In 1896, Italian troops already tried to invade Abyssinia. But much worse equipped tribesmen defeated them in Adowa, because the Abyssinians knew their territory much better than the Italian army. Of course this was humiliating for such a powerful country as Italy was. So Mussolini wanted revenge and attacked Abyssinia in 1935. Also the people of Italy wanted revenge, so they voted for Mussolini because he promised them to take revenge and strengthen his position in Italy. Mussolini was known as a proud Italian, so he decided to attack Abyssinia, because he had always in his mind of restoring the Roman Empire. His last reason was an economic point, because he knew that Abyssinia had many useful resources for Italy, if he would invade Abyssinia. The League saw the serious of the situation to late. They wanted to keep the good relations with Italy, because Italy was a strong ally against Germany. Another reason to keep the relation with Italy was, because in 1935 the League signed a pact with Italy against Germanys rearmament, known as Stresa Pact. Because of joining this pact, Mussolini thought that the League would not prevent Italy to attack Abyssinia. Because the League did nothing against Mussolini's plan, there was a big public protest to prevent Italy's plan. So the League made an offer for Italy to give them a part of Abyssinia, when they don't attack them, known as Hoare-Laval Pact but Italy rejected it. So the League had a dilemma because they were not able to stop Italy and give a sign to the smaller countries, that they will be protect. After Mussolini attacked Abyssinia, the League had to decide, if they punish Italy in form of economic sanctions or not. A committee was set up to decide which sanctions would be build up. But the sanctions would only work, if they were imposed quickly. Every week Italy got without sanctions, allows Mussolini to build up his stockpile. The League banned arms sales to Italy, loans to Italy, im