Ethiopia, which Italy had unsuccessfully tried to conquer in the 1890s, was in 1934 one of the few independent states in a European-dominated Africa. A border incident between Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland that December gave Benito Mussolini an excuse to intervene. Rejecting all arbitration offers, the Italians invaded Ethiopia on Oct. 3, 1935.
The occupation of Ethiopia by Italy triggered a resistance by Ethiopian patriots led by such gallant personalities as Ras Abebe Aregay, Belay Zeleke, Abdis Aaga etc. and lasted for five years until the Italian forces were finally defeated in 1941.
