The Importance of Haile Selassie

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Haile Selassie was an icon for pan-African movements and for black populations around the world. Abyssinia had even defeated Italy during an attempted invasion a few decades earlier. The decisive battle of that conflict achieved mythic status in both countries. Mussolini now saw himself as avenging a humiliating defeat while Abyssinia's previous victory allowed for the hope they might repel Italy once more.

An authoritarian ruler moves to invade a smaller country and take it for himself. People around the world rally to that country’s defense. European and American leaders grapple with how to stop the invasion and prevent a wider war. But this isn’t Russia and Ukraine in 2022. It’s Italy and Ethiopia in 1935. Rachel Maddow and Isaac-Davy Aronson explore what we can learn from the very different choices made decades ago, when the world faced a similar challenge.

Featuring:

Deborah Cohen, the Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University, and author of Last Call At The Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War.

Susan Pedersen, the Gouverneur Morris Professor of History at Columbia University, and author of The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire.

Anne Applebaum, staff writer at The Atlantic, and author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.