Map of Italian East Africa

Italian East Africa or "Empire of Italian East Africa" (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was a short-lived (1936-1941) Italian colony in Africa consisting of Ethiopia (recently occupied after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War) and the colonies of Italian Somaliland and Eritrea. In August 1940 British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to the AOI. Occasionally Libya (at the time another Italian colony in Africa) was referred to as being part of Italian East Africa, but this was uncommon and perhaps misleading. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Italian Somaliland was an Italian colony that lasted, apart from a brief interlude of British rule, from the late 19th century until 1960 in the territory of the modern-day East African nation of Somalia. ... The British Somaliland was a British protectorate in the north part of the Horn of Africa, and later part of Somalia and presently the unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. ...

History

The dominion was formed in 1936 during Benito Mussolini's government in Italy with the defeat of Ethiopia in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War and lost at the end of the East African Campaign of World War II. After the Italian occupation of 1936, the two separate colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland were merged with Ethiopia to create Italian East Africa, with Addis Ababa as the capital and an Italian viceroy as head of state. “Mussolini” redirects here. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Combatants United Kingdom Anglo-Egyptian Sudan British Somaliland British East Africa British India Gold Coast Nigeria N. Rhodesia S. Rhodesia Union of S. Africa Belgium Belgian Congo Free France Ethiopian irregulars Italy Italian East Africa Eritrea Ethiopia Italian Somaliland German Motorized Company Commanders Archibald Wavell William Platt Alan Cunningham Duke... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For the long-distance runner, see Addis Abebe. ... A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. ...

Propaganda poster: we will return! (to the African colony).

Potentially, at the beginning of WWII it constituted a dangerous menace to British colonies in Africa, as an Italian conquest of Sudan and the establishment of a connection to Cyrenaica would have surrounded the vital area of Egypt and the Suez Canal. However, in 1940, the AOI was virtually isolated from Italy: the maritime transports were totally cut off by the British at the Suez Canal, and supplies could arrive only from air, although always in dismal quantities. An Italian propaganda poster from World War II, declaring we will return [to Africa]. This is a copyrighted poster. ... An Italian propaganda poster from World War II, declaring we will return [to Africa]. This is a copyrighted poster. ... The Roman Empire ca. ... For other uses, see Suez (disambiguation). ...

At the beginning of the East African Campaign, the Italian troops amounted to 91,000 men of all Arms, plus some 200,000 Askari (native troops). Training of the native troops was poor, the Italian garrisons were too spread out, due to the extremely poor state of roads, and were essentially reduced to a static role without enough ammunitions and oil reserves (which allowed the British to conquer AOI in 1941). A drawing of an East African Askari in German service by Wilhelm Kuhnert Askari is an Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Swahili word meaning soldier (Arabic: ‘askarī). It was normally used to describe indigenous troops in East Africa and the Middle East serving in the armies of European colonial powers. ...

East Africa Campaign northern front: Allied advances in 1941

In 1940, the adjacent colony of British Somaliland was occupied by Italian forces and absorbed into Italian East Africa. The conquest was the only victory of Italy, without reinforcement from German troops, during WWII against the Allies. This occupation lasted around one year. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Combatants United Kingdom British India British Somaliland N. Rhodesia British East Africa Italy Italian East Africa Commanders Alfred Godwin-Austen Arthur Chater Guglielmo Nasi Carlo De Simone Strength 4,000 24,000 Casualties 38 killed[1] 71 wounded[1] 49 missing[1] Total:205[2] Destroyed British convoy near Berbera... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

On March 27, 1941 the stronghold of Cheren was captured by the British troops after a strenuous defence from general Orlando Lorenzini. After the surrender of Massaua (April 8), Eritrea was lost for Italy. The war was lost on May 1941, when the last stand on Amba Alagi under Viceroy Amedeo di Savoia, Duke of Aosta, at Amba Alagi ended honourably in face of overwhelming Allied troops. November 28 of the same year, general Guglielmo Nasi and the last Italian occupants of Gondar surrendered. is the 86th day of the year (87th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Keren (formerly Cheren) is the third largest city in Eritrea, lying north west of Asmara, with a population of around 75,000 people. ... Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa (Geez ምጽዋ miṣṣiwa, Arabic مصوع maṣṣawaʿ, Italian Massaua) and Batsiʿ (Geez ባጽዕ bāṣiʿ, [Eritrean spelling reform], formerly ባፅዕ bāṣ́iʿ) or Badi (Arabic بِضع baḍiʿ) is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Ambi-Alagi is a remote area in Ethiopia between Asmara and Addis Ababa. ... A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. ... Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (born 21 October 1898; died 3 March 1942) was the third Duke of Aosta and a cousin of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III. His baptismal name was Amedeo Umberto Isabella Luigi Filippo Maria Giuseppe Giovanni di... In the mid-13th century the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II made the County of Aosta (the Valle dAosta) a duchy, and its arms were carried in the Savoia arms until the reunification of Italy, 1870. ... is the 332nd day of the year (333rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Guglielmo Ciro Nasi (born 21 February 1879; died 21 September 1971) was an Italian General who fought in the Italian East Africa during World War II. // Nasi was born in Civitavecchia, Italy. ... Overview of the city with Fasilides castle in the center. ...

Many Italians fought a guerrilla war in the "Africa Orientale Italiana", after the surrender at Gondar of the last regular Italian forces in November 1941. From November 1941 to September 1943 there was an Italian guerrilla force made up of 7000 Italians who had not accepted surrender to the Allies. They were waiting for the possible arrival of the Italo-German army of Rommel from Egypt and the Mediterranean (called in 1942 by Mussolini "the Italian Mare Nostrum"), but after the Battle of El Alamein the momentum of this resistance slowly faded away. Italian Propaganda Poster (1942): We will return! (to the italian African colonies) When the italian army surrendered in Gondar in november 1941, many Italians decided to start a guerrilla warfare in the mountains and deserts of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Rommel is the family name of Eddie Rommel baseball pitcher; Erwin Rommel (German Field Marshal), and his son Manfred Rommel (former Mayor of Stuttgart). ... Greatest extent of Italian control of the Mediterranean littoral and seas (within green line & dots) in summer/fall 1942. ... Sup G There were two battles of El Alamein, both during 1942. ...

Sources

• Antonicelli, Franco. Trent'anni di storia italiana 1915 - 1945 (in Italian). Mondadori ed. Torino, 1961.
• Del Boca, Angelo. Italiani in Africa Orientale: La caduta dell'Impero (in Italian). Laterza. Roma-Bari, 1986. ISBN 884202810X
• Mockler, Anthony. Haile Selassie's War: The Italian-Ethiopian Campaign, 1935-1941. Random House. New York, 1984. ISBN 0-394-54222-3

See also

• Colonial heads of Italian East Africa
• Italian Governors of Addis Ababa
• Italian Governors of Amhara
• Italian Governors of Galla-Sidama
• Italian Governors of Harar
• Italian Governors of Showa
• Dubats
• Political history of Eastern Africa
• Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia

List of Colonial Heads of Italian East Africa See also Ethiopia Italian East Africa Lists of incumbents ... Listed bellow are Italian Governors of the city fo Addis Ababa during World War II and the Italian ocupation of Ethiopia. ... Ethiopia Italian East Africa Lists of office-holders Category: ... Ethiopia Italian East Africa Lists of office-holders Category: ... Ethiopia Italian East Africa Lists of office-holders Category: ... Ethiopia Italian East Africa Lists of office-holders Category: ... Dubats was the designation given to armed irregular bands employed by the Italian Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali or colonial army, in Italian Somalia from 1924 to 1941. ... This is the political history of the states of Eastern Africa. ... Italian Propaganda Poster (1942): We will return! (to the italian African colonies) When the italian army surrendered in Gondar in november 1941, many Italians decided to start a guerrilla warfare in the mountains and deserts of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. ...

External links

• Italian East African Armed Forces, 10 June 1940
• 1940 Colonial Brigade, 10 June 1940
• Italian East Africa Air Command, 10 June 1940