Italian East Africa Ababa, to proclaim an empire by May 1936, making Ethiopia part of Italian East Africa. The Italian victory in the war coincided with the zenith of the international popularity of dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime, during which colonialist leaders praised Mussolini for his actions. Mussolini's international popularity decreased as he endorsed the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, beginning a political tilt toward Germany that eventually led to the downfall of Mussolini and the Fascist regime in Italy in World War II. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, which made Italian military forces in Libya
Italian Ethiopia Italian Ethiopia Ethiopia was occupied by Italy in 1936 and became a part of the Italian colony Italian East Africa, with capital Addis Abeba. Italian Ethiopia was proclaimed in 1936 following the second Italo-Ethiopian War, with Victor Emmanuel III proclaiming himself Emperor of Ethiopia. The occupation lasted until the end of 1941, when Ethiopia was liberated from Italian control by a combination of British, Commonwealth, Free French, Free Belgian and Ethiopian forces. Since May 1936 Italian Ethiopia was part of the newly created "Africa Orientale Italiana" (AOI), or Italian East Africa, and administratively was made of four governorates: Governorate of