The Second Italo–Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo–Abyssinian War, was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI).
Politically, the war is best remembered for exposing the inherent weakness of the League of Nations. Like the Mukden Incident in 1931 (the Japanese annexation of three Chinese provinces), the Abyssinia Crisis in 1935 is often seen as a clear example of the ineffectiveness of the League. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations and yet the League was unable to control Italy or to protect Ethiopia when Italy clearly violated the League's own Article X.
The positive outcome of the war for the Italians coincided with the zenith of the international popularity of dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime,[7] in a phase called "the age of consensus" during which foreign leaders praised him for his achievements. Historians like James Burgwyn called the victory of Mussolini "a capital achievement", but he was forced to accept the Anschluss between Nazi Germany and Austria, and to begin a political tilt toward Germany that finally destroyed him and Fascist Italy in World War II.[8]
Indeed this Italian victory, that brought the creation of the Italian Empire with Ethiopia included, was short-lived as Abyssinia regained its independence only five years later during World War II at the end of the East African Campaign with the help of Allied forces.
Italian incursion
In November 1934, Ethiopian territorial troops, escorting the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, protested against Italy's incursion. The British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid embarrassing Italy. Italian and Ethiopian troops remained encamped in close proximity.
Border clash at Wal Wal
In early December 1934, the tensions on both sides erupted into what was known as the "Wal Wal incident." The resultant clash left approximately 150 Ethiopians and 2 Italians dead and led to the "Abyssinia Crisis" at the League of Nations.
Italy was able to launch its invasion without interference primarily due to the United Kingdom and France placing a high priority on retaining Italy as an ally in case hostilities broke out with Germany. To this end, on 7 January 1935, France signed an agreement with Italy giving them essentially a free hand in Africa to secure Italian co-operation.[10] Next, in April, Italy was further emboldened by being a member of the Stresa Front, an agreement to curb further German violations of the Treaty of Versailles.[11] In June, non-interference was further assured by a political rift that had developed between the United Kingdom and France following the Anglo-German Naval Agreement.[12] A last possible foreign ally of Ethiopia to fall away was Japan, which had served as a model to some Ethiopian intellectuals; the Japanese ambassador to Italy, Dr. Sugimura Yotaro, on 16 July assured Mussolini that his country held no political interests in Ethiopia and would keep neutral in Italy's coming war. His comments stirred up a furor inside Japan, where there had been popular affinity for the African Empire. Despite popular opinion, when the Ethiopians approached Japan for help on 2 August they were refused completely: even a modest request for the Japanese government to officially state its support for Ethiopia in the coming conflict was denied.[13]
Opposing forces
Ethiopians/Abyssinians
According to Italian estimates, on the eve of hostilities the Ethiopians had an army of 350,000–760,000 men. But only about one-quarter of this army had any kind of military training and the men were armed with 400,000 rifles of every type and in every kind of condition.[15]
In general, the Ethiopian armies were poorly equipped. They had about 200 antiquated pieces of artillery mounted on rigid gun carriages. There were also about 50 light and heavy anti-aircraft guns (20 mm Oerlikons, 75 mm Schneiders, and Vickers). The Ethiopians even had some Ford truck-based armored cars and a small number of Fiat 3000 World War I-era tanks.[15]
The serviceable portion of the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force included three outmoded Potez 25 biplanes.[16] A few transport aircraft were also acquired between 1934 and 1935 for ambulance work. In all, the air force consisted of 13 aircraft and four pilots at the outbreak of the war.[17] The Ethiopian Air Force was commanded by a French pilot, Andre Maillet.
The best Ethiopian units were the Emperor's "Imperial Guard" (Kebur Zabangna). These troops were well-trained and better equipped than the other Ethiopian troops. The Imperial Guard, however, wore a distinctive greenish-khaki uniform of the Belgian Army, which stood out from the white cotton cloak (shamma) worn by most Ethiopian fighters. Unfortunately for its wearers, the shamma proved to be an excellent target.[15] The skills of the Rases, the generals of the Ethiopian armies, ranged from relatively good to incompetent.
