Italian Colonial Wars

At issue: The assertion of Italy’s status as a major power by the acquisition of colonies

Date: 1882–1936

Location: North and northeastern Africa

Combatants: Italy vs. Ethiopia, the Ottoman Empire, and the Senusi

Principal commanders:Italian, Pietro Badoglio (1871–1956), Oreste Baratieri (1841–1901), Carlo Caneva (1845–1922), Rodolfo Graziani, marquis of Neghelli (1882–1955); Ethiopian, Menelik II (1844–1913), Haile Selassie I (1892–1975); Turkish, Enver Pasha (1881–1922)

Principal battles: Adowa, Maiceu

Result: Creation by 1936 of an empire that was lost in World War II

Background

In 1869, an Italian trading company bought the Bay of Assab and the island of Darmakieh at the southern end of the Red Sea. In 1882, the British occupied Egypt and encouraged the Italians to forestall French occupation and to expand into Eritrea to fill the vacuum created by the withdrawal of Egyptian garrisons. The Italian government immediately designated the area a crown colony and in 1885 seized Beilul and Massawa, the latter port claimed by the Ethiopians. When the Italians’ explorations threatened the mountainous northern Ethiopian province of Tigray, they were attacked by Ras Alula, the local governor. At Dogali (January 26, 1887), Ethiopians annihilated an Italian force of about 500. By November of that year, the Italians had brought their troop strength at Massawa to 20,000. The death of the Ethiopian ruler in a civil war brought Menelik II to the throne, and he concluded the Treaty of Ucciali with Italy in 1889, ceding part of the Tigray province. The Italians immediately advanced farther into Ethiopia than the treaty line and contended that Ethiopia was now an Italian protectorate. Menelik repudiated the treaty in 1893.

Action

General Oreste Baratieri, a former Garibaldian Redshirt, captured Kassala in the summer of 1894, provoking a general revolt against Italian rule in the Eritrean highlands. Mangashà, son of the former Ethiopian emperor, was defeated at Koatit and Senafé (January 13-15, 1895), and Baratieri was briefly able to occupy Adigrat, Adowa, and Mekele (March) before inadequate government funding made him withdraw. While Baratieri returned to Italy for more funds and troops, Menelik marshaled the Ethiopian forces, and his army of 40,000 overwhelmed an Italian-led force of 2,000 Eritrean Askaris at Amba Alagi (December 7). This caused consternation in Italy and the immediate dispatch of more troops to Eritrea. Another defeat at Mekele (January 23, 1896), put Baratieri on the defensive, convinced that supply problems would force the Ethiopian army, now 100,000 strong, to abandon the Tigray province. The Italian government demanded a victory, so Baratieri sent four brigades, each 400-500 strong, toward Adowa by separate routes to confront the Ethiopians with a choice of retreating or attacking strong Italian defensive positions (February 29 and March 1, 1896). Advancing across mountainous terrain cut by immense ravines in darkness with inadequate maps, the columns lost contact with one another, and two of them blundered into the Ethiopian host near Adowa (March 1, 1896). The Ethiopians, armed with repeating rifles and field guns, took terrible casualties before overwhelming the separated Italian forces. Baratieri’s army lost 6,153 Italians killed and captured of an original complement of 10,596 and about 4,000 Eritrean Askari troops of an original 7,100. The result was a peace treaty in which Italy paid £400,000 to Ethiopia and renounced any claim to a protectorate. Italy retained Eritrea and continued its expansion in Somaliland.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Italy had set its sights on the closest portion of North Africa, the Turkish provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which were part of the Ottoman Empire. Italy declared war, shelled the port of Prevesa in Epirus (September 29, 1911), and occupied Tripoli and Tobruk (October 3-4). The Turks counterattacked at Shara Shat (October 23) and drove the Italians back. When Italian airmen dropped specially modified grenades on Turkish troops, it was the first recorded bombing from an airplane in history. By the end of November, General Carlo Caneva, with 25,000 infantry and 16 batteries of artillery, had reestablished the Italian position. A virtual stalemate ensued, with Italy controlling the coast and Turkey the interior. By taking the island of Rhodes and the Dodecanese group in the Aegean Sea (May, 1912), Italy put significant pressure on the Turkish government. After Italian victories at Derna and Sidi Bilal (October), the Turks gave the Libyans autonomy and recognized an Italian protectorate over the Libyans. When the manpower demands of World War I weakened the Italian hold on North Africa, the Senusi began an intermittent guerrilla war against the occupiers of Libya. General Rodolfo Graziani waged merciless campaigns of pacification using assassination, torture, and concentration camps. By 1934, Italy had complete control of Libya.

Italy’s attention now turned back to Ethiopia, where a clash between Ethiopian and Italian troops at Wal-Wal (December 5, 1934) created a crisis that could not be resolved by League of Nations arbitrators, who found both sides equally at fault. Italy had built its forces in East Africa to a quarter of a million and invaded Ethiopia without declaring war (October 3, 1935). In the north, Italian forces captured Adowa almost immediately (October 6), then the ancient Ethiopian capital of Axum (October 15) and the fortress of Mekele (November 8). Despite the early success, Field Marshal Pietro Badoglio had to be sent to reorganize the army (November 17) before any further operations. Meanwhile, a southern front had also been opened by General Graziani, with the fortress of Gedlegube taken by Italian troops (October 6). A continuous campaign led to the destruction of the southernmost portion of the Ethiopian army at Genale Wenz (January 12-16, 1936) and Italian seizure of the Ethiopian base at Negel (January 20). On the same day, Badoglio resumed hostilities in the First Battle of Tembien (January 20-24), occupying Amba Aradam after the Battle of Enderta (February 10-15) and Worq Amba after the Second Battle of Tembien. Poison gas, which the Italians had first used in December, played a considerable role in this success, as did their absolute dominance in the air. At the Battle of Maiceu (March 31, 1936), Emperor Haile Selassie’s army was destroyed, leaving the way open to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. At this point, another offensive was launched in the south (April 14). A steady advance culminated in the final defeat of the Ethiopian army at Dagabur (April 30).

Aftermath

Italy combined Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Italian Somaliland into Italian East Africa and designated the Italian king emperor of Ethiopia. In 1939, Libya was promoted from colony to an integral part of metropolitan Italy. During World War II, the Italian areas of Africa were invaded by the Allies. The peace treaty signed by Italy in 1947 renounced all claims to its former African territories.

Bibliography

Brown, Pamela S., and Fassil Yirgu. One House: The Battle of Adowa, 1896—100 Years. Lawrenceville, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 1996.

Childs, Timothy W. Italo-Turkish Diplomacy and the War over Libya, 1911–1912. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1990.

Coffey, T. M. Lion by the Tail: The Story of the Italian-Ethiopian War. London: Hamilton, 1974.

Dugan, James, and Laurence Lafore. Days of Emperor and Clown: The Italo-Ethiopian War, 1935–1936. Garden City, N.J.: Doubleday, 1973.

Pakenham, Thomas. The Scramble for Africa, 1876–1912. New York: Random House, 1991.

Sbacci, Alberto. Legacy of Bitterness: Ethiopia and Fascist Italy, 1935–1941. Lawrenceville, N.J.: Red Sea Press, 1997.