The 'Second Italo–Abyssinian War' (also referred to as the 'Second Italo-Ethiopian War') was a brief war, begun in October 1935, between the
Kingdom of Italy and the
Ethiopian Empire (also called
Abyssinia). The war is best remembered for the Italian use of illegal
mustard gas. The war resulted in the annexation of
Ethiopia into
Italian East Africa.
Politically, the war is best remembered for exposing the inherent weakness of the
League of Nations. The
Abyssinia Crisis, along with the
Mukden Incident (the
Japanese annexation of three
Chinese provinces), is often seen as a clear example of the ineffectiveness of the League. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations. The League was unable to control Italy or to protect Ethiopia.
Background
Italian dictator
Benito Mussolini had long held a desire for a new
Italian Empire. Reminiscent of the
Roman Empire, Mussolini's new empire was to rule over the
Mediterranean and
North Africa. His new empire would also avenge past Italian defeats. Chief among these defeats was the
Battle of Adwa which took place in Ethiopia on
March 1,
1896. Mussolini promised the Italian people "a place in the sun," as the
United Kingdom and
France who both had large empires at the time had colonial possessions.
Ethiopia was a prime candidate of this expansionist goal for several reasons. Following the
Scramble for Africa by the
European imperialists it was one of the few remaining independent
African nations, and it would serve to unify the Italian-held
Eritrea to the northwest and
Italian Somaliland to the east. It was considered to be militarily weak, and rich in resources.
Italian incursion
The
Italo–Ethiopian Treaty of 1928 that delimited the border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia stated the border was 21
leagues parallel to the
Benadir coast. The Italians re-interpreted this to mean 21 nautical leagues, as opposed to 21 standard leagues, which gave them greater territory. Acting on this, they built a fort at the
Walwal oasis in the
Ogaden desert in
1930 and garrisoned it with Somali
dubats (irregular frontier troops commanded by Italian officers).
In November of
1934, Ethiopian territorial troops escorting the Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission, protested Italy's incursion. The
British members of the commission soon withdrew to avoid an international incident but Italian and Ethiopian troops remained encamped in close proximity. In early December, the tensions mounted to a clash that left 150 Ethiopians and 50 Italians dead. This resulted in the
Abyssinia Crisis at the League of Nations.
The League of Nations exonerated both parties for the Walwal incident in September
1935. Italy soon began to build its forces on the borders of Ethiopia in Eritrea and Italian Somaliland.
With an attack appearing inevitable, the Emperor
Haile Selassie ordered a general mobilization. His new recruits consisted of around 500,000 men, many of whom were armed with nothing more than spears and bows. Other soldiers carried more modern weapons, including rifles, but many of these were from before 1900 and were badly outdated.
[6]
Opposing forces
Main articles: Ethiopian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War,
Italian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War
''Ethiopians''
According to Italian estimates, on the eve of hostilities the Ethiopians had an army of 350,000 men. Only about one-quarter of this army had any kind of military training and the men were armed with rifles of every type and in every kind of condition.
[7]
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 3000s.
[7]
The service-able portion of the Ethiopian air force included three tiny and outmoded biplanes.
[9]
The best Ethiopian units were
Haile Selassie's "Imperial Guard." These troops were well-trained and better equipped than the other Ethiopian troops. But the Imperial Guard wore a distinctive greenish-khaki uniform of the Belgian army which stood out from the white cotton cloak (''shamma'') worn by most Ethiopian fighters, and proved to be an excellent target.
[7]
''Italians''
In
April 1935, the Italian build-up in
East Africa started in earnest. In a few months, five regular army divisions and five Blackshirt divisions arrived in
Eritrea. One regular division and a few Blackshirt battalions arrived in
Italian Somaliland. These units alone, which did not include Italian units already in East Africa, native units, or units arriving during the war, represented 7,000 officers and 200,000 men. The equipment for the build-up alone included 6,000 machine-guns, 700 pieces of artillery, 150 tankettes, and 150 aircraft.