Italians
The equipment for the build-up alone included 6,000 machine guns, 2,000 pieces of artillery, 595 tanks, and 390 aircraft. Before these arrived, the Italians had 3,300 machine guns, 275 artillery pieces, 200 tankettes, and 205 aircraft. Thanks to the Royal Navy (Regia Marina), the Italians had tons of ammunition, food, and other necessary supplies. The Italians also had motor vehicles to move supplies and troops while the Ethiopians carried supplies in horse drawn carts.[1]
During this campaign the Italians placed considerable reliance on their Royal Corps of Colonial Troops (Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali, or RCTC) – indigenous regiments recruited from the Italian colonial possessions of Eritrea, Somalia, and Libya. The most effective of these Italian officered units were the Eritrean native infantry (askaris) who were often used as advance troops. As advance troops, the Eritreans often suffered heavy casualties accordingly. The Eritreans also provided cavalry and artillery units. The "Falcon Feathers" (Penne di Falco) was one prestigious and colorful Eritrean cavalry unit. Other RCTC units employed in the invasion of Ethiopia included irregular Somali frontier troops (dubats), regular Arab-Somali infantry and artillery, and Libyan infantry.[19]
In addition to their own colonial troops from Eritrea, Somalia, and Libya, the Italians had a variety of local semi-independent "allies" who fought for them. In the north, the Azebu Galla were one of several groups induced to fight for the Italians. For many reasons, the Galla were willing to sweep down on the fleeing Ethiopians. In the south, Sultan Olol Diinle commanded a personal army that advanced into the northern Ogaden alongside the forces of Italian Colonel Luigi Frusci. The Sultan was motivated by his desire to take back lands that the Ethiopians had taken from him. The Italian colonial forces even included some Yemenis recruited from across the Gulf of Aden.[20]
Italian invasion
On 28 March 1935, General Emilio De Bono was named as the Commander-in-Chief of all Italian armed forces in East Africa.[21] In addition, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the forces invading from Eritrea, the "northern front". De Bono had under his direct command a force of nine divisions in three Army Corps: The Italian I Corps, the Italian II Corps, and the Eritrean Corps.
General Rodolfo Graziani was De Bono's subordinate. He was the Commander-in-Chief of forces invading from Italian Somaliland, the "southern front". Initially he had two divisions and a variety of smaller units under his command. His forces included a mix of Italians, Somalis, Eritreans, Libyans, and others. De Bono regarded Italian Somaliland as a secondary theatre that needed primarily to defend itself and possibly aid the main front with offensive thrusts if the enemy forces there were not too large.[22]
As the invasion began, aircraft of the Royal Italian Air Force scattered leaflets asking the population to rebel against Haile Selassie and support the "true Emperor Iyasu V". Forty-year-old Iyasu had been deposed many years earlier but was still in custody.
De Bono's advance
At precisely 5:00 am on 3 October 1935, De Bono crossed the Mareb River and advanced into Ethiopia from Eritrea without a declaration of war.[23] In response to the Italian invasion, Ethiopia declared war on Italy.[24] At this point in the campaign, roadways represented a serious drawback for the Italians as they crossed into Ethiopia. On the Italian side, roads had been constructed right up to the border. On the Ethiopian side, these roads often transitioned into vaguely defined paths.[23]
On 5 October, the Italian I Corps took Adigrat and, by 6 October, Adwa[25] was captured by the Italian II Corps. Haile Selassie had ordered Duke (Ras) Seyoum Mangasha, the Commander of the Ethiopian Army of Tigre, to withdraw a day's march away from the Mareb River. Later, the Emperor ordered Commander of the Gate (Dejazmach) Haile Selassie Gugsa, also in the area, to move back fifty-five and thirty-five miles from the border.[23]
On 11 October, Dejazmach Haile Selassie Gugsa and 1,200 of his followers surrendered to the commander of the Italian outpost at Adagamos. De Bono notified Rome and the Ministry of Information promptly exaggerated the importance of the surrender. Haile Selassie Gugsa was Emperor Haile Selassie's son-in-law. But less than a tenth of the Dejazmach's army defected with him.[26]
On 14 October, De Bono issued a proclamation ordering the suppression of slavery. However, after a few weeks he was to write: "I am obliged to say that the proclamation did not have much effect on the owners of slaves and perhaps still less on the liberated slaves themselves. Many of the latter, the instant they are set free presented themselves to the Italian authorities, asking 'And now who gives me food'?"[26] The Ethiopians themselves had attempted to abolish slavery, but only in theory. Each Ethiopian Emperor since Tewodros II had issued "superficial" proclamations to halt slavery,[27] but always without real effect. Only with the Italian proclamation of their Empire in summer 1936, slavery was totally and effectively abolished in Ethiopia.
