East African Campaign (World War II) - Background and Political Situation

Background and Political Situation

On 9 May 1936, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed his "Italian East African Empire" (Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI). The empire was formed from the newly occupied Ethiopia and the Italian colonies of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. During the First Italo-Abyssinian War from 1895 to 1896, Italy was thwarted in its colonial ambitions when the forces of Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia soundly defeated the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) at the Battle of Adowa. During the Second Italo-Abyssinian War from 1935 to 1936, the Italians again invaded Ethiopia and, by using weapons like poison gas, were finally able to defeat the Ethiopians.

While the Kingdom of Egypt remained neutral during World War II, the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 allowed the military forces of the United Kingdom to occupy Egypt in defence of the Suez Canal. At this time, the Kingdom of Egypt included the Sudan. However, the Sudan was a condominium between Egypt and the United Kingdom known as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

On 10 June 1940, when Mussolini led Italy into World War II against the British and the French, the Italian forces in Africa became a potential threat to British supply routes along the Red Sea and through the Suez Canal. While Egypt and the Suez Canal were Mussolini's obvious primary targets, an Italian invasion of either French Somaliland or British Somaliland were reasonable choices too. But Mussolini initially looked past both of these small, isolated colonies and, instead, looked forward to propaganda triumphs in the Sudan and British East Africa (Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda).

However, the Italian Central Command (Comando Centrale) was planning for a war starting after 1942. In the summer of 1940, they were not prepared for a prolonged war or to occupy extensive areas of the African continent.

In the early part of the war, British General Archibald Wavell, Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Command, had a total of 86,000 British and Commonwealth troops at his disposal to handle potential conflicts in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and East Africa. His forces were spread out in Egypt, Palestine, the Sudan, British Somaliland, Kenya, and several other locations. Faced with forces spaced out along the enemy frontiers at intervals of about eight men to the mile, Wavell resolved to fight the Italians with delaying actions at the main posts and hope for the best. The delaying actions, bolstered by aggressive raids into Italian territory, were fought with skill and spirit. British and Commonwealth reinforcements only started to appear in significant numbers from July 1940 onwards.

Short of men, Wavell needed all of the local support he could find. One answer was Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. The deposed emperor had been living in England ever since the Italians invaded his country in 1936 during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. On 13 June, only three days after Mussolini declared war against Britain and France, a "Mr Strong" took off in a Short Sunderland flying boat from Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. Emperor Selassie, alias "Mr Strong", was headed home. On 25 June, Mr Strong arrived in Alexandria, Egypt. Seven days later, as "Mr Smith," he flew to Khartoum in the Sudan. In Khartoum, Mr Smith met Lieutenant-General William Platt. Emperor Selassie and Platt discussed plans to free Ethiopia from Italian rule. In July, the British government recognised Emperor Selassie and promised to help him to reclaim his throne.

Because of the increasing Axis threat in the Middle East, at the end of October 1940 the British Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden, convened a conference in Khartoum. In attendance were Emperor Selassie, South African General Jan Smuts (who held an advisory brief for the region with Winston Churchill), the Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Command, Archibald Wavell, and the senior military commanders in East Africa including Lieutenant-General Platt and Lieutenant-General Cunningham. The general plan of attack, including the use of Ethiopian irregular forces, was agreed upon at this conference.

In November 1940, the British and Commonwealth forces gained an intelligence advantage when the government code and cypher school at Bletchley Park broke the high grade cypher of the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) in East Africa. Later, that same month, the replacement cypher for the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) was broken by the Combined Bureau, Middle East (CBME). From this point on, the commanders-in-chief in Cairo knew Italian plans as soon as they were issued.