nations in the region, Britain and the United States, which more or less stated that they were 'too busy' to deal with the crisis at hand. When the crisis reached its peak, Stimson advised Drummond to "strengthen and support treaty obligations" the Japanese action had caused British discomfort. He was advised to try not to arouse nationalist feelings in Japan. Drummond wanted to be an active player in the crisis but was mostly outplayed by Henry Stimson and Hugh R. Wilson. He resigned in 1933 and was succeeded by his deputy Joseph Avenol, from France. British ambassador in Rome (1933–1939) After leaving the League, Drummond was chosen as candidate to the post of British ambassador to Washington, but his candidacy was vetoed by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, allegedly because Drummond had converted to Roman Catholicism at 27. Instead, he was appointed British ambassador to Rome in October 1933 and he served there until he left Italy in April 1939. He retired from foreign politics a month later, in May 1939. Throughout his time in Rome, Drummond found it "difficult to get close to Mussolini". He noted that "[Mussolini]... had to be treated with great caution when he [was] in 'a highly sensitive condition'" The Italian foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano, thought that Perth, as he had now become, was convinced that the harsh attitude of France towards Italy was unreasonable. Furthermore, Perth tried to convince the Italians that the British government was "conciliatory" and even went so far as "[...defending] Italian policy." Ciano, whose Italian secret service efficiency allowed him to read many of Perth's reports, states in his diary that the British ambassador had been opposed to the fascist regime when he came to Rome but had developed into a "sincere convert" who "understood and even loved Fascism". Caution must always be employed in using Ciano's statements, but Perth's reports suggested that there was a certain amount of truth in the remarks: Piers Brendon, who describes Drummond as "peculiarly obtuse even by diplomatic standards", points out that as late as February 1935 he was assuring the Foreign Office that the Italians had "no aggressive intentions" but were "genuinely afraid of overwhelming Abyssinian attack". The Foreign Office was to rebuke him for his feebleness due to his meek protest following the Italian invasion on Ethiopia. "Perth may have misjudged Mussolini's attitude to Germany but, in the last analysis, even here