Failures: Corfu 1923
History: Cambridge International GCSE The Twentieth Century (Option B), topic 2.2.5
Invasion of Corfu, 1923
Mussolini's forces invaded Corfu and killed 16 people in 1923 after the murder of Tellini; an Italian man sent by the League of Nations.
Tellini
- An Italian man, Tellini, was murdered in Greece after surveying the land at the request of the League of Nations.
- Mussolini (the leader of Italy) was outraged at this.
- Mussolini blamed the Greek government.
- Mussolini demanded that anyone associated with the murder of Tellini be round up and shot!
Compensation
- Mussolini also demanded that he have compensation paid to him by the Greeks.
- When the Greeks didn’t do this, Mussolini's forces invaded Corfu and killed 16 people.
Invasion of Corfu
- The Greeks complained to the League of Nations.
- The Greeks asked to get Mussolini out and to catch the killers of their people.
- But, the League of Nations agreed that Mussolini (or Italy) should be paid compensation over the murder of Tellini.
Overriding the League of Nations
- However, Mussolini went further and got Britain, France, and Japan to agree to make Greece pay compensation and also formally apologise to Italy.
- This showed Mussolini and other leaders that if they pushed hard enough they could get what they wanted.
- Regardless of what the League of Nations said.
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