflict and Tension 1918-1939 for GCSE History with 8 exam-style questions and 5 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 12 of 15 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.
Topic position
Section 12 of 15
Practice
8 questions
Recall
5 flashcards
🧠 Memory Aids: Lock In the Key Facts
The Abyssinian crisis in five stages — "WISHA":
- W — Wal-Wal Incident (December 1934): the pretext Mussolini used
- I — Invasion (October 1935): Italy invades with tanks, planes, mustard gas
- S — Sanctions (November 1935): imposed but excluded oil — deliberately toothless
- H — Hoare-Laval Pact (December 1935): secret deal leaked; both men resign; League humiliated
- A — Abyssinia falls (May 1936): Italy conquers; League lifts sanctions July 1936; League dead
Why sanctions failed — "OUSA": Oil excluded, Usa absent, Suez open, Appeasement prioritised
- O — Oil excluded from sanctions (Mussolini: "oil embargo = I withdraw in a week")
- U — USA absent: American companies traded freely with Italy
- S — Suez Canal left open: Britain controlled it but refused to close it to Italian ships
- A — Appeasement: Britain and France prioritised keeping Italy as ally against Germany
Haile Selassie's key quote: "It is us today. It will be you tomorrow." — This is a powerful quote to include in essays. He was addressing the League, predicting that if collective security failed for Abyssinia, it would fail for everyone. He was right: six months later, Hitler remilitarised the Rhineland with no resistance.
The great irony to remember: Britain and France betrayed Abyssinia specifically to keep Italy away from Germany. The result — the Rome-Berlin Axis (November 1936) — was exactly what they had tried to prevent. Their appeasement of Mussolini achieved the opposite of its intended purpose.