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Battle of Adwa

1896 battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War

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The Battle of Adowa, The Last Rally of General Dabormida. Illustration for The Graphic, 11 April 1896.
The Graphic , from details supplied by survivors · Public domain

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Through De facto and de jure

Following a dispute over the interpretation of the Treaty of Wuchale, Italy attempted to force Ethiopia to abide by the Italian version of the treaty and impose a protectorate over Ethiopia. In response, Emperor Menelik II mobilized a massive army, with estimates ranging from 73,000 to over 100,000 men, mostly equipped with modern rifles imported from France and Russia. Facing them was a much smaller Italian colonial force under General Oreste Baratieri, which was unfamiliar with the terrain and hampered by poor reconnaissance.

Despite concerns about the size and strength of the Ethiopian forces, Baratieri, under pressure from Rome to act decisively, decided to initiate a surprise attack on the Ethiopians camped near Adwa. The Italian command advanced into difficult terrain, dividing their forces into separate columns that quickly became isolated from one another. The Ethiopians launched coordinated attacks on the dispersed Italian brigades. While the Italians initially used their artillery to slow the Ethiopian advance, their defensive positions were soon overwhelmed by sustained and numerically superior Ethiopian assaults.

The battle ended in a decisive Ethiopian victory, with over 6,000 Italian and colonial troops killed, and around 3,800 captured. Ethiopian casualties are estimated between 4,000 to 7,000 killed, and 6,000 to 10,000 wounded. The defeat forced Italy to recognize Ethiopia's sovereignty in the Treaty of Addis Ababa. Adwa resulted in the fall of the government of Francesco Crispi and secured de jure Ethiopian sovereignty until the Second Italo-Ethiopian War forty years later.

Historians often place Adwa among the most notable military reverses suffered by European powers during the Scramble for Africa. By the end of the 19th century, Ethiopia remained one of the few independent countries in Africa and the only one to owe its independence to a military victory.

Background

In 1889, the Italians signed the Treaty of Wuchale with King Menelik of Shewa. The treaty, signed after the Italian occupation of Eritrea, recognized Italy's claim over the coastal colony. In it, Italy also promised to provide financial assistance and military supplies. A dispute later arose over the interpretation of the two versions of the document. In the Italian-language version, the disputed Article 17 of the treaty stated that the Emperor of Ethiopia was obliged to conduct all foreign affairs through Italian authorities, effectively making Ethiopia a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. The Amharic version of the article stated that the Emperor could use the good offices of the Kingdom of Italy in his relations with foreign nations if he wished. The Italian diplomats claimed that the original Amharic text included the clause and that Menelik II knowingly signed a modified copy of the Treaty.

During the 1890-96 period, the Italians pursued a twofold strategy to advance their imperial goals in Ethiopia. The first dimension, advocated mainly by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and nicknamed "politica scioana", was diplomatic, by attempting to persuade Menelik into accepting their interpretation of Article 17 and mobilising other European powers to exert pressure on the Ethiopian monarch. The second dimension, nicknamed "politica tigrigna" and pursued mostly by the Ministry of Colonies and the government of Eritrea, focused on subversive activities in Tigray, exploiting the centrifugal tendencies of provincial leaderships in Tigray and the Tigrayan resentment against the new Shewan emperor Menelik II in the hope of dismembering the country. Menelik successfully resisted both strategies. By June 1894, even the leading figures of Tigray, headed by Ras Mengesha Yohannes and Ras Alula, traveled to Addis Ababa to pay homage to the Emperor, completing his political consolidation before the military confrontation.

The Italian government decided on a military solution to force Ethiopia to abide by the Italian version of the treaty. As a result, Italy and Ethiopia came into confrontation, in what was later to be known as the First Italo-Ethiopian War. In December 1894, Bahta Hagos led a rebellion against the Italians in Akele Guzai, in what was then Italian controlled Eritrea. Units of Italian General Oreste Baratieri's army under Major Pietro Toselli crushed the rebellion and killed Bahta. In January 1895, Baratieri's army defeated Ras Mengesha Yohannes in the Battle of Coatit, forcing Mengesha to retreat further south.

By late 1895, Italian forces had advanced deep into Ethiopian territory and occupied much of Tigray. In September 1895, Menelik issued an awaj, a formal call to arms addressed to the entire Ethiopian population, mobilising the provincial forces that would form the army at Adwa. On 7 December 1895, Ras Makonnen Wolde Mikael, Fitawrari Gebeyehu and Ras Mengesha Yohannes commanding a larger Ethiopian group of Menelik's vanguard annihilated a small Italian unit at the Battle of Amba Alagi. The Italians were then forced to withdraw to more defensible positions in Tigray Province, where the two main armies faced each other. By late February 1896, supplies on both sides were running low. General Oreste Baratieri, commander of the Italian forces, knew the Ethiopian forces had been living off the land, and once the supplies of the local peasants were exhausted, Emperor Menelik II's army would begin to melt away. However, the Italian government insisted that General Baratieri act. This decision to attack rather than hold position stood in contrast to the successful tactics of General Alessandro Asinari di San Marzano, who in late March 1888 had entrenched Italian forces near Sahati and forced Emperor Yohannes IV to withdraw from Eritrea after the Ethiopian army exhausted its supplies. Baratieri knew Menelik was logistically far better prepared than Yohannes had been, while his own army was too far from Massawa to be conveniently resupplied as San Marzano had been.

The Italian journalist Adolfo Rossi, who undertook several reporting missions in the region for Corriere della Sera and witnessed major defeats such as the massacre at Amba Alagi and the Siege of Mekelle (Macallè in Italian) in January 1896, was an outspoken critic of the military-led colonial administration and its expansion into sacred Abyssinian territory – warning that it would provoke a backlash, which was soon realized through Emperor Menelik's counteroffensive. He condemned the colonial leadership as overly militaristic, driven by a thirst for medals and glory, and warned that Italian forces were overstretched, tasked with controlling an excessively large territory with too few men and inadequate logistical support. Rossi remained with General Baratieri until mid-February but was expelled just days before the Italian defeat at Adwa for his "unpatriotic" reporting, his criticism of military decisions, and his repeated warnings against engaging Menelik's vastly superior army.

On the evening of 29 February, Baratieri, about to be replaced by a new governor, General Baldissera, met with his generals Matteo Albertone, Giuseppe Arimondi, Vittorio Dabormida, and Giuseppe Ellena, concerning their next steps. He opened the meeting on a negative note, revealing to his brigadiers that provisions would be exhausted in less than five days, and suggested retreating, perhaps as far back as Asmara. His subordinates argued forcefully for an attack, insisting that to retreat at this point would only worsen the poor morale. Dabormida exclaimed, "Italy would prefer the loss of two or three thousand men to a dishonorable retreat." Baratieri delayed making a decision for a few more hours, claiming that he needed to wait for some last-minute intelligence, but in the end announced that the attack would start the next morning at 9:00am. His troops began their march to their starting positions shortly after midnight.

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