Italian Air Power Used Against Ethiopia

In 1935 Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia, then often called Abyssinia, in a war that became a grim demonstration of modern air power used against a poorly equipped opponent. The Italian air force, the Regia Aeronautica, played a central role in the campaign against the forces of Emperor Haile Selassie.

Italian aircraft bombed and strafed Ethiopian troops, supply lines, and even towns and field hospitals, and the regime infamously employed chemical weapons dropped from the air. With near-total command of the sky and little opposition, Italy's aviators inflicted heavy casualties and helped break Ethiopian resistance, culminating in the fall of Addis Ababa in 1936.

The conquest of Ethiopia became an early and disturbing example of how aerial bombardment could be wielded against a nation that lacked the means to defend itself. The League of Nations proved unable to halt the aggression, and the war underscored both the growing dominance of air power and the failure of international institutions to restrain it in the years before the Second World War.