Second Italo-Ethiopian War

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, known in Ethiopia as the Italian Invasion and in Italy as the Ethiopian War, was an aggressive military campaign launched by Italy against Ethiopia. It began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936, and is considered the largest colonial conflict ever fought.

On 3 October 1935, without a formal declaration of war, 200,000 soldiers from the Italian Royal Army, led by Marshal Emilio De Bono, crossed into Ethiopia from Italian Eritrea. A smaller force under General Rodolfo Graziani also advanced from Italian Somalia. Adwa, a site of symbolic importance because of Italy’s defeat there in the First Italo-Ethiopian War, fell on 6 October. By 15 October, Italian troops had taken Aksum, and its obelisk was removed and shipped to Rome, where it was placed in front of the Ministry of Colonies.

Benito Mussolini, frustrated by De Bono’s cautious pace, replaced him with General Pietro Badoglio. Ethiopian forces mounted a counterattack in December 1935, gaining some ground and temporarily stalling the Italian advance. In response, Mussolini authorized the use of mustard gas, and over the next four months, the Italian Royal Air Force dropped 330 tons of it, violating the 1925 Geneva Protocol. The Italians resumed their offensive in early February 1936, crushing the Ethiopian army at Amba Aradam, Tembien, and Shire. A decisive victory at the Battle of Maychew on 31 March 1936 ended any organized Ethiopian resistance. Emperor Haile Selassie fled into exile on 2 May, and Badoglio’s forces entered Addis Ababa on 5 May. Mussolini announced Ethiopia’s annexation on 9 May, creating the colony of Italian East Africa. Conventional fighting stopped, but Ethiopian resistance continued until the country was liberated in 1941.

For Italy’s fascist regime, the war was a quick military success with great propaganda value. However, it strained an already weak budget and worsened Italy’s long-term economic outlook. The invasion also had major diplomatic effects: it ended the Stresa Front and pushed Italy closer to Nazi Germany. The League of Nations’ failure to stop the aggression discredited the organization just before World War II.

Italian forces used mustard gas in aerial bombings against both soldiers and civilians, violating the Geneva Protocol and Geneva Conventions, in an effort to crush Ethiopian resistance. Attacks on Red Cross ambulances and hospitals were also reported. Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian civilians died, and some historians have described the campaign as genocide. Ethiopian forces, for their part, used dumdum bullets (in violation of the Hague Conventions), killed civilian workmen (including during the Gondrand massacre), and mutilated captured Italian soldiers and Eritrean Ascari, often by castration.

**Background**

Italy began trying to establish colonies in the Horn of Africa in the 1880s. This effort ended badly with the First Italo-Ethiopian War, when Ethiopian forces under Emperor Menelik II defeated the Italian army at the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896. After that, Italy gave up its expansionist plans in the region and focused on administering its small holdings: Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. For decades, relations between Italy and Ethiopia remained relatively stable.

On 14 December 1925, Italy’s fascist government signed a secret pact with Britain to strengthen Italian influence in the region. Britain recognized the area as an Italian interest and agreed to Italy’s request to build a railway linking Somalia and Eritrea. The plan was meant to stay secret, but it leaked, angering France and Ethiopia. Ethiopia called it a betrayal by a fellow League of Nations member.

As fascist rule in Italy became more dictatorial, colonial governors in the Horn of Africa pushed outward. The governor of Italian Eritrea, Jacopo Gasparini, tried to win over Tigrinya leaders against Ethiopia. The governor of Italian Somaliland, Cesare Maria de Vecchi, pursued a repressive policy that absorbed fertile Jubaland and annexed various Somali protectorates during the Campaign of the Sultanates.

**Walwal Incident**

The 1928 Italo-Ethiopian Treaty set the border between Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia at 21 leagues (about 118.3 kilometers) parallel to the Benadir coast. In 1930, Italy built a fort at the Walwal oasis in the Ogaden, garrisoned with Somali irregulars commanded by Italian officers. This fort was well inside Ethiopian territory, beyond the 21-league limit. On 23 November 1934, an Anglo-Ethiopian boundary commission arrived at Walwal while studying grazing grounds to define the border between British Somaliland and Ethiopia. The group included Ethiopian and British technicians.