# Christmas Offensive
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{{short description|Battle of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War}}{{For|the Korean War offensive|UN offensive into North Korea#The Home by Christmas offensive (24–25 November)}}{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Christmas Offensive
| partof = the [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War)
| image = Controffensiva etiope - dicembre 1935.svg
| caption = Troop movements during the Christmas Offensive
| date = 14 December 1935 – 27 December 1935[Baer, ''Test Case'', p. 176.]
| place = Northern [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopian_Empire)
| result = Ethiopian victory
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}}
*13px [Italian Eritrea](/source/Italian_Eritrea)
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Ethiopian Empire}}
| commander1 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} [Pietro Badoglio](/source/Pietro_Badoglio)
| commander2 = {{flagicon|Ethiopian Empire}} [''Ras'' Imru](/source/Imru_Haile_Selassie)
{{flagicon|Ethiopian Empire}} [''Ras'' Kassa](/source/Kassa_Haile_Darge)
{{flagicon|Ethiopian Empire}} [''Ras'' Seyoum](/source/Seyum_Mangasha)
| units1 = I Corps
III Corps
| units2 = [Army of Gojjam](/source/Gojjam)
[Army of Tigray](/source/Tigray_Province)
[Army of Begemder](/source/Begemder)
| strength1 = 125,000
| strength2 = 190,000
| casualties1 = 731 killed[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=476|year=1986}}]
6 tanks destroyed
18 tanks captured
33 field guns captured
| casualties2 = ~500 killed{{sfn|Barker|1968|p=219}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Second Italo-Abyssinian War}}
The '''Christmas Offensive''' took place during the [Second Italo-Ethiopian War](/source/Second_Italo-Ethiopian_War). The Ethiopian [offensive](/source/Offensive_(military)) was more of a [counteroffensive](/source/counteroffensive) to an ever-slowing [Italian](/source/Kingdom_of_Italy) [offensive](/source/De_Bono's_invasion_of_Abyssinia) which started the war. Ethiopian victory at the Battle at Dembeguina Pass successfully pushed the Italians back and recaptured the town of [Shire](/source/Shire%2C_Ethiopia). However, the Ethiopian offensive was eventually stopped by the Italian use of superior weaponry, such was machine guns, heavy artillery, and chemical warfare agents.
==Background==
On 3 October 1935, Italian General [Emilio De Bono](/source/Emilio_De_Bono) invaded Abyssinia. De Bono's advance continued methodically, deliberately, and, to the consternation of Italian dictator [Benito Mussolini](/source/Benito_Mussolini), somewhat slowly. On the 8 November, the I Corps and the Eritrean Corps captured [Makale](/source/Mek'ele). This proved to be the limit of how far the Italian invaders would progress under the command of De Bono. Increasing pressure from the rest of the world on Mussolini caused him to need quick victories, and he was not prepared to hear of obstacles or delays from De Bono.{{sfn|Barker|1971|p=36}} On the 16 November, De Bono was promoted to the rank of [Marshal of Italy](/source/Marshal_of_Italy) (''Maresciallo d'Italia''); however, on 17 December he was replaced by [Marshal](/source/Marshal) [Pietro Badoglio](/source/Pietro_Badoglio) on the northern front because of the slow, cautious nature of De Bono's advance.[Nicolle, David, "The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935-1936", p. 8.]
On the 30 November 1935, ''[Nəgusä Nägäst](/source/Ethiopian_aristocratic_and_court_titles)''{{#tag:ref|Usually translated as [King of Kings](/source/King_of_Kings) or [Emperor](/source/Emperor_of_Ethiopia).|group=nb}} [Haile Selassie](/source/Haile_Selassie) moved his field headquarters to [Dessie](/source/Dessie).[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=473 |year=1986}}]
==The offensive==
According to the available figures, the numerically strongest army was that led by ''Ras'' Imru, who together with the forces of [Ayalew Birru](/source/Ayalew_Birru) could count on around 20,000 men; between 14 and 15 December around 2,000 of them crossed the Tekeze where they were immediately engaged by the irregulars of Major Luigi Criniti. Another 3,000 soldiers of ''Ras'' Imru crossed the river around fifteen kilometres further north, heading towards the Dembeguina Pass with the intention of cutting off the only retreat route for Criniti's men. The Italian columns were taken by surprise and, when Criniti's men tried to force the passage, the Ethiopian forces were already deployed in a horseshoe shape on the surrounding ridges; a squadron of [L3/35](/source/L3%2F35) tanks, sent forward to open a gap, was easily neutralized by ''Ras'' Imru's soldiers, Criniti was wounded and two of his officers, {{ill|Ettore Crippa|it}} and [Franco Martelli](/source/Franco_Martelli) were killed.[{{cite book |last1=Stephenson |first1=Charles |title=Mussolini, Mustard Gas and the Fascist Way of War |date=2024 |page=84}}] After this, ''Ras'' Imru reached the first Italian outpost of [Shire Enda Selassie](/source/Shire%2C_Ethiopia) garrisoned by 2nd Eritrean Battalion Group led by Captain [Carlo Emanuele Basile](/source/Carlo_Emanuele_Basile), who immediately abandoned the town and retreated east.[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=480 |year=1986}}]
