How could Ethiopia won Italy in the battle of ADEWA with out modern weapons comparatively from Italy in 1896?

Question

How could Ethiopia won Italy in the battle of ADEWA with out modern weapons comparatively from Italy in 1896?

Answer 1

Let me try to metion SOME reasons:

1. Love of Country: Ethiopians agree on one thing 100%. Ethiopia is for Ethiopians ONLY. Many have tried to conquer but all have failed. It's the fierce patriotism that is within EVERY Ethiopian. I'm not talking about ancient history here either. Only three years back, during the Ethio-Eritrean wars, there was no lack of soldiers.

2. Love of Independece: Like the first reason, we are a proud people. Nobody seems to understand us. It's always "How can they be so proud when they are poor?" It's an Ethiopian thing. We have learnt to hold our heads up high in even the darkest moments of our history. I say history because those days are finally over.

3.Knowledge of Terrain: The soldiers that fought the Italians were from ALL over Ethiopia. So they had advantage of the knowledge of the terrain.

4.Numbers: I'm not sure here but I think the Italians were outnumbered more than five to one. They tried to even the odds by using poisonous gases. It helped them for a while, even letting them occupy Addis Ababa for five years, but not longer.

5. Outside help (during the Second Ethio-Italian wars): Europe was afraid that Mussolini would join Hitler if they did not bow down to his demands. So they, and the UN (of which Ethiopia was the only African member) turned a deaf ear to all the pleas of the King. They even mocked him.

What I'd like to mention MAINLY here is the work done Major General Orde Wingate and his Gideon force. I like to think of him as the father of modern day guerilla warfare. He had a colourful life and was a major reason for the defeat of the Italians.

There were plenty more of reasons, but right now I can think of only these. I'll add more when and if I can. It's a history ANY black or independence loving person should be proud of.

One Love !!!

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Answer 2

Maybe read about it?

http://www.ethiopians.com/ad-hist.html

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topi...

http://www.rastaites.com/Ethiopia/adowa....

http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/india/ita...

http://www.ethiopianhistory.com/Battle_o...