Abyssinia Crisis Abyssinia to Mussolini, so his troops were able to continue their war relatively unchallenged by the rest of Europe. Haile Selassie was forced into exile on 2 May. All the sanctions that had been put in place by the League were dropped after the Italian capture of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on the 5th of May 1936. Ethiopia was then merged with the other Italian colonies to become Italian East Africa ("Africa Orientale Italiana", or AOI). Ethiopia never officially surrendered, and pleaded for help from foreign nations, such as Haile Selassie's . As a result, there were six
De Bono's invasion of Abyssinia De Bono's invasion of Abyssinia De Bono's invasion of Abyssinia took place during the opening stages of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. Italian General Emilio De Bono invaded northern Abyssinia from staging areas in the Italian colony of Eritrea on what was known as the "northern front." Italian dictator Benito Mussolini had long held a desire for a new Italian Empire. Reminiscent of the Roman Empire, Mussolini's new empire was to rule over the Mediterranean and North Africa. His new empire would also avenge past Italian defeats. Chief among these defeats was the Battle of Adwa which took place in Abyssinia