Battle of Adwa

The Battle of Adwa was fought on 1 March 1896 near the town of Adwa, in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, between the army of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia and an Italian colonial army under General Oreste Baratieri. The Ethiopian victory ended the First Italo-Ethiopian War and forced Italy to recognise Ethiopia's independence. At the height of the Scramble for Africa, it was the most decisive defeat inflicted on a European colonial army by an African state, and it became a lasting symbol of African resistance.

Italy had established a colony on the Red Sea coast, which it organised as Eritrea in 1890. In 1889 it signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Menelik, who was then consolidating his claim to the Ethiopian throne. The two versions of the treaty differed in one crucial article. The Amharic text said that the emperor could use Italy's services in his dealings with other powers if he wished; the Italian text made this obligatory, which Italy interpreted as a protectorate over Ethiopia. When Menelik discovered the difference, he rejected the Italian reading and in 1893 renounced the treaty.

Italian forces, based in Eritrea, pushed south into Tigray in 1894 and 1895, exploiting local rivalries. In September 1895 Menelik issued a general call to arms, and armies from across the empire gathered under him, his wife Empress Taytu and regional rulers. In December an Ethiopian vanguard overwhelmed an Italian outpost at Amba Alagi, and in January 1896 the Italian fort at Mekele surrendered after a siege. The two main armies then faced each other near Adwa, both short of supplies.

The Ethiopian army was very large, commonly estimated at between 73,000 and over 100,000 men, most of them armed with modern rifles bought from France, Russia and other sources, and supported by artillery. Baratieri had roughly 15,000 to 18,000 men, Italian troops and Eritrean askaris. Under pressure from the government of Prime Minister Francesco Crispi to win a victory, and with his own replacement already on the way, he decided to advance at night to positions overlooking the Ethiopian camp.

The plan relied on poor maps. Baratieri's four brigades lost contact in the mountainous terrain, and one, under General Albertone, advanced far ahead of the others. Early on 1 March the Ethiopians attacked it in overwhelming numbers, then turned on the remaining brigades one by one. By early afternoon the Italian army was in full retreat, leaving its artillery behind. Two Italian generals were killed and Albertone was captured.

Italian and Eritrean losses were over 6,000 killed and around 3,800 captured, a large proportion of the force engaged. Ethiopian losses were also heavy, with estimates of some 4,000 to 7,000 killed and many more wounded. Some 800 captured Eritrean askaris, regarded as traitors, were punished by the amputation of a hand and a foot; Italian prisoners were held until the peace.

Menelik did not try to drive the Italians out of Eritrea, judging his supplies insufficient and wishing to secure a recognised peace. News of the defeat caused riots in Italy and brought down Crispi's government. In the Treaty of Addis Ababa, signed in October 1896, Italy annulled the Treaty of Wuchale and recognised Ethiopia as fully independent, while keeping Eritrea.

Ethiopia was one of only two African states, with Liberia, to remain independent through the colonial partition. The victory won it recognition from the European powers and inspired anti-colonial and Pan-African movements across Africa and the diaspora. In Italy the defeat was remembered as a humiliation, and avenging it was one motive for Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. The anniversary is a public holiday in Ethiopia.

Our 1900 map shows Ethiopia as one of the few independent states left in Africa after the victory; compare the 1880 map for the region before the Italian advance.