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Haile Selassie's War by Anthony Mockler

Oxford University Press, 1984. Pp. xxiv+454.
£17.50. Also published in 1984 by Random
House, New York, as Haile Selassie's War: the
Italian-Ethiopian campaign, 1935–1941. Pp. xlii
+454. Illustrated. \$24.95.Ethiopia: dawn of the
red star by Madan M. Sauldie Bombay, Asia
Publishing House, 1982. Pp. vii+241. Illustrated.
\$37.50.Ethiopia: politics, economics and
society by Peter Schwab Boulder, Lynne
Rienner Publishers, 1985. Pp. xx+134. \$20.00. \
$10.95 paperback.

Theodore M. Vestal

The Journal of Modern African Studies / Volume 24 / Issue 04 / December 1986, pp 708 -
710
DOI: 10.1017/S0022278X00007369, Published online: 11 November 2008

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Theodore M. Vestal (1986). The Journal of Modern African Studies, 24, pp
708-710 doi:10.1017/S0022278X00007369

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708 REVIEWS

Haile Selassie's War by ANTHONY MOCKLER

Oxford University Press, 1984. Pp. xxiv + 454. £17.50. Also published in 1984
by Random House, New York, as Haile Selassie's War: the Italian-
Ethiopian campaign, 1935-1941. Pp. xlii + 454. Illustrated. $24.95.

Ethiopia: dawn of the red star by MADAN M. SAULDIE

Bombay, Asia Publishing House, 1982. Pp. vii+241. Illustrated. $37.50.
Ethiopia: politics, economics and society by PETER SCHWAB
Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1985. Pp. xx+134. $20.00. $10.95
paperback.

The devastating food crisis in Ethiopia reported in 1984 jarred the conscience
of the world. In response to the scenes of human suffering seen on television
around the globe, private citizens, charitable organisations, and governments
provided a tremendous amount of emergency food relief- and saved millions
of lives. Inevitably there have been world-wide analyses of the complicated,
multifaceted causes of the disaster, and the policies of the Ethiopian Socialist
Democratic Republic have received close scrutiny.Three recent books offer
a before, during, and after review of the revolution that brought the present
regime to power and produced the programmes that contributed to the
calamity made known to the world in late 1984.
British historian Anthony Mockler has written an engrossing ' tale of blood
and war' in Ethiopia that sets the stage for Haile Selassie's feudal empire.
Indian journalist Madan M. Saldie focuses on the revolution of 1974 that
deposed the Emperor and brought to power the Dergue or Provisional Military
Government. And American political scientist Peter Schwab reviews the
political, economic, and social milieu that existed just before the food crisis
pushed Ethiopia to the global centre-stage.
Haile Selassie's War provides a remarkably equal treatment of the Ethiopian,
Italian, and British points of view in the era from the Battle of Adowa in 1896
until the death of Haile Selassie in 1975. Mockler is especially adept in
reporting the intrigues and internecine warfare in Ethiopian history and
politics - essential information for understanding the nation today.
The Italian-Ethiopian war was marked by blunders and close calls on all
sides. Mussolini's modern invading army was so wary of the poorly equipped
Ethiopian forces that the conquest seemed to be filmed in slow motion. Despite
their overwhelming superiority in firepower, however, the Fascists almost lost
the war when the Ethiopians attacked their left flank in the Shire. Only the
use of mustard gas and incendiary bombs saved the Italians from what would
have been a humiliating defeat. Indeed, as Mockler points out, technological
advantages were a vital element in the Italian conquest.
The Ethiopians fought bravely when they could get organised, but their
traditional mass frontal assaults were not effective against modern weaponry.
When it became obvious that the central highlands were lost, the Emperor fled
into exile - to the distaste of many Ethiopians who thought it a disgrace that
their leader did not die in battle. His exodus did provide the world with a
poignant appeal for collective security for the little guy, but the tottering