By 15 October, De Bono's forces advanced from Adwa for a bloodless occupation of the holy capital of Axum. General de Bono entered the city riding triumphantly on a white horse. However, the invading Italians he commanded looted the Obelisk of Axum.
De Bono's advance continued methodically and, to Mussolini's consternation, a bit slowly. On 8 November, the I Corps and the Eritrean Corps captured Makale welcomed by the local population.[28]
This proved to be the limit of how far the Italian invaders would get under the command of De Bono.[29] On 16 November, De Bono was promoted to the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia), but by December he was replaced with Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio because of the slow, cautious nature of De Bono's advance.[30] In November the imprisoned former emperor Iyasu also died, in undetermined circumstances.
Ethiopian Christmas Offensive
Haile Selassie decided to test this new Italian commander with an offensive of his own. What became known as the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive" had as its objectives the splitting of the Italian forces in the north with the Ethiopian center, crushing the Italian left with the Ethiopian right, and invading Eritrea with the Ethiopian left. Ras Seyoum Mangasha held the area around Abbi Addi with about 30,000 men. Ras Imru Haile Selassie with approximately 40,000 men advanced from Gojjam toward Mai Timket to the left of Ras Seyoum. Ras Kassa Haile Darge with approximately 40,000 men advanced from Dessie to support Ras Seyoum in the center in a push towards Warieu Pass. Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu, the Minister of War, advanced from Dessie with approximately 80,000 men to take positions on and around Amba Aradam to the right of Ras Seyoum. Amba Aradam was a steep sided, flat topped mountain directly in the way of an Italian advance on Addis Ababa.[31]
The four commanders had approximately 190,000 men facing the Italians. Ras Imru and his Army of Shire were on the Ethiopian left. Ras Seyoum and his Army of Tigre and Ras Kassa and his Army of Beghemder were the Ethiopian center. Ras Mulugeta and his "Army of the Center" (Mahel Sefari) were on the Ethiopian right.[31] A force of 1,000 Ethiopians crossed the Tekeze river and advanced toward the Dembeguina Pass. The Italian commander, Major Criniti, commanded a force of 1,000 Eritrean Infantry supported by L3 tanks. When the Ethiopians attacked, Criniti's force fell back to the pass, only to discover that 2,000 Ethiopian soldiers had occupied it. Criniti's force was encircled and taking fire from all directions. In the first Ethiopian attack, two of Major Criniti's officers were killed, and Criniti himself was wounded. Criniti's force attempted to use their L3 tanks to break out, but the rough terrain immobilized the vehicles. The Ethiopians slaughtered the infantry, then swarmed the tanks and killed their two-man crews. Italian forces organized a relief column made up of tanks and infantry to relieve Major Critini, but it ran into an Ethiopian ambush on the way. The Ethiopians occupying the high ground rolled boulders in front of and behind the several of the tanks, immobilizing them. The Ethiopians picked off the Eritrean infantry, and swarmed the tanks. The other tanks were immobilized by the terrain and unable to advance further. The Ethiopians set two of these tanks on fire. Meanwhile, Major Critini achieved a breakout, having ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge. Although half of the Major Critini's force was killed in the fierce fighting, they managed to break out of the Ethiopian encirclement. The Ethiopians claimed to have killed 3,000 Eritrean troops during the Christmas offensive.
Black period of the war
The ambitious Ethiopian plan called for Ras Kassa and Ras Seyoum to split the Italian army in two and isolate the Italian I Army Corps and the Italian III Army Corps in Mekele. Ras Mulugeta would then descend from Amba Aradam and crush both corps. According to this plan, after Ras Imru retook Adwa, he was to invade Eritrea.
In November, the League of Nations condemned Italy's aggression and imposed economic sanctions.
