EVENTS IN ETHIOPIA.

Evening Star, Issue 24325, 14 October 1942, Page 2

EVENTS IN ETHIOPIA.

The importance of Ethiopia in the world scene lies not only in its proximity to the greatest sea lane linking west and l east, hut also in tho fact that it provides a test case of , how small nations will be dealt with after the war. When the- Emperor Hallo Selassie had his throne restored to him after British arms had defeated and ousted the occupying Italians there was no call on this ancient, war-tom land to continue the fight against the aggressor Powers, Indeed, Selassie’s policy up till within a few weeks ago had centred on the idea of working out his own solutions as far as possible. Although he was invited to align himself with the United Nations, he showed no desire to do so. Ethiopia, he evidently thought, was beginning its post-war era, involving internal problems. which called for concentrated attention from the Administration without the diversionary excitement associated with belligerency. The arrival in London of the new Ethiopian Minister, Professor Ayalla Gabre, coincided with the announcement that British troops were being withdrawn from that country and that only the legation guard and a few specialists remained in Addis Ababa. It was thought that an important milestone had been reached for both Haile Selassie’s empire and the war itself. Had not Ethiopia, the first victim of totalitarian aggression, become the first to bo freed by the democracies of its invaders? A virtually complete peace was being enjoyed. But some time between early September and now the Emperor Selassie must have changed his foreign policy, for only a few days ago a cablegram from London briefly announced Ethiopia’s adherence to the United Nations, presumably in accordance with the Emperor’s wish to continue the struggle against the Axis by. the side of his country’s liberators —in this case almost entirely Britain. As it is clear from all previous reports that the British Government has not been exerting any pressure on the Ethiopian Government, we can only conclude that the welcome decision made by Selassie sprang, in part, at any rate, from recognition of the fact that tho big democratic nations were seized with a genuine desire to see justice done to & their smaller brethren. In other words, tho emancipation of Ethiopia and the decision of that country to join the United Nations are happy indications of faith in the Allied cause and confidence that world freedom will be preserved through the democratic victory that is coining.