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 REVIEWS 709

League of Nations had suffered a loss of hearing, and the Italians drove on
to found a second Roman Empire.
After Addis Ababa was captured, Mussolini proclaimed the creation of a
new state, Africa Orientate Italiana, but there was no Pax Roma. Armed Ethiopian
bands of' Patriots' continued to harass the Fascists in the rugged countryside,
and attempts were made to assassinate Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, the Italian
Viceroy. The Italians retaliated with a bloodbath that included the massacre
of hundreds of monks at Debra Libanos, the country's most famous monastery,
sparking uprisings throughout the Empire.
The British tried to play up these internal dissensions when they entered
World War II, and fighting spread to the Horn of Africa. After the Italians
drove the British out of border posts in the Sudan and British Somaliland,
Anthony Eden, then the Secretary of State for War, brought together the team
of Major Orde Wingate and Haile Selassie to stir up revolt inside Ethiopia.
Wingate, the Lawrence of the Ethiopian campaign, was an eccentric who led
the' Gideon Force' of the Allies into the highlands with a supply train of camels
(who suffered more than did Napier's elephants during the 1868 British
intrusion of liberation into Ethiopia). With luck, bluff, and bravery his troops
sent the Italians fleeing from Eritrea to the gates of Addis Ababa. Wingate also
stimulated the Ethiopian economy by providing the Patriots with guns
which - in addition to being used against the Italians - were sold or bartered
on the black market at a profit.
Meanwhile a motley collection of Allied troops, including Kenyans, Niger-
ians, Congolese, Gold Coasters, South Africans, Indians, Free French, Belgians,
and Palestinian Jews, joined the British in completing the defeat of the Italians.
A well-orchestrated triumphal return to Addis Ababa was arranged for Haile
Selassie - and the die was cast for his absolute rule during the following 33
years. Mockler ends his tale with the Emperor's return, leaving the reader
eager for more than his two-page summary of the end of the war. Although
the author was trying to keep the book's length down, one wishes he had
continued his superb narrative until the conclusion of the campaign.
One also wishes that the following assertion by Mockler could be proved
wrong: 'There is - as yet - no really outstanding study of the 1974 Revolution
and its immediate aftermath.' Unfortunately, Ethiopia: dawn of the red star does
not belie that charge. It might be hoped that the views of a third-world
journalist, the African correspondent of the Hindustan Times stationed in Addis
Ababa from 1970-4, would throw some new light on the events that led to
the ' quiet revolution' and the end of the Empire, but regretfully all we get
is a repetitive rehash of what has been documented before.
Madan Sauldie is at his best describing what he saw while in Ethiopia - the
outward manifestations of the unrest, and the hesitant revolt carried out in the
Emperor's name and with his apparent acquescence. Frequently the author
has to rely on secondary sources and on stories that could not be verified -
especially in the post-1974 era after the deposition and arrest of Haile Selassie.
The analysis that still needs to be written concerns the motivation and
behind-the-scenes political activities of the reluctant revolutionaries. Perhaps
some day a mole in the Dergue will survive to write the insider's guide t o ' Bloody
Saturday' and the Red and White Terrors.

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7IO REVIEWS
Sauldie's critical assessment of the Dergue's programmes contrasts sharply
with the apologetics for the new regime presented in Ethiopia: politics, economics
and society. In reading the two books successively, one experiences what Conor
Cruise O'Brien calls 'the shock of non-recognition'. Are they really writing
about the same revolution?
Peter Schwab maintains that the Ethiopian revolution was unique, the first
in the Third World to be sparked and carried out by soldiers that had
originated in the old regime. He views the first decade through rose-coloured
spectacles, and contends that for most Ethiopians the changes have been
beneficial, not a surprising conclusion from a scholar who is admittedly
sympathetic 'to the direction, ideology, tone and style of the revolution'.
The author's excellent analysis of the political system has been overtaken
by the reorganisation of the system of government and administration that took
place in September 1984, coupled with the creation of the long-awaited
Workers Party of Ethiopia. One arrangement has not changed, however:
power remains centred in the Dergue, still firmly headed by Mengistu Haile
Mariam, considered by Schwab to have been the clever spearhead and engine
of the revolution, a consistently true believer who did whatever was necessary
to achieve success. His praise of Mengistu's astuteness differs from many
western writers who have generally been more critical of the Ethiopian leader.
When Schwab ventures into economic predictions, he leaves political science
and wanders into science fiction. His untimely prophecy that the country was
relatively calm and the turmoil over was made just before fighting intensified
in Eritrea, the food crisis became widely known, and the Dergue began its
massive resettlement of Northerners. Schwab also urged greater concentration
on organising agricultural collectives at almost the same time as a World Bank
report was calling them 'high-cost producers' that had not broken even.
Finally, his assessment that' Ethiopia is truly at a take-offstage' is the political
equivalent of an automobile salesman predicting that the Ford Edsel will be
the car of the century.
Much of the blame for the human suffering during the continuing food crisis
rests upon the policies of the Ethiopian leaders. Unless you have a highly
developed taste for admiring revolutionary regimes that cause such suffering,
you may find Schwab's commendations excessively laudatory.
Nevertheless, it is the Dergue that must lead Ethiopia for the fight of its life.
If it can marshal the nation's internal strengths and make good use of external
assistance, then Ethiopia may survive the worst ravages of the current food
crisis. If it fails, the world may see a Malthusian tragedy on a scale never before
experienced in our century. The works of Mockler, Sauldie, and Schwab
provide a foundation to build upon to improve our understanding of the
nature, motives, and operations of the Dergue.
THEODORE M. VESTAL
Department of Political Science, University of Tulsa, Oklahoma

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