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History-Explorer β€” Italian propaganda poster - Eritrean Askaris

#askari #axis #colonialism #eritrea #fascism #fascismo #imperialism #worldwar2 #ww2 #axispowers #italianempire #italianarmy #italianmilitary #kingdomofitaly #fascistitaly #regioesercito #eritreans #colonialempire #italiafascista #regnoditalia #italianeastafrica #askaris #italianeritrea #italianimperialism #eastafricancampaign
Published: 2017-06-09 21:15:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 9486; Favourites: 68; Downloads: 27
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Description Italian propaganda poster from either the Second Italo-Ethiopian War or World War II showing Eritrean Askaris (Askari was a name commonly given to them by Europeans to refer to African colonial soldiers).

During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War several peoples that benefited the most from the Italian victory were the Tigrinya people and the Afar people who prior to the end of the war had been divided into both Italian Eritrea and Ethiopia; and the Somali people who had been in both Italian Somalia and Ethiopia. The Italian victory that was fought with Italy using Eritrean and Somalian Askaris resulted in the territorial expansion of Eritrea to absorb Tigrinya and Afar populated territories; and Somalia absorbing Somali populated territories. While the title of an Emperor of Ethiopia remained and was taken by Italian King Vittorio Emanuele III in 1936 and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church continued to exist, Ethiopia itself no longer existed as an administrative territorial entity - Italy divided the remaining territory into tribal/cultural-based regions to appeal to identities being based upon those regions and the identities within them rather than preserving Ethiopia as an entity within the colony.

In the aftermath of World War II in East Africa, Eritrea was annexed into Ethiopia and Somali territories that had been annexed into Somalia following the Italian victory against Ethiopia in 1936 were given back to Ethiopia. This had achieved a long-desired irredentist aim of Ethiopia, as Eritrea had been part of the ancient kingdom of Axum that is considered an ancestor to contemporary Ethiopia. However the effect of the Italian conquest had encouraged nationalisms in Eritrea and Somalia regarding the post-World War II frontiers of Ethiopia as unacceptable. After decades of conflict Eritrean separatists succeeded in achieving an independent country of Eritrea in 1993 following the pre-1936 borders of the Italian colony of Eritrea.
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Comments: 8

Lucas-White [2017-07-18 14:51:43 +0000 UTC]

Hey THANKS FOR POSTING THISΒ 

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Skoshi8 [2017-06-12 21:22:41 +0000 UTC]

WWII German soldier: (probably Arab) i24.photobucket.com/albums/c44…

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KevinArtSeeker In reply to Skoshi8 [2017-06-13 21:00:52 +0000 UTC]

And I thought Nazis hated black people.

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twistedpatriot In reply to KevinArtSeeker [2018-04-18 18:15:38 +0000 UTC]

The Nazis did send some meager material support to the Ethiopians and there were black Africans serving in the Free Arabian Legon. They hated those who weren't "Aryan" which included Jews, Slaves and whatnot.

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artlovr59 [2017-06-10 11:52:26 +0000 UTC]

It's interesting to see the Italians showing black and white soldiers side by side in this period. You aren't likely to see that in British posters!

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History-Explorer In reply to artlovr59 [2017-06-10 23:05:19 +0000 UTC]

I'm sure there are British posters showing colonial soldiers. At the very basics countries with colonies need to have domestic allies in their colonies and to have access to potential recruits for a war in the colonies - either civil war or a war between countries.

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artlovr59 In reply to History-Explorer [2017-06-11 09:51:11 +0000 UTC]

I hope you're right, but I've never seen any.

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Skoshi8 [2017-06-10 02:23:20 +0000 UTC]

The Askaris were so well regarded that the Germans planned to enlist them in their drive into central Africa if they managed to defeat the British in the north.

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