Arbegnoch
Arbegnoch | |
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Welega and Kefa | |
Size | 25,000 (1937/8)[1] |
Allies |
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Opponents | |
Battles and wars |
The Arbegnoch (
The Patriot movement was primarily based in the rural Shewa, Gondar and Gojjam provinces, though it drew support from all over occupied Ethiopia. Several hundred Eritreans also participated.[3] Small cells operated in Addis Ababa and other towns, known as Wust Arbagna (Insider Patriots).[4] The Black Lions took part in the movement.[5] In 1937/1938, there were an estimated 25,000 active Patriots in Ethiopia. The average band of resistance fighters was estimated in 1938 to have included 400 to 500 members, depending on the agricultural season.[1] The Arbegnoch or Patriots were called Shifta by the Italians. The Patriots had the near-total support of the Tewahedo Orthodox Church.[5] The majority of participants were Christian highlanders. Ethiopian Muslims were less involved in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict.[6]
History
Italian invasion
A couple months into the
As disruption increased, the Italians were forced to deploy more troops to Tigray, away from the campaign further south. The Italians began referring to the Patriots as shifta, which roughly translates from
The emperor left 10,000 troops under the command of Aberra Kassa with orders to continue resistance. On 21 June, Kassa held a meeting with Bishop Abune Petros and several other Patriot leaders at Debre Libanos, about 70 km (43 mi) north of Addis Ababa. Plans were made to storm the occupied capital but a lack of transport and radio equipment made it impossible to mount a coordinated attack. The deposed government in Gore was never able to provide any meaningful leadership to the Patriots or remaining military formations but sporadic resistance was undertaken by independent groups around the capital.[11]
On the night 26 June, members of the Black Lions destroyed three Italian aircraft in Nekemte and murdered twelve Italian officials, including Air Marshal Vincenzo Magliocco. The Italians had been hoping to gain support in the region by sending the party to talk with the local populace. The viceroy of the new Italian East Africa colony, Rodolfo Graziani, ordered the town to be bombed in retaliation for the killing of Magliocco (his deputy). Negative reactions from the locals forced Patriots to depart; Desta Damtew, the commander of the remnants of the Ethiopian Army, withdrew his troops to Arbegona. Surrounded by Italian forces, they retreated to Butajira, where they were defeated 19 February 1937 in the Battle of Gogetti. A total of 4,000 Patriots are estimated to have been killed in the battles, of whom 1,600, including Destaw, were executed.[14]
Beginning of the guerrilla war
The situation in Addis Ababa in the first weeks after the conquest was difficult for the Italians; communications were possible only through the long route from Eritrea, violence and disorder were widespread within the city, while Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, initially having only 9,000 soldiers, feared an attack by Ethiopian guerrillas who were reported "all around Addis Ababa"; there were rumors that many thousands of arbegnoch were ready to attack. The situation of the Italians improved in mid-July with the arrival of substantial reinforcements which increased the garrison to 35,000 men; moreover, new exhortations were arriving from Rome to the governor to extend the occupation and to "be harsh, implacable with all the Abyssinians..", Mussolini called for a "regime of absolute terror".[15]
The arbegnoch of Shewa were actually determined to attack Addis Ababa, in a meeting in Debre Libanos, with the presence of Aberra Kassa, Abune Petros and other leaders, a rash plan was decided to assault the capital with five separate columns, counting above all on exploiting a general uprising of the population.[16] The assault began on 28 July 1936 on a foggy morning but, despite some successes, the guerrillas failed to coordinate their attacks; while Aberra Kassa's men arrived by surprise without encountering resistance as far as the center of Addis Ababa where they unleashed panic, Ficrè Mariam was stopped by the course of a flooded stream and then blocked by reinforced Italian units. In the meantime, Abebe Aregai's arbegnoch initially advanced almost as far as Graziani's residence but were then attacked by Eritrean askaris, the last two Ethiopian columns failed on the first day even to enter into the city due to the nearby floods. Fighting in Addis Ababa continued until 30 July 1936, the arbegnoch of the Kassa brothers courageously held their positions despite counterattacks by the Italian-Eritrean forces led by generals Italo Gariboldi and Sebastiano Gallina, finally the guerrillas had to flee the city, due to attacks from the air force. One of the arbegnoch leaders, Abune Petros was captured and immediately executed by the Italians.[17]
