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Ethiopia
Tag
(16)
1928
August
02
The Italo-Ethiopian treaty
On 2 August 1928 Italy and Ethiopia signed a 20-year treaty of friendship and arbitration in Addis Ababa. Seven years later Mussolini invaded Ethiopia.
1934
December
05
The Walwal incident
On 5 December 1934 Ethiopian soldiers and Somalis in Italian service clashed at the Walwal wells in the Ogaden. Mussolini made it a pretext for war.
1935
August
31
The Neutrality Act
On 31 August 1935 Roosevelt signed the first Neutrality Act. It banned arms sales to all belligerents, aggressors and victims alike.
October
03
Key event
Italy attacks Ethiopia
On 3 October 1935 Mussolini's troops crossed into Ethiopia without a declaration of war. The League of Nations imposed sanctions but left out oil.
1936
May
05
The Italians take Addis Ababa
On 5 May 1936 Marshal Badoglio led his troops into Addis Ababa. Mussolini declared the war over, but Ethiopia never surrendered; resistance lasted until 1941.
1937
December
11
Italy leaves the League of Nations
On 11 December 1937 the Fascist Grand Council decided Italy would leave the League of Nations; Mussolini announced it from a balcony. The cause was Ethiopia.
1940
July
04
The Italians take Kassala
On 4 July 1940 Italian troops from Eritrea took Kassala and Fort Gallabat in the Sudan. A handful of Sudan Defence Force men withdrew after hours of fighting.
August
04
The Italians invade British Somaliland
On 3–4 August 1940 General Guglielmo Nasi's columns crossed from Ethiopia into British Somaliland, taking Zeila, Hargeisa and Odweina within days.
1941
January
19
The British offensive in East Africa
On 19 January 1941 British and Indian troops entered Kassala, abandoned by the Italians, and pushed into Eritrea. The offensive on Italian East Africa began.
February
25
The British take Mogadishu
On 25 February 1941 General Cunningham’s African troops entered Mogadishu unopposed, two weeks after advancing from Kenya into Italian Somaliland.
April
06
The British enter Addis Ababa
On 6 April 1941 Cunningham’s troops entered Addis Ababa, given up by the Italians without a fight. Asmara, capital of Eritrea, had fallen five days earlier.
May
05
Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa
On 5 May 1941, five years to the day after the Italians marched in, Haile Selassie returned to Addis Ababa and urged Ethiopians not to take revenge on Italians.
18
The surrender at Amba Alagi
In May 1941 British, Indian and South African troops and Ethiopian patriots surrounded Amba Alagi. The Viceroy, the Duke of Aosta, surrendered with honours.
July
03
The surrender of Gazzera
On 3 July 1941 Belgian troops from the Congo attacked the Italians at Saïo. That afternoon General Pietro Gazzera sought terms; he surrendered on 6 July.
November
27
The surrender at Gondar
On 27 November 1941 General Guglielmo Nasi surrendered Gondar to British troops and Ethiopian patriots, ending organised Italian resistance in East Africa.
1942
December
28
French Somaliland joins Free France
On 28 December 1942 Djibouti, Vichy's last colony in Africa, went over to Free France. After two years of blockade and hunger, not a single shot was fired.