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|strength2 =
|strength2 =
|casualties1 = 1,000 dead{{sfnp|Sarkees|Wayman|2010|pp=261–62}} (excluding Dogali)
|casualties1 = 1,000 dead{{sfnp|Sarkees|Wayman|2010|pp=261–62}} (excluding Dogali)
|casualties2 = 1,471 dead<ref>[https://books.google.it/books?id=9WZCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT297&lpg=PT297&dq=battaglia+dogali+1.071&source=bl&ots=XIrfsn19n8&sig=ACfU3U1sCsMZDcvQZGa9zYe07rYWjD0kdA&hl=it&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPstGjkMjjAhWMJ1AKHQ01B8QQ6AEwDnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=battaglia%20dogali%201.071&f=false]</ref>{{sfnp|Sarkees|Wayman|2010|pp=261–62}}
|casualties2 = 271 dead<ref>[https://books.google.it/books?id=9WZCDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT297&lpg=PT297&dq=battaglia+dogali+1.071&source=bl&ots=XIrfsn19n8&sig=ACfU3U1sCsMZDcvQZGa9zYe07rYWjD0kdA&hl=it&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPstGjkMjjAhWMJ1AKHQ01B8QQ6AEwDnoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=battaglia%20dogali%201.071&f=false]</ref>{{sfnp|Sarkees|Wayman|2010|pp=261–62}}
|campaignbox=
|campaignbox=
{{Scramble for Africa}}
{{Scramble for Africa}}

Revision as of 20:36, 30 August 2019

Italo-Ethiopian War

Illustration of the battle of Sahati
Date1887–1889
Location
Eritrea
Result Italian victory
Territorial
changes		 Italian annexation of Eritrea
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Italy  Ethiopian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Italy Alessandro Asinari di San Marzano
Kingdom of Italy Tancredi Saletta
Kingdom of Italy Antonio Baldissera
Kingdom of Italy Oreste Baratieri		 Ethiopian Empire Yohannes IV
Ethiopian Empire Alula Enigna
Ethiopian Empire Mengesha Yohannes
Casualties and losses
1,000 dead[1] (excluding Dogali) 271 dead[2][1]

The Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889, the first between Kingdom of Italy and the Ethiopian Empire, was caused by Italy's attempt to occupy the interior of what became the colony of Eritrea.

As the Mahdist uprising in the Sudan spilled over the frontier, Ethiopia was faced with a two-front war. The Emperor Yohannes IV also had to face internal resistance from his powerful vassals. King Menelik of Shewa even signed a treaty of neutrality with Italy in October 1887.

While there is universal agreement that the war began in January 1887, historians differ about when it ended.[1] Some limit the war to 1887,[3][4] others extend it down to the Treaty of Wuchale in 1889,[5][6][7] and others combine it with the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1895–96 and treat a single conflict as occurring from 1887 until 1896.[8] The naming of the conflict also varies. It may be called the First Italo-Ethiopian War[5][9] and the war of 1895–96 as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.[1] Otherwise it may be identified solely by date.[4][6]

Italian historiography tends to group together all the fighting from 1885 until 1896. The original name for the fighting was Guerra d'Africa (African War),[10][11][12] at term which indicates the broad perceived scope of early Italian colonial ambitions. As the Italian historian Giuseppe Finaldi puts it, "The war is called the Guerra d'Africa, not the Guerra d'Eritrea or such like."[13]

Background

The first Italian colony in what was to become the colony of Eritrea was Assab Bay, purchased by Giuseppe Sapeto on behalf of the Società di Navigazione Rubattino (Rubattino Shipping Company) on 15 November 1869 from the brothers Ibrahim and Hassan Ben Ahmed for 6,000 Maria Theresa thalers.[14] The Suez Canal opened two days later. The deal was later finalised for 8,350 thalers and the Sultan Abd Allah Sahim as a party. On 11 March 1870, Sapeto purchased the Bay of Buya from the same brothers and sultan.[15] Between 15 April 1870 and December 1879, however, Assab went unused by the company. The company offered it to the Italian government, which on 5 July 1882 passed a law making it Italy's first colony.[14]

The outbreak of the Mahdist uprising changed the political situation in the Horn of Africa. Egypt was unable to maintain its garrison in Massawa and, with British approval, an Italian Corpo Speciale per l'Africa (Special Corps for Africa), commanded by Colonel Tancredi Saletta, occupied it on 5 February 1885.[14]

Campaign

Dogali campaign

Main article: Battle of Dogali

Italian moves into the hinterland of Massawa, territory claimed by Ethiopia, brought her forces into conflict with those of Ethiopia, specifically those of Ras Alula, governor of Mareb Mellash.

On 24[1] or 25 January 1887, Alula attacked the Italian fort at Sahati. In the ensuing skirmish, his troops were beaten back.[16] On 26 January, an Ethiopian force of about 15,000 men[1] ambushed an Italian battalion sent to reinforce Sahati and almost annihilated it at Dogali, 10 miles (16 km) west of Massawa. The battle of Dogali turned out to be one of the most important in the history of modern Ethiopia.[16] The response in Italy was immediate. The Italian parliament voted 5,000,000 lire for troops to reinforce Massawa.[17]

Following his victory, Alula remained in contact with the Italians regarding prisoners. He also subjected Massawa to a landward blockade in an effort to completely cut off its trade with the hinterland. This angered the local Muslim traders, whose sympathies shift towards the Italians.[16]

