The Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936)

The war in Ethiopia is the war of Fascism: ideological and racial. The ‘total war’ of 1914-1918 is led against the totally unprepared Ethiopian army, on which Rome unleashes an indubitable ‘technological’ supremacy made up of trucks, tanks, machine guns, artillery and airplanes. The Italian Royal Air Force plays its part, too, testing new bombers that hit – even with lethal gases – fighters and indigenous populations alike. Since there are no enemies in the Abyssinian skies, pilots and airmen back up their ground forces with large and small bombs, transport and aerial drops of materials, and reconnaissance. The hierarchs rejoice in this ‘not very dangerous’ war by flying the aircraft of the 15th Squadrilla ‘The Desperate’ (Ciano) or by travelling on board like tourists (Pavolini).