Patriots (Ethiopia)

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Arbegnoch, Ethiopian resistance fighters, photographed 1935-1941 Arbenuoch, resistance Ethiopian 1935 at 1941.jpg
Arbegnoch, Ethiopian resistance fighters, photographed 1935–1941

The Patriots or Arbegnoch were Ethiopian resistance fighters in Italian East Africa from 1936 until 1941. They were known to the Italians as shifta .

Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda, to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, resistance movements were sometimes also referred to as The Underground.

Italian East Africa Italian possession in East Africa between 1936 and 1941

Italian East Africa was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somaliland, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire which became Italian Ethiopia.

Shifta is term used in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Somalia for rebel, outlaw, or bandit. The word is derived from shúfto. Historically, shifta served as local militia in the lawless rural mountainous regions on the Horn of Africa. The word shifta can be translated as "bandit" or "outlaw", but can include anyone who rebels against an authority or an institution that is seen as illegitimate.

Contents

Organisation

The Patriot movement was mostly based in the rural Shewa, Gondar and Gojam regions, though it drew support from all over occupied Ethiopia. Several hundred Eritreans also participated. [1] Small cells operated in Addis Ababa and other towns, known as Wust Arbagna (Insider Patriots). [2] The Black Lions took part in the movement. [3] In 1937/1938, there were an estimated 25,000 active Patriots in Ethiopia. The average band of resistance fighters was estimated in 1938 to included 400 to 500 members, depending on the agricultural season. [4]

Shewa historical region of Ethiopia

Shewa, formerly romanized as Shua, is a historical region of Ethiopia, formerly an autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The modern Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is located at its center.

Gondar City in Amhara, Ethiopia

Gondar or Gonder is a city and separate woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Tana Lake on the Lesser Angereb River and southwest of the Simien Mountains. It has a latitude and longitude of 12°36′N37°28′E with an elevation of 2133 meters above sea level. It is surrounded by the Gondar Zuria woreda. Gondar served as a strong Christian kingdom for many years.

Eritrea country in the Horn of Africa

Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa, with its capital at Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The northeastern and eastern parts of Eritrea have an extensive coastline along the Red Sea. The nation has a total area of approximately 117,600 km2 (45,406 sq mi), and includes the Dahlak Archipelago and several of the Hanish Islands. Its toponym Eritrea is based on the Greek name for the Red Sea, which was first adopted for Italian Eritrea in 1890.

Christians

The Patriots had the near-total support of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. [3] The majority of participants were Christian highlanders. Ethiopian Muslims were less involved in the Italo-Ethiopian conflict and sometimes considered the Christians as much their enemies as the Italians. Relations between the two religious groups were tenuous throughout Italian occupation and in one instance Muslim Oromo attacked and killed retreating Patriots in Wollo Province. [5]

Oromo people An African ethnic group, largest in Ethiopia

The Oromo people are an ethnic group inhabiting Ethiopia. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia and represent 34.5% of Ethiopia's population. Oromos speak the Oromo language as a mother tongue, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The word Oromo appeared in European literature for the first time in 1893 and slowly became common in the second half of the 20th century.

Wollo Province

Wollo is a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie.

Women

A number of women participated in the Patriot movement, many of whom had been raped by Italian soldiers. [6] Ethiopian women fought in combat against the Italians and took on support roles, made possible through organised women's groups. The Ethiopian Women's Voluntary Association, established in 1937, coordinated its members' work against the Italians, many of whom fought alongside the Patriots. Another organization, the Ethiopian Women's Patriotic Union, directly aided regular Patriot forces. As co-conspirators with the Insider Patriots, members provided the resistance with food, medicine, clothing, arms and ammunition and intelligence. During Ethiopia's liberation, many women from the union took up arms. Others acted as lookouts, cleaned weapons on the battlefield or managed first aid stations. [7]

Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a range of sources, directed towards the commanders' mission requirements or responding to questions as part of operational or campaign planning. To provide an analysis, the commander's information requirements are first identified, which are then incorporated into intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination.

