Other Forces

Imperial review.

?Empire of Abyssinia.

Emperor Haile Selassie of Abysinnia reviews new troops, 1935. Interesting that the soldiers are wearing shorts and, rather than boots, heavy sandals. Practical adaptations, no doubt, to summer fighting conditions in Ethiopia. Thanks to long-standing Abyssinian government policy, and to supplies received from and through British East Africa, the expanded imperial army was reasonably well-equipped with modern small arms. The élite Imperial Guard was also quite well-equipped with machine-guns. However, the Ethiopian forces as a whole were fatally weakened by the lack of military aircraft, motor transport and armored vehicles. Also, the structure of Haile Selassie's army still strongly reflected the regional and tribal structures of the Empire, which impeded coherent action and incorporated ancient regional and tribal rivalries and particularist tendencies. All in all, the Abyssinian Army was ill-suited to opposing the Italian invasioin, despite the Emperor's efforts to prepare for such an eventuality. Best regards, JR.