While in Shewa the guerrillas dominated the countryside, the attempt to organize a solid resistance movement in the west of the Abyssinian territory was unsuccessful due to the opposition of the leaders of the Oromo population, who were traditionally hostile to the Amhara rule. Marshal Graziani, urged by Mussolini, decided to intervene immediately in western Ethiopia by sending a small air expedition to Nekemte. On June 26 1936, the Italian air expedition landed in Nekemte to meet with local Oromo chiefs who had wished to submit to Italian rule. The next night a group of arbegnoch led by Kefle Nasibu and Belai Haile attacked the encamped Italians and massacred them. 12 Italians were killed and all of their aircraft were destroyed, among the dead were Italian aviators Vincenzo Magliocco and Antonio Locatelli.[18] Despite this success, the Italians managed to foment the general revolt of Oromo tribes and on 8 October 1936 they returned to Nekemte where they welcomed the submission of important local leaders.[19]
The anti-guerrilla operations of 1936
On 11 October 1936, the Minister of Colonies Alessandro Lessona had arrived in Addis Ababa, to confer personally with Marshal Graziani; regarding the tactics to be followed to crush the Ethiopian resistance and ensure total domination over the territory. After observing the ongoing fighting between guerrillas and Italian troops, the minister immediately entered into conflict with Graziani and the generals accused of not acting with the necessary energy to eliminate the resistance. The governor then issued new draconian orders stating that it was "time to put an end to weaknesses" and requesting to be regularly informed of the "number of people who have gone to arms". Lessona left Addis Ababa on 21 October while Marshal Graziani began the general autumn offensive against the guerrillas of Shewa.[20]
On 27 October 1936, the Italians launched an offensive against the guerrillas near
After the failed attack on Addis Ababa, Wondosson Kassa decided to take refuge with his men around Mount Abuna Yosef before resuming guerrilla warfare in September 1936 near the town of Lalibela. Marshal Graziani took brutal measures against this resistance group, also employing, according to the instructions of Minister Lessona, mustard gases that were used extensively on the villages between Lalibelà and Bilbolà Ghiorghis. Wondosson Kassa was finally intercepted with his men near the source of Tekezé River and on 10 December 1936 was captured by Wollo Oromo collaborators, in the same evening he was then executed. The two other Kassa brothers (Aberra and Asfawossen), had taken refuge in Fiche, most of their men went to join the resistance leader of Abebe Aregai, they had agreed to surrender to the Italians on 21 December 1936. The two Abyssinian leaders were then executed on 18:35 on the same day.[27]
After the death of the Kassa brothers and the capture of Ras Imru, at the end of 1936 only Desta Damtew still remained active after having moved with about 2,000 men to the Sidamo region, in November he had repeatedly attacked the Italian forces of General Carlo Geloso before retreating to the mountainous region of Arbegona. With Dejazmach Gabremariam, Dejazmach Beyene Merid (Shum of Bale Province), and a dwindling number of soldiers, for the next few months Ras Desta eluded the Italians until they were trapped near Lake Shala in the Battle of Gogetti and annihilated. Wounded, Ras Desta managed to escape, only to be captured and hanged by Italian soldiers on 24 February 1937.[28] His body left hanging for days the Italian authorities and the propaganda exalted the victory and the execution which seemed to symbolize the definitive victory of fascist Italy.
Attack on Graziani and reprisals
On 19 February 1937 – Yekatit 12 according to the
Comrades, today is the day when we should show our devotion to our Viceroy by reacting and destroying the Ethiopians for three days. For three days I give you carte blanche to destroy and kill and do what you want to the Ethiopians.[29]
For the rest of that day, through Saturday and Sunday, Italians killed Ethiopians with daggers and truncheons to the shouts of "Duce! Duce!" and "Civiltà Italiana!" They doused native houses with
The attempted murder provided the Italians with the reason to implement
Thousands of Ethiopians of all classes were sent to detention camps at
Conditions at Nokra were even worse than at Danan, according to Sbacchi. The detainees sent there joined 500 prisoners serving life sentences for serious political crimes, increasing the total number incarcerated to 1,500. The inmates suffered from lack of fresh water, sunstroke, marsh fever, and dysentery.[34]
The climax of the violence was reached in May 1937 with the tragic events of the Debre Libanos massacre. Investigators found that Abraha and Mogus had stayed a while at Debra Libanos, and slight circumstantial evidence suggested that the monks had foreknowledge of their plans. Marshal Graziani decided to retaliate by striking the sacred place of Debre Libanos. On the morning of 21 May 1937, Muslim Libyan and Somali askaris (45th Muslim Colonial Battalion) led by General Pietro Maletti executed 297 monks and 23 laymen. Three days later they would mow down 129 deacons, thus bringing the number of victims to 449. Maletti sent Graziani a telegram with the inscription "Complete liquidation", as proof of the massacre, and Graziani communicated the new number of those executed in Rome.[35]
However, the violence of the repression and the apparent successes of the "colonial police" operations did not consolidate the Italian domination in Ethiopia in a decisive way, on the contrary, the growing brutality of exasperated the population and increased hostility towards the Italians.[36]
The Lasta revolt