The Hoare-Laval Pact
Use of Poison gas
The Ethiopian offensive was ultimately stopped due to the superiority in modern weapons like machine guns and heavy artillery of the Italian forces.
The Italians delivered the poison gas by special artillery canisters and with bombers of the Italian Royal Air Force. While the poorly equipped Ethiopians experienced some success against modern weaponry, they did not understand the "terrible rain that burned and killed."[36] The permission was given because the Ethiopians used Dum-dum bullets (the Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III, prohibited the use in international warfare of bullets called "Dum-dum", which easily expand or flatten in the body) against the Italians from the start of the war: this provoked the retaliation of the Italians, who used gas against the Ethiopians in the last months of the war.[37] However, some historians (for example, Anthony Mockler) consider the effect of this gas weapon in battle negligible, like in the report written by the US Major Norman Fiske.The Italians attempted to justify their use of chemical weapons by citing the exception to the Geneva Protocol restrictions that referenced acceptable use for reprisal against illegal acts of war. They stated that the Ethiopians had tortured or killed their prisoners and wounded soldiers.[35]
Furthermore, many Italians (like Indro Montanelli, who as a war correspondent noted that the Italian soldiers had no gas masks during the war) argued that there was no use of gas (that was useful only to anti-Italian propaganda by the Ethiopians and by their emperor), and – if it was used – it was only in very small amounts.[39]Major Fiske thought the Italians were clearly superior and that victory for them was assured no matter what. The use of chemical agents in the war was nothing more than an experiment. He concluded: "From my own observations and from talking with [Italian] junior officers and soldiers I have concluded that gas was not used extensively in the African campaign and that its use had little if any effect on the outcome."[38]
Renewed Italian advance in the north
As the progress of the Christmas Offensive slowed, Italian plans to renew the advance on the northern front got under way. In addition to being granted Mussolini's permission to use poison gas (but not "iprite"), Badoglio received additional ground forces. The elements of the Italian III Corps and the Italian IV Corps arrived in Eritrea during early 1936.
In these months there were 3 bloody battles and happened that:
- from 20 to 24 January, the First Battle of Tembien was fought. The outcome of this battle was a decisive Italian victory, but the threat Ras Kassa posed to the I Corps and III Corps wasn't neutralized.
- from 10 to 19 February, the Battle of Amba Aradam was fought. The outcome of this battle was a decisive Italian victory and the destruction of the army of Ras Mulugeta.
- from 27 to 29 February, the Second Battle of Tembien was fought. The outcome of this battle was a decisive Italian victory and the destruction of the armies of Ras Kassa and Ras Seyoum.
While Graziani had already done so during the Battle of Genale Doria on the southern front, it was during the First Battle of Tembien that Badoglio unleashed on the northern front the use of phosgene as a weapon. The supposed Ethiopian "threat" to Italian-held Makale and the resultant use of poison gas, Haile Selassie said:
It was at the time when the operations for the encircling of Makale were taking place that the Italian command, fearing a rout, followed the procedure which it is now my duty to denounce to the world. Special sprayers were installed on board aircraft so that they could vaporize, over vast areas of territory, a fine, death-dealing rain. Groups of nine, fifteen, eighteen aircraft followed one another so that the fog issuing from them formed a continuous sheet. It was thus that, as from the end of January 1936, soldiers, women, children, cattle, rivers, lakes, and pastures were drenched continually with this deadly rain. To systematically kill all living creatures, to more surely poison waters and pastures, the Italian command made its aircraft pass over and over again. That was its chief method of warfare.[40]In early February, the Italians captured Amba Aradam and destroyed Ras Mulugeta's army in the Battle of Enderta. The battle on the ground was lopsided in the Italians' favor, the Ethiopians suffered massive losses. The use of poison gas destroyed a small part of Ras Mulugeta's army, according to the Ethiopians. During the slaughter following the attempted withdrawal of his army, both Ras Mulugeta and his son were killed. The Italians lost 800 killed and wounded while the Ethiopians lost 6,000 killed and 12,000 wounded.
In early March, the army of Ras Imru was attacked, bombed, and defeated in what was known as the Battle of Shire. Despite resistance, the Italians successfully crushed his army. The Italians had suffered 10 casualties and the Ethiopians 10,000 casualties.
