Battle of Adwa

Background

Italy had held the Red Sea port of Massawa since 1885 and in 1890 organized its lands there as the colony of Eritrea. In 1889 it signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Menelik II, the new emperor of Ethiopia. The Italian text of Article 17 said that Ethiopia must conduct its foreign relations through Italy, which Italy took to mean a protectorate. The Amharic text only allowed Menelik to use Italy if he chose. Menelik rejected the Italian reading and denounced the treaty in 1893. He used the years of peace to buy rifles and ammunition in large quantities, and to win over the great regional lords. In 1895 Italian forces pushed south into Tigray. On 7 December 1895 an Italian column was wiped out at Amba Alagi, and in January 1896 the fort at Mekele surrendered after a siege. The main armies then faced each other near Adwa. Both were short of food. General Oreste Baratieri, under pressure from Prime Minister Francesco Crispi to win a victory, decided to advance.

The Battle

On the night of 29 February Baratieri's army, about 17,000 to 18,000 men with 56 guns, marched in four brigades under Generals Albertone, Arimondi, Dabormida and Ellena. The Italian troops and Eritrean askari were meant to take up a strong position on the hills before Adwa. Their maps were poor, and in the dark the brigades drifted apart. Albertone's brigade went several kilometers too far forward and was attacked at dawn on 1 March by masses of Ethiopian troops. The Ethiopian army, probably between 80,000 and 120,000 men, was led by Menelik, with Empress Taytu, Ras Makonnen, Ras Mengesha, Ras Alula, Ras Mikael and Negus Tekle Haymanot among the commanders. Albertone's brigade was destroyed. The Ethiopians then struck the center brigades of Arimondi and Ellena, which were trying to form a line on unfamiliar ground, and broke them. Dabormida's brigade, which had turned off to the right, was cut off and overwhelmed in the afternoon; Dabormida and Arimondi were killed. By midday the Italian army was in flight, pursued by Oromo cavalry.

Weapons

Menelik's army was one of the best-armed in Africa. Most of its riflemen carried breech-loaders, among them thousands of Remington Rolling Block rifles captured from Egyptian armies in the 1870s or bought through traders, and French Gras rifles, a development of the Chassepot Rifle. Many warriors also fought with the curved Shotel, spears and round shields. Ethiopian artillery included quick-firing Hotchkiss guns and mountain guns, perhaps some forty pieces in all. The Italian infantry and askari carried the Vetterli Rifle in its M1870/87 magazine form, and their artillery consisted of light mountain guns. Firepower was not the deciding factor; numbers, leadership and the Italian brigades' separation were.

Aftermath

Casualty figures vary widely. The Italians lost perhaps 5,000 to 7,000 killed, including many askari, some 1,500 wounded and about 2,000 to 3,000 taken prisoner. Ethiopian losses are usually put at around 4,000 to 7,000 killed and perhaps 8,000 to 10,000 wounded. Captured askari, regarded as traitors, suffered the amputation of a hand and a foot. In Italy, news of the defeat brought down Crispi's government. The Treaty of Addis Ababa of 26 October 1896 annulled the Treaty of Wuchale and recognized Ethiopia's full independence, while Italy kept Eritrea. Ethiopia remained independent through the Scramble for Africa. Adwa is still celebrated in Ethiopia each year as a national holiday. The wider war is described under the First Italo-Ethiopian War.