ITALIAN EAST AFRICAN CAMPAIGN

Analysis of the Operational Level of Prosecution Campaigns in Italian East Africa and the Enduring Lessons for the Contemporary Environment



Analysis of the Operational Level of Prosecution Campaigns in Italian East Africa and the Enduring Lessons for the Contemporary Environment

Introduction

The successful and victorious invasion of Ethiopia which is also known as Abyssinia, was carried out from the period of October 1935 to May 1936 by the military forces of the Kingdom of Italy, and allowed the Duce of Italy who was Benito Mussolini to sum another bit of his vision about new Roman Empire which was founded on vital portions of the continent of Africa linking the Mediterranean to the region of Middle East. Additionally to this campaign, the Duce armoured his own prestigious views and attained the success internationally that he took into account as the most mandatory thing for enduring the regime of Fascism.

Initially, in this paper a discussion will be done about the operational level of the prosecution campaign in the Italian East Africa and then it will identify the key points by the analysis of four basic areas of the operation and such areas are: Command Control and Communication Procedures, Intelligence and Planning, the concept of the Operation, and Logistics. After that, the paper will provide and analysis that either such fundamental areas of the operation ascertain and are relevant to the current times or not and this analysis will be done by giving a deep insight on the evolution of the Italian East Africa. By giving a through look at the straightforward connections between such areas, this paper will conclude that the lessons learnt from the analysis of Operation of the prosecution campaign in Italian East Africa are that the Duce that all the time insisted on the personally conduction of war on each fronts never examines his military troops in the East African region.

Historical Context & Background

Haile' Selassie', the emperor of Ethiopia was very overconfident about his belief that he could imitate the great Negus of the historical times and smash the forces of Italy counting on the pride and value of the warriors of Ethiopia, as in the year 1896 it was done by Menelik II at Adowa. The emperor Selassie' also initiated a campaign about his fair and just cause to the League of Nations and had an extreme expectation that the vital powers of the world would have given a big help at international level for favouring his struggle and endeavours against the invaders of the Kingdom of Italy. On 1st May 1936, the Negus took flight to Great Britain and exactly after eight days, the Duce made announcement to a jubilant Italy, from the terrace of Palazzo Venezia in Rome regarding the birth of the emperor of the Italian East Africa, taking possession of Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, and Ethiopia.

On June 10th, 1940, when Mussolini directed the Kingdom of Italy into the World War II in opposition to the French and British, the armed forces of ...