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TheHistoryNet | World War II | Joseph Avenol's Betrayal of the League of Nations (888 words) |
 | Avenol had argued Japan's side in the Manchurian crisis before he took office, and in the League's decisive test--when Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935--his concern was not to stop Benito Mussolini's aggression but, rather, to keep Italy as a member of the League and an ally of France against Germany. |
| When he returned, Avenol told two officials of the League's International Labor Organization that "left-wing organizations like the ILO are finished" and Europe "would be governed by Hitler, Mussolini, and..." His sentence trailed off without ending, and both of the ILO officials were certain Avenol was about to add himself. |
| Avenol called in his Greek aide, Thanassis Aghnides, and announced, "That's it, it is done." When Aghnides asked what Avenol meant, he was stunned by the reply from the secretary-general. |
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