Hoare–Laval Pact

The Hoare–Laval Pact was an initially secret pact of December 1935 between French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval and British Foreign Secretary Sir Samuel Hoare for ending the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italy wanted to incorporate the independent nation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) into its Italian Empire and also avenge the 1896 Battle of Adwa, a humiliating defeat. The pact proposed to partition Abyssinia and thus partially achieve Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's goal of making Abyssinia an Italian colony.

The proposal was met with outrage in Britain and France and never went into effect. Hoare and Laval were both sacked.