First Italo-Ethiopian War
The First Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the First Italo-Abyssinian War, or simply in Italy as the Abyssinian War (Italian: Guerra d'Abissinia), was a war fought between Italy and Ethiopia from 1895 to 1896. It originated from the disputed Treaty of Wuchale, which the Italians claimed turned Ethiopia into an Italian protectorate. Full-scale war broke out in 1895, with Italian troops from Italian Eritrea achieving initial successes against Tigrayan warlords at Coatit, Senafe and Debra Ailà, until they were reinforced by a large Ethiopian army led by Emperor Menelik II. The Italian defeat came about after the Battle of Adwa, where the Ethiopian army dealt the heavily outnumbered Italian soldiers and Eritrean askaris a decisive blow and forced their retreat back into Eritrea. The war concluded with the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Because this was one of the first decisive victories by African forces over a European colonial power, this war became a preeminent symbol of pan-Africanism and secured Ethiopia's sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War of 1935–36.
| First Italo-Ethiopian War | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Scramble for Africa | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Italy | Ethiopia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Umberto I Francesco Crispi Oreste Baratieri Vittorio Dabormida † Giuseppe Arimondi † Matteo Albertone Giuseppe Ellena Giuseppe Galliano † Pietro Toselli † |
Menelik II Taytu Betul Makonnen Wolde Mikael Tekle Haymanot Mikael of Wollo Mengesha Yohannes Alula Engida Welle Betul Bashah Aboye † | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 35,000–43,700 | 80,000–125,000 | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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9,313 killed 1,428 wounded 3,865 captured | ~10,000 killed | ||||||||