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Men-at-Arms
O
SPREY
PUBLISHING
Armies of the Adowa
Campaign 1896
The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia
Sean McLachlan • Illustrated by Raffaele Ruggeri
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
Men-at-Arms • 471
Armies of the Adowa
Campaign 1896
The Italian Disaster in Ethiopia
Sean McLachlan
Series editor
Mar tin Windrow
•
Illustrated by Raffaele Ruggeri
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
ARMIES OF THE ADOWA
CAMPAIGN 1896
ITALY’S EAST AFRICAN AMBITIONS
I
A striking portrait of an Eritrean
ascaro,
in this case identified by
the badge and light blue tassel
on his
tarbush
or fez as serving
with the Carabinieri paramilitary
police established in the colony.
His aspect is typical of fighting
men in this part of north-east
Africa, whose warrior tradition
is undimmed today; the
ascari
proved themselves notably
steady under fire. Generally the
relationships between Italian
officers and their African troops
were reported to be good, once
new arrivals from Italy had
learned the folly of any
prejudiced assumptions.
There were numerous accounts
of
ascari
protecting their officers
to the death. (Courtesy Stato
Maggiore dell’Esercito, Ufficio
Storico – hereafter, SME/US)
n the late 19th century, Italy was one of the youngest of the
European nations. It had only been politically unified under
the northern throne of Savoy – by force of arms – in 1861, and in
human terms this unity was a fiction. Governments anxious to create
a true sense of nationhood sought foreign quarrels, in the hope that
war – any war – would unite Italians psychologically. Naturally, Italy lagged
far behind in the race for colonies, and older and stronger powers such as
Britain, France and Spain had already staked claims over much of the
non-European world. One of the few remaining regions where Italy might
prove itself by gaining colonies of its own was north-east Africa, on the
western shore of the Red Sea.
While the French had established a foothold at what is now Djibouti,
and the British were expanding their colony in present-day Kenya and
Uganda, a large region remained uncolonized – Abyssinia, today known
as Ethiopia and Eritrea. This vast territory included high, arid mountains
and fertile valleys, as well as peripheral regions of desert and savannah.
A patchwork of different tribes inhabited these territories, ruled by a
complex aristocratic hierarchy, and to a great extent following an
idiosyncratic version of Christianity. Over all was the nominal ruler of the
entire country – the
Negus Negasti
or ‘king of kings’. Some of these
emperors had managed to unify the country for a short time, but under
weaker central rulers Abyssinia was a conglomeration of feudal warlord
fiefdoms, and this potentially rich but divided land attracted the
ambitions of the Italians.
In 1869 the Suez Canal was opened, thus greatly increasing the
importance of the Red Sea for the shipping of the far-flung British and
French empires. That same year an Italian firm established a coaling
station on land bought from a local ruler in Assab Bay, in the narrows of
the Gulf of Aden. In 1883 they sold it to the Italian government, which
began expanding it into a colony. In 1885, taking advantage of Britain’s
and Egypt’s distraction by the Mahdi’s warlike followers in the Sudan
(the so-called Dervishes), Italy took possession of the nearby port
of Beilul. In the same year the Italians also landed some 250 miles
north-westwards up the Red Sea coast and occupied Massawa – one of
the most important harbours in the whole region. The Egyptians who
had previously claimed it could do little but complain about this
landing; their own garrisons would have been unable to hold out against
the Mahdi, and Britain approved the transfer of power.
During the following year, Italy spread out along 650 miles of coastline,
from Cape Kasar in the north to the French enclave of Obok (modern
Djibouti) in the south; this corresponds almost exactly to the coast of
3
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
The Mahdist and Ethiopian
campaigns, 1885–96; broken
lines indicate main Italian lines
of communication, and shading
shows the approximate edges of
the highlands. The provinces of
Hamacen, Okule-Kasai and Serae
were all historically subject to
the rulers of the Tigré region
of northern Abyssinia.
