Zorini, Decio L'espansione italiana in A.O.

Italian expansion in East Africa began even before the unification of Italy, thanks to the interest of shipowners and financiers from the upper Adriatic. Alongside the French and British, they were among the financiers of the Suez Canal Company. Immediately after the canal opened, the Genoese navy established a base in Assab on the Red Sea, on the route to India. A decade later, the colonial interests of the Kingdom of Italy led to the acquisition of the base, followed by the gradual occupation of Eritrea. The defeats at Dogali and Adwa halted Italian colonial expansion, but the liberal state managed to hold on to and consolidate the colonies of Eritrea and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the immediate post-war period, the regime turned its attention to the conquest of Abyssinia. It began preparations in 1932 and skillfully exploited Ethiopian provocations in 1934. The Ethiopian campaign began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936 with the capture of Addis Ababa and the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Abyssinia. In Ethiopia, the regime promoted demographic colonization and encouraged the emigration of settlers to rural areas. After two years of heavy emigration, the return of settlers prevailed in 1938/39, leading to the widespread failure of colonization. During the European rearmament from 1936 onwards, the Abyssinian armed forces were not significantly modernized. Abyssinia could therefore rely exclusively on local resources. Surrounded by enemy territory, only air connections were possible when hostilities broke out. The outcome of the conflict in the AOI was a foregone conclusion from the outset, and after the surrender at Amba Alagi, the remaining troops finally capitulated in November 1941. With the return of women, children, and disabled civilians on the White Ships in 194243, the empire in the AOI came to an end.