[11]
Italian invasion
On
October 3, 1935, Marshal
Emilio De Bono advanced into Ethiopia from Eritrea without
declaration of War. De Bono had a force of 100,000 Italian soldiers and 25,000
Eritrean soldiers under his command. A smaller force, under the command of General
Rodolfo Graziani, advanced into Ethiopia from Italian Somaliland.
By
October 6,
Adwa was captured by De Bono's forces. Adowa was the site of Italian defeat in the
First Italo–Ethiopian War (1895-1896). By
October 15, De Bono's forces moved on to capture the holy capital of
Axum. The invading Italians looted the
Obelisk of Axum after capturing the city.
On
October 7, the League of Nations declared Italy the aggressor and started the slow process of imposing sanctions. These did not extend to several vital materials, such as oil. The British and French argued that if they refused to sell oil to the Italians, they would then simply get it from the
United States, which was not a member of the League. In an effort to find compromise, the
Hoare-Laval Plan was drafted, but it was highly favourable to the Italians, and therefore rejected by the Ethiopians.
By mid-December, De Bono was replaced by General
Pietro Badoglio because of the slow, cautious nature of his advance. Haile Sellassie decided to test this new general with an attack, but his forces were repelled due to the Italians' superiority in heavy weapons like machine guns and artillery.
On January 20, 1936, the Italians resumed their northern offensive at the First Battle of Tembien between the Warieu Pass and Mek'ele. The fighting proved inconclusive and ended in a draw on January 24.
Following the capture of Amba Aradam (Battle of Enderta) 10-15 February, the Italians advanced again on the northern front, commencing the Second Battle of Tembien on 27 February. This resulted in an Italian victory and the fall of Worq Amba.
At the Battle of Maych'ew on 31 March 1936 the Italians defeated a counteroffensive by the main Ethiopian army, including the Imperial Guard, under Haile Selassie.
During the final months of 1935 the Italian had also advanced from the south through the Ogaden Desert from Somalia. There were clashes on the River Dewa (30 October), Hamaniei (11 November) and Lama Scillindi (25 November). On 31 December the Italians occupied Denan.
Between January 12th and 16th, 1936 the Italians defeated the southermost Ethiopian army in the Battle of Genale Wenz. After a February lull, the Italians began a major thrust towards the city of
Harar. On
March 29, Graziani's forces
firebombed and subsequently captured the city . Two days later, the Italians won the last major battle of the war, the
Battle of Maychew. Haile Selassie fled into exile on
May 2, and Badoglio's forces took the capital,
Addis Ababa, on
May 5.
Italy annexed the country on
May 7, and the Italian king,
Victor Emmanuel III, was proclaimed emperor on
May 9. Italy merged Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somaliland into a single state known as
Italian East Africa.
Atrocities
In addition to conventional weaponry, Badoglio's troops also made substantial use of
mustard gas, in both artillery and aerial bombardments. In total, the Italians deployed between 300 and 500 tonnes of mustard gas during the war, despite having signed the
1925 Geneva Protocol. The deployment of gas was not restricted to the battlefield, however, as civilians were also targeted by the Italians, as part of their attempt to terrorise the local population. Furthermore, the Italians carried out gas attacks on
Red Cross camps and ambulances.
[12]
The armed forces disposed of a vast arsenal of grenades and bombs loaded with mustard gas which were dropped from airplanes. This substance was also sprayed directly from above like an "insecticide" onto enemy combatants and villages. It was Mussolini himself who authorized the use of the weapons:
"Rome, 27 October '35. A.S.E. Graziani. The use of gas as an ''ultima ratio'' to overwhelm enemy resistance and in case of counterattack is authorized. Mussolini."
"Rome, 28 December '35. A.S.E. Badoglio. Given the enemy system I have authorized V.E. the use even on a vast scale of any gas and flamethrowers. Mussolini."
