After annexing the ports of Assab and Massawa and occupying the city of Asmara, in 1890 the Kingdom of Italy proclaimed the establishment of the colony of Eritrea. Italian imperialism in the region immediately clashed with the neighboring Ethiopian Empire, which, together with Liberia, was the only African state still independent. This empire was multiethnic and feudal, ruled by a number of feudal lords, known as ras, who were more or less subordinate to a sovereign, the negus negesti. At that time, this was Menelik II, a determined ruler who sought to modernize his nation and defend its independence.

Initially, aware of their military weakness, the Italians tried to assert influence through diplomacy. In 1889, they signed the Treaty of Wuchale with the Ethiopian government, though its content differed between versions. The Italians, in fact, attempted to deceive the negus: while the Amharic version merely stated that the Ethiopian Empire could rely on Italy as a mediator for foreign affairs, the Italian version claimed that the negus accepted Italy as his official representative in relations with other states, effectively surrendering Ethiopia’s sovereignty.

A year later, Menelik realized the deception and exposed Italy’s duplicity to other European rulers, notably Queen Victoria, severely damaging Italy’s image. The Treaty of Wuchale therefore backfired, strengthening Menelik’s prestige at Italy’s expense. Nevertheless, Italy refused to annul it, and in the following years numerous border skirmishes erupted between the colony of Eritrea and the Ethiopian Empire, culminating in 1896 with the decisive Battle of Abba Garima, later known as the Battle of Adwa.

There, the colonial army, composed of about 10,000 Italian soldiers and 7,000 askari recruited from Eritrea and Tigray,was annihilated by over 100,000 Ethiopian warriors. The defeat drastically curtailed Italian ambitions in the Horn of Africa and remained for decades the greatest humiliation ever suffered by a European army in Africa. It also led to the fall of the Crispi government and the definitive annulment of the Treaty of Wuchale, casting deep discredit on the Italian military.

On this subject, at the end of the 19th century, Gaetano Salvemini wrote: “We must not give pretext for reactions through rash uprisings, but prepare the true revolution, not the revolt, which serves only to win medals for those who fled from Adwa.” This was a clear reference to the decorations awarded to Italian generals who had crushed popular uprisings.