Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: wdr@wang.COM (William Ricker)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: How many countries in WWII? Semantics!
Keywords: Ethiopia, Vichy
Message-ID: <12692@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 2 Jan 90 02:47:45 GMT
References: <11867@cbnews.ATT.COM> <12596@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: wdr@wang.COM (William Ricker)
<paraphrasing>
>>"Didn't Benito grab it before WWII?"
> "In 1935 if memory serves"

Well, I suppose this becomes a semantics issue of when is "before WWII".
Territory which was independent prior to annexation by a major beligerant
of the war (Axis or Ally!) won't count as a separate belligerant unless
they had either (a) recognized gov't in exile or (b) ally/co-belligerant/
collaborator status.  

Thus, on what little I know of Ethiopia, I don't think the country counts as
a belligerant, although it should count as an indendent state *involved*
as a victim.  It is possible it had a gov't in exhile which would deserve
counting as a silent ally; I know not.  I would count both the Free Frech 
*and* the Vichy as bellignerants; Poland was a victim-state, but also had
an active, if not armed, gov't-in-exhile which was working with the British
secret services. 

So it all depends on how you define the experiment.  (How long is the
coast of a country?  It depends on the length of your ruler.)

-- bill ricker