(Inset) General map of the
region. (Maps by John Richards)
modern Eritrea. The British actually encouraged Italian expansion in the
Red Sea as a way to offset potential French influence. (While Britain had
sent an expedition into Ethiopia in 1868 to defeat the Emperor Tewedros
and save his European hostages, they had no interest in actually
colonizing the country.)
Defeat at Dogali, 1887
4
The Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia resented being cut off from the
sea by this new Italian incursion. Tensions arose, especially in 1887, when
the Italians decided to strengthen their position by pushing inland and
taking over the villages of Ua-à and Zula. The local lord, Ras Alula,
demanded that the Italians leave, and when they failed to do so he
gathered 25,000 warriors. On 25 January 1887 he attacked the fort at
Saati, held by 167 Italians and 1,000 native troops, but found it too strong
to take. He had better luck the next day, when he attacked a relief
column heading for the fort. Led by LtCol De Cristoforis, this force
consisted of 500 Italians, 50 native irregulars, and two machine guns. Ras
Alula ambushed them at Dogali with about 10,000 warriors; the Italian
machine guns soon jammed, and the relief force was surrounded and cut
down. The Italians lost 23 officers and 407 men killed, one officer and 81
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
men wounded. The Italians estimated that Ras Alula lost 1,000 warriors
at the battle of Dogali, although this is debatable. The Italians quickly
vacated the contested villages, as well as the fort at Saati.
This defeat led to a massive Italian reinforcement of what would
become their colony of Eritrea. By the end of 1887 troops in the colony
numbered 18,000, of whom only 2,000 were natives, and an arms
embargo on Ethiopia was in place. The military governor, Gen Di San
Marzano, fortified Massawa, retook the inland villages and fort, and
began building more forts on the border and at key internal sites. He also
started building a railway from Massawa to Saati, to exploit the region’s
mineral wealth.
By the end of March 1888, the Emperor Yohannes and Ras Alula were
negotiating peace with the Italians. The colony continued to strengthen
and expand, and in October 1888 the first units of
ascari
were formed.
These native battalions were mostly drawn from the Eritrean population,
along with Sudanese gunners, and they replaced the irregular Turkish
and local mercenaries that the Italians had previously employed.
The Italians’ next challenge came from the loosely structured
Mahdiyya army in the Sudan. The Mahdi claimed to be the new prophet
of Islam, and his devout followers drawn from disparate peoples made
great gains against the British-sponsored Egyptians and neighbouring
tribes. There had been a longstanding rivalry between these Muslim
warriors and the mostly Christian Ethiopians. Emperor Yohannes
campaigned against the Dervishes, but, while at first successful, he was
defeated and fatally wounded at the battle of Metemma on 9 March 1889.
The Italians took advantage of Yohannes’ absence on campaign to push
further inland, taking the Tigréan provinces of Hamacen, Okule-Kasai,
and Serae; these would become the principal territories of the future
colony, and modern nation, of Eritrea.
On his deathbed, Yohannes declared his nephew Ras Mangasha as his
‘natural son’ and successor, but Mangasha faced powerful rivals for the
throne. The most prominent was Menelik of Shewa – the region
surrounding the capital, Addis Ababa –
who had stayed neutral in the struggle
between Yohannes and the Italians in
return for Italian guns. Ruling over
the populous and fertile central part
of the country, Menelik had tens of
thousands of warriors at his command,
and was already in secret negotiations
with the Italians to consolidate
his political position. When Yohannes
named Ras Mangasha as his heir,
Menelik proclaimed himself Negus
Negasti on 26 March 1889. The Italians
supported Menelik, and on 2 May 1889
the two parties signed the Treaty of
Wuchale. This recognized Menelik II
as emperor, while in return Menelik
conceded most of the land that Italy
had already occupied. The treaty
also declared a permanent friendship
The
Negus Negasti
Menelik II
and his high command, in an
engraving made at about the
time of the battle of Adowa.
While these men wear
lion’s-mane headdresses and
elaborately embroidered silk
robes, and carry decorated
shields, note that they are armed
with rifles. Before March 1896
the Italians often mistook
Ethiopian adherence to tradition
for an inability to embrace useful
technologies. (Courtesy SME/US)
5
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