The Defeat of Ethiopia Essay -- African History

In the beginning of the 20th century, all of Africa was in European hands except for just ane country. Despite all the factors against this one country, Ethiopia, in1896 they successfully defended themselves from the Italians in the Battle of Adwa. Unfortunately, when the Italians invaded a second time in 1935, the Ethiopians were not so successful. How come the Ethiopians were defeated when not 50 years anterior they were victorious? Was the advance in technology to much for the Ethiopians to combat or was it the lack of good leadership that they once had in the years leading up to the second invasion. I believe that due to the lack of good leadership before and during the second Italian invasion attributed to the defeat of Ethiopia, rather than their technological deficiencies. To showtime understand the loss in the second war we must first briefly look at their victory in the first war. In this dispute Ethiopia defeated the Italians because their leaders made all the rig ht choices before and during the war. It started with Emperor Tewodros II, who reunified the Ethiopia under a single emperor. Before that Ethiopia was in great disarray, with umteen different kings and warlords ruled different parts of Ethiopia. This was a crucial step in defeating the Italian because without the full cooperation of all the Ethiopian warlords, than the Italian military would urinate easily defeated the fragmented Ethiopian states. Another crucial decision that Tewodros II made was to modernize the Ethiopian military with firearms. He learned this slighton gratingly after a tough defeat from the modern equipped Egyptian army and from this experience he used it to better his empire. With just these two honest improvements Ethiopia was now in ... ...talian bullets ever could. Even in our time, the most modern army like the United States is not assured victory against a less advanced foe like the Taliban. In the end, it all comes down to the soldiers trainin g, and the leadership of their superiors. WORKS CITEDDel Boca, Angelo. Guerra dAbissinia. Translated by Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. The Ethiopian War 1935-1941, Chicago The University of Chicago Press, 1969.Milkias, Paulos. The Battle of Adwa. N.p. Algora Publishing, 2005. Nicolle, David, and Raffaele Ruggeri. The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935-36. London Osprey Military, 1997. Wienholt, Arnold. The Africans Last Stronghold. London John Long, 1938.Gilbert, Erik, and Jonathan T. Reynolds. Africa in World History From Prehistory to the Present. Boston Pearson, 2012.