Unconfirmed reports circulated of a battle between Italians and Ethiopians in the vicinity of Mousa Ali. Italian officials denied the reports.[3]
Benito Mussolini gave a radio address in Rome informing Italians that "A solemn hour is about to sound in the history of the fatherland ... For many months the wheels of destiny have been moving toward their goal under the impulse of our calm determination. In the latter hours their rhythm has become more swift and by now cannot be stopped. It is not only an army that strives towards its objectives but a whole people of 44 million souls against whom an attempt is being made to consumnate the blackest of injustices – that of depriving us of some small place in the sun."[4][5]
Bulgaria imposed a state of emergency after a failed coup against the government.[6]
League of Nations officials announced that they had received a communication from Ethiopia asserting that Adwa had been bombed by Italian warplanes.[3] Emperor Haile Selassie informed a Reuters correspondent: "I have just received the news that the first bombs dropped by Italian planes on Adwa fell on the Red Cross Hospital there, killing and wounding nurses."[7] The Second Italo-Ethiopian War had begun.
France informed Britain that it would support the enforcement of sanctions against Italy and pledged military support in the event of any attack that arose from them.[10]
The Italian delegation at the League of Nations maintained that Italy was not waging war, but was only engaged in "military police measures to establish order."[12]
Haile Selassie made another public statement to the world through the Associated Press, saying, "Mr. Mussolini charges us with being barbarians and says he wishes to civilize us. Is the wanton slaughter of women and children by air bombs and machine guns the kind of civilization he wishes to give us? ... Despite the fact that our empire is faced with the gravest crisis of its long and glorious history – a crisis with which we have always striven to live in peace and amity – we still place all our faith in the League of Nations, which is pledged to defend its members, the small as well as the great, from unjustifiable aggression."[14]
Communists in Mexico City tore the swastika flag from Germany's honorary consulate and dragged it through the streets.[15]
By unanimous vote, the League of Nations declared Italy guilty of committing an act of war against all members of the organization by invading Abyssinia. The vote laid the basis for economic sanctions.[16]
Five people were arrested in Los Angeles as suspects in a plot to extort $1,000 from Mae West by sending letters threatening to kill her or disfigure her by throwing acid in her face.[19]
Mussolini forbade anyone from bringing more than 2,000 lire into Italy at a time. Tourists had been changing their money for Italian currency in adjoining countries at a considerable discount.[20]
The League of Nations applied its first round of sanctions against Italy, imposing a general arms embargo against the country. Members were asked to take steps to prevent arms from passing indirectly to Italy through any third party such as Austria.[27]
An incident took place at the border between Siberia and Manchukuo near Grodekovo. Events in the clash between a Japanese-Manchukuan detachment and Soviet border guards were disputed, but several were killed on both sides.[29]
The Soviet Union directed a note of protest to Japan over the border incident, accusing the Japanese-Manchukuan detachment of breaching the Siberian border nearly a mile. The Japanese contended that it was the Russians who crossed the border.[29]
The owners of the Nine Mile Point Colliery in the South Wales Valleys announced that the mine was closing indefinitely after a day of fighting between police and striking miners protesting the employment of non-union workers.[32][33]
The German cabinet convened in Berlin for its first fall session and promulgated a new law forbidding marriage in the case of either party having a hereditary disease. The official publication of the Nuremberg Laws was postponed due to fears of an international boycott of the 1936 Summer Olympics if they went into effect beforehand.[35]
In the port of Alexandria, two boiler explosions on the Italian liner Ausonia killed 6 and injured 20. British vessels in the area including the hospital ship Maine rendered assistance.[36]
Germany formally ended its membership in the League of Nations. Germany had announced its withdrawal from the League two years earlier, but had to wait until now for all its obligations to expire.[39]
Winston Churchill warned that Nazi Germany was a greater threat to peace than the war in Abyssinia. "We cannot afford to see Nazidom in its present phase of cruelty and intolerance, with all its hatreds and all its gleaming weapons, paramount in Europe at the present time", he told the House of Commons.[44]
During a speech commemorating the 13th anniversary of the March on Rome, Benito Mussolini called international sanctions against Italy "the most odious of injustices".[47]
Mussolini proclaimed food restrictions, going into effect November 5, in order to fight the effects of boycotting and sanctions. Butcher shops were to close on Tuesdays and were forbidden from selling beef, veal, mutton, lamb or pork on Wednesdays. Since butcher shops already usually closed on Thursdays and most Italians refrained from eating meat on Fridays, the decree amounted to a half-week ban on meat.[50]
Nazi Germany partially lifted the February 21 gag order on Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. He was permitted to continue his teaching activities as they promoted the emigration of young Jews to Palestine.[51]
Nazi Germany announced a general inspection of all vehicles in the country to determine and catalogue their suitability for military use in the event of an emergency.[52]
Germany instructed its ambassador in Britain to lodge a protest over an article written by Winston Churchill in The Strand Magazine. In the article, Churchill wrote that "history is replete with examples of men who have risen to power by employing stern, grim, wicked and even frightful methods, but who, nevertheless, when their life is revealed as a whole, have been regarded as great figures whose lives have enriched the story of mankind. So may it be with Hitler." According to Churchill, time would tell whether Hitler would go down in history as "a monster or a hero."[53][54]
Angry Italians staged anti-British demonstrations in Rome. Students shouted anti-British slogans and vandalized shop signs that were written in English.[55]