Figure 1.--Mobilization in Ethiopia involved sending untrained and unarmed men and boys to the front. Here is a scene at the main train station in Adis Ababa days before the Italian invasion. The press caption read, "Men, women, and children fight for Ethiopia: A scene at the railroad station here, during a recent departure of a unit of Haile Selassie's tribal warriors, show in this little group, some of the fighters who are little more than boys getting aboard to journey to the front line defences. Women too travel with their menfolk into the war zones, when Ethiopia goes to war and many of them accompanied men of this contingent. According to the latest advices , the Ethiopian front line covers the entire frontier of Italy's neighboring possssions. With the line removed twelve miles from the actual border over the whole front. The photograph is dated September 26, 1935.

The world changed when Mussolini decided to invaded Ethiopia, taking a major step toward World War II. The Italians using modern weapons, again including poison gas, to attack a largely unarmed country. Mussoline was determined to redeem what he saw as a blot on the national honor, the Ethiopian victory in 1896. Marshal Pietro Badoglio commanded the Italian invasion force. The Italians invaded Ethiopia without a formal declaration of war (October 3). More than a million Italian and colonial troops with modern weapons invaded Ethiopia. The Ethiian troops were outnumbered and poorly armed. The Italian Army attacked from both Eritrea and Italian Smaliland, already Italian colonies The main force attacked from Erirea. Italians aircraft 'symbolically' bombed Adwa on the first day. Ethipia had no air force or air dfenses. They took Aksum (October 15). They reached Maqale (November 7?). Using their airforce and artillery, the Italians steadily marched southward through Tigray Province into Ethiopia. Mustard gas was used extensively by the Italians. Mussolini promoted De Bono to the rank of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia) (November 16). Mussolini became, however, imptient with De Bono'slow progress. He replaced him with Pietro Badoglio who would play an imprtant role in Italy's World War II campaigns. The principal Ethiopian resons was the Christmas Offensive which achieved som results, although at an enormous cost (December). The Italians defeated one Ethiopian army after another. The Ethiopians were poorly armed and had no hope of fighting off a well-armed European army. The Italians defeated the last important Ethiopian army at May Chaw (April 1936). [Pankhurst, pp. 226-235.]

Sources

Pankurst, Richard. The Ethiopians (Blackwell: Oxford, 1998).

Created: 10:23 AM 10/4/2015
Last updated: 10:23 AM 10/4/2015