debor044

Following the annexations of coastal territories by the Italians which cut off the growing Ethiopian Empire from the sea to East, Emperor Yohannes IV and one of his most trusted lords, Ras Alula raised armies to combat further Italian incursion, which by early 1887 had slowly begun to move inland. The most significant clash of this early period came at the Battle of Dogali on January 26 1887. Ras Alula Engida, a respected and influential military commander and Ethiopian lord around 1890 Ras Alula and around 10,000 of his men attacked a column of 500 Italian regulars who had set out to relieve forces attacked the previous at Fort Saati. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the attacking Ethiopians the Italians were routed, loosing 23 officers and 407 enlisted men in the process.  Like most victories over Imperial powers the Ethiopians could only enjoy their success for a time and by the end of year 18,000 Italian troops were in Eritrea. By 1888 these force...

The following three part series seeks to trace the military and diplomatic origins & course of Italian Imperialism in the mid to late 19th century to the early 20th century, especially at it pertains to Ethiopia and Northeastern Africa.  Check out the Mad Monarchists blog post on the Italian Colonial Empire http://italianmonarchist.blogspot.com/2012/03/italian-colonial-empire.html Of the several great Imperial powers worth studying in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Italy always seems to fall short of the standards of conquest, through military and/or diplomatic means, that defined the course of history for Europe but more importantly the developing nations and republics which formed after the retreat of imperialism and colonialism in Africa especially. Like in Germany or even America in the mid to late 19th century, Italy's national identity was fragmented due regional attitudes which eschewed the very idea of a centralized empire controlling all of the natio...