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Second Italo-Ethiopian War

Italy's largest colonial campaign, ending in Ethiopia's annexation.

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From October 1935 until May 1936, Italy conducted an aggressive military campaign against Ethiopia.[1] Historians consider this conflict history's biggest colonial military operation.[1] Aerial bombardments by Italian forces deployed mustard gas against both soldiers and non-combatants.[2]

Life and work

Italy began colonial attempts in the Horn of Africa in the 1880s.[3] The first phase ended with Italian defeat at the Battle of Adwa on 1 March 1896.[3] Ethiopia mobilized an army of 350,000–760,000 men.[4] Italian troops captured Adigrat and Adwa within three days.[5]

On 8 November, the Italian advance guard entered Mekelle.[6] The war was a major military success for fascist Italy but strained its budget.[5] Marshal Emilio De Bono initiated hostilities on 3 October 1935 by crossing from Italian Eritrea without any formal war declaration.[7] The Italian expeditionary force comprised roughly 685,000 troops, 599 armored vehicles, and 390 warplanes.[8]

Haile Selassie directed his forces to employ guerrilla warfare, yet many of his generals deemed such tactics shameful.[9]

What the cited sources add

The OpenAlex record for Jan Nyssen's 2015 paper notes the recovery of 1930s aerial photographs of Ethiopia.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ofcansky, "Italian war 1935–36", Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007, p. 228; Dominioni, "Lo sfascio dell'impero. Gli italiani in Etiopia 1936-1941", p. 5 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Belladonna, "Gas in Etiopia: I crimini rimossi dell'Italia coloniale", Neri Pozza Editore, 2015; Mack Smith 1983, p. 232–233; Rainer Baudendistel, Between bombs and good intentions: the Red Cross and the Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936. Berghahn Books. 2006 pp. 131–132, 239; Labanca 2004, p. 300–313; Sbacchi 1978, p. 43; Antonicelli 1975, p. 79 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Labanca 2004, p. 300–313 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Angelo del Boca, "Gli italiani in Africa Orientale, la conquista dell'impero (volume II)", Arnoldo Mondadori, 1992, p. 352–355 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Del Boca 2009, p. 717–719 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Del Boca 2009, p. 717–719; Barker 1968, p. 1–6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leckie 1987 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rochat, "Le guerre italiane 1935-1943", p. 41; Baer 1976, p. 303 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Second Italo-Ethiopian War" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Angelo del Boca, "Gli italiani in Africa Orientale, la conquista dell'impero (volume II)", Arnoldo Mondadori, 1992, p. 357 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Jan Nyssen, "Recovery of the aerial photographs of Ethiopia in the 1930s", Journal of Cultural Heritage (2015), doi:10.1016/j.culher.2015.07.010. OpenAlex metadata CC0; paper not read. doi.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Second Italo-Ethiopian War (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

First Italo-Ethiopian WarBenito MussoliniAddis AbabaGeneva ConventionsInternational Red Cross and Red Crescent MovementGenocidePierre LavalAnthony Eden

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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