Ethiopian forces in the Second Italo-Abyssinian War besides the Central Army were mobilized from various provinces under their local leader. According to 1935 Italian intelligence estimates of the Ethiopian provinces and their forces on the eve of hostilities, the Ethiopians had an army of 350,000 men. Strengths where known are noted followed by their leader. Modernized forces in Bold.
Addis Ababa
Army of the Left - Ras Imru Haile Selassie ( Grazmach = "General/Commander of the Left")
Mahel Sefari (Army of the Center) (70,000 regulars) - Ras Mulugeta Yeggazu of Illubabor
Army of the Right- Ras Kassa Haile Darge ( Qegnazmach = "General/Commander of the right")
Danakil region - Dejazmach Kassa Sebhat
Later Reinforcements
Ifrata Sefari - Ras Kebbede
Welega-Ardjo Sefari - Bitwoded Makonnen Demissie
Kaffa Sefari - Ras Getachew Abate
To subdue Gojjam revolt
Wollo Sefari - Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen Tafari
Ogaden Sefari - Grazmach Afawarq Walda Samayat
Reinforcements
Hararghe Sefari - Dejazmach Nasibu Emmanual - C-in-C in Ogaden after Afewerq's death
Webi Shebelle front
Juba Front
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The Battle of Maychew was the last major battle fought on the northern front during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The battle consisted of a failed counterattack by the Ethiopian forces under Emperor Haile Selassie making frontal assaults against prepared Italian defensive positions under the command of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. The battle was fought near Maychew, Ethiopia, in the modern region of Tigray.
The following is a timeline relating to the Second Italo–Ethiopian War to the end of 1936. A number of related political and military events followed until 1942, but these have been omitted.
Menen Asfaw was Empress of Ethiopia as the wife of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Princess Seble Desta was a member of the Solomonic dynasty, which ruled Ethiopia until 1974. She was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was the daughter of Princess Tenagnework Haile Selassie and Ras Desta Damtew, and granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Empress Menen Asfaw. Princess Seble's paternal grandfather, Fitawrari Damtew Ketema, was martyred during the Ethiopian victory against the Italians at Adwa.
Darge Sahle Selassie Horse name Abba Gersa was a 19th-century Ethiopian nobleman, provincial governor, general and a trusted councillor of his nephew Emperor Menelik II.
RasDesta Damtew KBE was an Ethiopian noble, an army commander, and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie I. He is known for his leadership in the Ethiopian Army during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. He was executed on 24 February 1937, by the Italian Armed Forces shortly after Ethiopia's loss in the war.
Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie, CBE was an Ethiopian noble, soldier, and diplomat. He served as acting Prime Minister for three days in 1960 during a coup d'état and assassination of Prime Minister Abebe Aregai.
RasMulugeta Yeggazu was an Ethiopian government official, who served in the first cabinet formed by Emperor Menelik II. He served as Imperial Fitawrari, Commander of the Mahel Sefari of the Ethiopian Army during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
RasKassa Hailu KS, GCVO, GBE, was a Shewan Amhara nobleman, the son of Dejazmach Haile Wolde Kiros of Lasta, the ruling heir of Lasta's throne and younger brother of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis II, and Tisseme Darge, the daughter of Ras Darge Sahle Selassie, brother of Menelik II's father.
The Battle of Shire was a battle fought on the northern front of what was known as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. This battle consisted of attacks and counterattacks by Italian forces under Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio and Ethiopian forces under Ras Imru Haile Selassie. This battle was primarily fought in the Shire area of Ethiopia.
De Bono's invasion of Ethiopia took place during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italian General Emilio De Bono invaded northern Ethiopia from staging areas in the Italian colony of Eritrea on what was known as the "northern front".
The Christmas Offensive took place during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The Ethiopian offensive was more of a counteroffensive to an ever-slowing Italian offensive which started the war.
Seyoum Mengesha KBE was an army commander and a member of the royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.
The Battle of Anchem was a battle fought between two factions of the Royal family in the Ethiopian Empire. The battle was fought to determine who would rule the empire, Empress Zewditu or King (Negus) Tafari Makonnen.
Aberra Kassa was an army commander and a member of the Royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.
Gugsa Wale's rebellion of 1930 was a rebellion raised by Ras Gugsa Wale and by supporters of Empress Zewditu to rid her of the Crown Prince and heir apparent, Negus Tafari Makonnen. With Tafari gone, Zewditu would be the sole claimant to succession as the ruler of the Ethiopian Empire. As the husband of Empress Zewditu, Gugsa Wale expected to become Emperor.
Mehal Sefari was the Ethiopian title for the specialized units of the imperial guard during the reign of Emperor Menelik II. The unit grew from Menelik's personal Guard, though oral histories link it to the elite fighting unit of Atse Tewodros II under Fitawrari Gebrye. As Gebrye's military unit was among the last that remained loyal to Tewodros when most of his army left, the assumption is not unreasonable if not conclusive. The title "Mehal Sefari" however was not used by any of Tewodros' units, nor by any other previous military unit. The title translates to "center campers" and alludes to the location the unit encamped in Menelik's expeditionary encampments. Some have also suggested that the unit was used to come between (mehal) battling armies of the nobility. There is however little in way of evidence to demonstrate this as the nobility rarely fought without permission from the Emperor.
Ayalew Birru, or Ayyalaw Birru, was an Ethiopian army commander, a patriot, and a cousin of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Belay Zeleke was an Ethiopian military commander who led the Arbegnoch resistance movement in Gojjam against the Fascist Italians during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941. He emerged as a brigand leader after his five-year struggle against Italian rule in Ethiopia.
During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italians captured and either imprisoned as prisoners of war or executed selected prominent Ethiopians. The majority of the public executions and mass incarcerations happened in the wake of the assassination attempt on Rodolfo Graziani. The Italian occupying force gave permission to the black shirts to murder educated Ethiopians, sparing only a few notables who were transported to various concentration camps maintained in the Harar region, Italian Somaliland, Eritrea and Italy. While the majority of prisoners who were kept at Asinara and other camps in Italy survived, tens of thousands of detainees perished under the severe conditions they were forced to live in. According to famous survivors like Ambassador Imru Zeleke, conditions were worse in Italian Somaliland camps due to the scarcity of food, water and medicine. According to Imru Zeleke, tens of thousands of Ethiopians died every year.