[7] The Patriot movement only emerged in the spring of 1936 after the Battle of Maychew in the Tigray Region as scattered troops of the Army of the Ethiopian Empire resorted to guerrilla tactics against occupying forces.

Early activities included stealing war materials, rolling boulders off cliffs at passing convoys, kidnapping messengers, cutting telephone lines, setting fire to administrative offices and fuel and ammunition dumps and killing collaborators.

The Italians began referring to the Patriots as shifta, which roughly translates from Amharic to English as "bandit"; the word also has a connotation of "one who rebels against an unjust authority" and many freedom fighters reclaimed the label and took pride in its usage.

[10] Addis Ababa fell to the advancing Italians on 5 May 1936 and the Ethiopians withdrew to nearby areas to regroup; Abebe Aregai went to Ankober, Balcha Safo to Gurage, Zewdu Asfaw to Mulo, Blatta Takale Wolde Hawariat to Limmu and the Kassa brothers (Aberra, Wondosson, and Asfawossen) to Selale.

[15] The Arbegnoch of Shewa were actually determined to attack Addis Ababa, in a meeting in Debre Libanos, with the presence of Aberra Kassa, Abune Petros and other leaders, a rash plan was decided to assault the capital with five separate columns, counting above all on exploiting a general uprising of the population.

[16] The assault began on 28 July 1936 on a foggy morning but, despite some successes, the guerrillas failed to coordinate their attacks; while Aberra Kassa's men arrived by surprise without encountering resistance as far as the center of Addis Ababa where they unleashed panic, Ficrè Mariam was stopped by the course of a flooded stream and then blocked by reinforced Italian units.

In the meantime, Abebe Aregai's Arbegnoch initially advanced almost as far as Graziani's residence but were then attacked by Eritrean askaris, the last two Ethiopian columns failed on the first day even to enter into the city due to the nearby floods.

[17] While in Shewa the guerrillas dominated the countryside, the attempt to organize a solid resistance movement in the west of the Abyssinian territory was unsuccessful due to the opposition of the leaders of the Oromo population, who were traditionally hostile to the Amhara rule.

[19] On 11 October 1936, the Minister of Colonies Alessandro Lessona had arrived in Addis Ababa, to confer personally with Marshal Graziani; regarding the tactics to be followed to crush the Ethiopian resistance and ensure total domination over the territory.

[26] After the failed attack on Addis Ababa, Wondosson Kassa decided to take refuge with his men around Mount Abuna Yosef before resuming guerrilla warfare in September 1936 near the town of Lalibela.

Marshal Graziani took brutal measures against this resistance group, also employing, according to the instructions of Minister Lessona, mustard gases that were used extensively on the villages between Lalibelà and Bilbolà Ghiorghis.

As Sbacchi notes, "Poor facilities, including latrines, the humid climate, malaria, stomach infections, and venereal disease took many lives, especially among those compelled to work on the irrigation canal or on the banana and sugar-cane plantations."

Hailu Kebede especially in the month of August achieved important successes; his guerrillas attacked and annihilated several garrisons, while in September they inflicted heavy losses on a colonial battalion and devastated the Quoram communications center along the main Asmara-Addis Ababa road.

The news of the Ethiopian revolt aroused strong emotion in Italy as well; Mussolini urged Graziani's return to Addis Ababa and sent reinforcements, while Minister Lessona authorized the use of "every means" against the rebels, "including gas".

Marshal Graziani returned to the capital on 3 October 1937, but despite the end of the Lasta revolt, the guerrilla warfare was spreading in Begemeder, Gojjam and Semien, many garrisons and isolated Italian residences were attacked and destroyed.

Despite the viceroy's protests, Mussolini stood by his decisions, he informed the Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta of his forthcoming assignment and appointed General Ugo Cavallero, military superior commander over East Africa.

General Cavallero's forces were able to occupy the territory, increase the garrisons and extend the lines of communication but in turn had 350 dead and 1,200 wounded in five months in Gojjam, mostly askaris and colonial troops.

At first the operation achieved some results; the Italo-Eritreans carried out vast roundups, killed 866 rebels and acted, according to the directives of the viceroy and of Mussolini himself, "with the utmost energy", but in the end even Geresu Duki escaped, together with his guerrillas, from the hunt of the occupying forces.

Giuseppe Di Vittorio spoke about it with Spanish Civil War veteran Anton Ukmar in the winter of 1937 and the decision was made on 8 December 1938, the first to leave and reach Ethiopia via Khartoum was Ilio Barontini who in February 1939 was already able to send a confident report on the qualities and determination of the Abyssinian fighters.

In France the government approved a program of "subversive war" and made contact with Abebe Aregai and Geresu Duki; French and British senior officers met in Aden in June 1939 and established a precise military programme against Italy in East Africa which included, among other things, "support for a general revolt in Ethiopia" by supplying weapons and ammunition.

General Sandford reached Khartoum in October 1939 and took the first concrete measures by organizing arms depots on the border between Sudan and Ethiopia and entering into contact with some leaders of the resistance including Mengesha Gembere and Taffere Zellechè.

On the other hand, the long and complex attempts to convince Ras Abebe Aregai, who had by now become the main leader of the Arbegnoch and maintained relations with the French in Djibouti, to renounce the fight, did not achieve success.

It seems that in some circumstances he agreed to start negotiations above all to gain time and obtain weapons and supplies; all contacts with Abebe Aregai sought by high-ranking Italian envoys, including General De Biase, came to nothing; the Ethiopian leader did not show up at the summit meeting scheduled for 14 March 1940.

[47] The beginning of the Second World War in East Africa was characterized by a series of Italian victories during the invasion of British Somaliland, however, these successes could not change the overall strategic situation, which was clearly favorable to Great Britain.

After a few months from the start of the war, the resistance of the Arbegnoch resumed with increased intensity, extending its guerrilla actions to areas previously thought to be pacified, such as Galla and Sidamo, where attacks by the "patriots" began.

[48] While the situation of the Italians in East Africa was becoming increasingly difficult, the British political-military leadership, after some initial hesitation, had finally taken the decision to energetically support the insurrectional war in Ethiopia by authorizing the Negus Haile Selassie to return to the theatre of operations; he was first transferred to Egypt where he arrived incognito with the pseudonym of Mister Strong on 25 June 1940 and then arrived in Khartoum on 2 July accompanied by a few loyal followers and by the British officials George Steer and Edwin Chapman-Andrews.

[49] The British commitment to the Ethiopian resistance was further strengthened after the visit of the Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden to Khartoum; during the conference of 28 October 1940 with General Archibald Wavell and Alan Cunningham and with Field Marshal Jan Smuts, the final decision was taken to support the return of the Negus, to consider the guerrilla warfare as a "war of liberation", above all to supply the fighters with weapons and equipment; furthermore, Mission 101 would be strengthened with the sending of the eccentric and capable Colonel Orde Wingate.

In a short time, deliveries of weapons to the Arbegnoch began and training centres were opened on the border of Sudan, while Colonel Wingate went to Gojjam where he made agreements with General Sandford before returning to Cairo to form the so-called Gideon Force, tasked with penetrating Ethiopia and bringing Haile Selassie back to power.

Italian domination in East Africa was rapidly collapsing; while the troops showed signs of demoralization and many colonial units deserted, the Ethiopian resistance intensified its activity and in Shoa the uprising of the population became general coinciding with the spread of news of the British advance.

At 3.30 pm the Negus entered the capital in an open car, welcomed by the population; The Arbegnoch of Abebe Aregai, about 7,000 guerrillas, escorted the imperial procession during its passage through the city streets.