Towards evening the Italian forces managed to move towards [Selekleka](/source/Selekleka), garrisoned by the [24th Infantry "Gran Sasso" Division](/source/24th_Infantry_Division_%22Pinerolo%22), but the Ethiopian advance had not stopped and, despite the violent Italian aerial bombardments and the dropping of mustard gas on the fords of the Tekeze on 18 December, Imru's approximately 20,000 men managed to cross the river and spread towards the north-east, threatening the entrenched camps of Axum and Adwa and the borders with Eritrea. Realizing the risk, Badoglio ordered the "Gran Sasso" to retreat towards the fortified lines of [Axum](/source/Axum), but the order generated no small amount of alarm throughout the Italian expeditionary force; thousands of soldiers were immediately employed to further fortify the defensive lines of Axum and Mekelle, while the fear that the enemy could be aided by spies and presumed partisans led to the arrest of hundreds of suspects, especially among the Coptic clergy, who were suspected of inciting the population against the Italians.[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=475 |year=1986}}]
Simultaneously with ''Ras'' Imru's advance, approximately 5,000 men under [Hailu Kebede](/source/Hailu_Kebede) and 3,000 Tigrayans under the command of two of Ras Seyum's subordinates advanced on [Abiy Addi](/source/Abiy_Addi) and spread into Tembien, despite the bombing raids by the air force, which Badoglio had ordered to slow the enemy advance as much as possible. On December 18, the Ethiopians attacked the Eritreans led by [Ruggero Tracchia](/source/Ruggero_Tracchia) from the position of Amba Tzellerè, which was repelled. However, on December 22 the Eritreans under Colonel Tracchia unsuccessfully launched a counter attack against the Ethiopians on Amba Tzellerè, which was repelled with heavy losses. The Italians then retreated to Abbi Addi, which was set on fire and abandoned on December 27, then entrenching themselves on the Uarieu pass despite the continuous attacks of the Ethiopians who, by now, had reoccupied all of southern Tembien.[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=476|year=1986}}]
Faced with the vast Ethiopian assault of ''Ras'' Seyoum and Imru, to which was added the large manoeuvre of ''Ras'' Mulugeta who had advanced as far as the Gabat torrent a few kilometres from Mekelle, Badoglio urgently asked Rome to send two more divisions, but throughout January he continued to suffer the enemy's action, limiting himself to wearing down the adversary with repeated aerial bombardments and with the widespread use of chemical weapons. From 22 December to 18 January, in fact, over 2,000 quintals of gas bombs were dropped on the northern regions of the empire, in particular in the Tekeze area: in this way, soldiers and farmers who used those waters to quench their thirst were indiscriminately hit.[{{cite book |last=Del Boca |first=Angelo |title=Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - II. La conquista dell'Impero |publisher=the University of Michigan |page=481|year=1986}}]
==Aftermath==
Although the Ethiopian victory led to the reconquest of [Shire](/source/Shire%2C_Ethiopia) and a good part of [Tembien](/source/Tembien), the Italian military superiority remained overwhelming. In early January 1936, the Ethiopian forces on the "northern front" were in the hills everywhere overlooking the Italian positions and launching attacks against them on a regular basis. Mussolini was impatient for an Italian offensive to get under way and for the Ethiopians to be swept from the field. In response to his frequent exhortations, Badoglio cabled Mussolini: "It has always been my rule to be meticulous in preparation so that I may be swift in action."{{sfn|Barker|1971|p=59}}
Fortunately for the Italians on the "southern front", ''Ras'' Desta Damtew did little in 1935 and his invasion of Italian Somaliland did not get under way until early January 1936. By then his army had been reduced to approximately 15,000 men, less than one-quarter of its size when first raised in [Sidamo Province](/source/Sidamo_Province).[Baer, ''Test Case'', p.181] Ultimately, Desta Damtew's offensive became known as the disastrous [Battle of Genale Doria](/source/Battle_of_Genale_Doria).
In addition to being granted permission to use poison gas, Badoglio received additional ground forces; elements of the Italian III and IV Corps arrived in Eritrea during early 1936. What followed was a series of battles starting with the [First Battle of Tembien](/source/First_Battle_of_Tembien). On 20 January, the beginning of the inconclusive First Battle of Tembien marked the end of the Ethiopian "Christmas Offensive"