On 31 March 1936 at the Battle of Maychew, the Italians defeated an Ethiopian counteroffensive by the main Ethiopian army commanded by Emperor Haile Selassie. The outnumbered Ethiopians could not overcome the well-prepared Italian defenses. For one day, the Ethiopians launched near non-stop attacks on the Italian and Eritrean defenders, until the exhausted Ethiopians withdrew while successfully counter-attacked. The Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) finished off what was left of Haile Selassie's army by attacking the survivors at Lake Ashangi with some mustard gas. The Italians had 400 casualties, the Eritreans 873, and the Ethiopians 11,000. On 4 April, Haile Selassie looked with despair upon the horrific sight of the dead bodies of his army ringing the poisoned lake.[41]
Southern front
On 3 October 1935, Graziani implemented his "Milan Plan". The limited objectives of this plan were to remove Ethiopian forces from various frontier posts and to test the reaction to a series of probes all along the southern front. While incessant rains worked to hinder the plan, within three weeks the villages of Kelafo, Dagnerai, Gerlogubi, and Gorahai were in Italian hands.[42]
Late in the year, the initiative on the southern front went over to the Ethiopians as it had gone over to them on the northern front. Ras Desta Damtu formed up his army in the area around Negele Boran with the goal of advancing on Dolo and invading Italian Somaliland. Between 12 and 16 January 1936, the Italians defeated his advancing and then withdrawing army during what became known as the Battle of Genale Doria. In reality there was very little fighting on the ground as Graziani primarily used the Italian Air Force and (according to Ethiopians) some poison gas to destroy Ras Desta's army.[43]
After a lull in February 1936, the Italians in the south prepared a major thrust towards the city of Harar. On 22 March, the Italian Air Force bombed Harar and Jijiga as a prelude. Both cities were reduced to ruins even though Harar had been declared an "open city".[44]
On 14 April, Graziani launched his attack against Ras Nasibu Emmanual to defeat the last Ethiopian army left. This attack was known as the Battle of the Ogaden. The Ethiopians were drawn up behind a defensive line that was termed the "Hindenburg Wall", which was designed by the chief of staff of Ras Nasibu, Wehib Pasha, a seasoned ex-Ottoman commander. Ten days after the battle began, the last Ethiopian army had totally disintegrated.[45] 200 Italian soldiers and 15,000 Ethiopian soldiers were killed or wounded.
On 2 May, Graziani requested permission from Mussolini to bomb Haile Selassie's train when he found out that Haile Selassie had left Addis Ababa on the Imperial Railway. But Il Duce ("The Leader") refused his request, allowing Selassie's escape to Europe.[46]
March of the Iron Will
Main article: March of the Iron Will
On 26 April 1936, when Badoglio launched his "March of the Iron Will" from Dessie
to Addis Ababa, he faced no meaningful Ethiopian resistance. Because of
the lack of resistance, he risked an advance with a mechanized column.[47]
Very early on 2 May, Haile Selassie boarded a train from Addis Ababa to Djibouti on the Imperial Railway, with all the golden treasure of the "Ethiopian Central Bank". From there he fled to England (he was allowed to do so by the Italians who could have bombed and blocked or destroyed his train) and into exile. Prior to his departure, Haile Selassie ordered that the government of Ethiopia be moved to Gore, he ordered that the mayor of Addis Ababa maintain order in the city until the Italian arrival, and he appointed Ras Imru Haile Selassie as his Prince Regent during his absence. The city police, under Abebe Aregai, and the remainder of the Imperial Guard did their utmost to restrain a growing and ever more restless mob. But, on the first day, attempts to maintain order were abandoned. Soon rioters took control. They rampaged throughout the city; looting and setting fire to shops owned by Europeans.[48]
The end
But only on 18 December 1936 Ras Imru finally surrendered to the Italians near the Gojeb River. Consequently Italy declared the country pacified: some Ethiopian leaders like Dejazmach Gebrehiwet Michael, Dejazmach Amde Ali, Dejazmach Ayalew Birru, Dejazmach Habtemichael, the author Afework Gebreyesus, Mengesha Wube, and some local chiefs/Ras started to collaborate with the Italians in 1937.[50]
Italian Occupation
On 10 May 1936, in Ethiopia Italian troops from the northern front and from the southern front linked up at Dire Dawa.[62] In Dire Dawa, the Italians found the recently released Ethiopian Ras, Hailu Tekle Haymanot,[63] who boarded a train back to Addis Ababa and approached the Italian invaders in submission.