History

Italian invasion

Outline map of Ethiopia Ethiopia.png
Outline map of Ethiopia

A couple months into the Second Italo-Ethiopian War on 9 December 1935, Ethiopian Minister of War Mulugeta Yeggazu ordered all chiefs in the north to undertake "patriotic resistance against the Italians for taking away the independence of Ethiopia". [8] The Patriot movement only emerged in the spring of 1936 after the Battle of Maychew in the Tigray Region as scattered troops of the Army of the Ethiopian Empire resorted to guerrilla tactics against occupying forces. [9] Local civilians joined in and operated independently near their homes. Early activities included stealing war materials, rolling boulders off cliffs at passing convoys, kidnapping messengers, cutting telephone lines, setting fire to administrative offices and fuel and ammunition dumps and killing collaborators. [10]

Second Italo-Ethiopian War 1935-1936 war between Italy and Ethiopia

The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a colonial war fought from 3 October 1935 until 19 February 1937, although Addis Ababa was captured on 5 May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and those of the Ethiopian Empire. Ethiopia was defeated, annexed and subjected to military occupation. The Ethiopian Empire became a part of the Italian colony of Italian East Africa. Fighting continued until the Italian defeat in East Africa in 1941, during the East African Campaign of the Second World War.

Mulugeta Yeggazu Ethiopian government official and commander in the Ethiopian Army

RasMulugeta Yeggazu, was an Ethiopian government official. He served as Imperial Fitawrari, Commander of the Mahel Sefari of the Ethiopian Army during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

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.

As disruption increased, the Italians were forced to deploy more troops to Tigray, away from the campaign further south. The Italians began referring to the Patriots as shifta, which roughly translates from Amharic to English as "bandit"; the word also has a connotation of "one who rebels against an unjust authority" and many freedom fighters reclaimed the label and took pride in its usage. [10] On 4 May, Patriots led by Haile Mariam Mammo ambushed an Italian column in Chacha, near Debre Berhan and killed approximately 170 Askari and took four Italians prisoner, who were later released. [11] Addis Ababa fell to the advancing Italians on 5 May 1936 and the Ethiopians withdrew to nearby areas to regroup; Abebe Aregai went to Ankober, Balcha Safo to Gurage, Zewdu Asfaw to Mulo, Blatta Takale Wolde Hawariat to Limmu and the Kassa brothers (Aberra, Wondosson, and Asfawossen) to Selale. Haile Mariam conducted hit-and-run attacks around the capital. [12] Emperor Haile Selassie fled the country with 117 chests of gold ingots which were used to fund his court in exile and the Patriots' activities. [13]

Amharic is one of the Ethiopian Semitic languages, which are a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amharas and as a lingua franca by other populations residing in major cities and towns of Ethiopia. The language serves as the official working language of Ethiopia, and is also the official or working language of several of the states within the Ethiopian federal system. With 21,811,600 total speakers as of 2007, including around 4,000,000 L2 speakers, Amharic is the second-most commonly spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic.

In sociology and cultural studies, reappropriation or reclamation is the cultural process by which a group reclaims terms or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group.

Haile Mariam Mammo, alternatively Lej Hayla Maryam Mammo, was an Ethiopian soldier and a leader of the Patriot movement during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. He fought in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1936 before becoming a resistance leader in his native province of Shewa. He was mortally wounded in battle with the Italians.

The only known surviving photograph of the Patriots during the guerrilla period. In the center is future Ethiopian general Jagema Kello. Arbegnuoc 1.jpg
The only known surviving photograph of the Patriots during the guerrilla period. In the center is future Ethiopian general Jagema Kello.

