After the victory at battle of adwa ,Ethophia push on Eritrea and Italian Somalia. Could they succeed in taking one or both of them. What would be the aftermath
After the victory at battle of adwa ,Ethophia push on Eritrea and Italian Somalia. Could they succeed in taking one or both of them. What would be the aftermath
No, while there were no taste to continue the war due to the cost, being throw at the sea by the local is a too great humiliation for Italy.
Basically the war will continue, Italy will send reinforcement even if it will be costly (monetary speaking) and will finish the job.
Better remember that while Italy was defeated at Aduwa, it still controlled the Ethiopian region of Tigrè and at the same time was fighting Mahdist incursion from Sudan.
Certainly. OTL the Ethiopians outnumbered the Italians about 6 to 1. About a fifth were armed with modern equipment and half of the Italian troops were poorly trained colonials. They were also advised and trained by Russian officers. Even then, the Ethiopians suffered more casualties. If they not only beat the Italians, but conquer Italy's colonies, the Italians are likely to send an army to take it back and Ethiopia entirely.Could italy take over Ethophia with extra troops or would they just be slaughtered
Could italy take over Ethophia with extra troops or would they just be slaughtered
I know it's ASB but somehow this leads to visions of the Negus rolling back the Italians and ending up sitting in Rome after conquering Italy.
That would be a very interesting TL![]()
What was the remaining Italian troop strength in Eritrea and Somalia at the time?
The Italians cannot accept this. Being thrown out of their colonies by Africans? No one would ever take them seriously again and all their pretensions of being a great power would be ruined. They'll just keep fighting till they win, they cannot afford to lose.
It can afford a long war bwtter than Ethiopia.If, by some miracle, the Ethiopians manage to take and hold Massawa, there's little the Italians can do about it. Yeah, they might try something in Somalia, but the cost would as easily bankrupt Italy anyway.
Italy could hardly afford a protracted struggle.
- Does Italy have any enemies that would feel the desire to intervene and be problematic? I am especially thinking Russia, which apparently had some affinity for Abyssinia as another "Orthodox" nation - or at least so I have gathered from reading some threads on this forum.
Italy obviously needs to fight hard, because everything is riding on it, so I am wondering how Italy can fight so hard, and face such difficulty, that indeed it does become completely discredited as a serious player on the world stage. And the Abysinnians get sea access.
1) In a conventional war? No. In a guerilla war? Absolutely. Guerilla warfare is made to even the odds when going up against a more powerful enemy. In any case. I'm fairly certain that the Italian civilians would be with it. They were very angry about Adowa. It was a very sloppy operation.Lots of people are saying that Italy will fight to victory, no matter the cost. This makes sense to me, and I sort of get the impression that, with such an attitude, they can win against Abyssinia. But there are a few things that I am thinking about:
- Can this war be dragged out a long while, even supposing some Italian successes when they invade Eritrea (which we will accept has been invaded by Menelik)? And if so, at what point does domestic agitation become a problem?
- Does Italy have any enemies that would feel the desire to intervene and be problematic? I am especially thinking Russia, which apparently had some affinity for Abyssinia as another "Orthodox" nation - or at least so I have gathered from reading some threads on this forum.
Italy obviously needs to fight hard, because everything is riding on it, so I am wondering how Italy can fight so hard, and face such difficulty, that indeed it does become completely discredited as a serious player on the world stage. And the Abysinnians get sea access.
It can afford one better than Ethiopia.