A rebellion in Lasta led by Hailu Kebede was initiated in the summer of 1937, this rebellion would progressively extended to other Ethiopian regions, the guerrillas proclaimed holy war against the Italians in response to the massacres of Coptic Christians by Muslim askaris following the assassination attempt on Marshal Graziani. By the month of August 1937, two Italian brigades were forced to withdraw from Begemder due to increased guerrilla attacks and in Gojjam forces under Belay Zeleke successfully raided colonial garrisons. Major Liverani's column was destroyed by the warriors of Abebe Aregai, Mesfin Scilesci and Haile Mariam Mammo near Ankober. Hailu Kebede especially in the month of August achieved important successes; his guerrillas attacked and annihilated several garrisons, while in September they inflicted heavy losses on a colonial battalion and devastated the Quoram communications center along the main Asmara-Addis Ababa road.[37]
Marshal Graziani, surprised and shocked by the sudden bad news, seemed unable to control the situation and indulged in recriminations, especially against the governor of
Marshal Graziani returned to the capital on 3 October 1937, but despite the end of the Lasta revolt, the guerrilla warfare was spreading in Begemeder, Gojjam and Semien, many garrisons and isolated Italian residences were attacked and destroyed. Governor Pirzio Biroli was unable to restore order. The guerrillas obtained important successes in Gojjam under the leadership of Belay Zekele and Mengesha Gembere, on 13 and 14 September many Italian garrisons were attacked and surrounded and on 3 November the leaders of the revolt issued a proclamation stating that "all of Ethiopia is in revolt to expel the Italians".[38][39] In December 1937 the governor made another attempt to regain control of the Gojjam but the new offensive immediately began with a disaster when on December 7 Colonel Barbacini's column was attacked and disrupted by the forces of Mengesha Gembere, two colonial battalions were surrounded and destroyed by the guerrillas.
On 10 November 1937, Mussolini privately informed Graziani that he believed that "his task is over" and announced his recall and the appointment of Duke of Aosta. Despite the viceroy's protests, Mussolini stood by his decisions, he informed the Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta of his forthcoming assignment and appointed General Ugo Cavallero, military superior commander over East Africa. Duke of Aosta was appointed by Mussolini to replace Graziani as Viceroy of Italian East Africa. He was more open-minded than his predecessor and well-suited to encourage the co-operation of the Ethiopian public, he assumed his responsibilities on 22 December 1937.[40]
The anti-guerrilla operations of 1938
The Italians entrusted anti-guerrilla operations mainly to the colonial brigades of askaris, manned by Italian officers and non-commissioned officers and made up of Eritrean, Somali or Libyan troops used to moving and fighting in East Africa. In addition to the colonial brigades, the Italians also employed local irregular bands led by Italian officers, who were entrusted with the most violent repressive tasks. These troops, showed weaknesses in their organization and cohesion and suffered from high rates of desertion.[41]
General Cavallero prepared an ambitious plan of global operations to crush the Abyssinian resistance before the beginning of the heavy rains. The new cycle of operations began on 19 January 1938 in Gojjam which was attacked from the north and south by three separate columns while other forces blocked the fords on the Nile to prevent the guerrillas from escaping. Despite the considerable deployment of forces, the campaign did not achieve definitive results. The garrisons besieged by the guerrillas were relieved and the prolonged clashes at Gojjam against the men of Belay Zekele, Mengesha Gembere, and Meslin Scilesci ended in March 1938 with the retreat of the guerrillas who dispersed throughout the territory. In the month of April, the Italian-Eritrean columns joined Debra Markos and continued vast mopping-up operations against the resistance leaders of Mengesha Gembere and Belay Zekele who had, according to Italian sources, suffered over 2,300 casualties, but still managed to escape the operation. General Cavallero's forces were able to occupy the territory, increase the garrisons and extend the lines of communication but in turn had 350 dead and 1,200 wounded in five months in Gojjam, mostly askaris and colonial troops.[10]
In June 1938 Italian forces encircled
Guerrilla warfare on the eve of World War II
The repressive operations of 1938 therefore did not obtain decisive results, moreover, in this period the contrasts between the Duke of Aosta were accentuated, convinced of the need to reduce the violence and brutality of the fight against the guerrillas, and General Cavallero determined to maintain operational control of the war against the guerrillas, in Rome Mussolini expressed his discontent with the situation in East Africa. In early 1939 the senior commander in East Africa therefore resumed major military operations against the resistance by organizing an ambitious operation against the fighters of Abebe Aregai, General Cavallero entrusted Colonel Orlando Lorenzini colonial forces to mop up Menz, however, the results were not conclusive, the main guerrilla leaders escaped the roundup which lasted until the end of March 1939.
