Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935–36
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The Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3rd October 1935 marked the first of the fascist military adventures. The campaign is described in detail in this text, along with the equipment used and the colourful uniforms worn by both armies. The invasion marked the most ambitious phase yet in Mussolini's attempt to recreate an Italian Empire and was partly prompted by the desire for revenge for the humiliating defeat inflicted on Italian troops at Adowa in 1896. International opinion was outraged by the invasion and the use of poison gas against an army with almost medieval weaponary. It took just seven months to drive out Emperor Haile Selassie. The whole episode discredited the League of Nations as an effective curb on the military ambitions of the Fascist states and was an important lesson to Nazi Germany.
David Nicolle PhD was born in 1944. For eight years he worked in the BBC Arabic Service. He has an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies and a PhD from Edinburgh University. David has written many books for Osprey, including MAA 320 Armies of the Caliphates 862–1098.
Raffaele Ruggeri is an extremely talented figure artist whose previous work for Osprey includes MAA 277 The Russo-Turkish War 1877. He currently lives and works in Bologna, Italy.