Military history of Ethiopia

19th and 20th century Ethiopian Military history is characterized by conflicts with the Dervish State, Mahdist Sudan, Egypt, and Italy (which annexed Ethiopia to Italian East Africa, for 5 years until its liberation during WWII), and later by a civil war.

But, because Ethiopia had established a single and incorporated army and broke ethnic barriers to unite, the Italian regular forces were decisively defeated within a year at the Battle of Adwa.

A key factor in the preservation of Ethiopian independence was the state of its military, which was organized along European lines and was being trained by foreign advisors.

They think that it is not in condition to withstand a serious fight with a well-organized European army, claiming that the recent war with Italy doesn't prove anything.

For every Abyssinian, war is the most usual business, and military skills and rules of army life in the field enter in the flesh and blood of each of them, just as do the main principles of tactics.

On the march, each soldier knows how to arrange necessary comforts for himself and to spare his strength; but on the other hand, when necessary, he shows such endurance and is capable of action in conditions which are difficult even to imagine.

You see remarkable expediency in all the actions and skills of this army; and each soldier has an amazingly intelligent attitude toward managing the mission of the battle.

In accordance with the order of emperor of Ethiopia, Nikolay Leontiev organized the first battalion of the regular Ethiopian army.

The company of volunteers was then organised from the former Senegal shooters (disappointed or unreliable for colonial authorities), which he chose and invited from Western Africa.

The Ethiopians used prohibited dumdum bullets and mutilated captured soldiers,[6] while the Italians used chemical weaponry in a number of battles.

[7] During the East African Campaign, with the help of British forces, Emperor Haile Selassie joined the resistance groups against the Italian Army.

It was attached to the American 7th Infantry Division, and fought in a number of engagements including the Battle of Pork Chop Hill.

At the end of the Civil war, with the Eritrean and Ethiopian victory over the Derg government, Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1991 following a referendum.