Elsewhere, loyal Ras Imru Haile Selassie fell back to Gore
in southern Ethiopia to reorganize and continue to resist the Italians.
Graziani was recalled in November and was replaced by the civilian Duke
of Aosta. Tigray was made part of Eritrea and Ogaden part of Somalia.
Britain and France recognized Italy’s sovereignty over Ethiopia by treaty in April 1938 (during the occupation the Italians built 4,000 kilometers of roads in Ethiopia; Italy’s occupation army of 150,000 was spread thin in vast Ethiopia, and by 1941 they had 250,000 soldiers there including 75,000 civilians). The former police chief of Addis Ababa, Abebe Aregai, was the most successful leader of the Ethiopian guerrilla movement after 1937, using units of fifty men.
Badoglio and Graziani
In early June, Rome promulgated a constitution bringing Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland together into a single administrative unit divided into six provinces. This administrative unit was known as Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI). Marshal Pietro Badoglio was proclaimed as the first Viceroy and Governor General of the new Italian colony. But Badoglio held these positions only briefly and on 11 June, newly promoted Marshal Rodolfo Graziani replaced him in AOI.
In July, some Ethiopian forces still intact after the war, gathered together and launched an attack on Addis Ababa. The various attacking forces and the commanders fled after the attack ended in failure (even because the local populace supported the Italians, who had brought food and ended definitively slavery by law). Numerous members of Ethiopian royalty were taken prisoner. Other members were executed soon after they surrendered. Three sons of Ras Kassa were executed as rebels. On 19 December, Wondosson Kassa was executed near Debre Zebit. On 21 December, Aberra Kassa and Asfawossen Kassa were executed in Fikke. In late 1936, after the Italians tracked him down in Gurage, Dejazmach Balcha Safo was killed resisting to the end.[64] Also on 19 December, Ras Imru Haile Selassie surrendered after being pinned down on the north bank of the Gojeb River.[65] His capture meant the end of his role as Prince Regent and the end of the government in Gore. The capture of Ras Imru also meant the end of an early resistance movement known as the "Black Lions." Ras Imru was flown to Italy and imprisoned on the Island of Ponza.
By December, Graziani declared the whole country to be pacified and under effective Italian control. Ethiopian resistance continued nevertheless. The occupation was marked by recurring guerrilla campaigns against the Italians and Italian reprisals. The reprisals, according to Ethiopians, included mustard gas attacks against rebels and the summary execution of prisoners. But, on the Italian side, after the beginning of 1937 was growing the number of Ethiopians who were enrolling in the colonial Italian forces.
On 18 February 1937, a failed assassination attempt against Graziani occurred. During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace in Addis Ababa (the former Imperial residence), Abraha Deboch and Moges Asgedom attempted to kill Graziani with a number of grenades. The Italian security guard fired indiscriminately into the crowd of civilian onlookers. Over the following weeks the colonial authorities executed about 30,000 persons in retaliation—including about half of the younger, educated Ethiopian population.[66]
On 24 February, Ras Desta Damtew was executed after his capture. In December, he had been flushed from his base of operations in Irgalem. Dejazmach Beyene Merid had just joined forces with him and he too was killed.
On 11 December, the League of Nations voted to condemn Italy and, as a result, Mussolini declared his country's withdrawal from the organization. In addition to causing condemnation on the world stage, the new colony was proving to be highly expensive to maintain. The budget for Italian East Africa from 1936 to 1937 required Italy to provide 19.136 billion lire to create the necessary infrastructure for the colony.[67] At the time, Italy's entire annual revenue was only 18.581 billion lire.[67]
Duke of Aosta
In the end, the harsh policies of Graziani did not pacify the country. Therefore, on 21 December 1937, Rome appointed Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta,
as the new Viceroy and Governor General of Italian East Africa and
instructed him to adopt a more flexible line. Accordingly, large-scale
public works projects were undertaken. One result was the construction
of the country's first system of improved roads. All in all, the Duke
brought a program of progressive improvement that included 2,000 miles
(3,200 km) of new paved roadways, 25 hospitals, 14 hotels, dozens of
post offices, telephone exchanges, aqueducts, schools, and shops.
