Italian conquest of Eritrea

The first military operation of the campaign was the occupation of the Massau port, formally controlled by the Egyptians, in February 1885, by an Italian detachment of 800 under the command of Colonel Tancredi Salett. A few months later, the Italians occupied the entire coast to Assab and Saati and began their advance into the interior of modern Eritrea, some of which were formally controlled by Abyssinia, some in the sphere of influence of the Mahdists from Sudan. On January 25, 1887, Ethiopian troops besieged the Eritrean city of Saati, but the Italians successfully survived the siege, although almost immediately after that they suffered a sensitive defeat from the Ethiopians in the Battle of Dogali and were forced to leave Saati themselves. These failures, however, did not stop the course of the campaign, and already in October 1887, a colonial army of 20,000 men, arrived from Italy, launched a new attack on Eritrean territories under the command of General Alessandro San Marzano. On February 1, 1887, San Marzano again took Saati, significantly strengthening the city's fortifications, but soon transferred the command of the army to General Antonio Baldissere, who, in particular, began to actively engage the local black population in the Italian troops, forming four Askari battalions led by the Italian officers. Baldisser conducted military operations mainly against the Abyssinian army, which was weakened by the war with the Mahdists; as a result, on July 26, 1889, the Italians occupied Keren almost without a fight, and Asmaru on August 3, but on August 8 they suffered a crushing defeat at Saganeiti from the Eritrean rebels who hit them behind the rear. On May 2, 1889, however, the Italian government managed to conclude with the Abyssinian Negus Menelik II the Uchchaly Treaty , which recognized Italian dominance in Eritrea and, in the Italian (but not Abyssinian) interpretation of the treaty, established an Italian protectorate over Abyssinia. In 1890, Eritrea was officially declared an Italian colony.

From the end of June 1890, clashes between the Italian forces in Eritrea and the Sudanese Mahdists began, trying to break through to the Red Sea, retreating in front of the British army that occupied Sudan. The largest battles of this stage of the war were the first battle of Agordat (June 27, 1890), the battle of Serobeti (June 16, 1892) and the second battle of Agordat (December 21, 1893). All these battles were won by the Italians, the victory in December 1893 was especially impressive, which was won by only 2,200 soldiers, most of whom were local Askari. These successes led to the fact that in 1894 the Italian colonial troops invaded the territory of the directly Mahdist Sudan and on July 16, led by Oreste Baratieri, defeated the Mahdists at Kassala, occupying the city. The Italians held Kassala until 1897, including having survived several sieges in February-March 1896, arranged by the Mahdists, who took advantage of the employment of most of the Italian colonial army on the fronts of the war with Ethiopia ; in 1897, Kassala was ceded to the Italians by the British, who by that time had already conquered most of the Mahdist Sudan.

The conquest of the territory of Tygre, the main inner part of Eritrea, began in 1895, after in December 1894 the tribes of the region of Achchele-Guzai, instigated by the Ethiopian commander, the race Mangasia (who was both the formal ruler of many local territories and to a large extent not only did not depend , but also opposed Menelik II), they rebelled against the Italians under the leadership of Batu Agos and besieged the city of Balai, but on December 18 they were defeated by Major Pietro Totselli. On January 12, 1895, the Italians defeated the army of the race of Mangasia at the Battle of Coatite, and two days later defeated it at Senafe; Ethiopians also could not counterattack against Adigrat, who was occupied by troops under the command of Baratieri on March 25-26; this was followed by the capture of Mekele and Axum, and by April 1895 most of Tigre was occupied by Italians. Mangasia retreated to Debra Isla, trying to regroup, but soon most of his troops left the city, leaving only a small garrison there, which was easily defeated by the Italians on October 9, and on October 13, Totselli without a fight took Amba-Alaga. After that, the Italians stopped at the achieved frontiers, and Mangasia from the enemy of Menelik II turned into his ally; soon the First Italo-Abyssinian War began.

• Indro Montanelli, Storia d'Italia, vol. 6 1861 - 1919, RCS Libri SpA, 2006.