oct 3, 1927 - Italy declare war on Abyssinia

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Ever since the 1880s, Italy had been committed to an imperialist policy in the Horn of Africa with Italy taking Eritrea and parts of Somalia. The First Italo-Ethiopian War in which Italy invaded Ethiopia ended with a humiliating defeat for Italy at the the Battle of Adwa, and caused the downfall of the ultra-imperialist government of Crispi. The decisive victory by the Ethiopians over the Italians completely destroyed the Italian forces and humiliated their country. The victory of the black Ethiopians over the white Italians at Adwa caused a "deep national trauma" in Italy, as the supposedly inferior Ethiopians were viewed as incapable of defeating the Italians, and Italy was the only European nation to lose a major war with an African country during the "Scramble for Africa".In 1906, the Regio Esercito had started planning for an invasion of Ethiopia in 1908. However, until 1927, successive Italian governments had more pressing priorities than "avenging Adowa", however great the popular clamor might be, and the strategy favored by the Foreign Ministry was one of "friendship" and "peaceful penetration", bringing Ethiopia into the Italian economic sphere of influence as the prelude to placing it in the political sphere of influence. But in 1927, German is focus on far east, Austria is more weaken after the Ausgleich of 1927, Libya isn't have big trouble after Italo-Senussi War, so they final start the plan to invade Ethiopia.

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