Early in 1938, a revolt broke out in Gojjam led by the Committee of Unity and Collaboration, which was made up of some of the young, educated elite who had escaped the reprisal after the attempt on Graziani's life. But in 1939 ras Sejum Mangascià, ras Ghetacciù Abaté and ras Kebbedé Guebret accepted the Italian Empire and the Ethiopian guerrilla petered off to a minimum level. The last area of Ethiopian guerrilla in early 1940 was around the lake Tana and the southern Gojjam, under the leadership of the degiac Mangascià Giamberè and Belay Zelleke.[68]
The invasion of Ethiopia and its general condemnation by Western democracies isolated Mussolini and Fascist Italy. From 1936 to 1939, Mussolini and Hitler joined forces in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. In April 1939, Mussolini launched the Italian invasion of Albania. In May, Italy and Nazi Germany joined together in the Pact of Steel. In September 1940, both nations signed the Tripartite Pact along with the Empire of Japan.
End of Italian East Africa
On 10 June 1940, Mussolini entered World War II and joined Hitler as his Axis ally. As a result, the colony of Italian East Africa proved to be short-lived. Initially, the Italians attacked British and Commonwealth forces in the Sudan, Kenya, and British Somaliland. In August, the Italians even overran all of British Somaliland and forced the British and Commonwealth forces there to flee. But, by the end of 1941, during the East African Campaign, Ethiopia was liberated from Italian control by a combination of British, Commonwealth, Free French, Free Belgian, and Ethiopian forces.While in exile in England, Haile Selassie had sought to gain the support of the Western democracies for his cause. But he had little success until World War II broke out. During that war, the British and the Ethiopian Emperor sought to cooperate with Ethiopian and other local forces in a campaign to dislodge the Italians from Ethiopia. Haile Selassie went to Khartoum, where he established closer liaison with both the British headquarters and the resistance forces within Ethiopia.
On 18 January 1941, Emperor Selassie crossed the border into Ethiopia near the village of Um Iddla. Two days later the Emperor joined Gideon Force, a small British-led African regular force. The standard of the Lion of Judah was raised again. By 5 May, the Emperor and an army of Ethiopian Free Forces entered Addis Ababa.[69] Following the Italian defeat, the victorious forces faced a guerrilla war carried out by remnants of Italian troops and their allies that only ended in last quarter of 1943 after the formal surrender of Italy.
Among other things, the Treaty of Peace with Italy signed between the Italian Republic (Repubblica Italiana) and the victorious powers of World War II on 10 February 1947 in Paris, included Italy's formal recognition of Ethiopian independence and an agreement to pay $25,000,000 in reparations. Ethiopia became an independent nation again, and Haile Selassie was restored as its leader. At the time of this treaty, Ethiopia presented Italy with a bill of its own for damages inflicted during the course of Mussolini's colonial adventure. Claimed were the loss of 2,000 churches, the loss of 525,000 houses, and the slaughter and/or confiscation of six million beef cattle, seven million sheep and goats, one million horses and mules, and 700,000 camels. The bill for this presented to the Economic Commission for Italy came to £184,746,023.[53]
In addition, these human losses were recorded by the Ethiopians:
- 275,000 – combatants killed in action; 78,500 – patriots killed during the occupation (1936–1941); 17,800 – civilians killed by bombings; 30,000 – massacre of February 1937; 35,000 – persons who died in concentration camps; 24,000 – patriots executed by Summary Courts; 300,000 – persons who died of privations due to the destruction of their villages.
- The Total was 760,300 human losses.[53] The Italians disputed this huge amount, arguing that real Ethiopian casualties were half those losses.[70]
Citations
- ^ a b c Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 20
- ^ a b Alberto Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire: Towards an Enumeration of Italian Casualties in Ethiopia 1935–1940", in ed. Harold G. Marcus, Ethiopianist Notes, vol. II, No. 2, p.37.
- ^ Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire", p.36.
