Battle of Dogali

1 History
The Italians (after their unication in 1861) wanted to
create their own colonies in Africa and started to occupy
coastal Eritrea. Soon they were at war with the Ethiopians
in 1885.
On his own initiative, Ras Alula Engida, then gover-
nor under Emperor Yohannes IV, attacked the Italian-
controlled town of Sahati on the day prior. Hundreds of
his men were slaughtered by cannon and rie re, while
only four Italians were injured, forcing Ras Alula to pull
his men back.
The besieged Italians needed ammunitions and requested
supplies.
On January 26, a battalion of 500 men (mostly Italians
and a few Eritrean Askari) under Colonel Tommaso De
Cristofori, sent to reinforce the Italian garrison at Sa-
hati, were attacked while in march by Ras Alulas men
at Dogali. Although the 500 Italians fought back bravely
against 7,000 Ethiopians, holding out for hours until they
exhausted all ammunition, nearly all were then killed, ex-
cept for eighty wounded men who were able to escape
notice by the Ethiopians and be successfully rescued.
Monument in Rome to the Italian soldiers killed in Dogali
Although a small victory for the Ethiopians, Haggai Er-
lich notes that this incident only encouraged the Italians to
intrigue with Yohannes rival, Menelik II, then ruler only
of Shewa, and encourage his insubordination towards his
Emperor.[1]
Italians felt that the battle of Dogali was an insult to be
avenged, and then started to attack Ethiopia in the follow-
ing years in order to get revenge. This would later lead
to the First Italo-Ethiopian War which ended in their de-
feat at Adwa. In 1936, they nally obtained their revenge
with the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with a brief occupa-
tion only to be defeated by a joint British and Ethiopian
liberation force.

2 Actual Ethiopian celebrations

Monument in Dogali This battle was celebrated under the Derg regime, and
Mengistu Haile Mariam commemorated the centennial
with much attention, including the erection of a monu-
ment topped with a red star on the battleeld. Follow-
The Battle of Dogali was fought on 26 January 1887 ing Eritrean independence, the monument was removed.
between Italy and Ethiopia in Dogali near Massawa, in Paul B. Henze diplomatically notes in a footnote, When
present-day Eritrea. I crossed the battleeld in 1996, I could detect no trace

1
2 4 NOTES

4 Notes
[1] Haggai Erlich, Ras Alula and the Scramble for Africa
(Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1996), pp. 105f

[2] Henze, Layers of Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia

(New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 157 n.20.

[3] Erlich, Ras Alula, p. xiii.

[4] Prunier, Grard (1998-11-01). The Ethio-Eritrean

Conict: An Essay in Interpretation. UNHCR Ref-
world. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Archived from the original on 2007-06-25. Retrieved
2007-11-01.

Battle of Dogali, 1887

of the monument.[2]
Erlich provides more information: when Eritrean troops
gained control of the area in 1989, a prominent com-
mander of the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front, and a
former Minister of Foreign Aairs, Petros Solomon him-
self was delighted to blast Mengistus monument of Ras
Alula.[3]
This could be attributed to the fact that while Alula was an
administrator appointed by Yohannes IV over small parts
of the Eritrean highlands, he committed many atrocities
against the local biher-Tigrinya population, sowing seeds
of discord. Observers, including Erlich and others, at-
tribute this to Eritrean Tigrinya views of their own rela-
tionship with Ethiopia as a whole.[4] Since Alula fought
for the Empire and not for Medri Bahri, he is viewed as
a traitor on the Eritrean side of the border, a hero on the
Ethiopian side.

3 Tributes

The huge square in Rome in front of Termini railway sta-

tion is called Piazza dei Cinquecento, in honor of the 500
Italian soldiers killed in the Battle of Dogali. Near the
square is also a monument to those soldiers.
The Italian cruiser Dogali was named for the engagement.
 3

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1 Text
Battle of Dogali Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dogali?oldid=673872929 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Llywrch, Avala,
Polylerus, LtNOWIS, Ardfern, Rjwilmsi, Tim!, Jaraalbe, RussBot, Badagnani, Resigua, Mcicogni, SmackBot, InverseHypercube, Srnec,
Hibernian, Roy Al Blue, Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Andrwsc, Stifynsemons, Cluckbang, Dawnseeker2000, SergioTS, Parsecboy, The Anome-
bot2, CommonsDelinker, Adamdaley, GrahamHardy, Martin', Tzahy, SieBot, Consuelo D'Guiche, Niceguyedc, XenonX3, Addbot, Fyrael,
Yobot, LucienBOT, WQUlrich, Full-date unlinking bot, Orenburg1, EmausBot, H3llBot, $1LENCE D00600D, Rossetti29, Joseon Empire,
Thqldpxm, LNegu37, Hmainsbot1, Janweh64, Donaldduck100, Thedarkwolph, Mocbazgi96 and Anonymous: 24

5.2 Images
File:Bataille_de_Dogali.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Bataille_de_Dogali.jpg License: Public do-
main Contributors: http://www.artesuarte.it/articolo.php?id=55 Original artist: Michele Cammarano
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cense: Public domain Contributors: Illustration for Storia d'Italia by Paolo Giudici (Nerbini, 1929-32) Original artist: Tancredi Scarpelli
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