In his attack on Sahati, Alula had acted entirely on his own initiative. The Emperor Yohannes was at Makelle during the battle of Dogali. When Alula requested permission to expel the Italians from Massawa, the emperor is said to have castigated him for making war without permission: "Who gave you permission to go and make war there? Those soldiers are not yours but mine; I shall cut off your hand."[16] In late March, Yohannes summoned Alula to Makelle, where he was more conciliatory He promised the ras reinforcements against any Italian counterattack but forbade offensive operations.[16]

Italian reinforcements

On 2 June 1887, the Italian parliament voted a further 200,000,000 lire for troops, ammunition and supplies to be sent to Massawa.[17] During the summer, an expeditionary force of 20,000 men was assembled in Italy. It landed in Massawa during November.[16]

By January 1888, the Italians had moved two brigades up to Dogali. Yohannes mobilised for war. He ordered Menelik to guard Wollo and Begemder, while Ras Mikael brought up 25,000 Oromo cavalry to Tigray. Facing a Mahdist invasion in the west, Yohannes abandoned his campaign in March. Alula withdrew to Asmara in early April and retreated to Adwa on 23 April. Although Asmara was left undefended, the Italians did not move on it.[16]

In the vacuum that followed the 1889 death of Yohannes IV, General Oreste Baratieri occupied the highlands along the Eritrean coast and Italy proclaimed the establishment of the new colony of Italian Eritrea, a colony of the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian possession of maritime areas previously claimed by Abyssinia/Ethiopia was formalized in 1889 with the signing of the Treaty of Wuchale with Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia. In the Treaty, Menelik of Shewa, a southern Ethiopian kingdom, recognized the Italian occupation of his rivals' lands of Bogos, Hamasien, Akkele Guzay, and Serae in exchange for guarantees of financial assistance and continuing access to European arms and ammunition.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Sarkees & Wayman (2010), pp. 261–62.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Gleditsch (2004), p. 238.
  4. ^ a b Clodfelter (2017), p. 202, calls it the Italian–Abyssinian War.
  5. ^ a b Caulk (2002), pp. 77–79.
  6. ^ a b Phillips & Axelrod (2005), p. 619.
  7. ^ Kohn (2007), p. 263.
  8. ^ Jaques (2007), p. l.
  9. ^ Singer & Small (1994) call it the "first" Italo-Ethiopian war and classify it as an "imperial" and "extra-systemic" war because although Ethiopia was an independent power at the time, it was not part of the international system of states.
  10. ^ Piccinini (1887–88).
  11. ^ Gorra (1895).
  12. ^ Battaglia (1958).
  13. ^ Finaldi (2009), pp. 297–98.
  14. ^ a b c Tripodi (1999), pp. 15–.
  15. ^ Shinn & Ofcansky (2013), p. 361.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g Henze (2000), pp. 157–59.
  17. ^ a b Gabre-Selassie (2005), p. 96.
  18. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Abyssinia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 93–94.

Sources

  • Battaglia, Roberto (1958). La prima guerra d'Africa. Milan. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Caulk, Richard Alan (2002). "Between the Jaws of Hyenas": A Diplomatic History of Ethiopia, 1876–1896. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Clodfelter, Micheal (2017). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures (4th ed.). McFarland. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Erlich, Haggai (1973). A Political Biography of Ras Alula 1875–1897 (PhD thesis). University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. {{cite thesis}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Finaldi, Giuseppe Maria (2009). Italian National Identity in the Scramble for Africa: Italy's African Wars in the Era of Nation-Building, 1870–1900. Bern: Peter Lang. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Finaldi, Giuseppe Maria (2011). "Italo‐Abyssinian Wars (1887–1896, 1935–1936)". The Encyclopedia of War. Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow311. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gabre-Selassie, Zewde (2005). "Continuity and Discontinuity in Menelik's Foreign Policy". In Paulos Milkias; Getachew Metaferia (eds.). The Battle of Adwa: Reflections on Ethiopia's Historic Victory Against European Colonialism. New York: Algora. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede (2004). "A Revised List of Wars between and within Independent States, 1816–2002". International Interactions. 30: 231–262. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gorra, Oreste (1895). Guerra d'Africa, 1895. Rome: Perino. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Henze, Paul B. (2000). Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia. New York: Palgrave. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Jaques, Tony (2007). Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-First Century. Vol. Vol. 1. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kohn, George Childs (2007) [1986]. Dictionary of Wars (3rd ed.). New York: Facts on File. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Labanca, Nicola (1993). In marcia verso Adua. Giulio Einaudi. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Marcus, Harold G. (1995). The Life and Times of Menelik II, Ethiopia, 1844–1913. Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Pakenham, Thomas (1991). The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912. Random House. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Phillips, Charles; Axelrod, Alan (2005). Encyclopedia of Wars. New York: Facts on File. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Piccinini, Giuseppe (1887–88). Guerra d'Africa. Rome: Perino. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Sarkees, Meredith Reid; Wayman, Frank Whelon (2010). Resort to War: A Data Guide to Inter-State, Extra-state, Intra-State, and Non-State Wars, 1816–2007. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Shinn, David H.; Ofcansky, Thomas P. (2013). Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia. Scarecrow Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Singer, J. David; Small, Melvin (1994). Correlates of War Project: International and Civil War Data, 1816–1992 (PDF). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Tripodi, Paolo (1999). "An Historical Perspective on Italian Colonialism". The Colonial Legacy in Somalia. Rome and Mogadishu: From Colonial Administration to Operation Restore Hope. Macmillan and St. Martin's Press. pp. 9–48. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
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