The emperor left 10,000 troops under the command of Aberra Kassa with orders to continue resistance. On 21 June, Kassa held a meeting with Bishop Abune Petros and several other Patriot leaders at Debre Libanos, about 70 km (43 mi) north of Addis Ababa. Plans were made to storm parts of the occupied capital but a lack of transport and radio equipment made it impossible to mount a coordinated attack. The deposed government in Gore was never able to provide any meaningful leadership to the Patriots or remaining military formations but sporadic resistance was undertaken by independent groups around the capital. [12] On the night 26 June, members of the Black Lions organization destroyed three Italian aircraft in Nekemte and murdered twelve Italian officials, including Air Marshal Vincenzo Magliocco  (it ). The Italians had been hoping to gain support in the region by sending the party to talk with the local populace. The viceroy of the newly created Italian East Africa colony, Rodolfo Graziani, ordered the town to be bombed in retaliation for the killing of Magliocco (his deputy). Negative reactions from the locals forced Patriots to depart; Desta Damtew, the commander of the southern Patriots, withdrew his troops to Arbegona. Surrounded by Italian forces, they retreated to Butajira, where they were eventually defeated. A total of 4,000 Patriots are estimated to have been killed in the battles, of whom 1,600, including Damtew, were executed. [15]

Occupation

After the fall of Addis Ababa, Ethiopian resistance was increasingly confined to the mountains and it appeared to most observers that the populace was ready to accept occupation and cooperate with Italian authorities; even the Emperor Selassie was concerned that his compatriots would adjust to Italian rule. But Viceroy Graziani's harsh measures against the Patriots and the general repression that occurred during his tenure eroded support for conciliation. [16] Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta was appointed by Mussolini to replace Graziani as Viceroy of Italian East Africa. He was more open-minded than his predecessor and well-suited to encourage the cooperation of the Ethiopian public, but by the time he assumed his responsibilities on 29 December 1937, Ethiopian opinion had soured on the notion of Italian domination. [17] Though most of the original Ethiopian Army had been destroyed, a new resistance network was established in Amhara by aristocrats that had escaped persecution in Addis Ababa and Orthodox clergymen who were disturbed by the Italian overtures to the Muslim population. [18]

A rebellion was initiated in September 1937 in the Lasta region and in a few days was threatening the surprised Italian administration in Begemder and Gojjam. Well-armed Patriots seized numerous outlying residences and destroyed several entire Askari detachments. A number of Italian officers were also killed. Following the insurgency the Italian press ceased to report on combat operations in Ethiopia. [19]

In June 1938 Italian forces encircled Ankober and the surrounding highlands in an attempt to pacify resistance in the region. Haile Mariam was the only Patriot leader who decided to try and effect a breakout and with 500 men he assaulted the Italians in a futile attempt to breach their cordon. He was mortally wounded on 6 June [20] during a major clash at Gorfo, Bulga district. [11] On 2 December 1940, a Patriot force under Admique Besha raided the Italian garrison at Addis Alem. Seventy-eight Italian soldiers were killed and over 2,000 rifles were captured, along with several grenades and artillery pieces. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 101.
  2. ↑ Phillips & Carillet 2006, p. 37.
  3. 1 2 Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 98.
  4. ↑ Iliffe 2005, p. 199.
  5. ↑ Abbink 1998, p. 117.
  6. ↑ Shillington 2012, p. 382.
  7. ↑ Milkias 2011, p. 229.
  8. ↑ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 96.
  9. ↑ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 94.
  10. 1 2 Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 95.
  11. 1 2 Akyeampong & Gates 2012, p. 543.
  12. 1 2 Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 97.
  13. ↑ Del Boca 1969, p. 203.
  14. ↑ Forgacs 2014, p. 133.
  15. ↑ Abbink, De Bruijn & Van Walraven 2003, p. 102.
  16. ↑ Del Boca 1969, p. 240.
  17. ↑ Del Boca 1969, p. 239.
  18. ↑ Del Boca 1969, p. 241.
  19. ↑ Del Boca 1969, pp. 241–242.
  20. ↑ Mockler 2003, p. 190.
  21. ↑ Forgacs 2014, pp. 133–135.

Sources

Further reading

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