The Addis Ababa massacre or Graziani massacre Feb.1937

The Addis Ababa massacre or Graziani massacre Feb.1937

Mar 3, 2018 | Culture, Ethiopia, Events, Historical Culture, History, Kotebe Addis Ababa

Yonas Tadesse/AFP/Getty Images Tue 20 Feb 2018 09.00 GMT

The Addis Ababa massacre or Graziani massacre, in which 20,000 to 30,000 Ethiopians were killed by Italian occupying forces on 19 February 1937, is commemorated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the Ethiopian capital

Two Ethiopian war veterans sporting military regalia walk down a path during a memorial service in Addis Ababa commemorating the massacre

Ethiopian war veterans sporting military regalia attend the memorial service

Ethiopian war veterans and priests at the memorial service at the Kidist Selassie, or Holy Trinity Cathedral, a cathedral of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church

An Ethiopian war veteran walks to the memorial service for the civilians massacred in reprisal for an attempt to assassinate Rodolfo Graziani, the colonial governor of Italian East Africa

A priest blesses war veterans

Marshal Rodolfo Graziani was one of Benito Mussolini’s commanders in the Italian colonial wars in Libya and Ethiopia before and during the second world war. He ordered the three-day massacre after an attempt on his life

Photograph: SeM/UIG via Getty Images

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The Addis Ababa massacre or Graziani massacre Feb.1937

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to his capital Addis Ababa

May 3, 2017 | Culture, Dates, Ethiopia, Events, History, Important Dates, Kotebe Addis Ababa

Haile Selassie Triumphantly returns to Addis Ababa On this day 5th May 1941, Emperor Haile Selassie re-enters Addis Ababa, the hailesalEthiopian capital, exactly five years to the day of when it was occupied by Italy. Ethiopia known widely as Abyssinia was one of the first countries to be liberated during the Second World War. Benito Mussolini had been eyeing Ethiopia (also known as Abyssinia) as an economic colony to be added to Italian Somaliland, in East Africa, since the 1920’s. Italy had an old score to settle after being one of the only countries to be defeated by an African Power during the first Italio-Ethiopian War by the then Ethiopian Emperor Menelik at Adowa on 1 March 1896. He hoped to resettle 10 million Italians in a unified East Africa. (more…)