Mussolini and his generals sought to cloak the operations of chemical warfare in the utmost secrecy, but the use of gas was revealed to the world through the denunciations of the International Red Cross and of many foreign observers. The Italian reaction to these revelations consisted in the "erroneous" bombardment (at least 19 times) of Red Cross tents posted in the areas of military encampment of the Ethiopian resistance. The orders imparted by Mussolini, with respect to the Ethiopian population, were very clear:
[13]
"Rome, 5 June 1936. A.S.E. Graziani. All rebels taken prisoner must be killed. Mussolini."
"Rome, 8 July 1936. A.S.E. Graziani. I have authorized once again V.E. to begin and systematically conduct a politics of terror and extermination of the rebels and the complicit population. Without the ''lex talionis'' one cannot cure the infection in time. Await confirmation. Mussolini."
The predominant part of the work of repression was carried out by Italians who, besides the bombs laced with mustard gas, instituted forced labor camps, installed public gallows, killed hostages, and mutilated the corpses of their enemies. Graziani ordered the elimination of captured guerrillas by way of throwing them out of airplanes in mid-flight. Many Italian troops had themselves photographed next to cadavers hanging from the gallows or hanging around chests full of detached heads. One episode in the Italian occupation of Ethiopia was the slaughter of
Addis Ababa of February,
1937 which followed upon an attempt to assassinate Graziani. In the course of an official ceremony a bomb exploded next to the general. The response was immediate and cruel, as he said "Avenge me! Kill them all!". The Black Shirts of the Fascist Militia fired randomly into the Ethiopians present at the ceremony killing large numbers, and immediately after poured out into the streets of Addis Ababa where they killed the Ethiopian civilians that they encountered. They also set fire to homes in order to prevent the inhabitants from leaving and organized the mass executions of groups of 50-100 people.
[14]
Aftermath
When victory was announced on 9 May 1936 from the balcony of
Palazzo Venezia, the Italian population (who had not been informed of the use of mustard gas by their troops) was jubilant. The Italian King
Victor Emmanuel III was anointed Emperor of Ethiopia, and personalities such as Pope
Pius XI displayed their admiration for Mussolini's conquest of Ethiopia.
On 30 June 1936,
Emperor Haile Selassie gave a stirring speech before the
League of Nations denouncing Italy's actions and criticizing the world community for standing by. He warned that "It is us today. It will be you tomorrow". As a result of the League's condemnation of Italy, Mussolini declared the country's withdrawal from the organization.
The occupation was marked by recurring guerrilla campaigns against the Italians, and reprisals which included mustard gas attacks against rebels and the murder of prisoners.
Conclusion
In early
June 1936, Rome promulgated a constitution bringing Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland together into a single administrative unit divided into six provinces,
Italian East Africa. On
June 11,
1936, Marshal
Rodolfo Graziani replaced Marshal
Pietro Badoglio, who had commanded the Italian forces in the war. In December the Italians declared the whole country to be pacified and under their effective control. Ethiopian resistance nevertheless continued.
A failed assassination attempt against Graziani occurred on
February 19,
1937. During a public ceremony at the Viceregal Palace (the former Imperial residence) in
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, Abraha Deboch and Moges Asgedom, two men of
Eritrean origin, attempted to kill Viceroy 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.
This harsh policy, however, did not pacify the country. In November 1937, Rome therefore appointed a new governor 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. In the meantime, however, the Italians had decreed miscegenation to be illegal. Racial separation, including residential segregation, was enforced as thoroughly as possible. The Italians showed favoritism to non-Christian ethnicities such as the
Oromo,
Somali, and other Muslims (some of whom had supported the Italian invasion) by granting them autonomy and rights effectively abolishing slavery and abrogating feudal laws previously upheld by the dominant Amhara rulers of Ethiopia, in an attempt to isolate the Amhara, who had supported Haile Selassie I.