- ^ a b Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire", p.43.
- ^ Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire", p.38.
- ^ Angelo Del Boca, The Ethiopian War 1935–1941 (1965)
- ^ Baer, p. 279
- ^ Austria slips away: Burgwyn on Mussolini conquest of Ethiopia and the "Austria anschluss"
- ^ Shinn, Historical dictionary of Ethiopia, p. 392
- ^ Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer. The Encyclopedia of World History: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern, p. 677
- ^ Andrew J. Crozier. The Causes of the Second World War, p. 108
- ^ Roderick Stackelberg. Hitler's Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies, p. 164
- ^ J. Calvitt Clarke, "Japan and Italy squabble over Ethiopia: The Sugimura affair of July 1935", Selected Annual Proceedings of the Florida Conference of Historians, 6 (Dec. 1999): 9–20. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- ^ Richard Pankhurst, Economic History of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), pp. 605–608
- ^ a b c Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 29
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 57
- ^ Shinn, Historical dictionary of Ethiopia, p. 19
- ^ Baer, p. 13
- ^ Piero Crociani, Le Uniformi Dell' A.O.I,
- ^ Nicolle, David, "The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–1936", p. 41
- ^ Gooch. Mussolini and His Generals. Pg. 301
- ^ Gooch. Mussolini and His Generals. Pg. 299
- ^ a b c Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 33
- ^ Nicolle, David, The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–1936, p. 11
- ^ Also spelled Adowa.
- ^ a b Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 35
- ^ Clarence-Smith, W. G. The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade in the Nineteenth Century. 1989, page 103.
- ^ Video showing Northern Ethiopians welcoming the Italian troops (in Italian)
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 36
- ^ Nicolle, David, "The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–1936", p. 8
- ^ a b Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 45
- ^ Mockler, Haile Sellassie's War, p. 75.
- ^ Details of Tito Minniti castration & murder (in Italian)
- ^ Mussolini and the gas (in Italian).
- ^ Chemical warfare
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 56
- ^ Antonicelli, Franco. Trent'anni di storia italiana 1915–1945, p. 79.
- ^ Clark DK. Effectiveness of Toxic Chemicals in the Italo–Ethiopian War. Bethesda, Md: Operations Research Office; 1959. p20
- ^ Testimonies about doubts on gas use in Ethiopia (in Italian)
- ^ Safire, William. Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History. 1997, p. 318.
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 105
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 70
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 76
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 112
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 123
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 126
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 109
- ^ a b Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 125
- ^ Video of Italian occupation of Addis Abeba (in Italian)
- ^ Photo of Ras Sejum Mangascià, Ras Ghetacciù Abaté and Ras Kebbedé Guebret showing allegiance to Mussolini in February 1937
- ^ Time magazine, Re ed Imperatore, 18 May 1936
- ^ Time Magazine, Re ed Imperatore, 18 May 1936
- ^ a b c d e f g h Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 129
- ^ a b Baer, p. 298
- ^ Baer, p.299
- ^ Cedric James Lowe, F. Marzari. Italian Foreign Policy 1870–1940, p. 307
- ^ Haile Selassie, p. 20
- ^ Kershaw, Ian, Hitler: 1889–1936: Hubris, p.547
- ^ U.S., Department of State, Publication 1983, Peace and War: United States Foreign Policy, 1931–1941 (Washington, D.C.: U.S., Government Printing Office, 1943), pp. 28–32
- ^ Haile Selassie, p. 22
- ^ Lamb, Richard. Mussolini as diplomat p.214
- ^ Nicolle, David, "The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–1936", p. 12
- ^ Barker, Rape of Ethiopia, p. 127
- ^ Haile Selassie, p. 32
- ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie, pp. 163–168
- ^ Angelo Del Bocca and Giorgio Rohat (1996). I gas di Mussolini. Editori Riuniti. ISBN 88-359-4091-5.
- ^ a b Cannistraro, Philip V. (1982) Historical Dictionary of Fascist Italy, Westport, Conn.; London : Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-21317-8. Pp. 5
- ^ Missione Barontini in Ethiopia (in Italian)
- ^ Barker, A. J., The Rape of Ethiopia 1936, p. 156
- ^ 400,000 Ethiopian casualties
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.