It occurred in early May 1936 following the collapse of the Ethiopian government and the departure of Emperor Haile Selassie from the city prior to the Italian conquest of Addis Ababa.

In the United States, American minister Cornelius Van Hemert Engert was recognized for his actions leading the defense of the chancery, though the administration of Franklin Roosevelt would come under public criticism for not better providing for its protection.

[2] Less than two days later, with the Italian Army approaching the city, the emperor and the imperial court evacuated the capital for French Somaliland, a move that was unexpected and resented by many Ethiopians.

[1][2] Prior to departing Addis Ababa, Haile Selassie had ordered government armories opened with the apparent intent that civilians would seize the weapons and spontaneously resist the Italian entrance into the city.

[2][3][4] By the afternoon of May 2, with the street violence growing increasingly worse, American journalists who had been in the city covering the war – as well as 37 Greek civilians – had all sought refuge in the chancery of the embassy.

[2] In addition, the files of the Ethiopian foreign ministry were brought to the American chancery by John H. Spencer for safekeeping, along with a personal cache of "food and guns" which he donated to the embassy.

[5] The same day as the evacuation of the Americans by the British, German troops had to be dispatched by that nation's embassy to rescue Swiss physician Marcel Junod and French journalists who were trapped in a collapsed building.