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. In exile in Britain, the Emperor sought to gain the support of the Western democracies for his cause but had little success until Italy entered
World War II on the side of Germany in June 1940. Thereafter, Britain and the Emperor sought to cooperate with Ethiopian and other local forces in a campaign to dislodge the Italians from Ethiopia and
British Somaliland, which the Italians had seized in August 1940, and to resist the Italian invasion of Sudan. Haile Selassie proceeded immediately to
Khartoum, where he established closer liaison with both the British headquarters and the resistance forces within Ethiopia.
Italian East Africa proved to be a short-lived state, as Ethiopia was liberated from Italian control in the subsequent
East African Campaign in
1941. Not long after, several ethnic rebellions began in the country against continued Amhara domination in Ethiopia under the reign of Haile Selassie I, thereamong the
Woyane revolution which was based in the province of
Tigray in the north of the country and evolved into the marxist
TPLF rebellion later during the communist dictatorship of the
Derg regime. The latter despite its universal socialist agenda was perceived as a continuation of Amhara dominance by many ethnic liberation movements with origins and goals harking back to the times of Italian occupation such as the
OLF and
ONLF (with its origins in the now defunct
WSLF). The initially separatist TPLF, close ally of the EPLF which now effectively rules independent
Eritrea
is incidentally the dominant party in the current ruling party of Ethiopia, the
EPRDF.
Seen as the last relic of the Italo-Abyssinian wars, the
Obelisk of Axum stood until very recently in Rome in the square before the
FAO headquarters. After numerous attempts to get it back, the Obelisk was finally dismantled and returned to Ethiopia in
2005.
Notes
1. 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.
2. Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire," p.36.
3. Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire," p.43.
4. Sbacchi, "The Price of Empire," p.38.
5.
Secondary Wars and Atrocities of the Twentieth Century
Angelo Del Boca, The Ethiopian War 1935-1941 (1965), He cites a 1945 memorandum from Ethiopia to the Conference of Prime Ministers which tallies 760,300 natives dead, of them, Battle Deaths: 275,000, Hunger among refugees: 300,000, Patriots killed during occupation: 75,000
,Concentration camps: 35,000 ,Feb. 1937 massacre: 30,000
,Executions: 24,000 ,Civilians killed by air force: 17,800 Angelo Del Boca, The Ethiopian War 1935-1941 (1965)
6. The condition of the Ethiopian Army on the eve of the war is discussed by Richard Pankhurst, ''Economic History of Ethiopia'' (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University, 1968), pp. 605-608.
7. Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936'', p. 29
8. Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936'', p. 29
9. Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936'', p. 57
10. Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936'', p. 29
11. Barker, A. J., "The Rape of Ethiopia 1936'', p. 20
12. Bernard Bridel, Les ambulances à Croix-Rouge du CICR sous les gaz en Ethiopie, Le Temps, 13/08/2003, in French, hosted at the International Committee of the Red Cross website.
13. Storia dell'Italia Moderna, Giorgio Candeloro, , , Feltrinelli, 1981,
14. I gas di Mussolini, Angelo Del Bocca and Giorgio Rohat, , , Editori Riuniti, 1996, ISBN=8835940915
Bibliography
★ Graziani, R. ''Fronte di Sud'', Milano 1938
See also
★
Ethiopian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War
★
Italian Order of Battle Second Italo-Abyssinian War
★
Timeline of the Second Italo–Abyssinian War
★
First Italo-Ethiopia War
★
Hoare-Laval Pact
★
East African Campaign (World War II)
External links
★
A report by the International Committee of the Red Cross on the use of mustard gas by Italian forces.
★
Mussolini's Invasion and the Italian Occupation
★
Mussolini's Ethiopia Campaign
★
OnWar: Second Italo–Abyssinian War 1935–1936
★
Haile Selassie I, Part 2
★
OneWorld Magazine: Hailé Selassié VS. Mussolini
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