W.E.A.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 May 1940, Page 3

W.E.A.

LECTURE BY MR HELY. ITALY’S AMBITIONS. There was a good attendance at a JV.E.A. lecture given by Mr W. E. Hely in the Municipal Buildings last night. Mr Hely dealt with Italy and the Mediterranean, tracing the development of national unity, the expansionist period, with its dreams of reestablishing the Roman Empire, up to the present situation. Mr Hely showed that Italy was definitely tied to the Rome-Berlin axis, stating that Italy would co-operate with Germany only if she knew that Germany was going to win.

Tracing the development of Italy as a national state in the nineteenth century, Mr Hely dealt with the Italian expansionist drcams, culminating in the invasion of Tripoli in 1911. He referred to the agreements made with the Great Powers prior to the invasion. Mr Hely commented on the leasing of the Somaliland by Italy from the Sultan of Zanzibar, outlining the background to the acquisition. Dealing with the agreement between the Emperor of Abyssinia and Italy, which was interpreted by the Italians to read that Abyssinia “must” use the Itfilian Foreign Office, but by the Abyssinians that they “could” use the Italian Foreign Office for diplomatic moves, Mr Hely traced the intrigues leading up to the later Italian invasion of Abyssinia. The speaker referred to the attempt by Italy to gain strategical position in the Mediterranean by assisting Franco in the Spanish civil war. commenting on Italy’s weakness in the lack of raw materials.