Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Occupation & Resistance
Soon Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia were merged to become the colonial territory of
'Africa Orientale Italiana' (Italian East Africa).
Hoping to create an important economic base, Italy invested heavily in its new colony.
From 1936 as many as 60,000 Italian workers poured in to work on Ethiopia's infrastruc-
ture.
Ethiopia kept up a spirited resistance to Italian rule throughout its brief duration. Italy's
response was famously brutal. Mussolini personally ordered all rebels to be shot, and in-
surgencies were put down using large-scale bombing, poison gas and machine-gunning
from the air.
Ethiopian resistance reached a peak in February 1937 with an assassination attempt on
the much-hated Italian viceroy, Rodolfo Graziani. In reprisal, the Italians spent three days
shooting, beheading or disembowelling several thousand people in the capital.
The 'patriot's movement' (the resistance
fighters) was mainly based in the historical
provinces of Shoa, Gonder and Gojam, but
drew support from all parts of the country;
many fighters were women.
Graziani's response was simple: 'Eliminate
them, eliminate them, eliminate them'. But
Ethiopian resolve stiffened and resistance
grew. Although in control of major towns, Italy never conquered the entire country.
The outbreak of WWII, particularly Italy's declaration of war against Britain in 1940,
dramatically changed the course of events. Britain at last reversed its policy of tacit sup-
port of Italy's East African expansion and initially offered Ethiopia assistance on the
Sudan-Ethiopia border. Later, in early 1941, Britain launched three major attacks.
Though not then widely recognised, the Ethiopian patriots played a major role before,
during and after the liberation campaign, which ended on 5 May 1941 when the emperor
and his men entered Addis Ababa.
The second edition of Bahru Zewde's widely ac-
claimed
A History of Modern Ethiopia 1855-1991
contains two particularly readable sections: Harold
G Marcus'
Ethiopia
and Richard Pankhurst's
The
Ethiopians
.