In December 1938, the
On 2 December 1940, a large Patriot force under Admique Besha and
References
- ^ a b Iliffe 2005, p. 199.
- ISBN 0-8214-1440-2.
- ^ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 101.
- ^ Phillips & Carillet 2006, p. 37.
- ^ a b Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 98.
- ^ Abbink 1998, p. 117.
- ^ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 96.
- ^ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 94.
- ^ a b Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 95.
- ^ a b c Akyeampong & Gates 2012, p. 543.
- ^ a b Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 97.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 203.
- ^ Forgacs 2014, p. 133.
- ^ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 102.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 15-16.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 20.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 21.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 27.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 32.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 49.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 53.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 54.
- ^ Mockler, Haile Selassie, pp. 163–168
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 55.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 56.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 58.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, pp. 64–65, 67.
- ^ Mockler, p. 172f
- ^ ISBN 9781902669533– via Google Books.
- S2CID 143812686. Archived from the originalon 8 February 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
- JSTOR 219547.
- ^ Bahru, "The Ethiopian Intelligentsia", p. 283
- ^ Sbacchi, "Italy and the Treatment", p. 217
- ^ Sbacchi, "Italy and the Treatment", p. 218
- ^ Dominioni, Matteo. The collapse of the empire. The Italians in Ethiopia 1936-1941.
- ^ Dominioni, Matteo. The collapse of the empire. The Italians in Ethiopia 1936-1941.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 117.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 122.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 119.
- ^ Del Boca 1969, p. 130-132.
- ISBN 1-85532-865-8.
- ^ Mockler 2003, p. 190.
- ^ Dominioni, Matteo. The collapse of the empire. The Italians in Ethiopia 1936-1941.
- ^ Forgacs 2014, pp. 133–135.
Sources
- Abbink, Gerrit Jan; De Bruijn, Mirjam; Van Walraven, Klass, eds. (2003). Rethinking Resistance: Revolt and Violence in African History. African Dynamics. Vol. II (illus. ed.). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-12624-4.
- Abbink, Jon (December 1998). "An Historical-anthropological Approach to Islam in Ethiopia: Issues of Identity and Politics" (PDF). ISSN 1469-9346.
- Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku; Gates, Henry Louis, eds. (2012). Dictionary of African Biography. Vol. II. Oxford University Press USA. ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5.
- Del Boca, Angelo (1969). The Ethiopian War 1935–1941 (Eng. trans. ed.). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-14217-3.
- Forgacs, David (2014). Italy's Margins: Social Exclusion and Nation Formation since 1861. Cambridge Social and Cultural Histories. Vol. XX (illus. ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-05217-8.
- Iliffe, John (2005). Honour in African History (illus. ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54685-0.
- Milkias, Paulos (2011). Ethiopia. Nations in Focus. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-258-6.
- Mockler, Anthony (2003). Haile Selassie's War (illus. repr. ed.). Signal Books. ISBN 978-1-902669-53-3.
- Phillips, Matt; Carillet, Jean-Bernard (2006). Ethiopia & Eritrea (illus. ed.). Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74104-436-2.
- Shillington, Kevin (2012). History of Africa (3rd, rev. ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-00333-1.
Further reading
- Marcus, Harold G. (1994). A History of Ethiopia (illus. ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-08121-5.
- Habtu, Hailu; Byfield, Judith A. (2015). "Fighting Fascism: Ethiopian Women Patriots 1935–1941". In Byfield, Judith A.; Brown, Carolyn A.; Parsons, Timothy; Sikainga, Ahmad Alawad (eds.). Africa and World War II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 383–400. ISBN 978-1-107-05320-5.
External links
- Berhe, Aregawi Revisiting Resistance in Italian-occupied Ethiopia: The Patriots’ Movement (1936–1941) and the Redefinition of Post-war Ethiopia
- Berhe, Aregawi Spirit vs. War Machine: A Patriotic Resistance to Italian Occupation of Ethiopia (1936–1941) PhD (27 February 2015) Archived 4 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine