The Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3rd October 1935 marked the first of the fascist military adventures. The campaign is described in detail in this text, along with the equipment used and the colourful uniforms worn by both armies. The invasion marked the most ambitious phase yet in Mussolini's attempt to recreate an Italian Empire and was partly prompted by the desire for revenge for the humiliating defeat inflicted on Italian troops at Adowa in 1896. International opinion was outraged by the invasion and the use of poison gas against an army with almost medieval weaponary. It took just seven months to drive out Emperor Haile Selassie. The whole episode discredited the League of Nations as an effective curb on the military ambitions of the Fascist states and was an important lesson to Nazi Germany.

Illustrated by: Raffaele Ruggeri