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Jeff Pearce, in his book (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1510718656/) about the Second Italo-Ethopian War wrote:

The Ethiopian War had its own unchecked “facts’ that created a few great yarns, but it never gave birth to its own legend. And yet the ingredients were all there for the kind of romanticism that would attach itself to the Spanish Civil War: it had a cast of rogues, a reasonable supply of heroes and clowns, battles aplenty, and it even straddled two ages, modern and medieval. It had a genuine bard in Langston Hughes. All this wasn’t enough, and it comes down to a very simple reason. For the Spanish Civil War, the good guys could show up.

This was not true in the Ethiopian war. Fewer than 200 volunteers would be able to make it to Ethiopia in OTL. But… what if there was a timeline in which this was not true?

There are basically 3 Points of Divergence.

1. France after, after quelling the 1897 rebellion in Madagascar did not strip the Imerina monarchy of its figurehead role. This will be important later.

2. Marcus Garvey is more careful/diligent with his Black Star Line shipping company, and so is never arrested, increasing the prestige and power of the "Back to Africa" movement in comparison to OTL. This makes it so Liberia does not prevent Garvey's organization from settling large numbers of African-American settlers in Liberia, as they did OTL. UNIA-ACL becomes a powerful force in Liberian, and pan-African politics worldwide.

3. Britain is slightly more helpful to Ethiopia because of PoD 2, since Black organizations in the colonies are more powerful and coordinate successfully with British leftists and liberals to lobby for Britain to not join the arms embargo against Ethiopia and Italy with France.
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