The greatest defeat for Italy, is largely noted as being the 1896 war with Ethiopia. Italy ended up being the only European nation defeated by an African nation during the scramble for Africa, and it served as a point of national disgrace and embarrassment, that heavily changed the nation. In this video, we will be discussing this war.

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As the Italians were poised to enter Ethiopian territory, the Ethiopians mobilized en masse all over the country. Amassing an army of over 196,000 troops, half of them armed with modern weaponry. The next clash came at Amba Alagi on 7 December 1895, when Ethiopian soldiers overran the Italian positions dug in on the natural fortress, and forced the Italians to retreat back to Eritrea, leaving just half of the Italian army within the country. A small Italian garrison was put at the unfinished fort of Meqele, while the rest of the army attempted to concentrate into one under the command of General Oreste Baratieri. The first Ethiopian troops reached Meqele in the following days and besieged it for a little over a week.

Heavily outnumbered, Baratieri refused to engage, knowing that due to their lack of infrastructure the Ethiopians could not keep large numbers of troops in the field much longer. However, Baratieri also never knew about the true numerical strength of the Ethiopian army that was to face his army, so he further fortified his position. But the Italian government was unable to accept being beaten by non-Europeans. The prime minister ordered Baratieri to advance deep into enemy territory and bring about a battle.

The decisive battle of the war was the Battle of Adwa on March 1, 1896. The Italian army comprised four brigades totaling approximately 17,700 men, with fifty-six artillery pieces; the Ethiopian army numbering between 73,000 and 120,000 men with around fifty artillery pieces. Baratieri planned to surprise the Ethiopian force with an early morning attack, expecting his enemy to be asleep. However, the Ethiopians had risen early for Church services and, upon learning of the Italian advance, attacked themselves. The Italians were hit by wave after wave of attacks, until Menelik released his reserve of 25,000 men, destroying an Italian brigade. Another brigade was cut off, and destroyed by a cavalry charge. The last two brigades were destroyed piecemeal. By noon, the Italians were in full retreat.

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